Order Update:
My Alibaba Sea Freight tracking information indicated that my my MD 1000 order was delivered to the Port of Long Beach CA on Nov 16th. Two weeks later after my sending a status update message to Frank Xu, (Changzhou Leili Vehicle Parts Co.) I was told the container my MD was shipped in was detained and inspected by US Customs due to "blue tooth problems" with another group of different model ebikes in the same container. After yet another status request by me to Frank at Leili on Dec 3rd, he told me that the "latest news" was that my MD 1000 was released from US Customs and I would be receiving shipping notification soon. I called the Domestic shipping company (link provided by Frank) that was supposed to ship my bike and they had no record of a shipment for me. They told me the information they required to check on the shipment status was the Port warehouse name and BOL number. I messaged Frank asking for that information and on December 4th Frank messaged me back saying only "as long as it is released, it will be going out soon". He did not provide any of the information about the shipment that the domestic shipper had requested. I have messaged Frank every day since that time and unfortunately I have received no responses regarding the status of, or the delivery of my MD 1000.
After 5 days of no responses to my messages requesting an update, this morning I notified Frank that I had filed a refund request with Alibaba. I indicated in that message, and in my Alibaba refund request, that I still want the MD 1000 delivered as ordered but the lack of information about my order and now a lack of any response to my reasonable requests had forced my hand. I still have a faint hope that the ebike was actually shipped and this is just some unlucky circumstances and/or really bad shipment tracking on Lieli's part, but I have to try and protect myself from a total loss on this strange and frustrating purchase attempt.
I will post here if there are any responses by Frank or Leili. The Alibaba refund requires me to attempt to resolve this with the supplier and if no resolution can be reached, I can escalate the request to Alibaba for resolution adjudication. This process worked the last time I cancelled the MD 1000 order in July due to missed shipping deadlines and I did received a full refund. That is not the outcome I want but at this point, it seems like an outcome I should pursue.
What a long strange trip this has been ... and I can only add, Caveat Emptor!