GotSky

I placed an order with Hobby King for a Cessna 172 Balsa ARF. I received my order about 10 days later, only issue is that Hobby King sent me a cheap foam F18 EDF Fighter jet . I contacted the support line and was told to ship the model back to them and they would send out the correct item. I was told to include my tracking info and cost incurred so that I could be refunded my shipping costs. I did all of this. I shipped the model back via UPS ground included the recipet and tracking numbers in the box as well as sent all the info via E-Mail and via Online Chat session with the operator RICKY . After not hearing anything for 10 days I contacted them tonight. I will post my entire chat session with them here so you can see how this company truly operates . I incurred a cost of $36 to ship this item back to them due to the box size. I did not change anything in terms of packing of box size from the time it was received to the time I sent it back. Tonight I am told that they will not refund my full shipping costs but only $10 of it. They are crooks, liars and cheats. Please see my attached Chat session and read for yourselves. Mind I did everything they asked of me down to the letter. Please note these are direct screen shots so some text my over lap from each one

GotSky

Chat 1,2,3

GotSky

UPS Tracking INFO sent to them

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

So you're saying they used a 47x19x14 box to send them a 32x12x10 size package??

I can only guess they sent you a lot more than just that F-18 kit in that original box

rcairflr

My Feedback: (44)

Wow, this is a shock, another dissatisfied Hobby King customer. The RC forums are littered with unhappy Hobby King customers, yet people keep ordering from them instead of buying from a
US distributor or their local hobby shop.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Something to be aware of when shipping is: There is a business rate and a consumer rate.

I shipped a plane (UPS) from my Minnesota office down to my Florida office for $8. The day I was leaving Florida I thought, rather than drive 3 miles to the office, I'd just ship it from the UPS store around the corner.

The UPS store wanted $58 to ship it back!

Needless to say, I drove 3 miles to the office and shipped it back - it cost $12 (I don't know why it was $4 more, but it was a lot better than $58)

Moral of the story: If you can ship from and to a business address, do so!

I have everything I buy shipped to my office

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

UPS and FedEx have residential surcharges I don't think USPS does,, the OPs issue was Girth, not shipping type. $36 for that size box was cheap.

I'd never ship through the UPS store, I print at home and just drop it off there, if you walk in there and let them calculate it it's always more.

Got to be more to the story on why the box was so big

RCVFR

My Feedback: (7)

OK, can anybody unscramble this puzzle?

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

remove the mistakenly placed word "them" and it make sense to me, sorry for not proofreading 3 times

GotSky

No those are the correct dimensions of the box that this plane arrived in. The issue was also he was giving the box dimensions of the Cessna that had I ordered. Not the big F18 EDF that was sent to me. I tried over and over to explain this to them but he could not understand that.

GotSky

It is sad because I spend a lot of money on this Hobby as do most of us. And for them to blow me off in this matter they have shot themselves in the foot so to speak. The lack of help and or service that was shown to me will cost them so much more in sales. I can only hope they show up to the Hobby Expo next year... I will make sure they understand my frustration..

blikseme300

My Feedback: (118)

I had to chip in with this comment. Most people that read threads like this one never respond so these vendors don't get the hint. HK advertises on this board so this post will most likely be deleted so I am most likely wasting my time posting this....

Enough "suckers" buy from these off-shore suppliers to keep them going, no matter the negative experiences. It is like the spammers that flood our email inboxes. Enough sales are generated from the flood of junk they send to keep it profitable.

I do not agree to the theory that all products from off-shore are inferior - I buy many items and products that are manufactured in China and other "eastern" countries. I have a problem with off-shore retailers that rip customers off.

Buying from off-shore retailers is risky as none of our legal protections apply to these transactions.

When in doubt is always choose the US-based supplier/reseller over the foreign source. It prevents these sorry events such as the one the OP posted.

Bliksem

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

OK, that makes sense now

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I guess what all the negative threads about HK's lack of customer service is telling us boils down to if you order from them, receive the product as described, and it works, you got a good deal. If you are shipped an incorrect item and/or if the item does not work, forget it. HK does nothing about it. That is the price we are all going to pay for the cheap prices from them.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

I guess Im lucky enough to never have a problem, been buying from them for years, and will continue to. Sorry to hear the bad reports.

ira d

I for one wont be doing business with Hobby King, It is so sad when a company will let$ 20.00 stand between them and a satisfied customer because im sure
they would make enough on the sale to cover their loss, They may have to eat the profit on the sale but at least they would have a happy customer who could be
a repeat customer and bring other customers too.

Also I see no reason why if HK is so concered about shipping cost why they didnt pay the shipping on their end and issue a pick up order or send the cust a
prepaid label, And at the very least they should have told cust what they were going to pay and who had the lowest shipping rates when they asked him to
return the item.

Jetdktr

My Feedback: (21)

I have never had an issue or problem with them (Hobby King)

misterv

I also have had no problem at all with Hobby King and this is over 80 orders. There has never been one mistake in all those orders. A few of the items were of inferior quality but this was not unexpected as I do the necessary homework before ordering. If I do not expect the item to be much good,I will take the gamble and sometimes I do get a surprise and it is OK.
The world has changed and Hobby King is bringing aeromodelling retailing to the same as many other items now brought over the WW net.
We residing outside of the US have been putting up with not only poor service from some US suppliers, but a complete ban on doing any business at all for many years.

4X4FABGUY

My first order went well but on my second one they did not include all of the items I ordered. I sent an e mail telling them that items were missing and after a very long wait I got this...
Thank you for your email and sorry for late reply.

We apologize if any item or any part missing.

We do not want to trouble our kind customers, but we really need your help. We are sorry that we are not able to open investigation if there is no pictures can be checked.

Sorry again but please kindly help to provide below pictures, we highly appreciate if you can provide below pictures in one time.
1: the pictures of all items and all packaged materials after put all items in flat.
2: the picture of the postage slip and the package box
3: the pictures that show a kitchen scale for the entire parcel and also show all the items at the same time
4: the pictures of all items’ bar code
5: If you think some parts were missing, please download one picture of missing item parts from our website, and then circle all the parts that you mentioned missing.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Help us improve our service. Click here to complete the customer survey

They dont want to trouble us they say but thats a lot of stuff to do on my part to fix their screw up. And when I tried to fill out the customer survey to inform them how I felt it wont work. I am done with them and I hope this thread persuaded at least one guy to shop anywhere but there.

ira d

Their request is ridiculous they should know what items were shipped without the cust doing
their detective work for them. Bottom line they hope by makeing it hassle they hope the cust
will say forget it.

Wheelsup

My Feedback: (7)

Let me add my experience. I returned a Turnigy 30 black head in Aug. 2010. They advised they would send it to their supplier. In November I advised that I had purchased another engine for the application. I did not want the engine back.
Rather I would like a refund. That finally elicited a response in Dec. in which one of my contacts advised that they could not refund, but that they would deposite my money into my bonus account. I accepted that offer since I was quite satisfied with all the other items I had purchased from them. I heard nothing. In Feb. I asked again that they follow through on their offer. I was told then that they were waiting to hear from the supplier. I told them I did not care what the supplier said; I did not want the engine. I was told then that my request had been sent up. So, nine months later this has not been resolved. They have $189 of mine and appear to be in no hurry to return it.

What is so disappointing about this is that the products I have purchased from them, with the exception of the Turnigy 30, performed well. This is simple customer service. I taught for a year in Xi'an PRC, and would not at that time been suprised by this run around. Perhaps China has not advanced as far as we believe.

GotSky

I too had never had an issue and have made well over 15 orders with them in the past some for several hundred $. The issue this time was that they shipped me the wrong item. No big deal I thought at first. I will just return it and get the correct item. I contacted support, sent pictures of the original packing and contents. Sent them a photo copy of my UPS tracking info and was promised a refund of my shipping costs as well as they would send the correct item. We ll as it turns out they now will not refund my shipping expense and have basically told me too bad sorry we cant help you. This is not up to industry standards and this is not how a company that is trying to make a foot hold in this down economy should treat people who consistently spend money with them. They have lost me as a customer for ever. They have lost most of the folks at my flying field as customers and hopefully one or two people will read this and not go to them for their orders. So in turn this simple refund of $36 will amount to a much much greater amount over the long run. I did my part and did everything by their requests and still they blow me off. Its not OK its not right and these forums are my only way of letting others know what to watch out for if you are ever in the same situation. Thanks for reading

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

You have over 15 orders,, How much money have you saved by buying China direct over the years?? (now usa warehouse) You buy direct, cutting out the distributers and hobby shops that could offer decent customer service (not to mention sales tax) probably saving hundreds over those 15 orders. But now because of $20 you're willing to pay more.

Don't get me wrong,,you got hosed. But you had to know if something went south HKs customer service sucks,, this is nothing new

You live in Castaic,, there are 3-4 hobby shops with in reasonable driving distance,, You going to support them now or just find another E-tailer to roll the dice with?

R/C Skydiver

My Feedback: (3)

I placed an order with HK by internet on 4/18. I then read this thread and thought I had made a bad mistake.

The box was shipped on 4/24 and was receiver here (Al) today 5/6. Not bad service from Hong Kong. The box was packed better than I have ever seen an order packed and was received with no damage at all.

After reading all the posts, I guess I was lucky with my first order with HK. Second order-don't know!!

Flyboy76

My Feedback: (14)

over 36 order with HK now and several thousands dollars spent. Never had an issue, and i've ordered planes to not just small parts. I live in the boonies so buying online is my main way of staying in this hobby... I'm not going to support a LHS that charges $65.00 for a HK nanotech lipo that they stock from HK, why should i?? when i get to the city i always stop at the LHS and usually don't leave without spending over $100.00 plus i can get stuff shipped just as cheap from HK as i can from the LHs which is less than 3 hours away!!