snoozer

My Feedback: (41)

I placed an order with Hobby King and paid for it immediately with PayPal. The order was on hold due to a back ordered item. I did not want to wait, so I tried to cancel the order using HK's Live Chat because I've never been able to get an answer on their help line. Supposedly the order was cancelled but several days later I received an E-Mail saying the order had been shipped. I again went to Live Chat and really ripped into them because it was my understanding that the order had been cancelled. A couple of days later I received a very polite E-Mail from Customer Support apologizing for their error and instructing me to refuse delivery. That way I would not have to pay the return shipping and I would receive a full refund. I did as instructed and refused to accept delivery. Now, it's been over a month and Hobby King has not issued my refund. Through E-Mails they keep telling me that the package has not yet arrived at their warehouse. I have no way to prove that I did not receive the package or prove that Hobby King has received it. In hind sight, I would have been better off to accept the package then ship it back at my expense so I could have the ability to track the package. To answer an obvious question, this was not a low dollar order, so losing the cost of the return shipping would have been considerably less of a loss.

I have filed a dispute with PayPal but until I receive the full refund as promised I will not do any more business with Hobby King. Such poor business practices would not be tolerated by a US based company.

Hill202

My Feedback: (24)

I sure do see alot of these posts complaining about this company. Their service may be bad but they must have one heck of a marketing strategy for people to continue to do business with them.

init4fun

[8D] Hello Snoozer ,

It is with great sadness that I read of yet another fellow RCer being done wrong by Hobbyking . I will not scold you , as others have in other threads , for taking the chance with them , since these days money really DONT grow on trees ! To expect fair service for the money you pay , regardless of how low the offering price is , is a built in RIGHT that we all have when we patronisze any business . Unfortunatly , the complaints regarding HK seem to run about 100 to 1 VS any other RC supplier , and this alone is a sad and troubling indictment of the so called "service" one can expect of Hk .

Can you imagine ANY other (RC) business trying to get away with the things HK does ? What if ALL rc businesses followed HK's "customer DISservice" business model ? ...... We would end up as hobbiests in a different endeavor if that were the case , , NO ONE wants to be taken advantage of for the excuses of low price or distance from the retailer , the two things HK seems to exploit rather well .

I DO wish you some resolution to your problem with them , and I Thank You for posting of your experience with them , so others may be warned to heed the advice and complaints that SO many of these threads bring to light . If enough people who are done wrong by HK get enough word out , well then HK will either have to step up their customer service to developed world levels , or fall victim to their lack of providing it .

Best of Luck with this , and Happy Flying [8D]

nickleo

I can beat that. I ordered an small profile balsa electric airplane from Hobby King and 4 - 9grain servos.
After paying $30.00 shipping, I received a small foam Corsair ready to fly and no servos.
Then the airplane that I ordered was out of stock.
I asked for a refund and was told to send photos of what I received.
After that I was told that I must ship the wrong airplane back to them in order to get a refund.
I went to Pay-Pal and was also told that I had to ship it back to them to get a refund.
I then told them that I would not pay any more money and would keep the wrong airplane and sell it.
They then came back and said that if I kept the wrong airplane that I would have to pay $55.00 for it.
I replied back that I would not pay anymore money and if they wanted the airplane back, they would have to send me a prepaid shipping label or come and get it
And here we are. It has been a month and nothing has been done. I am still waiting for a reply from them
Hobbyking has cheap prices, but there shipping is expensive, their service sucks, and if something goes wrong you and on your own

snoozer

My Feedback: (41)

Nickleo,

If someone sends you something you did not order, you are under no obligation to pay for it or return it at your expense. If I were you and Hobby King wanted the item returned I would demand that they pay your costs and the shipping charge in advance. I would include any additional packing needs and your cost to take the package to the shipper. If Hobby King refuses or ignores your demand then the airplane is your's to do with as you please.

topspin

I can't resist the opportunity to point out the terrible lack of concern Hobby King displays to it's customers. I agree that if they want the Corsair back they should pay for shipping as it was their mistake and not yours. Even more frustrating is that the plane you actually wanted is out of stock and you can't get it.

I agree with init4fun that just because a product is inexpensive we should not lower our expectations to be treated fairly. We live in a free market and if a company like Hobby King continues to ignore the rights of the customers who pay their salaries those customers wil start going somewhere else. It's time for the RC community to pull together and demand more from these guys. No one is asking for a freebie but only to be treated with honesty and fairness. I don't think that's too much to ask from any company that wants my business.

pdm52956

My Feedback: (1)

Just another one of my opinions but two threads on the same occurance really doesn't serve anyone. I mean the first post (at least the first one I saw) was only what, 4 or 5 days ago? Nothing wrong with an update on what's happened so far but why start it all over again? Let it go............

PLANE JIM

My Feedback: (109)

Thanks Snoozer for reminding me of Hobby King's poor service-I was about to buy several lipos and decided to shop some more-instead of the frustration of being held hostage for my hard earned money-LHS does not have them but can order them like I can.

Silent-AV8R

I've been lucky. I have ordered twice from HK. Both times lipos from the Amreican warehouse. Both orders went smoothly. But that is about as far as I plan to push my luck. I will only order in stock items at the USA warehouse, and most likely just the Turnigy lipos.

outdoorhunting

As Ingvall states, " HERE'S YOUR SIGN!!" Sorry about the problem, hope ya get it solved.

init4fun

Sadly , The Original Poster's original thread on this subject was closed by the mods due to the fact that whenever a thread speaks ill of HK , , , The HK fans always seem to show up , start a nonsense recreational argument , and PRESTO !!!! the thread ends up closed by the mods ....... Keep an eye on THIS one , cause I'll bet it dont get to page 3 before ya see what Ive just described in action .....


And besides , Is there some thread limit here ???? Does a replacement for a forcably locked really bother you that much ???? The OP should be allowed to "Let it go" when HE wants to , If ya dont like it , you've always got the simple option of NOT READING IT !!!!!! ....... I cant remember , , , even ONCE , , seeing an RCU member being forced to read a thread against their will , , , Or am I missing something here ...............

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

I bet you saved a lot of money.

topspin

I have been using Hyperion lipos and get them from my LHS or Allerc. I used to be a big Thunder Power guy but I'm convinced that Hyperions are now the best and they outlast the cheap ones by a wide margine so I found that I really wasn't saving money buying the cheaper batteries when they started swelling or not holding a full charge after 15 or 20 flights. The Hyperions are almost indestructable if you don't beat them up.

pdm52956

My Feedback: (1)

Sadly, you're first paragraph is nothing more than a troll. In my opinion. I'm not gonna bite and hopefully no one else will either.

No, there is no limit on the number of threads someone posts. You know that as well as I do. Seems a little pointless unless there is actually an update given to the one that was closed and I didn't see that. I saw the same post that the other thread started with and not much more. So you're right, here we go again.

Have fun.

init4fun

Gee , , Thats funny to see you using the word troll , , , , seeing how the very definition of the word is to participate in a thread where you have no intrest , but to tell the OP that his thread doesnt deserve to be seen .......

Must be a REAL burden to keep being FORCED to see AND respond to these "Useless" threads , huh ??????


You'll have to try harder to get the mods to close this one , , , and I'm SURE you'll come up with something ......

Awaiting , ONCE AGAIN , , your oh so insightful last word here ..........

OVER , AND OUT .......................

topspin

I don't see it as a troll, I see it as a statement of facts, facts backed up by exeprience.

topspin

Snoozer, I hope you get your refund soon. There are plenty of other Chinese vendors with similar prices and while they are not perfect they seem to have fewer customer complaints than HK. Best of luck with the Pay Pal Dispute.


nicleo, keep the plane and don't pay them. They sent you the wrong stuff and it is up to them to pay shipping if they want it back. If they are not willing to pay shipping I would keep the plane and go shop somewhere else. They have a lot of nerve asking you for anything after they screwed up your order.

pdm52956

My Feedback: (1)

Just for clarification..............

"inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."

That's one part of the definition of "Troll" in Wikipedia. How it relates, again in my opinion, to at least part of what you posted is obvious.

init4fun

Oh yes , right on cue , , , Man , , your GOOD !!!!!


Now , let me say this in nice plain english , that im sure you'll attempt to twist , as you just seem to have to get the last word in here .


YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TELLING PEOPLE WHAT THEY CAN OR CANT POST ABOUT !!!!!!! PERIOD !!!!!!!!

The OP wants a post about HK , , , = TOO BAD , IF YOU DONT LIKE IT ,,,,,,,, DONT FLIPPIN READ IT !!!!!!

Now , unless you DO think you have the right to determine what subjects are germaine to the others who post them , ,BACK THE HELL OFF !!!!!!!

Now , the words "over and out" mean im finished with you ! You will not get this thread closed with your attempts to provoke an exchange that will be off limits .

OVER AND OUT !!!!!!!!!

snoozer

My Feedback: (41)

I started this post primarily to caution other RCU members about Hobby Kings abusive policies.

My secondary reason is in the hopes that someone else has a similar experience and would relate how long it took to get the problem resolved. Maybe I'm being naive but I'm still believing (or hoping) that Hobby King will give me a refund as they have promised.

Unfortunately, the time to file a dispute with PayPal was already past by the time I realized that I had a problem.

topspin

One thing that Hobby King and most of the other Chinese vendors seem to have in common is poor communications with the customer. They have a fire and forget business strategy where once the sale is made as far as they are concerned it's a done deal. I have found a couple of smaller Chinese sellers who are very responsive to emails and don't use the canned chat services like some others do. This makes shopping with them much less stressful but you still have to ask. If you don't initiate a request for information you will simply be in the dark until your package arrives.

The one thing that Hobby King does right is they post shipping information in your account so at least you can find it. The problems come when they send the wrong order as in nicleos case, shipping to the wrong address or country (this has happened), sending an incomplete order or not sending anything at all, failing to provide warranty service or replacement of defective parts and airframes. The list goes on and on.

I have seen all of these scenarios and had two of them happen to me. Where they fail is by ignoring these customer problems instead of spending a little time and money to make it right. Everytime they ignore a customer issue it alienates another customer and they lose potential income. Right now they don't seem to care because sales are up but there comes a time when after you juice a large enough segment of the buying public out of their hard earned cash they will start taking it elsewhere. That is the penalty for ignoring the customer and it has happened to lots of businesses even before there was an internet.

I suspect that with the growing number of complaints on RC chat sites like this one that Hobby King has already lost a fortune in potential business and that trend will continue to get worse over time. I encourage every RC enthusiast to shop somewhere else because it's the only way to get the message across to Hobby King that just because you have low prices doesn't mean you can ignore the customer.

We are a small community of hobbyists and because we have this information about businesses who refuse to provide proper customer service we can make a huge difference in the marketplace that supports our hobby.

pdm52956

My Feedback: (1)

I really do hope you get a resolution from them. There are so many posts about problems with them, and not all that much saying it was fixed later, that I would be surprised if it all comes out the way it should. That being with your best interest in mind because after all, your best interest IS in their best interest.

Perhaps someone new to the HK online experience will pick up something from your post. Let us know how it works out for you.

cheezer1222

My Feedback: (3)

People sometimes don't realize that the most vocal customers of a business are the ones who have been wronged. Not everybody has had bad experiences with HK. That being said, hopefully everything turns out OK for the OP.

rgburrill

In hindsight wouldn't it have to better to just accept the partial shipment and not make such a big fuss about the backorder?

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Oh no! The kids in the sandbox are fighting again![X(]