[Resolved] Getting duped by HeadphoneZone
- Thread starter akr706
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sound and music
Active Member
Last month, I was planning to buy SMSL DA-9 from HPZ but finally bought it from overseas because HPZ listed it as a preorder item with some three-four weeks' delivery time. Though I paid a hefty customs duty on buying from abroad, I got it quickly.
My main attraction for buying from HPZ (despite a higher price) was it offered a one-year warranty. And to some extent, I wanted to support a local enterprise.
After reading your experience, that attraction seems elusive.
My main attraction for buying from HPZ (despite a higher price) was it offered a one-year warranty. And to some extent, I wanted to support a local enterprise.
After reading your experience, that attraction seems elusive.
Yes, do read this before you decide to buy from them.
What if the model I’m claiming warranty for has been discontinued or isn’t available with Headphone Zone to provide a replacement?
If the model for which you are claiming warranty isn't available or has been discontinued, there are 3 resolutions we can offer: You will receive another colour variant of the same product You will get the replacement model of the discontinued...
help.headphonezone.in
None of those three is gonna happen when the product is not available due to any reason, which usually is the case with them.
My Cousin had bought a 12K headphone from them and it went dud but they replaced it with the latest model from the same brand , no questions asked.
Try reaching to to Raghav as one communication may not mean its a company policy
I thought I was the only one who had a bad experience with hpz. So here is my long story. 
Almost 3 years ago I ordered a Oppo DAP from them. Before ordering I talked to one of them, probably Jay or Joy, and asked about a particular version which had better reviews.
After assurance I placed the order. But when I received it it wasn't the version I wanted. So I talked to them told them the time and date when I asked about that particular model. Still they said that no one from their side assured me about that particular version effectively saying I was the one who was lying.
That was that and I then decided that whatever loss I have to suffer but I'm not going to keep their product. When asked about returning it they said they will charge 15% restocking fee.
I took a vow to never buy anything from them and told the whole story to @drkrack. That time I had a budget of 5-7L and was very much interested in the Schiit Yggdrasil, Freya and Vidar Amps.
Oh and for 3000Rs hpz was a good riddance.
Almost 3 years ago I ordered a Oppo DAP from them. Before ordering I talked to one of them, probably Jay or Joy, and asked about a particular version which had better reviews.
After assurance I placed the order. But when I received it it wasn't the version I wanted. So I talked to them told them the time and date when I asked about that particular model. Still they said that no one from their side assured me about that particular version effectively saying I was the one who was lying.
That was that and I then decided that whatever loss I have to suffer but I'm not going to keep their product. When asked about returning it they said they will charge 15% restocking fee.
I took a vow to never buy anything from them and told the whole story to @drkrack. That time I had a budget of 5-7L and was very much interested in the Schiit Yggdrasil, Freya and Vidar Amps.
Oh and for 3000Rs hpz was a good riddance.
The more I read these kind of things the more I realize how much we take the customer service from amazon and fk for granted. This was the norm in the older days where the customer had to beg for service and even the product. So glad that we have online giants now who give at least some level of service to us now and a whole plethora of products' options.I thought I was the only one who had a bad experience with hpz. So here is my long story.
Almost 3 years ago I ordered a Oppo DAP from them. Before ordering I talked to one of them, probably Jay or Joy, and asked about a particular version which had better reviews.
After assurance I placed the order. But when I received it it wasn't the version I wanted. So I talked to them told them the time and date when I asked about that particular model. Still they said that no one from their side assured me about that particular version effectively saying I was the one who was lying.
That was that and I then decided that whatever loss I have to suffer but I'm not going to keep their product. When asked about returning it they said they will charge 15% restocking fee.
I took a vow to never buy anything from them and told the whole story to @drkrack. That time I had a budget of 5-7L and was very much interested in the Schiit Yggdrasil, Freya and Vidar Amps.
Oh and for 3000Rs hpz was a good riddance.
I also faced some issues with HPZ, but sorted it out with persistence. They communicated well, but I had to push them hard to get the full refund.
It was about a 12.5k pair of IMEs (Mee Audio).
It had cross talk issues and I raised the issue within an hour of opening the product.
It took couple of emails to make then understand what cross talk was and then they arranged to pick it up to be sent to their office in Mumbai for checking the complaint.
It took 4/5 days and few emails for them to revert back stating there was no issue with the IEM and they are sending it back.
Another 2 days of emailing got me the talking to the technical guy who had checked the headphone. He too did not understand my complaint, following which I had send him a link to a youtube video where tones are played alternatively only on left and right channels.
Following this he agreed that when only left channel was playing there was some leakage into the other channel and vice versa.
But the fun starts here, he said this is normal and actually proves how sensitive this IEM is.
Well, I asked him to play the track on any other IEM or headphone has has and check, following which he agreed the IEMs were faulty and took them back for a full refund.
It was about a 12.5k pair of IMEs (Mee Audio).
It had cross talk issues and I raised the issue within an hour of opening the product.
It took couple of emails to make then understand what cross talk was and then they arranged to pick it up to be sent to their office in Mumbai for checking the complaint.
It took 4/5 days and few emails for them to revert back stating there was no issue with the IEM and they are sending it back.
Another 2 days of emailing got me the talking to the technical guy who had checked the headphone. He too did not understand my complaint, following which I had send him a link to a youtube video where tones are played alternatively only on left and right channels.
Following this he agreed that when only left channel was playing there was some leakage into the other channel and vice versa.
But the fun starts here, he said this is normal and actually proves how sensitive this IEM is.
Well, I asked him to play the track on any other IEM or headphone has has and check, following which he agreed the IEMs were faulty and took them back for a full refund.
Amazon and Flipkart return/refund services are indeed top notch. However the sad part is post the return/replacement window we are again left to the mercy of the seller/service center ( no fault of Amazon/FK).
I had gotten myself a Asus Essence STX from Amazon ( 2017) , only to go dead in 10 months. I went to RP Tech service center in Bangalore, they took 3 hours to take the device ( not exaggerating) after asking 10 people if they can accept it and having lunch etc. Then they could not replace it, after 3 months was offered a cheque worth around 8k whereas I had got it for 11k. Due to the amount of time spent I agreed for 8k as settlement amount
I no more buy anything from local market. Only my wife and kids go to the local marts.
Amazon is so cool. I buy a few CDs from amazon every month and do get CDs with cracked cases. I never bothered until a couple of months ago when I filed a complaint about the cracked cases. They immediately
Amazon is so cool. I buy a few CDs from amazon every month and do get CDs with cracked cases. I never bothered until a couple of months ago when I filed a complaint about the cracked cases. They immediately
I had a pretty good experience with returns/warranty from HPZ. My Hiby R3 DAP developed an issue with the display 2 weeks after I purchased it in 2019. I sent a pic to customer support and they immediately raised a warranty ticket. I shipped the product back to their Chennai warehouse at my cost and after 2-3 days, a new replacement was provided. All of my communication was over email and I did not have to follow-up at all. I was pleasantly surprised with their service and have since purchased a few headphones and TWS earbuds from HPZ.
Sad to hear that some of you have had issues with more recent purchases. Hope HPZ is listening and fixes the gaps!
Sad to hear that some of you have had issues with more recent purchases. Hope HPZ is listening and fixes the gaps!
I think you missed a part of your message
square_wave
Well-Known Member
I had a bad experience with them once. They don't have good competition in India. I think it is a good business opportunity. Monopoly is never good!
I think you missed a part of your message
Jio doesn't work anymore after the initial hype is now long dead. I might be porting to Airtel who are quite good in our area. Below is the rest of the message which got eaten up by Jio......They immediately refunded my money and let me keep the CD with a cracked case. A few weeks later I bought a 4CDs pack of Yash Chopra movies songs and found all the CDs to be defective. After I filed a complaint they again refunded my whole amount even though they do not have a return policy on CDs. The same thing happened when I wanted to return the 3 packets of walnut giri after having opened one packet. I thought the taste has changed and wanted to retun the 3 unopened packets, 250gm each. They again let me keep all the packets and refunded more than 2000Rs.
However the same thing can not be said about Myntra and I do not shop from them anymore.
Yogesh
Well-Known Member
It is Company Policy! I have came across many such cases. One case was where it was error on part of HPZ which resulted in return. Then even after some months refund was given in store credit.
They are good with warranty where Company is responsive and replacement is concerned. But they are PITA if you need to get refund.
Disclaimer - I never dealt with them. My opinion is based on user experience and HPZ communication I came across.
Jith77
Active Member
exact same issue was being discussed at the tech forum pretty recently. Looks like standard practice for hpz
Last month they delivered one with huge hole and the hole was hidden with extra folds. I got suspicious due to the folds and opened it immediately. I launched complaint in their site within 10 mins of receipt with photos. They just refused refund citing that they did ‘quality check’ before dispatch. And it’s impossible to reach out to them in written communication after the first communication. There is no option to reply once they close it.
You are right. Amazon has made us forget what things are really like. Didn’t expect myntra to be top notch frauds.
Last month they delivered one with huge hole and the hole was hidden with extra folds. I got suspicious due to the folds and opened it immediately. I launched complaint in their site within 10 mins of receipt with photos. They just refused refund citing that they did ‘quality check’ before dispatch. And it’s impossible to reach out to them in written communication after the first communication. There is no option to reply once they close it.
Decadent_Spectre
Well-Known Member
I've dealt with various types of companies both online and offline, some are outright crooks who basically take your money and run off. So to me getting store credit is a pretty positive response but that is only by comparison.
Anything expensive I always get from regular brick and mortar stores/dealers/distributors. I often inquire how warranty will be handled beforehand as standard practice.
That said I've never dealt with HPZ service as I've never bought from them, I find them a little shady and not trustworthy. Once I called them and was not impressed with their response to my queries so I didn't buy from them. But then I generally don't buy headphones and if they were listed as the distributors of a brand I was interested in then I would evaluate if I would still purchase from them, import or switch to a different brand.
Anything expensive I always get from regular brick and mortar stores/dealers/distributors. I often inquire how warranty will be handled beforehand as standard practice.
That said I've never dealt with HPZ service as I've never bought from them, I find them a little shady and not trustworthy. Once I called them and was not impressed with their response to my queries so I didn't buy from them. But then I generally don't buy headphones and if they were listed as the distributors of a brand I was interested in then I would evaluate if I would still purchase from them, import or switch to a different brand.
theironhorse
Well-Known Member
the audio store is much better place to buy and run by genuine folks, HPZ has multiple issues reported everywhere.
So the HPZ's escalation manager contacted me today in the afternoon and she finally agreed to offer a complete refund on this purchase back to the original payment method.
She said that they usually provide the store credit as the customer can once again buy another headphone as per their choice from their website within a similar range, instead of getting forced into an equivalent product. But in my case, since there are no other options in the same price range, she agreed to offer a refund once the product is picked up.
Since I was using Topping PA3's power adapter to power my AIYIMA A07, she agreed to let me keep it till my purchased power adapter arrives from China (as I ordered it today only, it will take atleast a month to arrive). Otherwise, I would have been left without a working amp for a month.
And yes, HeadphoneZone's team did come around this thread which also helped me to get to the resolution quickly. Though, I hope nobody has to create such a thread to get a satisfying resolution.
Thanks a lot everyone for your support. I will update the post once the product is picked up and the refund is initiated.
She said that they usually provide the store credit as the customer can once again buy another headphone as per their choice from their website within a similar range, instead of getting forced into an equivalent product. But in my case, since there are no other options in the same price range, she agreed to offer a refund once the product is picked up.
Since I was using Topping PA3's power adapter to power my AIYIMA A07, she agreed to let me keep it till my purchased power adapter arrives from China (as I ordered it today only, it will take atleast a month to arrive). Otherwise, I would have been left without a working amp for a month.
And yes, HeadphoneZone's team did come around this thread which also helped me to get to the resolution quickly. Though, I hope nobody has to create such a thread to get a satisfying resolution.
Thanks a lot everyone for your support. I will update the post once the product is picked up and the refund is initiated.
It is always a nice feeling that when this sort of discussion on forums like these forces online merchants to reconsider their decision and hopefully formulate their policies keeping in mind what the end customer wants from them.
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