Ordering off Aliexpress? Advice?

Aghori said:
View attachment 1470135
Click to expand...
If one looks at the blue line and the vertical line, it shows already in Durban. Are you waiting for a delivery, or have you been to the post-office with your tracking number as shown on the order page of Aliexpress to get your parcel?

The post-office will not deliver it, you have to harass them with the tracking number until they find it. It took me two months to get it, after I have been to the post-office twice per week. It arrived at 6/12/2022 at the post-office according to the date on the parcel, they apparently only found it on 2/2/2023.
 
Stokstert said:
If one looks at the blue line and the vertical line, it shows already in Durban. Are you waiting for a delivery, or have you been to the post-office with your tracking number as shown on the order page of Aliexpress to get your parcel?

The post-office will not deliver it, you have to harass them with the tracking number until they find it. It took me two months to get it, after I have been to the post-office twice per week. It arrived at 6/12/2022 at the post-office according to the date on the parcel, they apparently only found it on 2/2/2023.
Click to expand...

Ja I've been to the poeskantoor twice, with both tracking numbers that they sent me. Nope nada nothing. I'll try again next week.
 
Aghori said:
Ja I've been to the poeskantoor twice, with both tracking numbers that they sent me. Nope nada nothing. I'll try again next week.
Click to expand...

Try this one & see if it tells any differant - possible its sitting in Durmail which it will before it clears to the PO

Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking

Parcel Tracking Worldwide. Track Parcel in USA. Global postal tracking from eBay, AliExpress, ASOS, Shein, Amazon. Tracking packages from China, UK, Germany
parcelsapp.com parcelsapp.com
 
Tun@ said:
Try this one & see if it tells any differant - possible its sitting in Durmail which it will before it clears to the PO

Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking

Parcel Tracking Worldwide. Track Parcel in USA. Global postal tracking from eBay, AliExpress, ASOS, Shein, Amazon. Tracking packages from China, UK, Germany
parcelsapp.com parcelsapp.com
Click to expand...

In Transit. In Transit JIMC B SUR, ECON, SAL LETTERS

Whatever that mean... possibly still laying somewhere in a post office sorting room.
 
Tun@ said:
Try this one & see if it tells any differant - possible its sitting in Durmail which it will before it clears to the PO

Universal Parcel Tracking - Global Package Tracking

Parcel Tracking Worldwide. Track Parcel in USA. Global postal tracking from eBay, AliExpress, ASOS, Shein, Amazon. Tracking packages from China, UK, Germany
parcelsapp.com parcelsapp.com
Click to expand...
That universal tracking works like a bomb, all my 3 orders show as collected on the just dates..
 
redarrow said:
Much like any other shipping forwarding company..

You open an account with them here: https://www.aramexglobalshopper.com they give you addresses in various parts of the world, then when ordering stuff you enter the address exactly as AGS provides, once the stuff arrives they inform you, you pay them and they courier it to your door.
Click to expand...
Does AGS consolidate at all, considering how Aliexpress splits up orders if they don’t it could get very expensive?
Does AGS charge any disbursement charge or other fees when your shipments hit South Afric?
 
airborne said:
Does AGS consolidate at all, considering how Aliexpress splits up orders if they don’t it could get very expensive?
Does AGS charge any disbursement charge or other fees when your shipments hit South Afric?
Click to expand...
They don't consolidate as far as I know, I've not personally needed consolidation though.

All the times I've used them there has only ever been two charges at most, one being their shipment fee which is a single fee all the way to my door, the other being import duty/VAT which I've not been charged every single time (I don't ask questions when that happens :D).
 
Aghori said:
In Transit. In Transit JIMC B SUR, ECON, SAL LETTERS

Whatever that mean... possibly still laying somewhere in a post office sorting room.
Click to expand...

I also ordered a couple phone covers for me and my parents in Nov. My tracking is also stuck in that SAL LETTERS line since 10th Jan. The expected delivery was 29th Jan. No luck in trying anything.
 
MidnightZA said:
I also ordered a couple phone covers for me and my parents in Nov. My tracking is also stuck in that SAL LETTERS line since 10th Jan. The expected delivery was 29th Jan. No luck in trying anything.
Click to expand...

Prob lying in SAPO warehouse gathering dust...inept and slow workers here dgaf.
 
I ordered many items last year. They all arrived, eventually. Most stuff took 32~45 days, but some stuff took like 3-5 months. I did have 2 items from random sellers in random countries on eBay that took much longer, but eventually arrived.

The problem is the government keeps closing down post offices. And if you go to whatever post office your stuff has been moved to during load shedding, they are sitting in the dark. The gov doesn't even give them LED headlamps. Nevermind a generator or UPS for the lights and computers.

The SAPO computer system is so unreliable that they're told by upper management to write down all tracking numbers and names an addresses with a pen, by hand, in a book (in addition to the computer). They have one "functioning" computer in the whole office, with a CRT screen. Because they enter stuff into their SAPO computer system, then sometimes when they check later the information has disappeared.

Bear in mind that the book has no index and stuff is not sorted in any sort of alphabetical or numeric order. So when you ask them if they have your item, they have to read every line of the book. At my remaining local post office they said they receive 500-800 packages per week.

They're quite stressed and say they're overworked and under-paid and under-staffed. Doing the job of what used to be 3-5 post offices without any additional staff.

But I guess due to the constant brain drain maybe there's hopefully less stuff being ordered from overseas.
===============
Be aware not to order from scammers on AliExpress who
* Only opened their shop a few months ago
* Don't have a shop name (having a shop name doesn't mean they're not a scammer, but if their shop is titled Shop545345346 then steer clear)
* Have no feedback as sellers
* Have no/few positive reviews on the item you're buying

AliExpress have been good about giving me refunds when stuff arrives that's got serious problems.
So I Tried ordering from a new shop recently. The item was about 20% cheaper than established stores and supposedly had 15 day DHL shipping, for cheap. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thought maybe they're doing a promoiton for their new shop.
What the scammer did, is they didn't bother sending anything.
The scammer sent me a tracking number that they had observed/stolen from someone else's package, it was to a woman in a different suburb in Cape Town, and it was clothing, whereas I ordered a computer part.
So that's how the scam works. They give a real DHL tracking number going from China to your city, but the tracking number is neither theirs, nor yours.
When I requested a refund, the seller tried rejecting my refund claim. Then AliExpress asked me if I was happy with that. I said no, I showed proof (video of me calling DHL with provided tracking number) then seller suggested that only the item cost excluding the shipping cost should be refunded. AliExpress asked me if I was happy with that. I said "No, I want a full refund, they didn't send anything, that tracking number is for wrong type of item and not for me. So they didn't even send anything at all." Then finally AliExpress said they will offer me a full refund. Then I had to respond and say "Yes, I will accept a full refund." And finally AliExpress finalized the dispute saying they'd give me a full refund. Then a few days later they refunded me in full.

Definitely a waste of time. And you have to keep tabs on it, because if you don't respond within 15 days of the fake delivery or 3 days of an AliExpress dispute question then probably you won't get a refund.

The 95% chance that it's a waste of time is not worth the 5% chance of getting a genuinely good promotion from a new seller. Let someone else be the guineapig.

====================

However when buying from established sellers I've always had good experience.

The only problem is that the SAPO sucks so badly. And the problem with Aramex Global Shopper is they don't do consolidation.

I have used reship.com and viabox.com in the past (USA based), they do consolidation, but with the socalled pandemic the supply chain has gotten f'd and shipping costs are sky high. So that's not an option anymore, for me.

==================

Don't rely on receiving paper slips. Track your international tracking numbers and then go to the post office when it says the stuff has arrived. If the staff happen to record in their computer that your stuff arrived, then it gets updated on the international tracking.
But often they're just overwhelmed and just "put it somewhere" without recording it on the computer that it has arrived. So once it's "been a while" every once in a while you need to go check if your stuff is there. Be kind to the staff, their jobs are challenging.

===================

I've ordered hundreds of things in the last 15 years and only ever had 1 or 2 (small cheap) things not arrive. Last time I checked 13 months was the longest I had to wait for something. I know someone who received a book that was posted 14 years prior (100% guaranteed fact). So more likely than not it's somewhere in a SAPO somewhere, and if the past is any indication, it will arrive eventually. Maybe after you're dead or have emigrated, even. But it will probably arrive.
 
Last edited:
I've got more than 15 items that I ordered in December where the foreign shipping companies have stopped tracking the parcels. They're saying like >95 days. I think once it goes beyond 75 or 80 days they stop tracking.
Then you basically have to go check at the post office all the time. If you're lucky you might get paper slips. But if you wait for them they might just discard your stuff. Who knows. Once someone from the post office called me and said I've got max 2 (or 3, I can't remember) weeks to collect or they discard your stuff. Whether that's policy or some staff member just decided that's their policy, I don't know.

Ordering in November and especially December is very dangerous in terms of your stuff getting stuck in the pipes for a few months, or worse. But at the time I figured December is probably better than january. But to be on the safe side you should probably only order between March and October, if you want a good chance of your tracking numbers working and stuff taking a reasonable amount of time to arrive.

I don't really know anything about how things really work etc, I don't think anyone does, especially the government. So your mileage may vary. TIA.
 
Hi there,

I wanted to find out this week I ordered off Aliexpress but to my surprise the tracking number ends in ZA.

And not for one order buy a few where I used Aliexpress standard shipping.

I've bought many times before from Aliexpress but the tracking number always ended in SG or CN.

Has this happened to anyone else and if so how do you track your orders when they reach South Africa coz 17track doesn't seem to work.
 
Last edited:
Hows an update on this thread lads?

Ordered my first two items on alliexpress, ordered around 20th April and i got update saying arrived in Durban (linehaul office) on the 28th April.
I'd say that is damn quick, no?

Another query how to know which PO to harass?
I only ever used our old residence for wish etc and i knew which PO that went to. But with this new alliexpress order i used our new address.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X