Order issues

[z327]

Anyone else having difficulty getting a real tracking number from Mr. Wu? I ordered and paid on 3 March, but the tracking number provided is bogus and only response to email I have gotten is he is going to check on the status.

[tbone321]

He does this to extend the clock on the order so that it doesn't run out of time on him since the amount of time allowed from order to shipping is fixed and not all that long.  Usually when he says that he is about to actually send the order but something tells me that with the level of orders for the RGB units that he is processing and now with the defects that people are reporting he is just in way over his head at the moment.

[trekster]

Did you have a big order?  I placed an order on Sunday 4-10-11.  It shipped Tuesday and I got the box on Thursday 4-14-11.  I ordered 200 rectangle, 20 square and 50 nodes.  $306 delivered in about 5 days.

Ron

[taybrynn]

My shipment shipped via. a different carrier and the tracking number (which didn't work for the first day or so) was listed as the reference# and not the shipping#.

Again, it only worked for me when I manually went to the tracking site for the actual shipper and entered the reference#.

My latest shipment is smaller and seems to have a single tracking #, but its not working yet.  I'm guessing it will work in a day or two.

I'm not worried ...

[tconley]

i got my stuff the other day i am still checking it over but the ridge strips looked great.  i still have to check the pixels out

[IndianaChristmas]

I've have the same issue.  He has extended the order timer several times.  Promised me it would reship; thought maybe the order got lost.  Says he will provide new tracking numbers etc.  He seems real nice and helpful however.  I placed my order at the end of Feb and seen nothing in  my order.  It was only a test order for 128 string node, 20 squares, 20 rectangles and a flex strip.  Possibly it is hard to get all the different object together, I don't know.  Some day I hope to see the stuff.  If not in a couple days, I'll open dispute as I feel this has gone on long enough.  I think he is trying.  Who knows how much buisiness he does in a day with how many people so I bet it can be a bit overwhelming on his end.

[tbone321]

If your order was way back in Feb, then something went wrong and I would file a dispute.  You can always re-order but Iwould wait until the issue with the smart string nodes is resolved.

[IndianaChristmas]

I just got out of chat with Ray.  He stated my order is being held up for another 3 days as they are addressing quality issues currently.
That sounds very promising for several people on the boards.  I'm for better quality at the expense of delayed product.  Besides I can't use them yet anyway.  Being as this is the first time I have ordered something like this it is easy to get anxious about money, product etc.

[fjaust]

i wonder just how many node strings orders he got flooded with?

i think a lot of people are still holding back because of:
    - 1. they don't have the equipment to test them yet
    - 2. quality issues.

i imagine that quality is suffering because he is in a rush to get so many made and out the door. like everyone else, i'd rather wait longer for my nodes if the quality was guaranteed to be good.

[mcangeli]

I'm waiting to see if the issues with quality get fixed on the string nodes... I could see ordering a 128 and a 75 count string to use for a star....

[JimWright]

I thought that I would let you know. Because of the controller parts delay and because of the string quality control problems, I decided to order the TH2010 controller from Ray. I did so on April 17th. As of today, it has not even shipped. He only has 2 days before the escrow runs out.
Jim

[bcstuff]

Jim if you email him or, since is is short notice, chat with him he will extend the time for you.

Brian

[JimWright]

Brian: Thanks. I know that, but he has not bothered to contact me yet. I am waiting for him to contact me and ask for an extension. I want to know why it has not shipped. Although I am trying to be very positive concerning these quality control problems, I am becoming concerned about doing business this way. I can understand manufacturing start up problems. I think all of us are being very patient but I am not seeing any signs of real corrective action. There are actually other things on his site that I would like to order, including many more strings in the future. However I am holding off until see how all of this is being resolved.  I think that we all only want to deal with reputable trustworthy organizations and people. Based on the Forbes article that I mentioned in another Forum here at DLA, Ailbaba and AliExpress are trying to make a name for themselves as a reliable organization to do business with. And I believe that is the case. I am hoping that, in a few months, all of this will just be remembered as a bad dream. 
Jim

[bcstuff]

I would not let the timer expire, as RJ has previously stated.

The payment will automatically released at 30 day mark, I just don't know if it is from initial order or shipped date. See info from AliExpress below:

Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

    How secure is my payment?

    Payments via escrow are protected with VeriSign encryption, the highest encryption technology commercially available. You can be assured that your credit card and account details will never be exposed.

    With escrow, payment will only be released to the supplier once you have confirmed satisfactory delivery. You can track the shipment at any stage during delivery. However, if delivery is not confirmed within 30 days of receipt, payment will automatically be released to the supplier.

[tbone321]

I think thast people are getting confused and ahead of themselves here.  If it has not shipped, then the clock running out would cause a refund of his money, not a release.  Delivery confirmation cannot happen if the product was not even shipped and AliExpress is well aware of that.  I would say that the reason that it has not shipped yet is that he is out of them right now.  I would say that he probably didn't have a large number of them to begin with and the delays in shipping the smart strings as well as the quality issues people are seeing probably caused a rush on these units and ran him out.  He probably will not request an extension if he knows that he will get them soon and will probably mark them as shipped and give the all to famous false shipping number which in a way acts like an extension.  I would contact his to see what is happening and when you can relly expect to get them.  Of course, it could already be on the way and he just didn't update it yet.  That is what happened to me.  I cancelled one item on my order and three days later I was notified that the order was already shipped and couldn't be cancelled.  At the same time I got a notification that the order shipped and thought that it was crap.  The next day the order was here so it in fact did ship days before I was notified.