Contec Medical Systems Co Ltd and AliExpress.com : Buyer Beware

Anyone contemplating to buy medical equipment from Contec Medical Systems Co. Ltd. in China please beware of their seemingly unprofessional business tactics. I am sharing with you below my recent less than satisfactory experience with this seller, who operates under a variety of names: Contec Medical Systems Co. Ltd., Contec Medical Store, Contec Medical, Contec Medical Consultant, Contec Medical System, Contec Online Shop, Contec Medical eShop, Contec Flagship Store, etc.

From Canada, through AliExpress.com, I ordered a piece of equipment (24 Hour Ambulatory Automatic Blood Pressure, Oxygen Saturation, NIBP + Pulse Rate + SpO2 Patient Monitor Model PM50) from Contec Online Shop.

After my payment was verified by AliExpress, Contec sent me a message saying that due to certain virus in their system, they have listed a wrong price on their website. Contec suggested that I should cancel my order or pay a higher price. I responded saying that I really needed the patient monitor. Contec did not respond to a number of my subsequent messages.

Upon my suggestion that I would bring the matter up with AliExpress, Contec quoted me a price which was 8 times higher than their original listed price. Since I really needed the equipment, I had to agree to pay them the higher price, which I did, through AliExpress again.

However, upon closer inspection, I found that the new quoted price was actually for a superficially similar, but a lower and cheaper model which only does ABPM but not Oxygen Saturation,  Pulse Rate, nor SpO2. Contec sneaked in this Model No. ABPM50 instead of my original order for Model No. PM50. After I pointed out the discrepancy to them, Contec stopped responding to my messages. By any standard measure, this is unprofessional conduct.

Seeing that I could get nowhere with this seller, I made a formal complaint to AliExpress, requesting them to investigate the case to see if the seller meets the AliExpress touted standard on business conduct and integrity. It took AliExpress one whole month to give me a response, basically saying that it is not their business.

So then the current situation is that I paid money (twice) to AliExpress for the merchandise. The seller is not shipping. And AliExpress does not seem to care.

I therefore suggest here that anyone who is looking at buying medical equipment from Contec Medical Systems Co. Ltd. should carefully confirm the price and model number and obtain an expressed guarantee that the item will be shipped as promised. Alternatively, there are other more reputable sellers in other more established and  more reliable e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay, who will stand by the buyer to obtain a fair deal with their sellers.