Deal Extreme Experience? Credit Card vs Paypal?

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DualMonitors

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Hi All:

I'm newish to this and am very tempted to buy some flashlights from Deal Extreme. I live in the USA and everything, i.e. credit cards, are US-based. So there's nothing unusual about shipping address versus billing address...etc.

however, in trying to place an order as a gift (shipped to another country), i wanted to buy 2 flashlights to send to someone who lives, coincidently, very close to where Deal Extreme is, i found that it is not possible to use my Paypal account! i've only rarely used my Paypal for US-based purchases, i.e. ebay, etc. there is no possibility to add a non-US address to ship things to!

i also noticed that even though Deal Extreme's check out says EXPLICITLY that they ONLY take Paypal, when you check out, there is a link if you wish to use your credit card! Huh? so do they only accept Paypal exclusively or not? i'm confused.

i'm rather hesitant to give them my credit card information, as they have not replied to my requests for information (i asked them this question via a form on their site). on the other hand, they appear to be an upstanding, honest company/site, since so many have purchased from them.

one final possibility is to order from them, have them ship the merchandise to me here in the US, then i will have to in turn ship to the foreign country via US Postal Service. this is a drag as i'll have to wrap/box/tape/fill out forms and pay shipping for shipping this gift.

may i kindly ask what your experience has been with Deal Extreme? have you ever shipped items to someone else, in a different country, even though you yourself, the credit card holder, is in the USA?

thx very much in advance!

so confused by them!

PS: i also tried calling them about 10 times last night, carefully timing the calls so i catch them during their listed open hours, and avoiding their "lunch break". each and every call was met with a recording that says that their phone is turned off!!
 

HKJ

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They are probably using paypal as their credit card handler, i.e. they do not see your card.

I have only bought from the with paypal an only to me own address and it has worked fine, but the delivery times can be a bit long.
 

Marduke

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Huntsville, AL
There is an option on DX to send the item as a gift to a non-billing address.

To my knowledge, they only take PayPal.
 

DualMonitors

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There is an option on DX to send the item as a gift to a non-billing address.

To my knowledge, they only take PayPal.

Hi Marduke: yes, they do have a "gift" option to a non-billing address, however, the "gift address" must include a state and a zip and the country must be USA. the person i wish to send the several flashlights to does not live in the US, though they live very close to Deal Extreme. the total amount is small, probably no more than $100 for 2-5 flashlights of various sorts, to be used as emergency and convenience items, not as a hobby.

so i guess i'm stuck?
 

torpeau

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No DX experience with sending a gift to another country, but my experience ordering twice was favorable using PayPal. One time I cancelled the order because of a long back order time and they refunded quickly to my PayPal account. The other time I received the merchandise quickly and without any problem.
 

bspofford

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Even when I use PayPal, I always use my credit card. When PayPal says you are 100 percent protected, this apparent guarantee does not protect you against damaged, defective or even the wrong merchandise if you placed some kind of order with the merchant. I advise that you always use your credit card because disputing the charges with them may be your only option. I have never had to do this with DX or KD, but I have with Supertactical and another Ebay merchant based in Hong Kong.:paypal:
 

DualMonitors

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well, wow! thx for the various posts/answers/comments.

i've been trying for several days now, after carefully perusing their site (there is so much stuff that it takes time to look through them and make my selection). after all this looking and picking, i have my "shopping cart".

before i place my order, i thought that i'd call them - STILL no luck. the message i get is that the "phone is turned off"!! i must have called 20 times by now. this is surely not a good sign.

i've also used their online form to write/email them. still, as of today, there is no answer. to be fair, they have tried to manage their customers' expectations by writing something like: "...it takes 2 to 14 days to receive a reply..." or similar. Huh? 14 days to send me a reply? wouldn't most of us expect our merchandise in 14 days, and not merely some emailed reply?

while i really want to place order with them for various items, there appears to be red flags everywhere. i'm only speaking for myself, as there appears to be plenty of folks who had decent experiences with them.

sigh...this isn't working out too well for me...
 

Ayeaux

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Nov 18, 2007
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I'll add my experience with DX.

The first order arrived within 4 weeks (to USA), but was the wrong item. I sent them a message about it and got a reply within a day or two and they shipped out the correct item that I received in about 3 weeks.

The second order was for 2 items. 1 item showed up in about 3 weeks with a note that the other was backordered. After several weeks I contacted them about the second item and it was received within 3 weeks of my contacting them.

The third order arrived within 3-4 weeks and had everything I ordered.

I also placed an order with KD a few weeks ago. I received a paypal receipt, but nothing from KD. In fact I can't create an account with them, and have gotten no reply to emails form "Jerry". Well, it was only $4.00, so not a big loss if it doesn't show up.

You just have to be willing to wait a long time and do some follow up to get what you want.
 

rantanplan

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[...]
sigh...this isn't working out too well for me...

Then don´t do it ...

You can´t compare DX with the typical US-based shop you may know ... DX has low prices and a really big assortment of stuff, but usually it takes quite a long time till you get your items and sometimes they are of low quality too. But that is the deal with DX, if you can live with that then don´t order there. Most of their items aren´t in stock and pulled together "just-in-time" from these countless chinese factories. That is the reason why the prices are relatively low and I guess that they don´t have many employees too.

I ordered dozens of times there in the last year(s) and the few times I had to use their customer service, I was satisfied because the staff showed effort to solve the problem ... replys took usually 24-48 hours.

Most of my orders are in the $10-$40-range so a total loss of an order wouldn´t be a real problem for me, because the benefits outweighs the risk.

Kaidomain is different at least from my experience ... usually they don´t have a customer service at all :D ...
 

kramer5150

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Palo Alto, CA
I have placed 7-8 orders with DX and thus far no problems what so ever (knock on wood). Items arrived 2-3 weeks after payment sent. I ALWAYS pay credit card through paypal, and ship it to my confirmed PP address (my home).

If I were in your shoes I'd proceed this route and then just ship it to your friend. You can inspect the items for damage and poor quality too. It sounds too risky to entrust DX and their carriers to ship it to an unconfirmed PP address.

I have very limited experience with international shipping though. The only time I sent a high $$ item over-seas it was to Sweeden. It cost $68 (IIRC) to get it there fastest way possible ensured with tracking number via UPS.

Not sure what you are intending to buy, but by the time you add it all up and factor in any headaches along the way... it may be better to just buy similar items from a trusted domestic retailer and just send it.
 

LukeA

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To be fair, there are thousands of unreported good experiences with DX and KD.

That said, I would not feel comfortable using a credit card directly to buy from either of them.
 

hyperloop

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$INGAPORE
I live in Singapore and have ordered quite a few items from DX, i have my credit card linked to my paypal account (it isnt possible to link my paypal to a non-US based bank account) to make payments via paypal.

Longest i have had to wait is 14 days from the date their status said "shipped" but so far no problems. Have gotten what I ordered with minimal defects.
 

DualMonitors

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I have placed 7-8 orders with DX and thus far no problems what so ever (knock on wood). Items arrived 2-3 weeks after payment sent. I ALWAYS pay credit card through paypal, and ship it to my confirmed PP address (my home).

If I were in your shoes I'd proceed this route and then just ship it to your friend. You can inspect the items for damage and poor quality too. It sounds too risky to entrust DX and their carriers to ship it to an unconfirmed PP address.

I have very limited experience with international shipping though. The only time I sent a high $$ item over-seas it was to Sweeden. It cost $68 (IIRC) to get it there fastest way possible ensured with tracking number via UPS.

Not sure what you are intending to buy, but by the time you add it all up and factor in any headaches along the way... it may be better to just buy similar items from a trusted domestic retailer and just send it.

"hyperloop:
I live in Singapore and have ordered quite a few items from DX, i have my credit card linked to my paypal account (it isnt possible to link my paypal to a non-US based bank account) to make payments via paypal.

Longest i have had to wait is 14 days from the date their status said "shipped" but so far no problems. Have gotten what I ordered with minimal defects."
=================================

thx to the comments.

re: hyperloop's posting, may i ask if your credit card is a Singaporean credit card, or a US-based credit card? it doesn't work if you have a US-based credit card. it would not allow you to put a "ship to" address that is non-US, with no zip code, etc.

re: kramer's posting, true, by the time all these issues are 'dealt with', or whatever one wishes to call it, the stomach acid ;) induced is not worth it! just buy some $15 or $20 flashlights and put it in a box and ship it and be done with. all i was going to do was to buy several $10 to $20 flashlights for their use, either at night or in emergencies. it isn't "make or break" so it's not worth all this.

i cannot believe that i have not heard one beep from them in roughly 4 or 5 days now, and after trying nightly (carefully calculating the time difference) calling them, probably by now, in excess of 20 times, each time getting a phone company recording announcing that the phone is "turned off", it is increasingly obvious that my way of "doing business" is incompatible with the demonstrated way of handling customers - at least so far. Unless, of course, it is some national holiday, which it isn't - checked already.

i'm glad i've been using a US dealer of many brands who i really enjoy dealing with, and he's a real sport about many many aspects of doing business: cfrlights.com
 
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hyperloop

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Dualmonitors: its a singapore credit card. Strange that you can't put a non-US address though. I wish that shipping wasn't so prohibitive though :(

Prohibitive for other sites that is sometimes the shipping costs more than what i wanta buy
 
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rantanplan

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Jun 14, 2004
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Hannover, Germany
[...] (it isnt possible to link my paypal to a non-US based bank account) to make payments via paypal.
[...]

In some countries it is possible ... I use PayPal with direct debit from my bank account here in Germany. I can live with that, because I can cancel a payment within 6 weeks too ... ok, if i do that I would have to deal with some threating letters from PayPal, but usually they are afraid of bringing that to trial, so who cares :D ...
 

Hawk600

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Sep 24, 2006
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Another thing, don't even think in change an order already placed.
I did this mistake and it was a big mess. I ordered one a 5 mode rebel 100 light but changed mind and wanted the 20 mode instead.
Their Customer Service was contacted via web and asked if the change would be possible. After 3 days and a lot of insistence, I was contacted and told that I could do it after pay the difference in price.
I paid it and waited. To my surprise after 15/20 days I received the 5 mode light instead the 20 mode.
Another CS contact and waiting again. Their solution was to ship the wrong light to an address in California at my expense, which I did not agree.
They after agreed to pay the shipping, but to make things easier I asked to stay with the 5 mode and I would be paying another price adjustment so they would send me the 20 mode asap.
Everything was looking all set and I just asked then to ship me the new light asap, as I was waiting for about a month. Unfortunately seem like the process was even longer and I finally received the 20 mode light, after 2 months since I placed the first order.
The 20 mode light also came with some bad contact problems but I did not even bother to contact then about it.

They do have good prices and it worth if you lucky, but still a gamble and if something unusual happens, you better pray.
 

tx101

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London UK
I have used DX on several occasions, I mostly had to wait, the longest being two months. This is the norm, if you do get lucky, maybe 2 weeks.
Either way, what you pay for is what you get :(
 

Outdoors Fanatic

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Sep 24, 2005
Messages
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Land of Spiders
Hi All:

I'm newish to this and am very tempted to buy some flashlights from Deal Extreme. I live in the USA and everything, i.e. credit cards, are US-based. So there's nothing unusual about shipping address versus billing address...etc.

however, in trying to place an order as a gift (shipped to another country), i wanted to buy 2 flashlights to send to someone who lives, coincidently, very close to where Deal Extreme is, i found that it is not possible to use my Paypal account! i've only rarely used my Paypal for US-based purchases, i.e. ebay, etc. there is no possibility to add a non-US address to ship things to!

i also noticed that even though Deal Extreme's check out says EXPLICITLY that they ONLY take Paypal, when you check out, there is a link if you wish to use your credit card! Huh? so do they only accept Paypal exclusively or not? i'm confused.

i'm rather hesitant to give them my credit card information, as they have not replied to my requests for information (i asked them this question via a form on their site). on the other hand, they appear to be an upstanding, honest company/site, since so many have purchased from them.

one final possibility is to order from them, have them ship the merchandise to me here in the US, then i will have to in turn ship to the foreign country via US Postal Service. this is a drag as i'll have to wrap/box/tape/fill out forms and pay shipping for shipping this gift.

may i kindly ask what your experience has been with Deal Extreme? have you ever shipped items to someone else, in a different country, even though you yourself, the credit card holder, is in the USA?

thx very much in advance!

so confused by them!

PS: i also tried calling them about 10 times last night, carefully timing the calls so i catch them during their listed open hours, and avoiding their "lunch break". each and every call was met with a recording that says that their phone is turned off!!
Why bother dealing with DX (Personally, I'd not deal them even if my life depended on it), when you can buy brand new Inovas at low discounted prices from Battery Junction. Fill a bag with them and ship it to your friend.

Check it out:

http://www.batteryjunction.com/inxledfl.html

http://www.batteryjunction.com/inbose.html

http://www.batteryjunction.com/inmi.html
 
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