In the interests of consumer safety, this website serves to highlight HIDIZS attempts to commit fraud against a UK customer when requesting a refund for a faulty product.
This was supposed to be the "HIDIZS Company Information" section, but while gathering evidence, I discovered it had been removed.
HIDIZS are rather shy. You won't find their business address on their Contact Us page. In fact, on 16th January 2025, there was no link on their website to a Contact Us page, that I could find (for now it's in their Footer under Policy). I had to go digging to find their business address buried in their Privacy Policy page. Make of that what you will.
It gets worse. As of 23 January 2025, they have removed their business address from their website, and added a link to their Contact Us page that was missing from the site.
HIDIZS can't even be honest when versioning their Privacy Policy page, and I'm not sure what "We are registered with HIDIZS", is supposed to mean.
Taken on 23 January 2025 (There is no archive.org copy)
In the interests of consumer safety, if HIDIZS won't publish their company information, I will:
Business Name: HIDIZS Technology Company LimitedThe HIDIZS Fraud Playbook includes:
Difficult to believe? Read on...
Video of the fault
I’ve been shopping online for well over a decade, and in that time I have never once, to my knowledge, triggered a fraud risk report when attempting to buy something online. Well I guess there is a first time for everything.
Shortly after completing the shopping cart checkout process, I was contacted by a member of HIDIZS staff, “Crystal”, who sent me an email with a screenshot image attached that highlighted the boxes my transaction ticked in their fraud detection system. I was shocked.
The Billing Address Issue
The issue I took exception to most on this report was this:
"The billing street address does not match the address registered to the credit card"
Accusing me of providing a false banking address for the transaction. This simply wasn’t true, and they have yet to provide me with the address I did supply them with, in order to prove their claims that I was engaged in dishonest behaviour. After re-iterating my banking address to them, they accepted it as fact. I don’t know what software they are using to generate their fraud risk reports but it is clearly not fit for purpose, considering it accepted that the postal code I provided was correct.
The VPN Issues
I use a VPN for my own personal safety online. On this occasion it was set to route my traffic through Switzerland and in light of that fact, most of these “issues” mentioned above are not real issues:
Point 3: "The shipping address is 1043 km away from the IP address""
Point 4: "Using a high-risk Internet connection (web proxy) when placing an order"
HIDIZS spent days attempting to get me to test their device with equipment I don’t own. Expecting me to borrow a PC and an Android phone from someone. Later it was an iPhone 12. When a company does this, what they are really attempting to do is shift the blame onto some other product. They are not asking you to do these things for your benefit. Rather it is a malicious attempt to shift the blame. In the software world this is sometimes referred to as the “It works on my machine” excuse. I’ve worked in software for decades and I’m very familiar with diagnosing and fixing system errors. In this regard HIDIZS behaviour was that of a company that had no interest in accepting that their product was faulty.
Once I did provide video evidence of their DAC stuttering and cutting out volume while playing back through a pair of their own MP145 IEM’s, I received a response that could at best be described as an initial attempt at a brush off. But in reality it was a lie. A delay tactic used in an attempt to get me to abandon my refund claim.
From HIDIZS:
"Since our technician has to take a long vacation recently due to personal reasons, the relevant questions and videos have been fed back to him. After he checks and replies to us, we will update you in time."
I decided to call their bluff, and immediately reported this attempt to defraud me to the UK Police’s Action Fraud department. You can find more information on how to do this on their website at www.actionfraud.police.uk.
I replied to HIDIZS saying that if they didn’t want to deal with me, they could deal with the police, and I informed them of me submitting a fraud report to the UK police and provided them with the crime reference number.
Suddenly their technician wasn’t on a long vacation anymore, and the response from HIDIZS after informing the UK police of their attempts to defraud me now included a revised "long vacation" time of 1-2 days: "the delay will not be long—within 1-2 days at most".
Another claim from the same response email: "we pride ourselves on our commitment to honesty". Sure you do.
Shipping Costs
HIDIZS might choose to believe that a default shipping cost isn't factored into their product pricing, that would ensure the cost is covered by the customer, but convincing others might be hard work. I did pay for optional DHL Express shipping, but this is all besides the point as it's the company-at-fault's responsibility to pay return shipping not the UK customer.
Throughout this entire email exchange with HIDIZS, they have not provided a single piece of evidence as proof of their claims that Apple are at fault. A point I have raised with them on several occasions, which has simply fallen on deaf ears, like many other points I have raised with them, such as their false advertising.
Text in an email is just text in an email. HIDIZS idea of evidence is providing me with quotes from their technician. The same technician, I presume, that was on a long vacation, and then suddenly wasn’t, the minute I reported them to the UK police for attempted fraud.
As the email exchange grew and HIDIZS supplied me with snippets of text (purported to come from their “technician”) as some form of evidence that they were correct and my video misrepresented the truth, they eventually exposed themselves to liability by admitting that their product isn’t in fact as compatible with iPhone as they claim all over their website.
I pointed out to them that claims of the iPhone SE having some current limitation or defect are not borne out by the fact that they have passed validation testing by many government organisations all over the world before being allowed to be sold in those countries.
After pressing them to provide evidence to prove their claims that the fault lies with Apple and the iPhone SE, they wrote the following to me: "This is not an issue with Apple products themselves but rather a limitation or compatibility issue with connected devices." So we’ve reached the point of incompatibility but they are still unwilling to admit that they are at fault for the compatibility issue. Bizarre considering they advertise all over their website about how compatible their product is with the iPhone.
The above email seems to admit their wild claims of compatibility are limited to iPhone 15 and 16. Good luck finding that on their website.
What came first? In this instance, the iPhone. Apple did not create the iPhone in hopes that it would be compatible with a HIDIZS S9 Pro Plus DAC. So to claim that Apple are responsible for the compatibility issue with someone else’s product is gaslighting. But this is how HIDIZS like to operate. Distort the truth, blame everyone else, ignore the fact that they are deliberately selling faulty goods to consumers with iPhones and keep lying to your customers.
Once HIDIZS have decided that their technician’s quotes are evidence, they attempt to add credence to these claims with nonsensical statements such as the following:
"After confirmation from our technicians, the issue is indeed related to the current limitations of the connected device"
(they still have not provided a single shred of evidence as proof of these claims.) HIDIZS then decide that they are entitled to rewrite UK trade and consumer protection laws.
But before that, I’m subjected to a personal insult from them, and further delay tactics:
"If you are unable to fully comprehend the limitations of your connected front-end device and adjust the volume settings accordingly, further communication may result in delays."
(if you're too stupid to do as you're told, we can't be bothered to waste our time with you)
If you target UK consumers in your marketing, you have to comply with UK trade laws. It doesn't matter what country your business is registered in or operates from, what your local laws are, or how many returns policies you want to invent in an attempt to evade your legal responsibilities.
On the far right side of the page halfway down, the Union flag next to the abbreviation GBP, is clear evidence of HIDIZS targeting UK consumers.
Under UK consumer protection laws, I am entitled to a full refund. They refund the purchase, and they bear
the costs of return shipping. Of course this is not what HIDIZS will suggest occurs. They have their own
“policy”. A meaningless set of desires on their part to get away with bullying customers victims.
"As your order has been signed for and in use for over a month, if you are willing to accept and understand this minor issue and continue using the product, we would be happy to apply for a discount refund as compensation for you."
A DAC stuttering is hardly a minor issue. No I am not willing to accept a partial refund because the law states a full refund and a return of the goods.
"If you prefer to return, please note that our official return policy allows returns within 14 days of receipt. Since the DAC+LT02 has surpassed this period, we can still attempt to process a return request on your behalf. If you choose to return the product, please send it back to China at your own expense (including customs duties). Upon receipt, we will refund 90% of the product payment."
All goods sold in the UK have an implied 1 year warranty, so again, their 14 day bullying nonsense isn’t legal. Myself paying to send back their faulty device isn’t legal either, and neither is only refunding me part of what I paid them.
As of 23th January 2025, I have received no further correspondance from HIDIZS email above dated 16/01/25 @ 10:01AM, despite sending 2 emails reminding them of the requirement to comply with UK trade laws.
