Further update on my experience with Hifigo—I felt that I had to bring my ordeal to the attention of anyone looking to buy the Gustard from this shop, or any other gear for that matter.
TL/DR: Consider any option over Hifigo if at all possible.
I chose to buy the Gustard x26 Pro from Hifigo entirely due to their promised shipping dates, which at 7-10 days was considerably more competitive than Szenzhen Audio’s or Amazon’s. I had the Topping D90se I wanted to compare it to and the return date on the Topping was ticking down.
I made Hifigo aware of this. The item was confirmed in stock and they promised they’d get it out ASAP. Then the item sat in their shipping department for over five days before being picked up by DHL; again they offered reassurance.
Despite their promises, they apparently shipping the Gustard via the cheapest, slowest option available, because the package didn’t arrive at Miami customs until over two weeks later. Then it got a delivery exception and held at Miami for days; I contacted Hifigo to investigate, but they responded by asking ME to contact DHL about any outstanding duties or taxes that may be left unpaid—as the recipient of the package DHL told me to contact the shipper about this.
By the time the DAC arrived, almost a month had transpired and the return date on the Topping had passed. I contacted Hifigo about returning the item, and they insisted that I send photos of the box because their “return policy” is as follows—only “unopened” packages are allowed and you have seven days to return it, all shipping costs, fees, insurance, and duties paid by the buyer. So in other words they have NO return policy.
Now I should mention that my item arrived in the original manufacturer’s box, which showed evidence of having been opened previously and was in beat-up shape. The plastic protective cover over the screen was wrinkled and placed in an irregular fashion, and it was fairly obvious that they had sent me a restocked item.
Nevertheless, Hifigo told me that once the item is received by them, they will assess whether the item has been opened and will charge up to a 20% restocking fee at their discretion—and they will also assess all VAT fees and other duties and bill me for those once it is received.
They insist that you provide a tracking number once it is shipped, so USPS is not an option as once the item leaves the US, no further tracking is available. So the cheapest shipping option I could find was DHL at $439–yes, you read that correctly.
I bought the unit for $1,499. By the time I paid the $439 shipping and whatever taxes and restocking fees they levy, I was looking at a loss of over half the cost of the DAC to return an item I never opened. I chose to keep it and it’s currently listed on eBay for anyone who might be interested in it (my eBay handle is thecosmicpeanut).
I’m hoping that the experience I shared above will give pause to anyone considering using Hifigo in the future. If you do buy from them, you better be certain you want to keep what you’re buying. Given the extremely customer-friendly return policies at Headphones.com, PS Audio and Amazon, Hifigo’s offerings are downright insulting. Never again!