Gearbest Cube T8 purchase was HORRIBLE Internet

This is a long review because I want anyone reading to be very clear as to the deceptive practices of this company. It is clear to me that this company is not yet ready to play well in the United States. I don’t want you to make the same error in judgment that I did. Please recall the adage “Caveat Emptor” - Let the buyer beware. BEWARE!!!

Here’s my story -

On Christmas day, 2015, my 8” Lenovo tablet died. It was just one week past its warranty period. Lenovo was “unable” to do anything.

So I began looking on the 26^th for a replacement. I did not want to have to spend a lot on a tablet because my use of one is essentially limited to reading e-books, e-mail, minimal browsing and simple games.

After looking at numerous options I decided to go with the Cube T8 due to its reasonably good specs and reasonable price.

It can only be ordered from Gearbest – so that’s what I did. On the 26^th I placed my order.

I received immediate confirmation that my order and been received and then that my payment had been received.

Being the holidays, and missing my tablet, I paid extra for “Expedited shipping”.

On 12/28/15 I received an email saying that I could expect delivery in 3-10 business days.

That would have placed delivery around Jan. 1^st-11th.

It did not arrive until Jan. 20^th. So much for “expedited” shipping.

When the tablet arrived I was a bit disappointed in the quality of the “feel” of the case. It seemed somewhat flimsy – especially compared to my Lenovo – but I figured “you get what you pay for”. The only major issue I discovered with the case was that when I read e-books it would often seem to page forward of its own accord. Holding it near the mid-right of the case apparently caused the case to flex which caused the touch screen to toggle.

The second really irritating “feature” of the tablet was its charger. The charger came in two pieces – the adapter plug which could be inserted into a US standard electrical outlet and the power adapter itself. This made for a very bulky combination – but, more to the point, the two parts wouldn’t stay together. I eventually had to Super Glue them together after numerous experiences of plugging the adapter in only to have it split apart and not charge the tablet.

On April 10^th – not even three months after I received the tablet – it failed! I began to search for similar problems and possible fixes and found that several people had exactly the same problem – they received a message of low charge, plugged in the adapter and, after a reasonable period of charging (in my case overnight) the unit would not power on.

In each case where help was requested there was no information provided – just a very politely worded response saying something to the effect of “please place a formal ticket into our system and we will help you resolve the issue”.

Since there were no suggested steps to take I decided to follow the directions others had received.

I went onto Gearbest’s site and submitted a ticket saying what had transpired and asking for assistance.

Speaking of Gearbest’s site! It is the most circular, unhelpful and confounding experience I have ever had on a support site. I won’t even begin to describe the useless jumps and inaccurate instructions that you encounter. It was a nightmare to interface with.

The rest of this document is a copy of all the emails that went back and forth between me and Gearbest.

I am deleting some of the information that could be used to identify me or my purchase to maintain some semblence of protection against identity theft – but, this is what transpired.

Please note that the Tech assistant from Gearbest initially gives me two options – to return the tablet to China or to receive a $15 store credit.

Then, in a subsequent post, he suggests:

“I try to minimize the loss for you and I hope you could understand.

Therefore I don't advise you to return the package.

Please note that you need to cover the returning shipping fee in this option.

Can you please let me know your decision? First you may check with the post the cost to return the item before deciding.

Please note that you can consider the other solutions if you don't want to pay the shipping fee.”

The “other solutions” being a $15 store credit to a place I will NEVER do business with again.

My final disposition to this MESS.

I’m refusing to pay the nearly $30 that it would cost to ship this piece of (fill in the blank) back to China.

I’m recycling the Cube T8 (trashing it).

And I’m going to do everything I can to let people know what a horrible company Gearbest is and what a lousy device the Cube T8 is.

Here’s the email chain – enjoy!

On April 12^th I used the horrific customer support site to submit a ticket saying:

On 4-10-16 there was a message displayed on my Cube T8 tablet that there was a low charge.
I plugged the device into the charger shipped with the tablet.
The next morning the tablet did not power up at all.

What steps can I take to get support on this issue?

On April 13^th I received this email from Cube:

zoe zoe <admin@cube-tablet.com>

Apr 13 at 10:27 PM

Thank you for your mail.
Can you tell us your order number? We will check it for you soon.
Any question please tell us.
Best regards.
Zoe

I responded with the order number and received this email back the next day:

zoe zoe <admin@cube-tablet.com>

Apr 14 at 6:42 AM

Thank you for your mail.
All our Cube Tablet come with 12 months warranty,According our Cube's Policy,the warranty was provided by the reseller,please contact your reseller.
Any question please tell us.
Best regards.
Zoe

Now how ridiculous is this!

I write to Gearbest, the company that sold me the tablet – they forward the request to someone at the company (Cube) that made the tablet who then tells me to contact the company that sold me the tablet (Gearbest).

And all of this consumes days – not minutes or hours - the way any request has been handled that I have ever made to a support center in my life!

On April 15^th I received this message and I wrote BACK again to Gearbest:

I replied:

Ticket: Txxxxx

Order Number: WW15*************

Message Type: Faulty D.O.A, Defective

Subject: Need instructions for warranty repair

On 4/12/16 I submitted a ticket here explaining that my Cube T8 tablet had stopped functioning.

I still have no clear answer so this message will address each step you have for a warranty claim:

1. Please describe the problem with your item in details（what happened and when?)

On 4-10-16 there was a message displayed on my Cube T8 tablet that there was a low charge.
I plugged the device into the charger shipped with the tablet.
The next morning the tablet did not power up at all. 


2. Please tell us what steps you have already taken to solve the issue.

My first action was that I held the power switch down for extended time. I also tried holding down the power while holding down the volume controls.

That was unsuccessful so I submitted a request on this site on 4-12-16.
On 4-13-16 I received the following emails:

"zoe zoe 
Apr 13 at 10:27 PM

Thank you for your mail.

Can you tell us your order number? We will check it for you soon.

Any question please tell us.

Best regards.

Zoe


I Replied

To admin@cube-tablet.com Apr 14 at 1:12 AM

order # = WWzzz 


They Replied
zoe zoe 
Apr 14 at 6:42 AM

Thank you for your mail.

All our Cube Tablet come with 12 months warranty,According our Cube's Policy,the warranty was provided by the reseller,please contact your reseller.

Any question please tell us.

Best regards.

Zoe"

Since your company is the one I purchased the tablet from I am coming back to you to resolve this matter.


3. Please give us the item code indicated on the outer package.

I am not at all clear as to what the numbers on the outer package are - so I'm including a picture of the box.

The SKU# of the Tablet is 140zzzzz
The reference number of the purchase is IB14zzzzz.

4. Please send us clear picture or video of the defects in good lighting.

I am attaching pictures of the tablet and the labels on the case - but there is no damage to it. The device simply won't power up.

The process for submitting a request for replacing or repairing a purchase is very unclear.

I hope this provides all the information you need.

I need to know how to send this device back for replacement.

They replied:

Gearbest Customer Support　 At :04/16/2016 09:11:58 UTC

Thank you for your important feedback and for letting us about your experience with us.

Please rest assure that I have informed my colleague to look into the issue for you.

Please note that it will need 3-5 business days to process.

May I advise you to contact us 3 business days later?

At that time, I can offer the solutions for you.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

Kindly review warranty terms and pictures instruction are on this link http://www.gearbest.com/about/warranty-and-return.html

Thank you so much for your continued patience and kind understanding.

Best Regards

Fahim

Gearbest Customer Service

http://www.gearbest.com/

I replied:

At :04/20/2016 04:51:16 UTC

I have waited as you requested. This solution is simple - give me instructions as to how to send this device back.

It should not take 3-5 days to act on this request. Every other vendor that I have ever purchased from has a procedure to authorize a return in minutes - not days - or in this case - nearly a week.

Please respond immediately.

They replied:

Gearbest Customer Support　 At :04/20/2016 09:14:34 UTC

We very much regret issue and are fully committed to resolving it to your satisfaction.

Please kindly refer to our warranty policy here:http://www.gearbest.com/about/warranty-and-return.html

http://www.gearbest.com/about/terms-and-conditions.html

After reviewing your case, please refer to our possible solutions:

1)Return the item back to us.

You can return the item back to China as per our terms and conditions indicated in the link above.

Once we receive the item, we will offer a free repair and send the item back to you.

Please note that you need to cover the returning shipping fee in this option.

2)Keep the item and accept a partial refund on GB wallet.

We can offer a partial refund of your product value which is 15 USD on your wallet. This amount can be used for your future orders.

Can you please let me know your decision?

I look forward hearing from you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best Regards

Fahim

Gearbest Customer Service

http://www.gearbest.com/

I replied:

At :04/20/2016 11:48:20 UTC

give me the address to return it to

They replied:

Gearbest Customer Support　 At :04/21/2016 05:36:29 UTC

Thank you again for bringing these matters to our attention.

I want to extend my sincere apologies for the problems you have experienced.

I try to minimize the loss for you and I hope you could understand.

Therefore I don't advise you to return the package.

Please note that you need to cover the returning shipping fee in this option.

Can you please let me know your decision? First you may check with the post the cost to return the item before deciding.

Please note that you can consider the other solutions if you don't want to pay the shipping fee.

I look forward to hearing from you.

We are at your service, please feel free to contact us anytime.

Best Regards

Fahim

Gearbest Customer Service

http://www.gearbest.com/

I replied:

At :04/21/2016 12:17:55 UTC

Let me say this one last time ---

GIVE ME THE PROPER MAILING ADDRESS to send this back.

I can not find it ANYWHERE on your website.

I NEED the ADDRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They replied:

Gearbest Customer Support　 At :04/22/2016 07:35:59 UTC

Thank you very much for your order with our company. We very much regret for this issue and wish to take this opportunity to personally apologize to you.

Our return information is as follows:

FAO: zhigang Cui

Room 302, 3rd Floor, Building 8, Zhongxing Industrial Zone, Chuangye Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518054, China

Tel: 0755-86528120

Please note:

1. Please download the attachment and put it in the package,so we can check and contact you when we receive the package.

2. Please send the item back to us using standard flat rate shipping at your normal post office.Do NOT send using fast shipping or a courier service such as DHL, FedEx or UPS.

With courier DHL, FedEx or UPS there is a high chance that goods will be blocked at the customs,which will delay your compensation.This will also lead to high tariffs. If tariffs are charged we will act in accordance with our own policy.

3. Please return the item within 7 working days after you receive RMA authorization and return all of the original accessories and remember to use the original packaging if possible.

4. Please inform me of the Tracking Number or the Customs Form as soon as you have shipped the item(s) back to us. This will enable us to track the progress of the package return.

Please kindly follow these steps so we can solve the problem for you better.I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards

Fahim

Gearbest customer service

http://www.gearbest.com/