DO NOT BUY FROM GEARBEST !!

[moe fady]

Ok, this is new to me - venting on a forum, but I wanted to warn others to stay away from this website !

So I thought getting the VIOFO A118C/B40 (highly rated) for $55 was a good deal. Decided to get two units, BIG MISTAKE!

One unit has died just after 25 days of use, I ordered the unit on May 3, 2016. The dashcam does not go beyond the VIOFO "welcome" screen, into video recording mode. Tried resetting and multiple restarts, no luck.

I contacted GearBest by email (there is no phone number to call) and I get an email asking me to report what steps I took to fix this issue and that I had to upload a video of the unit not recording. The file size limit on their website is 2 MB and no video will be less than 2 MB so I will not be able to send them a video. So I sent them pictures of what was going on.

"Ennie" from GearBest replies by providing a partial refund of $30 (even though their website has a 45 day full refund policy) if I keep the dead unit (what good is that?) or that I need to pay $30 to send the unit back and get a new replacement. PATHETIC WAY to reply to customers who have an issue!

But wait, there is more!!

I had to wait almost a month for them to ship me (from China) these POS units to me.
Horrible customer support BY EMAIL. Who does this in 2016???
They say Customer satisfaction is their #1 priority. THAT'S A COMPLETE LIE, as they want to make customers jump through the hoops just to get a refund. I will be contacting my credit card to report them as a FRAUD company to try to get my money back!!

Bottomline: DO NOT BUY FROM GEARBEST even though their prices are enticing.

 

[abarth]

i feel bad for your experience. I can't recommend them, either. but in my situation, I eventually got my money back. but it sure took a long time.

 

[moe fady]

Abarth,

How long did it take you to get your money back from them? Did they offer to replace your dead unit?

 

[Sunny]

Same thing with any Chinese seller. Most items work fine but some have issues and need to return.
You have to return item to get full refund.
No one is going to pay for return shipping and shipping to China and back will take over a month unless you have your own rocket.
It's not Amazon prime that spoils buyers with free shipping both ways.

If you want easy returns, the only option is to buy locally (or from US) and even then you have to pay return shipping (except few sellers) and have a turnaround time for old unit to get to seller and then new unit to arrive.
However, you won't get the great prices of Chinese sellers.

BTW, I shipped a dashcam back to China and it was only around $18 postage at USPS and you have to label it as broken item return or similar. \
If you declare it as camera, it'll be stopped at the customs and may never reach seller.
I think the best option in this case is partial refund due to return shipping cost and uncertainty of Chinese customs.
Plus if there are firmware available, you can try that or check if the battery is the issue.
Did you try to reset it?

 

[moe fady]

Sunny

Please read my post again with your glasses on, I have tried to reset it. The cam is a capacitor version so does not have a battery.

Also why should I accept a partial refund for no fault of mine? Your logic is beyond comprehension!! Are you at GearBest??

Any US company would be SUED UPSIDE DOWN if they did not provide a full refund for a defective product. Agreed that Chinese camera are un-reliable and I should not have ordered from Gearbest, but I had no way to know it was this bad.

Don't post advise if you cant help, I know its not Amazon Prime.

 

[warsaws]

There are many posts here warning not to buy from Gearbest

 

[Sunny]

@moe fady
Reality check, it's moot point to mention US companies will be sued as you are not dealing with US company.
As I posted above, buy locally if you want great post sale service but you like the cheapest prices, don't you?
We all do and the risk is exactly that.
If all goes well, great but you can't knock their doors if needed.
Most sellers need item back for refund whether here or China.
Even eBay requires buyer to pay return shipping.

If you already reset it, it's done for.
The only thing to try is new firmware or reload same firmware to see if it starts.

My suggestion to take partial refund is from my experience as full refund without sending back is not very likely. You can take it or leave it. Most of us know that's the deal here but you seem new on how things work with Chinese sellers.
I sent two back to China and paid return myself.
One got there and got refund.
Another is still missing after a year.
So it's up to you to risk all or work it out so you get something.
If you send it back and seller never receives it, you will lose the camera as well as return shipping on top.
There's no tracking system in USPS once it leaves US so you can't confirm seller received it.

I'm not affiliated with any seller.
I bought my first few dashcams from gearbest and no issues.
You can vent all you want but the reality is you have to send items back for full refund from any Chinese seller.
Did you read return policy before buying?
It'd be same thing from alibaba, aliexpress, Banggood, or whatever.
I bought a drone from different seller and had issues. Same kind of resolutions, partial refund or send it back for full refund or they'll send parts for free.
I took partial refund and fixed the drone by replacing few parts for much cheaper than return postage.

 

[Dashmellow]

@moe fady
Reality check, it's moot point to mention US companies will be sued as you are not dealing with US company.
As I posted above, buy locally if you want great post sale service but you like the cheapest prices, don't you?
We all do and the risk is exactly that.
If all goes well, great but you can't knock their doors if needed.
Most sellers need item back for refund whether here or China.
Even eBay requires buyer to pay return shipping.

If you already reset it, it's done for.
The only thing to try is new firmware or reload same firmware to see if it starts.

My suggestion to take partial refund is from my experience. You can take it or leave it.
I sent two back to China and paid return myself.
One got there and got refund.
Another is still missing after a year.
So it's up to you to risk all or work it out so you get something.
If you send it back and seller never receives it, you will lose the camera as well as return shipping on top.
There's no tracking system in USPS once it leaves US so you can't confirm seller received it.

I'm not affiliated with any seller.
I bought my first few dashcams from gearbest and no issues.
You can vent all you want but the reality is you have to send items back for full refund from any Chinese seller.
Did you read return policy before buying?
It'd be same thing from alibaba, aliexpress, Banggood, or whatever.
I bought a drone from different seller and had issues. Same kind of resolutions, partial refund or send it back for full refund or they'll send parts for free.
I took partial refund and fixed the drone by replacing few parts for much cheaper than return postage.

@Sunny, I think you've made a number of valid points and good observations in your posts here in this thread regarding buying from retailers in China but how can you say, "I'm not affiliated with any seller.", especially in regard to Gearbest who has provided you with literally thousands of dollars worth of free merchandise for evaluation, "review" and infomercial style product promotion.

I have nothing against you personally but let's be honest here. Stating that you are not "affiliated" with Gearbest is disingenuous and entirely untrue. One has only to click on your "Click here to go to my Youtube channel for Dashcam reviews and videos..." to see dozens and dozens of examples of Gearbest provided free products that you have reviewed on their behalf. You are essentially a de facto Gearbest sales employee at this point however objective you may feel your "reviews" to be.

I believe you should recuse yourself from making any comments to defend Gearbest's conduct in this thread as you are part and parcel with their heavy handed approach to how they engage in marketing on this site.

 

[Sunny]

@Sunny, I think you've made a number of valid points and good observations in your posts here in this thread regarding buying from retailers in China but how can you say, "I'm not affiliated with any seller.", especially in regard to Gearbest who has provided you with literally thousands of dollars worth of free merchandise for evaluation, "review" and infomercial style product promotion.

I have nothing against you personally but let's be honest here. Stating that you are not "affiliated" with Gearbest is disingenuous and entirely untrue. One has only to click on your "Click here to go to my Youtube channel for Dashcam reviews and videos..." to see dozens and dozens of examples of Gearbest provided free products that you have reviewed on their behalf. You are essentially a de facto Gearbest sales employee at this point however objective you may feel your "reviews" to be.

I believe you should recuse yourself from making any comments to defend Gearbest's conduct in this thread as you are part and parcel with their heavy handed approach to how they engage in marketing on this site.

I've reviewed from various different companies but yes, I've reviewed many more dashcams from Gearbest compared to others but it's also true that I bought my first few dashcams from them before I became a reviewer and never had issue.
I'm not affiliated with Gearbest and I don't have to defend them just because I review their dashcams.
No, I don't get paid to check posts and reply on Gearbest behalf.
Dashcam is my hobby and I spend way more than dashcam's worth in my time and effort. If you can imagine an IT programmers salary by hour and time spent on a review.
I frequent this forum not because anyone pays me or tells me to do so.

My post has good suggestion to OP. If he can get full refund without sending an item back, great. That's the best option.
Otherwise my suggestion and experience should give some troubleshooting ideas.

Hmm... let me check my paychecks. Maybe I missed Gearbest paychecks somewhere under the mattress.
You can find my Youtube dashcam review videos from Papago, Vantrue etc... as well.
Let me go check my mattress for more paychecks as I'm their de facto employee as well.

 

[Dashmellow]

When you accept thousands of dollars of free in-kind merchandise from Gearbest and others you are being paid whether you are willing to admit it or not! Who are you kidding? Maybe yourself, but certainly not others reading this thread who engage in critical thinking.

And to repeat what I said earlier I think your comments and suggestions about getting the refund were worthwhile, valid and welcome. Just not the, "I'm not affiliated BS".

 

[Sunny]

When you accept thousands of dollars of free in-kind merchandise from Gearbest and others you are being paid whether you are willing to admit it or not! Who are you kidding? Maybe yourself, but certainly not others reading this thread who engage in critical thinking.

And to repeat what I said earlier I think you comments and suggestions about getting the refund were worthwhile, valid and welcome. Just not the, "I'm not affiliated BS".

You can think whatever you want.
You can assume anyone who receives a review sample is an employee and have to defend their de facto employer.
My time and effort in a dashcam review is where it ends.
No affiliation but again, you can think whatever you want.
BTW, you reminded me one thing. I do have a stack of dashcams in the basement even after passing many to my relatives and friends.
Need to do something about that.
Also, I'll try to take your suggestion not to reply to gearbest threads as others may also think same thing. Thanks for reminder.
Hopefully, OP got some suggestion from here as OP is the one I was replying to and trying to help out.

 

[Viking]

New to forum and the first thing you start to blast out with a thread called:

"DO NOT BUY FROM GEARBEST !!"

If you spend less than 10 second and looked a little further down in the blog you will find.

"Never Buy from Gearbest!"

"I should not have ordered from Gearbest, but I had no way to know it was this bad."

As you told Sunny. "use you reading glasses" apparent you dind't, so you have to learn the hard way.

As my dad told me. The last idiot is not born yet and Gearbest know that.

You could have save you money, have lot of fun time and have gained a whole lot more knowledge about seller, dash cam by using this site, before you bought your camera.

I'm not sure you learned anything from it, sorry to say that.

 

[Dashmellow]

Gearbest has infiltrated forums of all types all across the internet where they always seek out a willing individual who will promote their merchandise in the guise of "reviews" in exchange for hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of free products. The practice is wide spread which is why they are not the only ones to do this but they know that putting the products out there in this manner with links and discount codes inevitably leads to sales. No company would ever invest in handing out many, many thousands of dollars worth of free products on internet forums if it wasn't generating sales. Gearbest is perhaps the most aggressive in this regard. @Sunny, you are simply a willing cog in this machine.

Early on, Gearbest approached me and other long time members here to do these reviews in part because some of us have many posts and likes under our belt and they wanted "senior" members of the forum who's opinions they felt may hold a certain authority but most of us wanted nothing to do with it. Some have but only occasionally. So basically it didn't really happen until eventually they found you.

Let me be clear. There are a few retailers and manufacturers here who send out occasional free products to a seasoned forum member for an objective, informed review and I think that is just fine and often quite useful. What I am talking about here is a single company that finds a single individual on a web forum devoted to a particular product category who is willing to accept thousands of dollars worth of free merchandise on an ongoing basis for so called "reviews" with links and discount codes that despite opining about pros and cons essentially amount to sales pitches and promotion.

So yes, I do think what I think and I have spelled it out for you here. I invite others to reach their own conclusions about this "free camera review" phenomenon here on DCT, especially from the likes of Gearbest and perhaps post their own observations and thoughts on the matter.

 

[jokiin]

Gearbest has infiltrated forums of all types all across the internet where they always seek out a willing individual who will promote their merchandise in the guise of "reviews" in exchange for hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of free products. The practice is wide spread which is why they are not the only ones to do this but they know that putting the products out there in this manner with links and discount codes inevitably leads to sales. No company would ever invest in handing out many, many thousands of dollars worth of free products on internet forums if it wasn't generating sales. Gearbest is perhaps the most aggressive in this regard. @Sunny, you are simply a willing cog in this machine.
.

this happens a lot on all sorts of forums, it's their form of marketing, to be fair to Sunny I think he has looked at products in good faith and if something isn't great he has been subjective and does mention that however I think gearbest get far more out of the relationship than Sunny does as he has built a lot of marketing material for them that they're just not capable of themselves and has provided them with far greater exposure than what they could otherwise get for the products (keep in mind the forum rules say they can only promote in their own thread so having a third party do it gets around this rule) which obviously leads to sales, I don't believe he has been financially compensated for what he has done, I believe he should be though, I do believe gearbest have taken advantage of his generosity, time is money and the amount of time he spends on looking at the products, posting reviews etc is in no way compensated by the free product

 

[old4570]

Hehehehehehehe ....... Funny stuff ( Sorry , dont mean to make light of getting faulty stuff )
But should you not blame the manufacturer ? ( For the actual faulty product )

All the Chinese , Hong Kong sellers operate pretty much the same way ...
Products are listed for sale , they may not be in stock and have to be ordered in from either a distributor or manufacturer . ( This can take time )
So when you buy from Gearbest , it pays to check if the item is in stock or not !
If it is in stock , you will probably see how many items are in stock .. If you dont see a stock number near the price , then the item has to be ordered in ( This means more time )

I just received my Torx drivers ordered from an Ebay seller , over 3 months ago .. ( Yes I received a refund , and they offer a refund if delivery takes over 30 Days ) In my case its been over 90 Days .
I did actually check because I dont like taking advantage of anyone , and their policy on shipping time means I am not ripping them .
But I did check because I was prepared to repay ...
But yes , its risky business buying sight unseen from the other side of the world , surely everyone knows this (?) . And you need to check and check again ( research ) the product you want to buy ..
Was it a few months ago the battery in my Dome G90c Died ! ( Oh dear ! ) Hmmmmm
Who to blame for that one ? The battery manufacturer , Dome ? , or where I got it from ( Yes it was GB ) ... But I cant fault GB for something that is clearly out of their control ..
I should actually hit Dome up for a replacement battery .. Or just pony up and buy one off Ebay ( Of dubious quality to be sure )

For every sad story , there are probably hundreds of silent happy customers ... and quite possibly thousands !
GB / DX / and all the rest sell millions of products to the west ( Ebay especially ) .
Odds are some one must get the dirty end of the stick ..

But I do agree , a lot of sellers dont really perform quite to the expectations of customers who are used to almost no questions asked returns in the west ...
But then , your not dealing with the west , are you (?) .

You may wish to limit yourself to ebay , push come to shove , PayPal buyer protection does tend to work ..
+ If the seller gets a little difficult , you just ask Ebay to resolve the issue for you and 99.999% of the time bobs your uncle and the refund is done like a hot dinner !
And this year so far I have asked Ebay to step in 3 times to sort things out ..

 

[Dashmellow]

this happens a lot on all sorts of forums, it's their form of marketing, to be fair to Sunny I think he has looked at products in good faith and if something isn't great he has been subjective and does mention that however I think gearbest get far more out of the relationship than Sunny does as he has built a lot of marketing material for them that they're just not capable of themselves and has provided them with far greater exposure than what they could otherwise get for the products (keep in mind the forum rules say they can only promote in their own thread so having a third party do it gets around this rule) which obviously leads to sales, I don't believe he has been financially compensated for what he has done, I believe he should be though, I do believe gearbest have taken advantage of his generosity, time is money and the amount of time he spends on looking at the products, posting reviews etc is in no way compensated by the free product

I hear what you are saying although I don't entirely agree. You state that Gearbest, "gets far more out of the relationship than Sunny does as he has built a lot of marketing material for them that they're just not capable of themselves and has provided them with far greater exposure than what they could otherwise get for the products".

Well yes, that may well be true but that wasn't necessarily the point I was making even if they have indeed provided him with thousands of dollars worth of free merchandise. I really don't agree that you "don't believe he has been financially compensated for what he has done", since they compensated him with huge dollar amounts of free merchandise to do with what he pleases after he completes his reviews. My point was that he claims that "I'm not affiliated with Gearbest" which is simply not true and which your post here truly confirms.

 

[Sunny]

this happens a lot on all sorts of forums, it's their form of marketing, to be fair to Sunny I think he has looked at products in good faith and if something isn't great he has been subjective and does mention that however I think gearbest get far more out of the relationship than Sunny does as he has built a lot of marketing material for them that they're just not capable of themselves and has provided them with far greater exposure than what they could otherwise get for the products (keep in mind the forum rules say they can only promote in their own thread so having a third party do it gets around this rule) which obviously leads to sales, I don't believe he has been financially compensated for what he has done, I believe he should be though, I do believe gearbest have taken advantage of his generosity, time is money and the amount of time he spends on looking at the products, posting reviews etc is in no way compensated by the free product

I've never received anything besides the product itself.
As I've posted somewhere else before, on average I spent over 8 hours in a review from making a product video, taking pictures, editing, driving around for day/night videos, watching/listening them, uploading, posting threads, updating threads and answering questions in my threads.
Yes you are right, Gearbest has used my video samples in their site for the products I reviewed and that's fine by me. I didn't get paid any extra for that.
Some just look at the thousands of worth dashcams I received for review but their heads can't think I spent hundreds of hours worth of my time and effort at all.
I don't know if it's sour grapes. I need thousands of worth dashcams too.
Even a teenager can calculate 8 hours minimum wage here is over $60 and I make many times that in my regular job.
If it's for a beginner, yes getting few dashcams and spending time is fun but I don't need anymore dashcams for my use.
I have half a dozen in my car and dozens for backup.
I like playing with them.
I don't lie on reviews. I don't enhance footage before posting.
There were few bad samples from different sellers and I posted them accordingly.

 

[Dashmellow]

I've never received anything besides the product itself.
As I've posted somewhere else before, on average I spent over 8 hours in a review from making a product video, taking pictures, editing, driving around for day/night videos, watching/listening them, uploading, posting threads, updating threads and answering questions in my threads.
Some just look at the thousands of worth dashcams I received for review but their heads can't think I spent hundreds of hours worth of my time and effort at all.
I don't know if it's sour grapes. I need thousands of worth dashcams too.
Even a teenager can calculate 8 hours minimum wage here is over $60 and I make many times that in my regular job.
If it's for a beginner, yes getting few dashcams and spending time is fun but I don't need anymore dashcams for my use.
I have half a dozen in my car and dozens for backup.
I like playing with them.
I don't lie on reviews. I don't enhance footage before posting.
There were few bad samples from different sellers and I posted them accordingly.

You are a marketing tool for them regardless of your rationalizations. You ARE affiliated with them despite these denials.

 

[jokiin]

I've never received anything besides the product itself.
.

as I said, I believe you should be, I think they're taking advantage of your generosity, what you've done for them is far more valuable than what you've received in return

 

[old4570]

this happens a lot on all sorts of forums, it's their form of marketing, to be fair to Sunny I think he has looked at products in good faith and if something isn't great he has been subjective and does mention that however I think gearbest get far more out of the relationship than Sunny does as he has built a lot of marketing material for them that they're just not capable of themselves and has provided them with far greater exposure than what they could otherwise get for the products (keep in mind the forum rules say they can only promote in their own thread so having a third party do it gets around this rule) which obviously leads to sales, I don't believe he has been financially compensated for what he has done, I believe he should be though, I do believe gearbest have taken advantage of his generosity, time is money and the amount of time he spends on looking at the products, posting reviews etc is in no way compensated by the free product

Its the way things work !
Product reviews are GREAT ! , and its fantastic that Gearbest and others have a policy of sponsoring such . And obviously there is a benefit to GB and others for doing so . Exposure !
If there was no benefit in product reviews , then we would have far fewer of them .
I pretty much do a review on almost everything I buy if I think it would benefit the reader .. Information , knowledge is power !
You are empowering people to make better or more informed decisions . Or at the very least making them aware of a product which at the very least might be entertaining .
So whether the review makes you go yay or nay , does not really matter . What matters is the larger pool of information , as every review may have a slightly different perspective or problem ? or even solution .
I dont see a problem , except possibly that everyone wants to get stuff to review ( Id have to put my hand up for that )

And yes there are benefits to the sponsor of the review , and that is as it should be ..
And GB is probably one of the / if not the largest sponsor of product reviews ...

So if you want to be a product reviewer , start doing product reviews on everything you buy .. And some one may take notice and start sending you stuff ..
Also hit your local Trades / Shops ...

Over 10 years ago I used to test/review computer stuff ( Mother boards - graphics cards - coolers - stuff like that ) and I had 3 local traders lending me stuff ( not to keep ) to test / review ..
Heck , I walked out the door one day with two trays of CPU's worth $7000 dollars ... ( How trusting was that )
And another time with two graphics cards ( The only two they had worth about $1500 together ) , Ti4200 and Ti4600 I think ( When they had only just come out ) .. ( that was a long time ago ) ..
So there you go , got to start some where !