I know that this is an old thread, but people still come to these looking for advice, so here's my $0.02...
I got the Ballistic HC from Amazon after hearing about people in real world situations dropping them and not having problems. Have had the case for over a year now, and no issues. One thing I have to say about Ballistic- they no longer have the case listed on their site, but still honor the warranty- I called to get a replacement kick stand for the rear, they sent me a new rear. The rubber bumpers on the corner of the front panel started coming off, they sent me a new front panel. Oh yeah, and I emailed them about the front cover on the 1 year date of purchase, they gave me absolutely no hassle and sent the replacement off immediately. Arrived in < 3 days.
So as far as protection goes, my phone still qualifies as brand new condition, and as far as customer service- the only way they could get better, in my opinion, is by sending me a new phone with the warranty parts!