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Online retailer Temu advertises cheap products and generous return conditions. But the reality is usually different. What customers need to know.
Kassel – Advertises quality products at low prices and wants to give Amazon a lot of competition: the online store Temu wants to conquer the world market. Tempt with offers such as smart watches for around 17 euros or rugs for less than five euros, but what initially seems attractive turns out to be a trap for customers.
Returns at the cheap Temu store – customers should be careful
The Boston-based company is said to sell, among other things, defective products. The number of complaints is constantly increasing, as can be seen in the Temu application. Customers write about “poor product quality,” “waste of resources,” and “products in plastic bags.” The online seller has already attracted attention in the past due to negative headlines.
Consumer advocates are now warning against Temu because the store aggressively advertises its cheap products on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Despite everything, he succeeds. The founder’s private wealth is constantly growing, reported Handelszeitung.ch in September of this year. One of the reasons why some fake stores also target Temu.
But rapid growth and success in online commerce often has its downsides as well. This means that more and more damaged products are reaching buyers in Germany. While Temu not only offers free shipping on all orders, they also offer free returns within 90 days. But: customers who want to return the products they have delivered must “take into account some inconveniences”, he now warns chip.de.
Temu customers in Germany should know this
- 90-day return period: This only applies to the first order. If customers purchase multiple products and return some or all of them within the time frame, there will be no return shipping costs. If customers subsequently return the products they ordered from this order, they will have to pay a shipping fee of three euros for each additional return. However, this is often not profitable when buying cheap products worth less than three euros. Therefore, Temu recommends on its website to group returns into a single shipment to avoid additional charges. This would also reduce the environmental impact of multiple returns.
- Defective packaging: Temu products often arrive in inadequate packaging or are easily damaged when opened. In this case, customers would have to pay the packaging costs themselves, he warns. chip.de. That is why it is important to carefully open the merchandise and its packaging and keep the boxes out of the orders. If the goods must be returned later.
- Refunds are delayed: Additionally, it can often take a long time for customers to receive a refund for returned items. The online store writes on its website: “Depending on your financial institution, the refund may take five to 14 business days (up to 30 days) to be credited to your original payment account.” Therefore, customers have the option to accept Temu credits instead of a refund. According to the online retailer, this is faster.
However, returns are not always possible. For example, Temu does not accept returns on worn or washed clothing. Whoever removed the hygienic labels or stickers will also not be able to return the requested product. In addition, the seller also excludes items marked as non-refundable from returns. The same applies to gifts.
If you are still impressed by cheap products, you should only order from Temu if you don’t need your money back quickly. A bulk order where only a few items need to be kept is not recommended due to the complex return option. Recently, the consumer advice center warned about scams related to Amazon packages. (he)
Mechanical assistance was used for this article written by the editorial team. The article was carefully reviewed by editor Alina Schröder before publication.