How has ordering SMlight / SLZB products on Aliexpress worked out for you?

I'm surprised there wasn't already discussion on this, I didn't find any from searching.

I'd rather really not use Aliexpress at all, but the prices for their products on Amazon and Ebay are usually at least 2x more. I order an SLZB Ultima 3 from here, having selected "U3 Z-Wave" but it only came with an extra antenna and no Z-Wave module. I don't want to go through the hassle of returning and ordering again. Every time I try to message the seller (SMLight store) it says the following:

Dear Customer, Thank you for your order. We are currently offline. For invoices, please download them from your order details page. For order-related assistance, please wait until we are back online.

When you receive on Ali a wrong product you have a few options such as contacting seller, returning goods or opening a refund. I never ever had a bounced request as long as it is legit request. Often they let you keep the goods and give you a refund. Just as simple like that. It is really no hassle at all.

All but a handful of the electronics in my house were ordered from Ali. Never had any issues with disputes & always got refunded whenever I got a dud.

Not sure what you mean by this. If that extra antenna means you have 3 antennas in total, have you checked whether the zwave module is already installed? It probably is & the image on the listing is just to show you the extra parts.

Either way, this seems to be SMLight's official shop, so I'm pretty sure you can reach out to them directly on their site if you provide an order number.

I opened the device and didn't see a Z-wave module, only 2 antenna slots in the back.

Seems you may have a reseller issue, not a HomeAssistant one.