AliExpress: refund request
Contact the seller first, then file a Return/refund request on the order within 15 days of receipt; AliExpress refunds after the return passes warehouse quality control.
What does this mean?
Grade C (use with care: check the source of each value before relying on it). 71% of 7 sources are the organization's own pages or government sites; only 7 sourced values, so the entry is thin.
Collect
- order number
- photos or video of the item
- the listing's description and photos
- chat with the seller
Steps
Contact the seller through the order first.
If the seller does not fix it, open My orders, then the order detail, then Return/refund, within 15 days of receipt.
Choose the refund destination; the original payment method or the AliExpress fast refund-bonus (conditions apply).
Keep every payment and message on AliExpress. If AliExpress does not refund, dispute the charge with your card issuer.
Facts you can cite
- Deadline
Buyer Protection covers an order that "doesn't match the item descriptions or photos or arrived damaged/shortage", within 15 days. "You can enjoy our Free Return service within 15 days of receipt of delivery." For change-of-mind returns the buyer pays return shipping.
Source: aliexpress.com, verified 2026-10-13
- Process
"You will be fully refunded as soon as the quality control has been completed at the warehouse." The page states no number of days. Refunds go to the original payment method or to the AliExpress fast refund-bonus (conditions apply).
Source: aliexpress.com, verified 2026-10-13
Rules in force
- FTC Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (live-event tickets and short-term lodging)16 CFR part 464 (90 FR 2066, January 10, 2025)
Since May 12, 2025, any business that offers, displays or advertises a price for live-event tickets or short-term lodging (for example hotels, motels and inns) must show the total price, including all mandatory fees, more prominently than other pricing information. Only government charges, shipping and optional add-ons may be left out, and those must be disclosed before the consumer pays. Misrepresenting any fee is prohibited.
Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12
1 citable point
- Policy
A business may not misrepresent the nature, purpose, amount or refundability of any fee, or the identity of the good or service the fee is charged for.
Source: ecfr.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
If that fails, escalate
Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.
Customer service
Supervisor
Written complaint
Card or bank dispute
Fair Credit Billing Act billing-error and purchase-dispute rights (Regulation Z)
Electronic Fund Transfer Act error resolution and unauthorized-transfer liability (Regulation E)
State agency
Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).Public complaint
RegulatorBetter Business Bureau
Watch out
- Return/refund requests are filed from the signed-in order page; AliExpress help-center pages need a full browser to load.
Let your AI agent handle this
Escalate Anything is a free, open-source MCP server for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI, Codex and other AI apps. Your agent gets this playbook, keeps a case log with reference numbers and follow-up dates, and drafts each message for you to approve.
1. Set it up (needs uv):
uvx escalate-anything setup2. Ask your agent:
AliExpress owes me a refund of [amount] for [order or service]. Use Escalate Anything to get it.Source code, other install options and the Claude Code plugin