Gearbest "Mother's Day is Coming" e-mail coupon code

[edcoolio]

I had sent a message earlier today to Gearbest regarding the availability for the Beelink MiniMXIII (Amlogic s905 2GB/16GB) under the same username (edcoolio) to the Gearbest "ask a question about this product".

Now that I have my answer about availability from 8pm today:

"The item is not in stock at the moment. It will restock in 3 - 7 business days from now."

So all that is cool so far. I get my trusty e-mail with discount code for the product and attempt to order. I click on the link directly from the e-mail, confirm that it is the exact same product in the e-mail, and attempt to put in the coupon code. I get:

"The code you entered is invalid.
Coupon code can only be used with one piece price, it can not be used with vip price, special offer, group deal at the same time. "


I looked for the product at the "$50.85 price" as shown in the e-mail, but it doesn't exist at that price. The current price is $43.29, the coupon "sale" is $41.99. Now, I realize the difference between the price with the coupon only saves me $1.30, but come on.

What is the point of bothering to subscribe to a vendor with a personal e-mail account if the coupon codes or sales are not even valid!

Anyways, after I get a response here I'll go ahead and order and put a review up - assuming anyone is interested in a device like this streaming TV box here - a review will be going up in some other more "tv streaming box" specific forums regardless.

Looking forward towards your quick reply.

   

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"Flash sale" price (literally, within 10 minutes of writing the original post above) just dropped to the $41.99 price.

Thanks guys. Maybe I was too fast to jump after the e-mail!

Product ordered.

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Update: Gearbest has packaged, photographed the package & sent via email for me, and shipped an airmouse I ordered ONLY 5hrs AFTER I PLACED THE ORDER!

I've never had order to shipping take place from a China direct supplier so quickly. Ever. Not even close.

I'm impressed!

[cookiedough]

You, as much as anyone "knows how it is". Great it turned out positive in the end. Look forward to the review.

[edcoolio]

You, as much as anyone "knows how it is". Great it turned out positive in the end. Look forward to the review.

Thanks! God knows, that is true.

The Beelink is an excellent piece of equipment. 2GB RAM makes all the difference. The downside is the controller.

I purchased, along with the Beelink, an "air mouse". It works good enough. Unfortunately, on the Gearbest website it touts the ability to game with a gyro, but it doesn't work like that... not even close.

The controller (s) are a weak point. You can buy one, like I did, that takes a USB receiver. It will turn off the device, but will not turn it off due to no power or software pass-through. Another $10 and another controller down the drain.

Kodi works great so far. You must understand that you will have to hunt for a good stream before you can watch anything. I would also recommend modifying (it is rooted from Gearbest!) to increase all buffers. This will stop "buffering" messages and issues to a large extent.

I bought a bluetooth game controller, and it works without issues, but only for gaming. Nothing else.

It seems, in the end, to get this device to function how I want it:

1. factory controller

2. air-mouse/keyboard controller

3. game controller

If you want full functionality, I would suggest mentally adding $30-40 in controllers, so be careful thinking you are getting a "deal" where your old equipment will work perfectly. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, there are 3 (!) controllers floating around the TV for this thing!

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I also purchased a Doogee Watch Phone S1. I really wanted to love this thing, but it was not meant to be. It ended up being basically worthless. ATT will be cutting off all 2G service this year, which is a bummer for those of us still relying on it for extreme rural use.

No USA 3G service in 850 Mhz ( I have a THL 5000 for testing where the 850 band alone was providing good 3G service, same SIM). Worthless and no function. Zero. Nothing. Nada.

No available 1900Mhz at all. Despite gearbest and Doogee information, there is no 1900 available on this device (at least the one I got) via Mtk Tools or real world use. Either a bad product or scam by Doogee. As someone who is paying for shipping both ways, but with no refund as of yet, this does not leave a good taste in my mouth.

Basically, I ended up going through the return process from Gearbest. The S1 was not as advertised (no 3G with existing frequencies, no 1900mhz available at all per specs listed by gearbest and doogee). I'm assuming I got a bad product.

Fortunately, Gearbest was quick and efficient with a refund (in store credit only). Shipping? Well, despite a crappy product where the specs were wrong from: 1. gearbest 2. doogee, or 3. defective - I have had to pay a total of almost $40 in shipping alone.

I have sent them the customs tracking number and the product related vie USPS. Hopefully, I will get my refund ASAP.

Be aware, even though the product was defective according to the specs of the manufacturer and Gearbest itself (no 1900mhz, no 3G) in 850 at all, I am paying $40+ for return shipping... for store credit. I am left with no choice.

I have payed, including shipping, a total of:

$104 for the product
Another $15 for guaranteed shipping
yet ANOTHER $25 for return shipping to get a $104 credit

This means that that I payed around $40 in shipping alone to get and return a faulty product, which is more than 1/3 of the price of the original device, in order to get "store credit". No refunds. Not cool, but whatever. No choice in the matter. AliExpress has offered a better deal that this when pushed.

I'll update when I have more information...

[Sniper47]

Sorry to hear about the issues. It's unlikely a defective product. More likely the specs are incorrect. This is part of the risk we take when ordering from China to save a few bucks. Sometimes backfires.

Aliexpress is terrible. In the 2x I've had issues, I received no refund at all. The "Escrow" is complete bullshit. With them asking you to jump through 50 hoops taking videos and blah blah blah... Then of course if you use credit card protection they'll likely ban you from Aliexpress. So just got to take the loss because there's things available from there that you can't get anywhere else.

[edcoolio]

Sorry to hear about the issues. It's unlikely a defective product. More likely the specs are incorrect. This is part of the risk we take when ordering from China to save a few bucks. Sometimes backfires.

Aliexpress is terrible. In the 2x I've had issues, I received no refund at all. The "Escrow" is complete bullshit. With them asking you to jump through 50 hoops taking videos and blah blah blah... Then of course if you use credit card protection they'll likely ban you from Aliexpress. So just got to take the loss because there's things available from there that you can't get anywhere else.

You're right, of course. It's always a risk and there is just no way around it. I wish there was a way to get some of these products locally, but the nature of the beast I suppose. Like you said, some stuff you can't get anywhere else.

Regarding the specs, I'm definitely bummed. When I checked, the manufacturer Doogee insisted it had the frequencies. This is the second Doogee product I have bought and both have been massive disappointments. Never again.

I think you are spot on about AliExpress. Even with Gearbest I had to do the photo/video rigamarole, but at least they were quick about it and (hopefully) I'll get my store credit in a month.

[Sniper47]

I just refused to do it. I presented a clear picture of the problem and explanation of the issue and they requested a video, pictures of the package blah blah. I've got little bend in me I suppose. Whether or not they'd of given me a refund or discount if I'd comlied, I don't know, but I suspect they would have found some other dumb reason to not give it.

To be fair, there are a lot of scammers out there. I'd probably take the same road if it were my business (taking measures to ensure the person requesting a return/refund/discount was telling the truth). That doesn't change the fact that it sucks. Just part of the program. 95% of the time it's all good, and I never buy anything very expensive from Aliexpress, just accessories, replacement parts and such.

[edcoolio]

I just refused to do it. I presented a clear picture of the problem and explanation of the issue and they requested a video, pictures of the package blah blah. I've got little bend in me I suppose. Whether or not they'd of given me a refund or discount if I'd comlied, I don't know, but I suspect they would have found some other dumb reason to not give it.

To be fair, there are a lot of scammers out there. I'd probably take the same road if it were my business (taking measures to ensure the person requesting a return/refund/discount was telling the truth). That doesn't change the fact that it sucks. Just part of the program. 95% of the time it's all good, and I never buy anything very expensive from Aliexpress, just accessories, replacement parts and such.

I think you are right - they would have found another reason to deny you. That is, in my opinion, an integral part of their business model! Deny all refunds for any reason. Jump through hoops, deny anyways.

I'm also in complete agreement in regards to never buying anything expensive on Aliexpress. That should be one of the online shopping commandments.