A Georgia man says he ordered a drill from Aliexpress but received a printed image of the item instead in November.
Sylvester Franklin, a resident of Savannah, placed an order for a pressure washer and a drill to upgrade his current set of tools. However, upon receiving his order, he discovered that the vendor sent him a picture of the drill instead of the actual tool.
He explained to WTOP that he spent $40 for the entire order but received only a single screw in place of the pressure washer, for which he had paid $22.47.
Franklin says he has been going back and forth with the global e-commerce platform in hopes of receiving a refund.
Aliexpress, a subsidiary of the e-commerce platform Alibaba, has faced criticism over the years for its practices.
In 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative added the platform to its Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy list.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) rates AliExpress a dismal D-; in 2024, the State of Georgia’s Consumer Protection Division (CPD) received three complaints against the company.
