I ordered an item through ChinaBuyAgency right before the Chinese new year. The item finally arrived but the agent said they were too backed up with orders to send me photos for inspection.

When they finally sent inspection photos of the item, I realized that this custom-made item was not as described. Immediately, I requested that the agent ask for a refund. The agent got back to me a few days later and said that the seller rejected the refund.

I contacted the Taobao seller directly to ask why the refund was rejected. They told me that the refund was requested outside of their return window.

Had my agent sent me the photos in time, I would have been able to get the refund started before the return window closed. I understand that the Chinese New Year created some delays but there was no actual shipping delay. The delay was directly with my ChinaBuyAgency.

I asked the agent to take some accountability for this error as it was not my fault that the item was not returnable. They claimed they would process a dispute with Taobao. Not sure if they ever did. They offered me no compensation for the item I was stuck with. No partial credit or anything.

This is just a note to everyone to thoroughly check reviews on Taobao agents before you choose them. A lot of them just aren't honest. You have very little recourse if they lie or try to scam you.