I am pretty sure there were posts about how bad HK handles RMA on their batteries. I am posting this to let me people here know how to properly handle it.
Before I go into how to properly do it, I would tell you about my experience.
I order a 10s5Ah nanotech from their US warehouse back in early April. The battery arrived 1 month later. You would think ordering from a local warehouse would shorten the ship time, but it didn't. When I got the pack, I tested using a celllog. I found 1 cell completely dead. I then went on their website to registered for the battery warranty and emailed then about getting a replacement. I never heard from them. A week later, I emailed them again threatening of a Paypal dispute. Waited for a 2 days and still no response. I then proceeded to open a Paypal dispute. They responded after opening the dispute. They asked for proof of the defective battery and the battery warranty. Keep in mind, I already registered so they could've just looked it up. I responded with picture proof of the defected cell and the battery warranty label. They then responded saying since it was after the one month battery warranty and could not help me. Remember, it took a month before the battery arrived. I also had USPS tracking as proof. I escalated the Paypal dispute as well as show them the USPS tracking. They finally budged and requested me ship the defected battery back and cancel the Paypal dispute. They say they cannot process the new battery if I don't cancel the Paypal dispute. I specifically asked them to send me a new battery pack at THEIR cost because there was no way I would pay for shipping of the defected battery to my address then for the return of the defective battery and then shipping again for the replacement. That would be 3x shipping on my part when I should only be responsible for 1, or 2 at most if you count the shipping back per their agreement. They lied to me by saying they will ship the working battery at their cost when I ship back the battery and cancel the dispute. Here is where I made the mistake of trusting those crooks. I shipped back the battery and canceled the Paypal dispute. This was when the nightmare began.
Two weeks after USPS posted they got the defective battery from me, I contacted them again. At this point, I cannot count on Paypal to help me because I already canceled the dispute and cannot reopen it. They could've taken my money squat clean. They responded saying it was pass warranty period so they could not do anything. WTF? I was told by another Customer support personnel to ship it back and now they will NOT give me my money back. Essentially I paid for an item and shipped it back to them at my cost and now they will keep my money??!! Any ways after many "sorry we cannot do anything because warranty is over" excuse, I finally got to the RMA battery department. They passed me around many dept. Finally after many emails exchanges, they refunded my money via store credit. They NEVER shipped me another working battery like they promised. At this point, I decided to cut my losses. I quickly reorder the battery. I mean I can't do anything else with the store credit. So I am still waiting for another battery which I hope works. If not, I would have loss more money because I will have to deal with them again. And this time, I wont have Paypal help either because it was purchased via store credit.
I have spent thousands on their websites and have let go a few orders where they left items out. Thinking how well I treat them as a vendor, I expected the same. The batteries was my last order from them. I rather pay more and be treated with dignity than pay slightly less and be treated like shit.
My recommendation would be to avoid them at all cost. There are many better (cheaper in the long run) battery source alternatives. But if you do have to deal with the devil, then here is what you need to do:
1) Buy battery with Paypal.
2) Register battery for warranty when you received the battery.
3) If it's defective, contact them quickly! Ideally the same day.
4) I would give them 1 or 2 days max before contacting them back with threat to open Paypal dispute.
5) Show them proof of defective battery and demand them to send you a new battery before you send them the defective battery.
6) If they refuse, open Paypal dispute if not open already.
7) If they keep on refusing, escalate the dispute. During the whole time, they did not respond to Paypal request on the dispute so I suspect it will be easy to get ALL your money back including shipping.
8) Do NOT trust anything they say! Until you get the new battery, everything they say is horse shit.
9) Only AFTER receiving the new battery and confirmed it works, do you ship them their battery back and cancel the Paypal dispute. If they forced you to jumped through hoops to get the new battery, I would NOT send the defective battery back and keep it as a "screw you HK" trophy.
Be firm is your request and do not threaten them of violence or defamation of their brand. They are not worth your time. And if you are succinct and firm in your demands, you will either get your money back or a working battery fast.
Before I go into how to properly do it, I would tell you about my experience.
I order a 10s5Ah nanotech from their US warehouse back in early April. The battery arrived 1 month later. You would think ordering from a local warehouse would shorten the ship time, but it didn't. When I got the pack, I tested using a celllog. I found 1 cell completely dead. I then went on their website to registered for the battery warranty and emailed then about getting a replacement. I never heard from them. A week later, I emailed them again threatening of a Paypal dispute. Waited for a 2 days and still no response. I then proceeded to open a Paypal dispute. They responded after opening the dispute. They asked for proof of the defective battery and the battery warranty. Keep in mind, I already registered so they could've just looked it up. I responded with picture proof of the defected cell and the battery warranty label. They then responded saying since it was after the one month battery warranty and could not help me. Remember, it took a month before the battery arrived. I also had USPS tracking as proof. I escalated the Paypal dispute as well as show them the USPS tracking. They finally budged and requested me ship the defected battery back and cancel the Paypal dispute. They say they cannot process the new battery if I don't cancel the Paypal dispute. I specifically asked them to send me a new battery pack at THEIR cost because there was no way I would pay for shipping of the defected battery to my address then for the return of the defective battery and then shipping again for the replacement. That would be 3x shipping on my part when I should only be responsible for 1, or 2 at most if you count the shipping back per their agreement. They lied to me by saying they will ship the working battery at their cost when I ship back the battery and cancel the dispute. Here is where I made the mistake of trusting those crooks. I shipped back the battery and canceled the Paypal dispute. This was when the nightmare began.
Two weeks after USPS posted they got the defective battery from me, I contacted them again. At this point, I cannot count on Paypal to help me because I already canceled the dispute and cannot reopen it. They could've taken my money squat clean. They responded saying it was pass warranty period so they could not do anything. WTF? I was told by another Customer support personnel to ship it back and now they will NOT give me my money back. Essentially I paid for an item and shipped it back to them at my cost and now they will keep my money??!! Any ways after many "sorry we cannot do anything because warranty is over" excuse, I finally got to the RMA battery department. They passed me around many dept. Finally after many emails exchanges, they refunded my money via store credit. They NEVER shipped me another working battery like they promised. At this point, I decided to cut my losses. I quickly reorder the battery. I mean I can't do anything else with the store credit. So I am still waiting for another battery which I hope works. If not, I would have loss more money because I will have to deal with them again. And this time, I wont have Paypal help either because it was purchased via store credit.
I have spent thousands on their websites and have let go a few orders where they left items out. Thinking how well I treat them as a vendor, I expected the same. The batteries was my last order from them. I rather pay more and be treated with dignity than pay slightly less and be treated like shit.
My recommendation would be to avoid them at all cost. There are many better (cheaper in the long run) battery source alternatives. But if you do have to deal with the devil, then here is what you need to do:
1) Buy battery with Paypal.
2) Register battery for warranty when you received the battery.
3) If it's defective, contact them quickly! Ideally the same day.
4) I would give them 1 or 2 days max before contacting them back with threat to open Paypal dispute.
5) Show them proof of defective battery and demand them to send you a new battery before you send them the defective battery.
6) If they refuse, open Paypal dispute if not open already.
7) If they keep on refusing, escalate the dispute. During the whole time, they did not respond to Paypal request on the dispute so I suspect it will be easy to get ALL your money back including shipping.
8) Do NOT trust anything they say! Until you get the new battery, everything they say is horse shit.
9) Only AFTER receiving the new battery and confirmed it works, do you ship them their battery back and cancel the Paypal dispute. If they forced you to jumped through hoops to get the new battery, I would NOT send the defective battery back and keep it as a "screw you HK" trophy.
Be firm is your request and do not threaten them of violence or defamation of their brand. They are not worth your time. And if you are succinct and firm in your demands, you will either get your money back or a working battery fast.