Shenzhen Hongliyuan Watch Industry Co., Ltd.

Buyer’s Nationality:
United States

Seller:
Shenzhen Hongliyuan Watch Industry Co., Ltd.

Seller Website:
http://hlywatch.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

Seller Address:
Hongliyuan Industrial Building, NO.48 Meihua Road, East of Baishisha, Fuyong Town, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518103, China

Initial contact with the supplier:
Online Supplier Directory

Type of product(s) being purchased:
Wristwatches

Value of the Purchase Order when the incident occurred:
1,001 to 3,000 USD

Destination market of order in question:
US or Canada

Type of Complaint(s):
missed lead times, contract violations,

Stage of relationship with the supplier at the time of the incident:
Sampling/Testing

User Experience:
We sent payment (over 1000 USD) to Shenzhen Hongliyuan Watch Co., Ltd. (watch factory) on 4 August 2014. The sample invoice shows that we ordered 6 watches, 2 watches in TC10 (titanium alloy) and 4 watches in 316L stainless steel). Our main contact person was Alina Qiu. The sales manager, Wendy Lee, also communicated with us. They told us that the lead time to complete the samples is 5 weeks. It has been 14 weeks with much less than 50% complete.

On 20 August, they stated that they could not produce any watches in TC10 (a titanium alloy). We compromised and accepted their suggestion for TC4, a more common and much cheaper titanium alloy. On 28 October 2014, they stated that they could not make the watches out of TC4 and had to cancel the project. The same day, we asked for a full refund. They refused to send us this amount, citing that they had mold costs, and that they would only send us about 25%. None of the molds match the technical drawings and they would not send us updated parts. They also stated prior to sending payment that they would only charge us half the mold cost, which is 400 USD, but they have charged us more than double that.

Also, email communication would not be answered for several days at a time.

There were other issues we had to compromise on as they could not make the samples as ordered. These are all details that we verified with the watch factory prior to sending the sample payment.
Here is their Alibaba website: http://hlywatch.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html

Here is their official website: www.hlywatch.com

Company name: Shenzhen Hongliyuan Watch Industry Co., Ltd.
Address: Hongliyuan Building, No. 48 MeiHua Road, FuYong Town, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Tel: (+86)755 27308688 27308388
Company owner: Li De Chang
Sales manager: Wendy Lee
Saleswoman: Alina Qiu (one of several)
Bank: HSBC
Account #: 032-655946-833
Account Beneficiary: Li De Chang

User Recommendations:
Ideally, due diligence should at least include an on-site visit. Performing an on-site check to verify the quality of the factory is crucial to setting expectations. Comparing the quality to other factories, especially of the cheapest bidder, will show in on-site visits. Almost all factories will claim to be the best and tug you in with the lowest price. But, it is difficult and irrelevant to trust what factories have to say. Set an on-site visit.

In our case, a different factory quoted us double the lowest factory quote (this company in question), and stated that it is impossible to have such a low price. That should have sounded the alarm for us.