BEWARE Alibaba looks at anyone buying outside of China as a foreigner. Been a member for longer than I can remember so this isn't my first go. I’ve been using Alibaba for over 10 years. Luckily previous encounters were smooth. Until I met Shenzhen Zhengsheng 3D Technology Co., Ltd. Harold Zhang is a liar, let me rephrase, he is great before the sell. Excellent customer service, one might say. After the sell, he is your worst nightmare.
A formal binding contract was created on my behalf prior to conducting a deal over $10,000 with the seller (Harold Zhang). The contract is attached to Alibaba Trade Assurance Performa Invoice. Payment in full was made on time. Shipment was not shipped promptly, but Harold made sure to contact me and let me know he was running a little behind on the deal. I accepted his excuse and extended the shipping date through Alibaba Trade Assurance. 5 days later, Harold finally decides to ship my order.
The order took about 3 days to arrive with UPS. Considering I paid over $10K I was expecting to see perfection. When the box arrived with the UPS driver, it appeared to have gone through hell. One side of the package was partially opened, as if Harold did not pay attention to detail to tape it up properly upon shipping it. No worries, right, let's see what's inside.
After opening the package and pulling each item out the package one by one, I was less and less impressed. The items appeared to be used. On the metal parts there is screw wear, something that takes time to develop. Giving the impression that someone had used this metal portion of the product for a long period of time before packaging it and sending it to me. I contacted Harold about this, Harold blamed the damage on Mr. Cao. Harold said Mr. Cao is responsible for this wear. Cool, he took responsibility for it.
The electronic items in the order were less than brand new as well. The electronic item connects to the computer by way of USB cable. When connected and moving the electronic device, it intermittently disconnects from the computer. There is a green light on the electronic item, when it disconnects - the green light turns off; indicating that it is disconnected. Any vibration, movement, and adjusting of the electronic device will disconnect it from the computer, rendering it useless. Again, I reported this to Harold, he was like fine, all items in the order are under 12-month warranty. I was impressed with the level of responsibility taken on his behalf.
The hardware in the order fell apart when I removed it from the shipping box. I also noticed that the metal parts showed severe signs of rust. Harold was informed, and appeased me with calming words, we'll take care of it. Don't worry about it. It's under warranty.
There was no software included in this huge package, nor did Harold email it to me. I was not provided a link, dropbox, cloud dowload location or anything to download the software from. There was an electronic key fob in the packaging. I contacted Harold and asked politely where can I get the software from? Harold told me that the software was on the key fob (dongle). I was confused, but I went along with it. I tried to access the software on the key fob. After hours of going back and forward with, Harold telling me to try different computers, I was confused about why my XP, Windows10, Windows7 machines could not access the software. I knew the item was not a USB which allows storage, I knew it was a key fob dongle, but I figured I would give Harold the benefit of the doubt and cooperate.
Harold assured me that he had personally checked the dongle himself and that it has software on it. He exclaimed with authority through instant message, I checked this personally myself (Harold said). 4 computers later (2xWindows10, 1xWindowsXP, 1xWindows7), the key fob still didn't have software on it. In constant conversation with Harold through instant message, I informed him that I cannot find the software.
Harold paused chat for a while, and came back several hours later and said Mr. Cao will be contacting you with the software. The item that you have is not a USB device, it is a dongle with the serial number on it. That's what I thought from the beginning, but I went along with Harold to cooperate. A few moments later, Mr. Cao joined me through instant message, he can't speak any English. Therefore, he did not say a word. He placed the software in the instant message download area for me to receive.
Keep in mind Harold had informed me that he was a sells person of this electronic device for over 4 years when we first met. This bought my confidence. After seeing that he could not discern that a key fob dongle was not a USB storage drive, more concern set in. Not only is the items in the package less than BRAND NEW per our "TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE" contract, but:
* this guy did not know Software is included with the sell which is necessary to operate the hardware
* this guy did not know Software was not included in UPS package
* this guy did not know the difference between a key fob dongle and USB storage drive
I got the feeling I must be in trouble.
Several minutes later after downloading the software. I installed the software to the windows 10 computer. The software included about 3 drivers which were installed properly. The key fob dongle was inserted into the USB port to inform the software that the license is okay. Brilliant! The software loaded up. The electronic devices were calibrated and ready for use, so I thought?
The hardware (electronic devices) is supposed to work simultaneously together. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Harold, I say, part A does not work with part B. Can you fix it. Harold creates an instant message group chat, with me, Mr. Cao, himself, and a person Harold referred to as his leader. No one else is literary talking except for Harold and I. From here on, Harold translates for the other guests. Mr. Cao sends over a software that is an executable file. This file executable file reads the ID of software installation on my computer and presents a number to me. Harold asks me to give him this number. So, I do. Mr. Cao takes the number does something with it. In a few moments he creates a registry entry for windows, places it in the download section. Harold informs me to download it, run it, and see if part A is now working with part B.
I inform Harold, part A is working great with the key fob dongle while part B does not. However, when I remove the dongle and use the registry entry. Part B works, but part A is not recognized.
*I realized that the key fob dongle is consider a hard serial key
*While the registry entry was some form of soft serial key
Neither of which would allow part A and part B to work simultaneously as intended.
Harold had been asking me to have remote access to my computer. When this soft serial number failed, he rudely in a weird tone expressed that he could not do this and that he insisted that I allow Mr. Cao have remote access to my computer to fix the problem. This is where the paradigm had shifted for the worse.
Earlier in the conversation, Harold had asked me for sensitive information in particularly my driver’s license number or state identification number. Harold said this information was necessary to import a package through sea travel. Familiar with sea freight, I politely informed Harold, I’ve done sea freight imports before and it is not necessary for me to divulge sensitive personal information such as this to you. Harold, replied, the shipping company in China, needs this information on my side or you might be in risk of not receiving your sea freight. Again, I said no (politely). Later in the conversation, Harold claimed he had misunderstood and that I should forgive him for asking for this information. It was only recently that he had discovered it is not necessary.
Considering international online pirating is at an all-time high, I refused to allow Mr. Cao full access to my computer. Harold, said set up the software on a computer that does not have your personal information on it and then allow Mr. Cao access to that computer. Although I do have many computers, only one is powerful enough to run the software. Although the other computers can be used to check the dongle, they are not powerful enough to support the software. When Harold told me he could help me remotely, I thought he meant through instant message video, not by remotely accessing my computer.
Mr. Cao produced another registry file that Harold insisted that I run. I did. During this process of troubleshooting; I contacted the software manufacture. There is a link in the software to their website and contact information. I informed the software company about what I was experiencing and asked if they could help me.
The software company asked for my key fob dongle serial number. I gave it to them. They went on to tell me that this software is illegal. The software is not registered and the dongle is a hack. I was informed to cease and desist using it immediately. Furthermore, I was informed that Mr. Cao registry edits were nothing more than a hack attempt. Through editing the registry values of windows 10, Mr. Cao was hoping to give me access to force part A and part B to work simultaneously together.
The software company explained that there is a “upgrade” button in their software. When pressed that button will automatically register your software via API to render your hardware; part A and part B to work simultaneously. No remote access is required. I was informed that a large wave of hacking had been happening in China with their software, which is why Harold and Mr. Cao do not have the newer version of the software.
In the end, I would say avoid Alibaba.com all together and if you must buy from China try looking into jd.com. Good luck and don’t repeat the mistakes that I have made.