As the world desperately struggles to find masks, gloves, gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s retail giant AliExpress, which is operated by Alibaba Group, said it has been seeing bulk demands from different countries, especially those hardly-hit by the disease.
AliExpress maintains the sales channel between sellers and buyers like Amazon and eBay, with suppliers located globally. But many orders have been cancelled due to system failures and mass absence of its logistics workers.
“For system reason, this process cannot be continued. As a result, your order has been cancelled,” the company replied in its California-based customer which is a supplier of medical equipment and a patron of ALIEXPRESS for two years.
There are also cases when customers’ payments are declined or put on hold.
A customer from Florida shared that he tried three different payment methods, but each time the online retailer canceled his order. He checked with AliExpress customer support (a telemarketing BPO the Philippines), and they told him that all his payment methods are blocked in the system. He (after four years of buying) needed to become a verified customer.
On its website, AliExpress states that it executes verification process in every order to ensure the safety of customers’ payments.
“Some orders may be closed due to potential security reasons, including but not limited to: Scenario A: Coupon/discount has been used already by the same user. Please exclude coupon/discount for ordering again. Scenario B: Incomplete information of order. Please input complete name information for ordering again,” the e-commerce giant explained.
Online stores are surging in the US and in several countries as shoppers are confined in their homes due to the government’s lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of customers hope that the retailers can ramp up their services especially at this time when they are mostly needed.
