Lazada Horror Story #1 – Counterfeit Item, Customer Support from Hell, and Inconveniences

Usually, buying a product in my case takes a lot of planning and consideration. All the more so when the price shoots past the Php1000 mark. Now, Lazada’s offerings from time to time present some sweet price points that are way below the retail price tag, making it more tempting and just jump on the Buy it Now button. Now, it seems I have made a grave error in a recent purchase with that in mind.

Usually, buying a product in my case takes a lot of planning and consideration. All the more so when the price shoots past the Php1000 mark. Now, Lazada’s offerings from time to time present some sweet price points that are way below the retail price tag, making it more tempting and just jump on the Buy it Now button. Now, it seems I have made a grave error in a recent purchase with that in mind.

Apologies about the image. I have just ran out of patience to make something presentable and flashy.

During Lazada’s 5^th,  I happened to purchase a Vape Kit, Eleaf's iStick PICO 75W Vape Kit, to be exact. For a sweet, price tag of Php1000. Then slash Php100 off of it and you’ll even sweeten the deal even more. Good idea? Reviews for the item are on the good side, so what can really go wrong. Well, that’s was an error on my part as the buyers of the same item didn’t check it for authentication through the brand’s website.

The microUSB port seems off, the item doesn't look polished, and it uses phillips instead of torx screws.

As the item arrived, it’s the usual business. Out of excitement, I propped up the box, set it up, used it, and hey, it works just fine! A couple of days after using the item, I then took interest in checking more on the packaging and saw a serial key that will let you check the item for authentication. I thought that it was legit, indeed, because there wasn’t really a chance a fake could end up with a serial key to be verified as legit. But what the heck let’s just check it.

Not really shocking, but the item turned out to be fake. Now, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem if this was a simple knockoff of a shelf or a tool, or something that isn’t an electronic device. However, this is a special case. This is, after all, a Vape Kit. And knowing the dangers and risks of simply having one in your pockets made me worry.

Yeah, there it is. Feel free to check it here as well if you need to verify it yourself: http://www.eleafworld.com/authenticity-query/ or http://www.eleafworld.com/info/batchcode.php?add=1

Going Deep to Customer Service Hell

May 27^th

Submitted a report ticket to Lazada about the fake item I just bought.

May 28^th

Lazada responded with saying that they strictly do not allow any fake items to be sold, and advised that I return it to LBC. Also, it is now “under investigation.”

I asked Lazada if they can pick it up from my place due to the inconvenience it would cause me since I can’t make time for making the return.

May 29^th

Lazada responds with a canned message saying that I return it to LBC, without even acknowledging my inqury.

I once again asked Lazada if they would reconsider to pick up the item and was assertive due to the dangers posed by a fake Vape Kit.

April 3^rd

Lazada took its time replying and once again responds with the same “please return via LBC”

I asked Lazada if they are sending me canned responses. They then stopped responding.

April 7^th

I called Lazada’s hotline and asked about an update regarding my query. Also had it escalated to a supervisor to help me solve the issue. They will “try.”

I said thanks, but I said I was still disappointed with the issue and how terrible it was handled.

April 10^th

No update, but didn’t bother to call due to it being Monday and it would probably take over a day just to get to the right people.

April 11^th

Called again, their first response to the situation is to bring it to LBC as if they weren’t checking  the status of my issue through the ticket in the 5 minute hold time. After over an hour of talking, had the conversation escalated. 15 minutes hold time, it rings, then disconnects.

Called again. Now they mention that the item will be picked up in dates April 10^th to 12^th, had the call escalated, after a ring, disconnect.

Called again for the last time, said that it was very frustrating. They promised a callback just in case it gets disconnected. It does disconnect. Waited for an hour. Nothing. Two hours. Nothing. No call back, no promises.

April 12^th

My patience ran out. Called again, and asked regarding the status of the pick up. They said it was rejected, and there were no chances of it being approved since it is under 20kg as per their standards of picking up returns. Fucking hell. My patience then ran out, and I snapped at the agent. It got the better of me, and I am terribly sorry for it.

Oh, well. Now I do have to pay someone to go and send it to Lazada. Heck, I should have done that in the first place.

Major inconveniences, or what I should have done from the start instead..

Now, the best solution that I have is to ask and pay someone to return the item for me. Which is, again, should not have been my responsibility due to the mishandling of Lazada, the inconvenience it did on my part, the dangers I was risking for using the fake product, how long it took for them to give an update. For one, if they really cannot accommodate for a pick up, they should not have set an expectation for that. Now I know I was very insistent that they pick  the item up in my place, since I was, after all, in the position to ask that. I just had to stand my ground.

So, what does this tell? Lazada holds a massive library of products that are quite tempting, even though we all know that the price drops aren’t really legit. Well, some are, but they’re quite rare chances.  However, keep in mind that if a deal is too good to be true, 90% of the cases it’s not really legit. I say 90% because sometimes they can deliver on their promise. A shoddy 10% of the time, though.

Lesson learned, there’s still the need to practice being extra careful when buying online, especially if you already have the knowledge to research on the regular pricing, the shop, and the reviews of the product you’re buying. Also, do note that Lazada’s customer support isn’t exactly what I’d call coordinate. At this time, it’s the worst customer/product support I have gone through.

Does this dissuade me from buying from them, though? Well, probably. I’d still think there’s a chance I’d buy from them, but in light of the recent incident, I won’t be looking for things like these, or other consumer electronics devices with shady brands since not everything is filtered out.

Wisen up. If you think you’re already witty enough to distinguish a fake, then it would probably be in your interest to think again. Just in case.