Mingche Era (Tianjin) Automobile Sales Company Limited review: Fraudulently sold a tipper (dump) truck which is not roadworthy

I had placed an advert on Alibaba for purchase of a tipper (dump) truck and was in the process of completing an order with my preferred company when the CEO of Mingche Era (Tianjin) Automobile Sales Company Limited (Ms Anastasia Liu) contacted me and offered a price that was cheaper than the original company I was dealing with. I explained that I wanted a tipper (dump) truck which was not more than 4 years old and with an odometer of not more than 40k miles. In effect, I wanted a truck which was at least, in very good condition and in our negotiations, the CEO (Anastasia Liu) promised to deliver such a truck. She promised to deliver a truck with a new dump body, new seats, new interior and a refurbished engine. She also promised to change all oils, including replacement of all gear oil, circuit gas etc. and that all tyres would be 80% new. These promises were contained in the Proforma Invoice which was sent to me and also in WhatsApp conversations with Anastasia Liu. I have included below, copies of the proforma invoice and the WhatsApp conversations.
Apart from the lower price Mingche Era (Tianjin) Automobile Sales Company Limited was offering, I was further encouraged by the fact that the company had claimed on its website to be "the largest used car trading company in China". The company had also claimed to have an annual turnover of between $50 million to $100 million and that 60% of their exports were to Africa. Throughout my negotiations with the company, I had dealt with the CEO (Anastasia Liu) and had found her reassuring. I was charged CIF $19, 300 for the transaction and I transferred the amount to the company. The vehicle was to be shipped to Ghana.
I eventually cleared the vehicle from the port on Wednesday, 27th of January 2021 but was shocked to realise the very poor state of the vehicle. The vehicle looked very old, rusted in many parts, overused and generally not roadworthy. One of the people at the port commented that it looked like a vehicle brought out of the scrapyard and just painted over. Checks by mechanics indicated that the vehicle was an accident one. Although they are unable to determine the exact age of the truck, they feel it cannot be newer than 2009/2010.
I complained to the company and threatened to report the matter to Alibaba but the CEO pleaded with me to agree to an amicable resolution without Alibaba's involvement. She asked me to proceed with repairs and promised to pay for the repairs. She also promised compensation.
She asked for my bank account details so that she could make an initial compensation payment but weeks after sending her my bank account details, no payment had been made. She later explained that the compensation had not been paid because their finance department had found some errors with my bank account details. In fact, the bank account details I had given to them were correct and so at this stage, I had become very suspicious of their intensions. Nevertheless, I sent them a WhatsApp message confirming the same details again. After waiting again in vain for payment, I contacted the CEO for an update only to be told that their finance manager had gone on maternity leave, hence the delay in making payment. She stated that the finance manager would not return from maternity leave until four to five months time. At this stage, it had become very clear that Mingche Era (Tianjin) Automobile Sales Company Limited had never had any intention of making any compensation payment despite the promises they had made. Instead, they had been trying to run down the clock, using deception and hoping that time would elapse for any compensation request. It simply did not make sense that the finance department of a company which claimed to be the largest used vehicle trading company in China could come to a standstill when a single person was off work.
After almost seven months of continuous work on the truck, including replacement of many parts, the vehicle is still not fit to be used. Mingche Era (Tianjin) Automobile Sales Company Limited no longer replies to my messages.

View 0 more photos