Aliexpress Return Catch-22

I purchased a few items from Aliexpress. The first few orders went okay. Then I had a problem with some active guitar pickups I purchased. What arrived was different from the product photos.They were counterfeit EMG pickups. No wiring diagram and they did not work.

I tried to return them (the product listing said Free Returns) and Aliexpress told me to get approval from the seller for the return shipping amount (which was twice the value of the product itself). Of course the seller would not respond to my messages. Then Aliexpress told me just to send them anyway but I needed the phone number of the seller for a tracked return shipment and it was not listed in their business information. Aliexpress would only tell me to message the seller to get their phone number. Of course, the seller would not respond.

Aliexpress have a countdown clock on your return and if the seller does not receive it by that date (and acknowledge that they got it back) then you will not get a refund. So as I could not get a phone number from the seller there was no refund. (You would think Aliexpress would have their phone number but they would not provide it)

So in the end Aliexpress would not do anything. No refund. They just run you around endlessly with their customer support chats and customer service emails not acknowledging the catch 22 situation they put you in. Clearly they have no intention of supporting the buyer. In fact they hold the buyer to a ridiculous standard asking things like: "Send us a video within 24 hours showing that the product doesn't work". A much higher standard than their sellers are held to as they do not respond to messages in 7 weeks and send products that do not work.

Aliexpress make you jump through so many hoops that really they just want you to give up. So I have learned my lesson dealing with Aliexpress.