I am in the US, I was looking for a specific fabric in 6 different styles. I picked a supplier, sent them samples, and discussed the exact fabric I wanted, shipping terms, ect. We organized pricing, shipping to me, fabric specs, timing, payment and surcharges. The supplier created a sales contract, I signed it and emailed it back. I then wired the money to the company.
AFTER all this was done the supplier informaed me that I needed to come up with another $1000USD as he had miss quoted the price of the surcharge. Which made the surcharge $2000 instead of $1000. Which I informed the supplier, if I had known I would have gone with another supplier. I explained that if I had to pay another $1000 USD, I would want to go ahead and get a refund. Adter much argeuement the supplier decided to honor the sales contract.
Then, the supplier contacted me and told me that he could NOT make the fabrics and he would just make me more quantites of 3 of my fabrics and just drop the other 3. Which I explained was not acceptable. I was purchasing these as samples so I could buy larger quantites if I liked the fabrics. After I got upset and told him once again he was not sticking to his sales contract, after we had extensively discussed the fabrics I wanted and I had sent samples and he had agreed he could make them, he said they could make them and would get them done. So this was sales contract violation number 2. I once again told him if he could not make my fabrics I wanted a refund. I also expressed that I wanted a refund and not to deal with him, since his company did not seem interested in adhereing to their sales contract.
Then, I once again contacted him, after the 30 days timeline had passed and he informed me it would be another 30 days. Now making it 60. I once again reminded him that the sale contract stated he would have it done in 30 days. Once again I asked for a refund to no avail. So I agreed to the extra 30 days, what could I do?
Ok so now we come to the time when the fabric is actually on the water. I contacted the supplier again and he told me it's on the boat and on it's way. GREAT! I get the bill of loading this monring and it's NOT what I ORDERED! It is NOT what we agreed to. He went ahead and made larger quantites of 3 of the fabrics and did not send the other 3. I am getting only 600 meters instead of 750 meters AND the fabric I REALLY needed and bought a larger quantity of is not even on the boat! I feel so scammed.
Can someone give me some insight? Am I out of line? Did I do something wrong? Have I been scammed? Why were they so unwilling to give me a refund if they could not fulfill the contract? What can I do? Am I just stuck with this fabric? Please HELP! I read everything on here about avoiding scammers, and I just feel like I did it very wrong......
THanks!
Melissa
Replying To [sphil876p]:Certainly sounds to me like you HAVE been scammed. From what I read, it seems they were going to do what they wanted to in the first place, and not what you wanted. I suggest in future, us an LC at sight for payment (talk to your bank about this), and also get an inspection done on the goods BEFORE they leave the factory. Such inspection can be a condition of the LC (Letter of Credit).
Besides this, I would NEVER give this factory another order, and I would also name them here on alibaba so others don't get caught either.
Looks like you might be stuck with what they sent.
Quoting from [sphil876p]:I am in the US, I was looking for a specific fabric in 6 different styles. I picked a supplier, sent them samples, and discussed the exact fabric I wanted, shipping terms, ect. We organized pricing, shipping to me, fabric specs, timing, payment and surcharges. The supplier created a sales contract, I signed it and emailed it back. I then wired the money to the company.
AFTER all this was done the supplier informaed me that I needed to come up with another $1000USD as he had miss quoted the price of the surcharge. Which made the surcharge $2000 instead of $1000. Which I informed the supplier, if I had known I would have gone with another supplier. I explained that if I had to pay another $1000 USD, I would want to go ahead and get a refund. Adter much argeuement the supplier decided to honor the sales contract.
Then, the supplier contacted me and told me that he could NOT make the fabrics and he would just make me more quantites of 3 of my fabrics and just drop the other 3. Which I explained was not acceptable. I was purchasing these as samples so I could buy larger quantites if I liked the fabrics. After I got upset and told him once again he was not sticking to his sales contract, after we had extensively discussed the fabrics I wanted and I had sent samples and he had agreed he could make them, he said they could make them and would get them done. So this was sales contract violation number 2. I once again told him if he could not make my fabrics I wanted a refund. I also expressed that I wanted a refund and not to deal with him, since his company did not seem interested in adhereing to their sales contract.
Then, I once again contacted him, after the 30 days timeline had passed and he informed me it would be another 30 days. Now making it 60. I once again reminded him that the sale contract stated he would have it done in 30 days. Once again I asked for a refund to no avail. So I agreed to the extra 30 days, what could I do?
Ok so now we come to the time when the fabric is actually on the water. I contacted the supplier again and he told me it's on the boat and on it's way. GREAT! I get the bill of loading this monring and it's NOT what I ORDERED! It is NOT what we agreed to. He went ahead and made larger quantites of 3 of the fabrics and did not send the other 3. I am getting only 600 meters instead of 750 meters AND the fabric I REALLY needed and bought a larger quantity of is not even on the boat! I feel so scammed.
Can someone give me some insight? Am I out of line? Did I do something wrong? Have I been scammed? Why were they so unwilling to give me a refund if they could not fulfill the contract? What can I do? Am I just stuck with this fabric? Please HELP! I read everything on here about avoiding scammers, and I just feel like I did it very wrong......
THanks!
Melissa
Let me take a wild guess where these guys are from. ............... China.
Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot you could do when it comes to a situation like this. I guess next time you could use this experience as leverage. Pay them half first, half after your full order is filled, and arrives at your door. If you feel skeptical about a company you are dealing with ask for references, most credible companies will be able to name a few long term customers and let you talk to them. Sorry to hear Melissa.
I was also scammed the exact same way, excpet it was computer parts, first they gave you a great price, after you pay they say they made a mistake and you should pay more. At this time you know you were scammed. I dont have any hope for recovering my money, but I have made it my mission to try and help others from being victim to these people.
I often wonder how come there are so much scammers on Alibaba and lots of them are gold members.
In light of all of this I created my own website www.e-scams.net where you can make a post about these scammers. And sorry if you guys saw this already, but I want to create a comprehensive database of all the scammers so that it may save others from falling prey to these dirty people.
Your story is probably more aptly an outline of a standard incompetant seller than a scammer. A scammer would have cheated you of money. This seller seems to have sent goods to the value you ordered - just not what you wanted.
The only answer here is a pre-shipment inspection BEFORE you release final payment to the seller and BEFORE the goods are shipped. If the seller knows that you will be doing this then they are also less likely to try to ship other than what you paid for.
Quoting from [Egernia]:I agree. These suppliers are utterly un-professional and arrogant, rather than outright scammers (this will of course not compensate your loss). This is where a third-party inspector comes in handy.Your story is probably more aptly an outline of a standard incompetant seller than a scammer. A scammer would have cheated you of money. This seller seems to have sent goods to the value you ordered - just not what you wanted.
The only answer here is a pre-shipment inspection BEFORE you release final payment to the seller and BEFORE the goods are shipped. If the seller knows that you will be doing this then they are also less likely to try to ship other than what you paid for.
However, since you have had a sales contract, exactly stating what you need, you have a chance to get compensated. Ask a foreign trade lawyer for help, best in Hong Kong, they have good English but also have an understanding of the Chinese law which is rather confusing for foreigners.
I also advise you to tell us the details of this company for educational purposes, and to leave this company in the future.
c[ ]
I think your Chinese supplier has sent you signs many times that're un-professional, and incompetent. But you didn't consist to get a refund.
To avoid quality problem, you have to monitor and control orders at every step from product idea, factory selection and audit, sampling, manufacturing and final shipment. The more you depart from this model, the more risk you're in.
For small companies buying from China that don't have access to the resources of a large company such as in-house quality control and inspection teams, it's neccessary to evaluate the level of risk and determine the minimum level of quality control neccessary. It is just not prudent to leave full responsibility for quality to a new Chinese supplier in the hope that what you specified is exactly what will get shipped. It is surprising how many companies learn this the hard way.
At the very minimum, a "final" inspecion should be conducted by a 3rd party inspection company and, while this may not be a panacea, it's the closest you can get without pitching your own tent at the factory.
Failing to adequately supervise the entire manufacturing process in China, in particular, to take a systematic approach to monitoring and control of quality, is worse than disregarding the existence of Chinese whispers.
There is absolutely no difference between an incompetent seller and a scammer. You get scammed in the end all the same. If he’s an incompetent seller, he’s an incompetent scammer.
I am a Chinese myself and I hate that.
Thank you for all your help. I was hoping I had totally misunderstood something. I did ask for references and did everything we knew to do to verify the company. I read everything I could. How do you find an indepentant inspector for the shipment? If I EVER import again I will definately use one. I tried to get LC terms, but they refused and said they only offered 100% upfront for my first order.... I would have been much more comfortable with an LC.
Thanks for all the insight though. I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do.
Personally I would never pay 100% upfront. As you have seen this leaves you at a significant disadvantage as all of the cards are in the suppliers hands.
My suggestion is to only ever pay up to 30% deposit by TT or do it all by LC. LC may be refused by some factories on small orders but you can negotiate this by offering to pay their bank fees if they accept LC.
Inspection can be done by a professional company or an individual agent working on your behalf. The former could be found by searching Google the latter by looking at the Due Dilligence forum here at alibaba.
If you pay 100% upfront the pre-shipment inspection will probably not be very useful as the supplier could just refuse to do anything - they already have their money afterall. So never pay 100% upfront.
Thank you I will certainly keep that in mind if I ever decide to try and import again. I feel so discouraged by this venture. After caculating the amount of fabric I am receiving and the amount of money it would have cost me to get the fabric they not only shorted my in fabric types, but also in cost. I suppose to try and make up some of the extra $1000.00, next time I will only deal with a company I can to a TT with. I gues I thought it was common practice to get 100% upfront on a smaller order like mine was. Especially since it was mostly samples.
How do I find a good Chinese lawyer?
Thanks1
Melissa