Hipobuy’s own routes when an order goes wrong
Every UK route sits outside Hipobuy. These are the routes inside it, with the deadlines and photos Hipobuy’s help pages ask for.
Customer service, as Hipobuy itself asks
The lock article ends with a request: anyone unhappy with a payment, an order or the service itself is asked to talk to customer service first, and Hipobuy will respond within 24 hours.
There are two channels. Email goes to [email protected]; [email protected] is for business cooperation only. The online chat inside the site and app runs on a third-party platform, and a notice still in Hipobuy’s list says a failure on that platform once delayed replies for an unknown time.
No opening hours for customer service appear anywhere on Hipobuy’s pages. The closest thing is the time its buyers place orders with sellers, 09:00 until 18:00 China time (UTC+8). A written message, by email, leaves you a copy of what you asked and when.
Lost parcels
A parcel that goes missing
For a parcel lost in international transit, Hipobuy’s after-sales article says you can apply for after-sales or contact online customer service to apply for compensation. After verification, customer service pays the compensation into your Hipobuy account as gold coins.
The deadline is in the article’s list of exclusions: a request that comes later than 7 days after signing, or later than 45 days after the parcel left, is out of time. When nothing has arrived at all, the 45-day count from dispatch is the one that matters.
Late is not lost. The FAQ version of the same article rules out any payment for parcels that are merely delayed. How much is paid for a loss depends on the free and paid cover tables, which this site does not reproduce.
At the door
Damage or a shortage found at the door
Hipobuy wants parcels inspected before you sign. Its Receipt Information page says to check the outer packaging and seal in front of the courier, note any problem on the waybill, and refuse delivery if needed.
If you signed without checking and the parcel turns out damaged or short, hold on to the outer box and its tape, tell your local post office within 2 days of signing, and pass the invoice and pictures to Hipobuy, which then pursues the post office.
These are separate procedures, not one combined deadline. Receipt Information gives the local-post-office rule above. After-sales and FAQ pages ask for evidence to Hipobuy within two working days; damaged, missing or defective goods also have a 72-hour reporting clause. Insurance has its own seven-day-after-signing or 45-day-after-dispatch clause. Report promptly and ask which procedure applies; do not wait for the longest period.
QC photos as your first evidence
QC, short for quality check, is the warehouse look at your item before it ships. Hipobuy says its inspectors verify quantity, colour, size and other specifications, then repack items in Hipobuy self-sealing bags. The standard photo set is “generally three”: front, back and side or logo.
Hipobuy is also clear about the limits. The check leaves out slight shade differences, measurements that are a little off, and anything about how an item wears. Electricals get an outside look and a parts count only, without being switched on. Sealed CDs, handmade and adult products are not opened.
How to check QC photos, then: count the items, compare colour and size with the listing you saved, and look for stains or damage. If a detail is unclear, Hipobuy sells extra photos at 1 CNY each. Photos taken before shipping are the earliest evidence you will have in any later claim.
Resolve an uncertain photo before it becomes a parcel problem
For a stored order, check the quantity, label, colour and visible condition against your saved selection. Ask for a targeted view when the existing picture cannot settle a point. A request for a readable size label or a measured sleeve is more useful than asking whether an item is good. Standard QC photos do not prove authenticity or test all functions.
Send the question through the relevant order enquiry while the item is still in China. An eligible seller return has its own conditions and deadline, independent of free storage. If you approve packing first, original packaging may change and the item may soon leave the practical return stage. Keep the photos and response; after dispatch, the parcel and delivery evidence become relevant as well.
After use
A fault that shows up after weeks of use
Some faults only appear with use. Hipobuy’s after-sales article covers this case: provided the item is still inside its warranty period and you can show the receipt from the original purchase together with the warranty card, you can entrust Hipobuy to contact the seller for a refund or exchange.
Hipobuy says it charges no service fee for this, but you pay the return delivery. It warns that sellers handle these cases in their own ways, so a full result is not promised, and that it may refuse to act where the warranty conditions are not met.
For goods damaged, missing or defective on arrival, the same article gives a much shorter limit: tell customer service no more than 72 hours after delivery.
Returns in one paragraph
Hipobuy’s returns service lasts five days, with the count starting on the first full hour after an item shows as Warehoused, and the seller has to agree. A return because you changed your mind costs the postage back to the seller, the first domestic delivery charge and a further 5 RMB; if the seller is at fault it is usually free.
Returns are covered in depth elsewhere. They appear here because a completed return refunds to your Hipobuy account, not to your card, and because the five-day window starts before most buyers have seen the item in person.