Avoid Lighinthebox.com (also How To Get Your Money Back When Denied A Refund)

Discussion in Online Shopping started by Yosh • Jun 11, 2015.

  1. Yosh

    YoshActive Member

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    LightInTheBox are a really impressive looking site, offering cheap and good quality products, however this is far from the actual case. I ordered some cosplay stuff from the site about a year ago for a convention I was going to, I ordered two costumes and two wigs, both heat resistant and all a very good price considering the products I was paying for. I was told a shipping date, unfortunately it shipped a week later from big, no biggie, I had enough time and considering how high the quality was on the costumes I was certainly willing to wait.
    When they finally arrived I was charged an additional 20 euro fee for receiving the parcel.
    I was a little annoyed but eager to see my costume.
    Upon opening the box I immediately knew something was off. There was thread hanging everywhere, I proceeded to unwrap the costumes with dread. Upon further inspection nothing was sewn on correctly, buttons were hanging off, the stitching was coming apart and very notable at that. I decided I would try neaten up the costumes and with my last shred of hope decided to try them on. They were too small. Despite having given my measurements as guided by the website they were tiny! Keep in mind my clothing size is a US 6 and I had ordered up a size to avoid any ill fitting. Lovely. My 8 year old cousin decided to humour me by trying on the costume, too small for her also. To top that all off, the costumes came in the wrong colour, I was almost praying I had received the wrong order. Stressed out at this point I had completely forgotten about the wigs. I took them out at least hoping they were as advertised, I mean, it wasn't like they made those from scratch. The first one was of okay quality, heat resistant but the length was horribly off. The second which has been advertised as a curled light blonde heat resistant wig was now a poor excuse for a yellow ramen parody hat. It looked like one of those joke wigs made of terrible plastic. I decided to test out its "heat resistance" by putting a hair straightener on it, it melted into one piece.
    I got in contact with light in the box and after two weeks of back and forth contact with pictures as evidence I finally got my full refund.

    You'd think I'd have learned my lesson having been left costumeless for the convention right?
    Wrong.
    I recently decided to give them another shot, having another con to go to this year and not enough time their website boasted a fast shipping time, well, fast enough that it would get here on time for my event. I ordered two costumes, checked back over night and great. The processing/shipping time had been extended past when I needed it. I decided to cancel this as it was less than 24 hours after ordering, there was no way they had even begun processing it yet.
    I was informed by customer service that they would give me 50 percent back of what I paid, as I had apparently ordered over 72 hours ago according to them. Good to know lightinthebox has mastered some form of time travel because apparently when you order it's sent back 48 hours into the past so they can get a head start at fecking you over.
    I politely informed them the time and date I made my order at but they still refused, using the excuse "well, there is a time difference" Yeah, there is, but that makes no sense in this context whatsoever.
    They had made it very clear that I wasn't getting a full refund so I decided to open a Paypal dispute, I got my full refund immediately. Anyone who is denied a refund by lightinthebox needs to take it to Paypal immediately.
    I should have learned my lesson the first time. Don't get caught in by this website, look at other review online, trust me, it's not worth it.
     
  2. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Thank you for warning us about lightinthebox, I have stumbled upon that site before but I just browsed, I never bought anything from it. I do notice that the stitching is off at times when I buy things from China. The item is cheap, so I just let it go. I have bought from DX and Focal Price and I'm satisfied with my purchase. In Buy In Coins, my item was poorly packaged and the item got squished, but I didn't ask for a refund. I think I should have, come to think of it.
     
  3. Yosh

    YoshActive Member

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    Maybe! I'm always of the opinion that if you're not satisfied with the product, you should try your best to get your money back, especially if there's damage to your item. It's always disheartening to have to do, because often you need the item before a certain time. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Focal price or Buy in Coins though!
     
  4. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Both Focal Price and Buy In Coins have their own stores in Ebay too, if you want to check them out. At the time I felt "guilty" because I got to receive the item and it's functioning and it's only $3+, so I didn't feel like asking for a refund. From now on, I will. Where do you now buy your cosplay stuff after you almost got scammed?
     
  5. SweetMamaKaty

    SweetMamaKatyActive Member

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    Oh, I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with them!

    I have a family member who has ordered a couple special occasion dresses from them with great results. She was very happy with how they were packaged, the delivery time, item quality, everything. This is a good reminder to be careful ordering online I guess.
     
  6. Yosh

    YoshActive Member

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    I found a new site called cosplaysky! Their quality is absolutely amazing, definitely worth the little extra. Super fast processing and delivery time. Absolutely no problems with anything I've ordered there.

    I'm glad it worked out for her. I've had numerous problems with them. I guess it just depends on the luck of the draw, as they say!
     
    #6Jun 13, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 17, 2015
  7. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I see. Since the quality is good, I guess they're not a Chinese site, right? After your experience with lightinthebox, will you still consider buying from other Chinese site for other items? Or you will totally avoid all Chinese stores now?
     
  8. Yosh

    YoshActive Member

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    It is actually a Chinese site, funnily enough. I'm not sure why there's such a vast difference in quality, but I absolutely adore what I got from them, and I'm wearing it right at the moment. The material is soft and comfey enough to just lounge in. In that respect, I would trust Chinese sites. I think I'll just be doing a bit more research on them in the future :)
     
  9. rightct

    rightctActive Member

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    It's sad to see the experience you've had with them, but I honestly never encountered any issues. I'm a thoroughly happy customer which has ordered 100+ items in a time span of 1 year, always delivered promptly, no hidden fees, no questions asked. I paid, they delivered. It seems that luck really interferes in the equation, haha. Though you got your money back, and that's fine! :)
     
  10. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I guess their stocks are better? I finally checked out cosplaysky, and they also charge you for shipping like lightinthebox. I only shop on Chinese sites that offer free shipping, so I guess I will never try them out, lol. The earphones that I bought from China are of decent quality, except for one, and I am raving over the sound quality of the fake Sennheiser earphones that I bought! What a find! :)
     
  11. Yosh

    YoshActive Member

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    I'm glad you've had a good experience with them. I don't personally think I'll ever consider using their services again. They did charge me extra fees and taxes when the items arrived which really annoyed me.