MY experience purchasing at www.lazada.com.ph . A scam or not?
Update Jul 13:
So in the end, I decided to refund my order since more than a month passed since I paid for the item. It seems like they don't track how my orders have been placed on a particular item so what they have in inventory will not match what is displayed on the website. A TYPICAL CASE OF OVERBOOKING -- similar to what budget airlines do. This is the primary reason why potential lazada.com.ph SHOULD AVOID PURCHASING. Imagine how much hassle it would cost you if you paid for an item but you are kept in the dark whether it will arrive or not -- for more than a month. A call from them would have mitigated my frustration BUT THERE WAS NO CALL NOTIFYING ME THAT I WON'T BE RECEIVING MY ITEM. At first, I had to contact them by email which took 5 days to more than a week before I got a response and some were ignored. I tried their hotline which usually made me wait for 5-10minutes and give a different response every time and different from their online support. Imagine doing this for a month. They promise to call you once they get an update but they never do unless you call them a third time within a day. Holy crap impossible. Online merchants from sulit and tpc do way better than these guys.
When I finally decided to refund the item, they said that it would take 1-3 business days. But really, I had to follow up 3 times and took 5 days for it to be refunded. Add the 3day check clearing time to that and it took a grand total of 8 days. They said that they'll email me a scan of the deposit slip but all that I got is a text email 2 days after the check was deposited in my account.
In the end, I finally bought the item from a merchant in tpc. I had to spend 180p for the shipping and it cost 500p more in total. They have a promo that gives 300 pesos discounts on orders 1200p up. The item I was ordering costs approx 1100k+, so I decided to order another item that costs 350+ so that I can avail of the promo. The thing is that the 300p discount will be divided on the items. The 1100+ item got the 250+ discount and the 350+ item got about 50p discount. I received the 350+ item a week after I paid for the item which is the item I did not really need. And the 1100+ peso item that I really intended to buy did not arrive. I only got the item I did not intend to buy which I paid 300 pesos for. I RECEIVED THE ITEM I DID NOT REALLY WANT, AND PAID FOR IT WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN ALMOST FREE IF I RECEIVED THE INTENDED ITEM. YES, THAT'S RIGHT. I FEEL LIKE I WAS SCAMMED into buying an item that was supposed to be free.
So, this transaction cost me:
About an hour to pay for the items
Over a month of waiting
Hours emailing support
Hours waiting on their hotline
Mental torture because of missed promises
40% more cash spent on the actual item
Final Verdict on lazada.com.ph:
DEFINITELY AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
*Unless you live in metro manila and you can avail of Cash on Delivery (COD) then you'll have more peace of mind since you won't be charged unless the items arrive. The only case I'll warn you is if they ship the items individually, and the cheaper items arrive first, then you are probably in trouble.
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It might be a legit business but god damn are they disorganized. one of the items i ordered didn't arrive because they said that it's out of stock. THEY hAD THE FRIGGIN ITEM LISTED ON THEIR WEBSITE FOR 7 DAYS AFTER I RECEIVED THE FIRST ITEM SO WHY ARE THEY TELLING ME THAT IT'S OUT OF STOCK. WHY DID THEY HAVE IT LISTED FOR 7 DAYS IF THEY HAVE NO STOCK.
If I were you, look somewhere else. god damn.
