Is Grand Hero Technology Development limited a genuine company?  Their
website address is www.grandhero.com.  Their addresses are, Sales
Department room 1713 Hang Gang Fu Chung Business Building Shen Nan Big
Road Shen Zhen China,and Hi-Tech Industry Park PuChengAo New
Industrial Zone PinHu Town LongGang District Shen Zhen City China, and
Unit D China Oveerseas Building 139 Hennessy Road Wanchai Hong Kong. 
I would like to know if it would be safe to buy from this company?

zanmart-ga,

I believe you will find Grand Hero to be a reliable company to do business with. 

Alibaba.com is one of the premier business-to-business web directories
on the internet, with a large concentration of listings of
manufacturers in China.

Grand Hero is listed in the alibaba.com directory as a member in good standing:



http://grandhero.en.alibaba.com/
...Grand Hero Technology Development Limited was established in 1996,
integrating R&D, manufacturing and sale...



What's more...as you can see in the orange band near the top of the
page...Grand Hero is listed as one of Alibaba's "Gold Suppliers".

Click on the 'Gold Supplier' text to get a description of what this entails:


===============

What's Gold Suppliers?
 
Alibaba "Gold Suppliers" is an online community of premium
export-oriented suppliers from China.

Only members that have completed an authentication and verification
procedure conducted by a third-party credit agency can be a Gold
Supplier.

Authentication
A third party credit agency confirms that a member registered with
Alibaba.com is legally registered and that its business address is
correct.

Verification
A third party credit agency confirms that the contact person of a
member registered with Alibaba.com is employed or associated with the
member.

All "Gold Suppliers" have satisfied the payment requirements for "Gold
Suppliers" membership.

===============


This is a pretty good indication that the firm is real, and actually
in business as described.


The only cautionary note I would add is that the website you listed at 


http://www.grandhero.com/


is relatively new.  According to their whois record:


http://whois.domaintools.com/grandhero.com


the site has only been in existence since July of 2005....less than a year.  


While it would be unusual for a US company that started in 1996 to
have waited so long to have a web presence, it may not be that unusual
for a company in China to have only recently established a website in
English.

Still, you may want to ask the company about this, and whether they
had a web presence prior to 2005.

I imagine that Grand Hero should also be able to provide you with a
list of business references as a further indication of their
reliability.

Of course, Google Answers is no substitute for professional advice
(see disclaimer at the page bottom), so please take this information
with all the appropriate grains of salt.

Let me know if there is anything else that I can do for you on this one.


pafalafa-ga



search strategy -- Searched Alibaba, Google and several business
databases for "grand hero".

Having read so many of Scriptor-ga's answers to questions like this, I
feel it important to point out that the website was not just
established recently  (15 July 2005) but also expires very soon on 15
July 2006.  This seems very unusual for a company that claims it was
started in 1996 and now shows $93 million sales and talks about its
30,000 sq.m. (7.5 acre) production facility and more than 1000
empoyees.  Seems like such a company  - even if  this  website was
just recently established -  would have a longer view of the future.

Howdy zanmart-ga,

One of the things that I look for in a legitimate company is the ability to
get a sample of their product(s).
http://www.grandhero.com/cn/contactus1.asp

"We offer samples for quality test or any other business purpose."

I like it when their addresses are actual ones.

I like it when they have a page of company documentation.
http://www.grandhero.com/cn/aboutus2.asp

You should heed the advice of pafalafa-ga and get references.  I would test
their ability to provide a sample.  I would have them send you legible copies
of the company documentation and follow up on that information.

Before doing substantial business with them, or any company that can't provide
you the above, I would go and tour their offices/plant.

These things are cheap investments compared to losing money to someone.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Do a tour of the company ...

Years ago, a friend of mine went out to Hong Kong (from the UK) to
check out a computer manufacturing company ...

He was duly shown round their 'facility' which had numerous girls
fiddling around with various computers. It also had 'a funny smell'.

Before returning to the UK, he dropped in unannounced for a second look.

On this occasion, the Facilty had reverted to its customary role as a restaurant.

So ... Don't just take one tour.

Be a bit sneaky and take several.

If worst comes to worst, you could always have something to eat.

If your question is specifically about Apple ipod nano 4gb units, you
might just try e-mailing Apple to find out whether Grand Hero is a
legitimate distributor and/or if the units are legit.

I think you need a Chinese person to help you find what you need in
China, and I know a website can provide the service , the service is
called "Person to Person"   
http://www.knowhowing.com/persontoperson.htm  ? through the service
you just like engage a "agent" in China to help you to find what you
need in China.