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and the utterly bizarre methods we had to use to resolve what we personally consider to be a flat-out case of theft. This could have been settled by the seller in 90 seconds.
Below is a normal example of what you'll get just about any time you struggle to contact Lazada by any means through any medium in any way for any reason, regardless of day or time. The look of the rejection will change of course, but it's crystal clear Lazada DOES NOT WANT ANYONE TO CONTACT THEM EVER. Not ever. Not for any reason. If it can't be handled by a mindless bot, which will just screw it up, then Lazada will go to EXTREME lengths to not be informed of it and never be bothered with it. That's leaves their customers only one option: Chargeback. There's nothing else we can do. We've tried every kind of phone contact for Lazada; we've tried every kind of mailing contact; we've tried every kind of bot chat option; we've tried every kind of email option. We tried for days. We even tried to hand-deliver this to Lazada HQ which is a few blocks from us. They're wouldn't allow us in the building and they wouldn't allow us to hand them these documents. The best we ever got from contact attempts was something like that shown below. It's the Lazada Way and they are world famous for it. Absolutely world famous. We would turn this over to the Philippines government, but they operate on a par with Lazada, so even that is pointless.
The following is the "explanation" document, faxed to VISA Chargeback Disputes as part of the filing documents:
VISA Chargebacks
FAX # 727-571-4598This is a simple case, or it could have been if the seller had had half a brain:
FACT: The 12 cans were NOT shipped.
FACT: Lazada has made it impossible to submit video proof.
FACT: The seller actively refuses to help in any way whatsoever.
FACT: We’re simply not going to tolerate this BS anymore from a company made up largely of thieves, con-artists, shysters and fraudsters.Enough is enough. Someone has to send a signal to Lazada that their victims are tired, and we’re angry, and we’re not going to take this any more. We want $7.92 back and by God, one way or another, the easy way or the hard way, we’re going to get it.
WE. DON’T. LIKE. THIEVES.We ordered 12 cans of RedBull from PremiereWS, a Lazada shop in the Philippines.
Simple, huh? But not so fast. This is SE Asia.
They delivered 8 cans. This was EASY to solve. It doesn’t GET any easier. But this is Lazada; we must never forget that. It’s GUARANTEED to be a nightmare.
We disputed the missing 4 cans online on the Lazada website.
We tried to upload our unpacking video for that dispute, which is a high-rez, good lighting security video, showing clearly that the box contained only 8 cans. But the Lazada website wouldn’t accept the video. Perhaps the site didn’t like the format (MP4), or perhaps the file was too big. In any case, we instead submitted a picture of the 8 cans. In a normal world, that would have been sufficient. The seller need only look at their inventory to see they had 4 cans unaccounted for (unless an employee stole them, or unless the owner was simply a thief and fraudster himself). Or, they could have looked at the weight of the box they shipped out to see it was short the weight of 4 cans. These types of things are child’s play in the Real World. But they are impossibly confusing problems for many SE Asian businesses (which is part of the reason they’re so poor).
We also tried to upload the URL of the YouTube unpacking video (https://youtu.be/Ct3tdn7PuIc), but of course the Lazada website would not accept any links. This video is 1080p. The original is 4k.
Lazada immediately rejected our claim based on the still image (jpg), saying we had not provided proof of claim.
We immediately tried to contact Lazada through other means, to give them the link to the unpacking video which we had uploaded to a YouTube site for convenience. We tried every way possible to get the YouTube link to Lazada (https://youtu.be/Ct3tdn7PuIc) without success. But their system blocks any type of link (and apparently plain video files as well).
We also tried to call Lazada, but this way lies madness. You will never, ever, EVER get someone to come on line, and this is, we absolutely believe, by design. Lazada wants to frustrate the customer into giving up. Of course the USA FTC would have shut Lazada down decades ago for this crap. But this is SE Asia.
We tried for about 90 minutes to find some way to re-submit the claim. Two of us, myself (a coder) and a Filipina (a Call Center Manager here in Manila) devoured the Lazada site trying to find a way to do this, but there does not seem to be any link, button, or other mechanism to do this, even though countless online help sites refer to such a link, button or other method. It simply does not exist. Lazada doesn’t WANT you to have any other recourse. The dishonesty of this is beyond description.
We tried the Lazada Chat option. You will never get their AI to comprehend the problem, and even if it does, it will simply lead you in circles with ridiculous suggestions and you will never, ever find any resolution to any problem at all. You will only waste time and patience trying, and you’ll get angrier and angrier and more determined to expose Lazada, as we did.
We finally began appealing to the store itself, PremiereWS. They were of less than no help, and appeared to us to be somewhat mentally handicapped. They argued and tried to deflect. They showed us an image of 12 cans stacked up on a table, with an invoice we could not read, and suggested that was proof they had shipped us 12 cans. Of course that is nonsense. No box was shown, no weight was given, and who knows what invoice they were displaying.
We pushed them as long and as hard as we possibly could to LOOK AT OUR UNBOXING VIDEO. We supplied them the URL again and again and again via a variety of methods. We can track that video on YouTube. It has not been accessed even once. PremiereWS clearly does not want to view anything that will disprove their case and show them to be scammers. They are, in our opinion, flat-out, blatant thieves.
PremiereWS at first suggested we should click a certain link on the Lazada site to re-submit the claim. But of course no such button exists. PremiereWS could have, of course, resolved this themselves in 49 seconds by viewing the unboxing video and then sending out the missing cans. But that kind of logic is lightyears beyond this outfit.
They then suggested we should simply call Lazada. We had already told them we had tried. Attempts to call Lazada from both a USA number and a Phil number will only have you sitting on hold until you give up – or, in many case, while you’re on hold, you are unceremoniously disconnected and you must begin the absurd process again and again. Lazada knows this well. It’s part of their plan.
By Oct 13, PremiereWS stopped responding to us (probably blocked us). That is the standard Lazada M.O. and we posit there is not one single Filipino who would not agree with that. Lazada is the most universally mistrusted and reviled retailer in all of SE Asia.To wit:
Google results: Lazada Sucks: About 424,000 results (0.28 seconds)
Google results: Lazada Fraud: About 621,000 results (0.35 seconds)Now, as stated, PremiereWS has stopped reading our messages entirely, so we are at a dead end.
Please understand that we realize fully that this is a small amount to dispute, but please also realize this:
We place an average of 1-4 Lazada orders PER DAY, and we have for many years in most SE Asian countries. How many times have we been screwed, stolen from, cheated or defrauded? It averages about 1 in 10 orders. SOMETHING will be wrong with the order; it will be the wrong item. Or once a box was stuffed with empty candy wrappers and across the outside of the box was written “You don’t need to receive this one item”. Often the item is broken or missing parts or pieces or is so faulty it cannot possibly work and never did work as designed. Often it never shows up at all. We have chosen to eat nearly every single one of those cases over more than a decade. Now, however, we’re declaring a red line.
Lazada, we believe, has clearly structured their website so that disputes are either stunningly difficult to prosecute or, usually, downright impossible. The only recourse we have is the protections available through our credit cards. There is no “Small Claims” court in the Philippines.
FACT: The 12 cans were NOT shipped.
FACT: Lazada has made it impossible to submit video proof.
FACT: The seller actively refuses to help in any way whatsoever.
FACT: We’re simply not going to tolerate this BS anymore from a company made up largely of thieves, con-artists, shysters and fraudsters. Enough is enough. Someone has to send a signal to Lazada that their victims are tired, and we’re angry, and we’re not going to take this any more. We want $7.92 back and by God, one way or another, the easy way or the hard way, we’re going to get it.
WE. DON’T. LIKE. THIEVES.
Order number: 91098014316xxxx
Placed on 07 Oct 2024 14:13:43
Paid on 07 Oct 2024 14:13:49
Shipped on 08 Oct 2024 13:18:41
Delivered on 09 Oct 2024 17:46:37
Paid by Credit/Debit Card (BECU VISA) 4997 as shown below:
10/8/2024 LAZADA PH MAKATI PH $23.76
$1.98 per can (12 cans based on $23.76 divided by 12)
4 missing cans
$7.92 owing for missing product
A website documenting this fiasco is located at the following URL. This URL was delivered to PremiereWS. They refuse to view the page. These are honorable professionals – NOT.
https://www.truth-or-consequences.com/PremiereWS-Lazada/premierews-lazada.html
xxxxx xxxxxxxx
October 13, 2024
Unpacking Video link:
https://youtu.be/Ct3tdn7PuIc
Public anti-Lazada website link:
https://www.truth-or-consequences.com/PremiereWS-Lazada/premierews-lazada.html
The outcome will be posted here, probably in mid November, 2024, but if the chargeback is unsuccessful, we will take the matter to a formal court here in Manila. We are THAT sick of being ripped off by Lazada's thieves and fools.
