Product: Fiio E7 1.1" OLED USB DAC 3.5mm Earphone Volume Booster Power Amplifier (Black) (http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fiio-e7-1-1-oled-usb-dac-3-5mm-earphone-volume-booster-power-amplifier-black-34383)

Availability: "In Stock: ships in 2 to 4 days (5 to 8 during new year season)"

Cost: $84.33 (free worldwide shipping)

Background: I went with DealExtreme (hereafter referred to as "DX" for short) because I had about three weeks to spare. DX advertises 2 to four days prior to shipping, with the actual shipping taking about 10 to 14 days. Ok.

I ordered online and paid in full via credit card. Here's what happened:

Day One

- I received a receipt number but did not receive an order number.
- I received an immediate payment confirmation from PayPal. I never received a confirmation from DX.

Day Three

- Two days after ordering I tried to followup on my order via the online account status. Not able to do so because I didn't have an order number, and the receipt number and my email provided a "no order found" message.
- I called the phone service numbers during Hong Kong business hours and no one answered, or I received phone prompts in Chinese.
- I tried the Live customer assistance chat. Waited one hour without a response and gave up.
- I filed a customer assitance ticket requesting an order number and status on my order.

Day Six

- I received a response from DX regarding my order, and got an order number and an assurance that my order was received, was processing, and would ship as soon as possible.

Day Eight

- I checked my order status online. Order was processing "waiting for shipment from supplier". Really? I thought the merchandise was "In Stock: ships in 2 to 4 days".

Day Ten

- I checked my order status online. Order was still processing "waiting for shipment from supplier". Okay....

Day Twelve

- I checked my order status online. Order was still processing "waiting for shipment from supplier".
- I put in a second customer assitance ticket requesting to cancel the order.
- I tried the Live customer assistance chat again. Waited one and a half hours without a response and gave up.

Day Thirteen.

- Cancelled my order online via account options.
- Found out that it can take 10 to 14 days for DX to actually process a cancellation refund.

Day Fifteen

- PayPal confirmed that DX was issuing a refund for my order.
- Still waiting for confirmation from DX.

Keep in mind that it took 12 days for DX to get to the "processing order stage". I still had about 14 to 21 days worth of shiiping time if and when they actually shipped. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had to return a defective product.

Conclusion:

DX really cannot keep up with their orders right now. The forums are littered with complaints of uneven and slow service. You take your chances regarding shipping times and customer service is more or less timely with written responses but very slow with actual follow through on promises. The language barrier is very difficult to overcome.

My advice is to spend the extra $20.00 dollars (or whatever) and try to buy anything directly from a vendor in the US or the UK.

DealExtreme is NOT RECOMMENDED at this time.

No one ever said DealExtreme products shipped quickly. If what you need is time-sensitive, pay the extra couple bucks and don't order from DX. I only buy stuff from DX when I don't care if it arrives a month later, because that's generally how long it takes to process an order.

ikarios said:

No one ever said DealExtreme products shipped quickly. If what you need is time-sensitive, pay the extra couple bucks and don't order from DX. I only buy stuff from DX when I don't care if it arrives a month later, because that's generally how long it takes to process an order.

Click to expand...

I agree. DX is perfectly fine if you're patient. It's free shipping from Hong Kong, what can you expect?

Yeah, being in Canada it takes about a month to a month and a half to receive anything from them... My American friends haven't received much better shipping time.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they listed fast shipping to North America or any other lies, but rumor is amongst the Asian community here is that they're linked to the mob!

DealExtreme is okay most of the time... if it's urgent pay for the expedited delivery!

Dealextreme is dirt cheap. You get what you pay for, free economy shipping from halfway around the world. I've used DX for cables and miscellaneous gadgets, and have never had anything go wrong; they're extremely reputable. It's one of my three sites to check when I need cables, adapters, and other computer related things (DX, Monoprice, Meritline.) If you really need something delivered promptly, use Amazon.

dealextreme has been reliable, but slow..They've been operating since 2007, so feedback a plenty. And the shops  had 2 incarnation as axshop.com and fifthunit.com before the owners had a falling out and split into kaidomain and dealextreme.com 

I Love ordering from DealExtreme! It takes so long to ship that when it eventually does I have forgot that I even ordered it and it's a like little pleasant surprise

I too am a massive fan of DealExtreme. Obviously you're not going to get next day delivery and great customer service. What you do get is ridiculously cheap products which are usually pretty good quality and free international shipping. I've purchased way too much stuff from DealExtreme and have never been disappointed. 

I have no problems with DealExtreme either. I have made numerous orders and I had to deal with their customer service once too. I ordered product that went out of stock soon after I ordered, I waited for 2 months for it to get back in stock. Then I gave up and asked for a refund. They weren't the fastest to respond to my mails, but couple of days later I got my refund. Because it was over 30 days from the ordering date, they couldn't refund me via paypal (or they could have, but it would have taken a while) so I settled for store credit. I could use the store credit without problems in my next order.
 
Just don't expect super fast service and remember their employees are probably hired as cheaply as they sell their products and you will be fine.

I bought an item 3 weeks ago... and I´m continue waiting...