100% Refund Even for Counterfeit Shipments
Guaranteed Delivery Products, Automatic Refund for Delivery Delays
AliExpress has strengthened its domestic customer service by launching a 'unconditional refund' policy within 90 days and a telephone consultation service. This comes just one day after the government announced measures to enhance consumer protection for overseas platforms including AliExpress.
On the 14th, the China direct purchase (direct import) platform AliExpress announced that it has started supporting a customer center telephone consultation service to strengthen consumer protection policies.
With the launch of the customer center telephone consultation service, AliExpress customers can receive consultations by phone on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The refund policy for overseas direct purchase products will also be further strengthened. AliExpress customers can return products and receive a 100% refund unconditionally within 90 days from the payment completion date without any separate proof.
Compensation for counterfeit products or accidents during delivery will also be enhanced. If customers receive a product suspected to be counterfeit or if the ordered product is lost or damaged, they will be able to apply for a 100% refund.
Refund compensation will also be added for 'delivery promise' products that guarantee delivery periods. For '5-day delivery' and '7-day delivery' products, if the product is not delivered within 14 days from the shipping date, customers can apply for a 100% refund. For other 'delivery promise' products, if delivery is not made within 30 days, customers can apply for a refund.
Starting from the 1st of next month, if customers do not receive the product within 30 days from the shipping date, an automatic refund will be possible. Additionally, if the delivery promise period is exceeded, customers can apply for a coupon worth 1,300 KRW per order.
The refund procedure will also be simplified. From the 17th, if a customer applies for a refund and the official logistics partner collects the product, refund approval will be supported within 24 hours. For refunds that do not require returns, it is expected to take about 1 to 10 business days to process the actual payment cancellation depending on the payment method after approval.
AliExpress’s announcement of these consumer protection measures is interpreted as a response to the Fair Trade Commission’s announcement of 'consumer protection measures related to overseas online platforms.' The Fair Trade Commission announced measures the day before targeting Chinese direct purchase e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress to enforce domestic laws such as the Consumer Protection Act without discrimination.
The Fair Trade Commission plans to amend the 'Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, etc. (Electronic Commerce Act)' to mandate the designation of a 'domestic agent' for overseas platform companies above a certain scale. The policy aims to manage overseas e-commerce platforms to fulfill consumer protection obligations under the Electronic Commerce Act even if they do not have a business office in Korea.
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