HobbyCity Lipo Warranty - Important Information!

[simplechamp]

I originally ordered a pair of Zippy lipos for my E-Revo a few months ago and was very satisfied. I decided to get another pair, and they just arrived today. I tested the voltages of all cells and they were a slightly out of balance (about 20-30mv max), but I figured it was no big deal and they just needed a full charge/balance cycle.

So I charge/balance the packs and then much to my dismay one of the cells only went up to 4.09V, while all the other cells were 4.20V. So I try to cycle them one time on the charger and at the end of the second charge/balance the one cell is still 4.09V

So now I know one of the cells is bad. No big deal, I'll send it back and get a replacement. I fill out the RMA form on the HC site and it spits out an automated RMA number and an address to return the lipo to. But then I took a look at the specific page about lipo warranty info. Here it is:

HobbyKing® Lithium Polymer Battery Warranty Policy.

Due to the complexity and delicate nature of Lithium Polymer Batteries, please note the following points prior to making a claim.

Please keep the following in mind before making a claim;
We check all battery pack voltages prior to shipping. It is a simple process and takes us 3 seconds per pack. Doing so assures us that the battery is fit for use, is within the voltage range and has no shorting.
This process does not remove slightly unbalanced packs.

1) You can only make a claim for 'Under voltage' the same day the parcel arrives and prior to the lipoly pack being charged or cycled. 'Under Voltage' means that 1 or more of the cells in you pack has a voltage lower than 3v per cell. After the battery has been cycled or used, no claim for 'under voltage' can be made.

2) We do not replace burnt batteries. All batteries are checked prior to shipping, if a short on the balance connector was to happen, it would happen prior to shipping. Burnt batteries are also impossible to examine, therefore they are not warranted.

3) We do not warrant crash damage, of any kind. If your pack shows signs of an impact or trauma, we will not replace it.

4) Never disassemble your pack. Regardless of your skill level, expertise or qualifications. We will never replace a disassembled or 'inspected' pack.

5) Rapid Capacity Loss. Should your pack fall well short of it's stated capacity, please indicate to us how you achieved capacity claim. We will test packs for charge and discharge values. Should the battery have severe capacity loss, we will test each cell for maximum and minimum voltage charge as well as I/O. This can indicate to us if the pack has been over-discharged. Packs which are over-discharged will not be replaced.

6) Because of the complexity and nature of these batteries, all packs must be returned to our Hong Kong office. Packs sent to any of our warranty agents, will be rejected.

7) Packs which have a cell voltage difference of less than .245v per cell cannot be replaced. Please balance your packs if your packs appears to be unbalanced.

8) Should you be too concerned about sending the parcel back to us due to safety reasons. We will not warrant the pack. Purchasing any battery from hobbycity.com, constitutes an agreement to this warranty policy.
Each battery brand has it's own warranty time limit. Our standard Lipoly warranty limit is 30 days, unless otherwise stated in the product listing.

I think this is ridiculous. How am I supposed to know there is a bad cell until I charge the pack and see the cell isn't going up to 4.20V?!?!?!? Also, a tolerance of 0.245V difference between cells is unacceptable. And their low cell policy only covers cells below 3V. Again, totally bogus. It's basically impossible to have a lipo pack covered by HC on warranty.

So now I can either send them my pack and have them tell me it's not covered and make me pay shipping both ways, or buy a brand new pack and pay shipping again. I guess that's the price you pay for not dealing with a LHS. I still like the Zippy packs and I know there will be bad packs here and there, but the HC lipo warranty policy leaves a lot to be desired. Looks like my Zippy packs just got a little more expensive...