Complaint Review: Hedocell - Edinburg Texas

Hedocell does not honor its policies regarding returns, refunds or guarantees but continues to transact business.  I suspect that Hedocell has more dissatisfied customers than are willing to bother lodging a complaint; consequently, I would like to bring my experience to the reader's attention.

It seems that this dealer manages successfully when nothing goes wrong with the product.  Hence the continued availability of numerous items on eBay and Amazon, as well as from Hedocell directly, and also why the favorable ratings and reviews.  However, when something does go wrong, the dealer wants nothing to do with the customer: he or she will be given the runaround or totally ignored.  This is a reprehensible and dishonest way of conducting business.

I bought a vertical cell phone pouch (cover) from Hedocell on 28 June 2012.  The receipt from PayPal showed that my credit card payment went to Hemo Trading Inc.

The pouch was listed as fitting a Motorola XT860; however, when I received it on 3 July 2012 there was no way of squeezing an XT860 into (or out of) it without a major struggle which made the pouch nearly useless.

To [email protected] on 3 July 2012 I sent an e-mail to this effect; on 9 July 2012 I received the reply:

"It is probably an incorrect or defective case, can you please provide us a picture with the phone inserted showing the size difference? With the picture we can request a replacement to the manufacturer without having to return the current case."

I could hardly do this if the phone did not fit in the first place, sent an e-mail to this effect, and asked for an RMA number.  Thensilence.

Not only was the pouch too small, but the front flap was displaced to the right because the magnetic catch was off-center. Furthermore, the belt loop on the back was also quite obviously crooked, clearly displaced to the left at the top.

Despite my not receiving an RMA number, I mailed the pouch back to Hedocell's commercial address Hedocell, P.O. Box 3639, Edinburg, TX 78540-3639, Tel. 956-587-9188, with a USPS tracking number, and requested an exchange.  More silence.

My research showed that the dealer was Mr. Hector Duhart Ogarrio, based at 1106 Fort Hood Avenue, Edinburg, TX 78539-3333.  It appears to be an apartment in a single-story complex. In addition, I also found other phone numbers for Hedocell: 956-381-4195, 956-383-xxxx and 956-318-xxxx.

Obtaining no response from Hedocell, I reported the events to the credit card company which granted me a refund without argument or protest.

I undertook further research on the Internet and found a Motorola XT860 forum where other people posted the same experience with Hedocell as I had:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-accessories/84276-cases-caution-about-buying-hedocell.html

Cases...caution about buying from Hedocell

I bought a case for my phone from Hedocell: they had a good selection and the prices were low.  The case arrived within a week and I liked it.  So, I decided to order a slightly different one for use when working in my yard.  The second case was too small to fit my phone, even though it was supposed to be specific for my phone.  I left numerous calls on their answering machine and sent several emails.  They finally told me to return the case (which I had to do at my own expense) for a replacement.  A week after sending it back and hearing nothing, I emailed and called them numerous times.  After several days, they claimed they never received it.  Further communications went unanswered.  I never got a replacement, or a refund, and my attempt to get PayPal to stand up was useless.  Oh, and the first case I bought, which I liked really well, had the riveted belt clip break off after a month.  I'm not saying they're a scam, but their pretty web site is not representative of how they do business or a reflection of product quality.  Proceed at your own risk..."

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has also received eight complaints involving problems with the product and the guarantee.  As a consequence, it has given Hedocell a rating of F, the lowest possible.  Of the eight complaints, Hedocell completely ignored seven of them.

From my experience, and it seems that of others, Hedocell does not honor its return policy or other conditions of sale, given as follows

Standard Return Policy
All our products not "On Sale" carry a 15 days unconditional money back or exchange guarantee (shipping not included).  If the product is unused, is not defective and does not meet your needs, we can exchange it and just charge you the postage for the replacement package or refund the amount paid for it.  We'll just discount the postage that we pay for shipping the product to you.  For standard returns, please contact our support team at [email protected] to get a return authorization.  Please include in your message your order number.  We can not accept returns without the proper authorization.

Product On Sale
All the products marked as "On Sale" the sale is final.  Due to the low price, those can not be returned, we'll only replace defective products according to our "Defective Product Return Policy".

Defective Products
If you receive a defective, incorrect or damaged product, please contact out support team at [email protected] within 15 days after the purchase was made.  Please include in your message your order number and a picture showing the problem.  In must of the cases the product will be replaced using just the provided picture.

http://www.hedocell.com/Return.html

which is contradictory in stating that Hedocell offers a "15 days unconditional money back guarantee" and then a bit further down says that "All refunds will be issued as store credit, no money will be returned."  In addition, defective items must be returned within 30 days; however, "No returns will be accepted without a [sic] RMA number on the outside." which Hedocell will not provide.  Also, I noticed that the Return Policy on the Hedocell website does not correspond with the Store Policies given on eBay.

Under the heading Store Policies on Hedocell's eBay website it says:
We have a Simply, No Hassle Return Policy.  Our Customer Support Team will make sure that you get exactly what you are looking for.  We'll take full responsibility for non working items and exchange them for new product.  If you don't like the item, we'll also replace it and just charge you for the replacement actual postage.  Please contact us within 14 days of purchase.  On non defective return, shipping, handling, insurance and eBay fees will be discounted from your refund.

(http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=hedocell

Quite obviously Hedocell ignores its stated policies for its own convenience, merely providing them as bait to promote sales and as a marketing tool.