Those who shop on Taobao would know that it comes with its fair share of risks — parcels sent to the wrong address, defective items, or even products that don't match their descriptions. Like, when you order a skirt but get tissue paper instead. 

That's what happened to YES 933 DJ Chen Qijia. Yesterday (Aug 26), the 33-year-old jock shared on her Instagram Stories that she was boycotting a seller named followqueen on the Chinese e-commerce platform.

"Guys, don't ever buy from this shop on Taobao. I hate to blacklist any brand, but they are so unprofessional. They could be a scam," she wrote.

Qijia shared that she had preordered a grey blouse for 229 yuan (S$43) three weeks ago, and it finally arrived yesterday.

But when she opened the parcel, she was shocked to find nothing but a packet of tissue.

Being an understanding customer, Qijia initially gave the seller the benefit of the doubt, thinking they might have accidentally sent the wrong item. She reached out to them through the platform.

To her horror, the seller admitted that there had been an issue with production and that they had consciously decided to send her the packet of tissue as a "small 'gift' of compensation".

They then told her to initiate a refund and offered her 10 yuan (S$2) if she promised not to file a complaint.

"I'm also totally okay if that is what they can afford, but at least cancel the order on your end and initiate a refund?" Qijia captioned.

"This is no admin error, this is dishonest business. I've bought from Taobao for so many years and have not encountered any unethical or unprofessional sellers until today."

The seller only processed the refund after she demanded: "Please refund immediately. Right away."

After sharing her story, Qijia received feedback from others who claimed that "some Taobao sellers use this trick, hoping you won't realise the wrong items were sent".

This allows them to mark the order as shipped and avoid a penalty or cancellation on their end.

"If they're lucky and the customer doesn't notice, they still get to keep the money," she said.

"Apparently, that's not uncommon because nowadays we order so many things online that sometimes we don't even keep track of what has or hasn't arrived."

She also said that her friends had mostly received different, cheaper items — for instance, cheap sandals instead of the shoes they had ordered — while she got only a packet of tissue.

Photos: Chen Qijia/Instagram