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Hello people,
I tried my best to keep it short. I would really appreciate your viewpoint on this, even if you don't know about Alibaba Trade Assurance. I think nobody knows the exact rules, but maybe some common sense answers from you guys might point in the right direction.
I ordered FCL inventory for 2 different products from the same supplier via Alibaba. In the Purchase Order document I specified minimum of 12 hours working time on a fully charged (built-in rechargeable) battery. Inspection by Topwin showed only 7 hours. Supplier tested it themselves after and they confirmed this 7 hour in our Wechat conversation and even sent a letter of apology later on.
It was urgent to have inventory for Christmas, so I was in a hurry. They did not want to compensate for the bad quality by refunding a part of the order value. I then asked full refund and they can keep their products, they said no. I asked whether they can repair it then, for one product they said no and for the other product they said yes. This would delay shipment by 25 days for both products and I would lose a lot of sales for both products (it was way less expensive to have it shipped together as FCL).
Some questions:
1)I decided to have the products shipped anyway, because if I did trade assurance application before shipment, then the outcome would be either that Alibaba approves it (and I am without inventory) or they decline and I have a late shipment and thus again lost sales. Both options meant losses for me. At least now I could get some sales for sure by shipment being on time.
I now want to apply for Trade Assurance to at least get a compensation for their mistake.
The question is, does Alibaba Trade assurance cover such losses? So losses because of delayed shipment because of repair or having placed trust in a supplier and being left with no inventory in case of full refund?
Edit: Alibaba's Trade Assurance rules does say that Trade Assurance will cover shipment delays (and quality problems ofcourse), but it does not say whether you will get compensation if the shipment delay is caused by repair or if you have decided to ship it regardless of the bad quality.
2) One thing to keep in mind here is that the Trade Assurance contract for this order says post-shipment coverage, meaning that I can inspect it after receiving the products. But still I did inspection pre-shipment in China. Also Alibaba gives the possibility to do pre-shipment inspection (see the Alibaba automatically generated contract for this order below in purple text).
Would Alibaba say that I can not do Trade Assurance at all anymore because we agreed on Wechat on pre-shipment inspection and I still chose to have it shipped? Taking in mind again that if I did Trade Assurance pre-shipment, I would either get refunded and be left without inventory or no refund at all and on top of that a delayed shipment.
edit: I contacted alibaba customer support for this question and they said that I can decide to ship the products and apply for Trade Assurance later. But I don't know how much weight I should give to this answer, since it does not say whether you will actually get compensation for it then.
The Alibaba standard generated contract for this order says this about inspection:
''If Buyer and Seller agreed to arrange for the products go through a product inspection process, the parties may agree on the terms of the inspection, such as method, inspection institution, fees, and etc., by way of a supplemental agreement. If both Parties have agreed “Inspection & Logistics Service Trade Assurance”, Buyer shall also be entitled to have the Products inspected before shipping (and Seller shall provide all necessary assistance to complete the relevant inspection so that the shipping of Products remains unaffected), so that Buyer can benefit from information relating to the inspection and shipping of the Products. "
But I have asked some suppliers and they all say that they can not choose the Trade Assurance type when creating an order. The Trade Assurance gets automatically set to Post-Shipment Coverage. So maybe this makes our agreement on Wechat on pre-shipment inspection the valid rule. But, maybe the word ''also'' in the part ''Buyer shall also be entitled to have the Products inspected'' means that I have both the right to pre-shipment and post-shipment and that the one does not exclude the other...
3) Is the sentence in the Purchase Contract ''battery should last a minimum of 12 hours on a full charge'' worded in a way that is eligible for Trade Assurance? Is it technical enough?
4)Do you think it will put my relationship with the supplier in danger by applying for a refund and they will not want to sell to me anymore? They have admitted themselves that they are wrong. I have been a good customer for them so far and accepted their previous batches.
5)I would like to ask for a refund of half the price of total order, but I am afraid that Alibaba will find it unreasonable and thus reject the whole request for refund. Should I ask for a lower refund and be more on the safe side, or will Alibaba look at the amount and make it lower if they find it more reasonable? Thus no danger in asking for a higher amount?
6) In this case I have done inspection by Topwin, not an inspection company that is appointed by Alibaba (SGS, TUV or BV). Also the manufacturer has sent a letter of apology and have admitted themselves on Wechat that the battery was not as promised. Is it still wise to first have inspection done by SGS, TUV or BV before applying or Trade Assurance or is the current evidence sufficient to start it and I should wait for Alibaba to appoint an inspection company themselves?
Genuine thanks in advance!
I tried my best to keep it short. I would really appreciate your viewpoint on this, even if you don't know about Alibaba Trade Assurance. I think nobody knows the exact rules, but maybe some common sense answers from you guys might point in the right direction.
I ordered FCL inventory for 2 different products from the same supplier via Alibaba. In the Purchase Order document I specified minimum of 12 hours working time on a fully charged (built-in rechargeable) battery. Inspection by Topwin showed only 7 hours. Supplier tested it themselves after and they confirmed this 7 hour in our Wechat conversation and even sent a letter of apology later on.
It was urgent to have inventory for Christmas, so I was in a hurry. They did not want to compensate for the bad quality by refunding a part of the order value. I then asked full refund and they can keep their products, they said no. I asked whether they can repair it then, for one product they said no and for the other product they said yes. This would delay shipment by 25 days for both products and I would lose a lot of sales for both products (it was way less expensive to have it shipped together as FCL).
Some questions:
1)I decided to have the products shipped anyway, because if I did trade assurance application before shipment, then the outcome would be either that Alibaba approves it (and I am without inventory) or they decline and I have a late shipment and thus again lost sales. Both options meant losses for me. At least now I could get some sales for sure by shipment being on time.
I now want to apply for Trade Assurance to at least get a compensation for their mistake.
The question is, does Alibaba Trade assurance cover such losses? So losses because of delayed shipment because of repair or having placed trust in a supplier and being left with no inventory in case of full refund?
Edit: Alibaba's Trade Assurance rules does say that Trade Assurance will cover shipment delays (and quality problems ofcourse), but it does not say whether you will get compensation if the shipment delay is caused by repair or if you have decided to ship it regardless of the bad quality.
2) One thing to keep in mind here is that the Trade Assurance contract for this order says post-shipment coverage, meaning that I can inspect it after receiving the products. But still I did inspection pre-shipment in China. Also Alibaba gives the possibility to do pre-shipment inspection (see the Alibaba automatically generated contract for this order below in purple text).
Would Alibaba say that I can not do Trade Assurance at all anymore because we agreed on Wechat on pre-shipment inspection and I still chose to have it shipped? Taking in mind again that if I did Trade Assurance pre-shipment, I would either get refunded and be left without inventory or no refund at all and on top of that a delayed shipment.
edit: I contacted alibaba customer support for this question and they said that I can decide to ship the products and apply for Trade Assurance later. But I don't know how much weight I should give to this answer, since it does not say whether you will actually get compensation for it then.
The Alibaba standard generated contract for this order says this about inspection:
''If Buyer and Seller agreed to arrange for the products go through a product inspection process, the parties may agree on the terms of the inspection, such as method, inspection institution, fees, and etc., by way of a supplemental agreement. If both Parties have agreed “Inspection & Logistics Service Trade Assurance”, Buyer shall also be entitled to have the Products inspected before shipping (and Seller shall provide all necessary assistance to complete the relevant inspection so that the shipping of Products remains unaffected), so that Buyer can benefit from information relating to the inspection and shipping of the Products. "
But I have asked some suppliers and they all say that they can not choose the Trade Assurance type when creating an order. The Trade Assurance gets automatically set to Post-Shipment Coverage. So maybe this makes our agreement on Wechat on pre-shipment inspection the valid rule. But, maybe the word ''also'' in the part ''Buyer shall also be entitled to have the Products inspected'' means that I have both the right to pre-shipment and post-shipment and that the one does not exclude the other...
3) Is the sentence in the Purchase Contract ''battery should last a minimum of 12 hours on a full charge'' worded in a way that is eligible for Trade Assurance? Is it technical enough?
4)Do you think it will put my relationship with the supplier in danger by applying for a refund and they will not want to sell to me anymore? They have admitted themselves that they are wrong. I have been a good customer for them so far and accepted their previous batches.
5)I would like to ask for a refund of half the price of total order, but I am afraid that Alibaba will find it unreasonable and thus reject the whole request for refund. Should I ask for a lower refund and be more on the safe side, or will Alibaba look at the amount and make it lower if they find it more reasonable? Thus no danger in asking for a higher amount?
6) In this case I have done inspection by Topwin, not an inspection company that is appointed by Alibaba (SGS, TUV or BV). Also the manufacturer has sent a letter of apology and have admitted themselves on Wechat that the battery was not as promised. Is it still wise to first have inspection done by SGS, TUV or BV before applying or Trade Assurance or is the current evidence sufficient to start it and I should wait for Alibaba to appoint an inspection company themselves?
Genuine thanks in advance!
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