1_helihover_1

On the 13.02.14 I ordered a model from Hobbyking. To this date I have not recieved it. Upon contacting Hobbyking I get all kinds of reassuring that it will be handled, and that a refund of the order is a non issue – as long as they get the time to search for the order within the framework of the shipping company.
This I have accepted, but upon contacting them again, it is still new excuses. What is worse is that I have received threats directly from HobbyKing – and also has receviced correspondance not even remotely polite – if I elect to publish my story on the forums.
It is clear that my money is gone. This serves as a warning to all you potential customers out there – BE AWARE, and STAY AWAY from HobbyKing!
I have also had several sucessfull shipments from HobbyKing in the past. But for me this is the end.

bogbeagle

Not my experience.

When my order was lost in the post, last year, Hobbyking were really good about it. There comms were good and polite.

It took a couple of months to sort things out, but I got a full refund.


Presumably, you kept a copy of their correspondence which was "not even remotely polite". Please post it, so that we can see what you are talking about.



Here is a typical response that I got from the HK team which was dealing with my own lost parcel.


Sorry for the trouble it caused you. What we mean to say is that upon checking your status with our system, your item with reference KF412208370GB was delivered back to sender from our STAINES Delivery Office on 25/11/13.Parcel would be returned to Uk warehouse.
We will wait for the warehouse confirmation if the parcel is indeed return to us. Once it is, we will resend the parcel back to you. For now, kindly wait for the confirmation from our warehouse. Your patience is much appreciated at this moment. Any question is accepted to us, just email us or through live chat 24/7.
Thank you for supporting Hobbyking.
Have a blessed day!


Regards,
Christina
HobbyKing Support Team

topspin

So Hobby King screwed up and UK post sent it back. All the while they are making lame excuses to you like "we don't know what happened", and you buy into it. That is extremely poor customer service in my book. Good customer service would be for them to acknowledge that they are awaiting delivery and then dispatch a duplicate order to you straight away instead of making you wait. This could not possibly hurt them since UK post already told them the stuff is being returned.

You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes even moderate customer service.

bogbeagle

I expect that the people at HobbyKing are just humans.

They screw up, from time to time.

I see no need to vilify them.

On2_n_On4

from what I see, and read almost everyday... this part of the forum is always complaining, whining and bashing hobby stores all the time.
This is getting old and boring.
Funny thing is most of you people are NOT KIDS, but they sure know how to act like one.
EPIC! lol

topspin

Np one is bashing anyone here. The OP payed for something and then didn't get it. If this was an isolated incident it would go unnoticed but this particular company has a long track record of exceptionally poor performance and customer service.

This isn't bashing mind you, it's just lay bare the facts for the RC community to see. We tend to watch each others backs and the internet has become a wonderful tool to warn others about companies who don't have satisfactory service. Remember, it's only a hobby store and I'm letting my friends know that they will be miles ahead to shop elsewhere.

As for not kids, you play with toys just like the rest of us or you would not be on this site. There is a difference between enjoying the passion of ones youth and being childish.

KW_Counter

Have you contacted your credit card company?
If no, why not?

KW_Counter

TomCrump

I couldn't agree more. And since this happens so often, and we read about it so often, it amazes me that anyone would buy from this company. It also amazes me, that when the inevitable happens, and they become dissdatisfied with said company, that the buyer would admit, online, to having ignored the hundreds of posted complaints, and made the purchase, anyway.

I find it hard to have sympathy for customers of this company who get taken for a ride. The warnings are posted daily for all to read.

mogman

I have had nothing but quick and efficient service from H/K. The last 2 orders (about 4 months apart) were for small gas engines and both orders arrived in about 6-7 days.

Maybe I'm just lucky.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

It's a numbers game. If have 10,000 orders and 1% are a problem, that's 100 customers. If you have 10,000,000 orders, and 1% are screwed up....................well it is what it is. And you only hear from the unhappy customer.

ira d

+1

ira d

Strange thing is I would bet Tower and Horizon and other large hobby retailers have just as many customers as HK yet no body is on here every other day complaining about them.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

Those distributors have a small fraction of the business HK does.

ira d

Maybe if you take into count HK's worldwide business but in the usa I doubt HK has more business than all of them.

On2_n_On4

this has nothing to do with the toys that we all play with.
I mean.... how many " BE AWARE, and STAY AWAY from HobbyKing" threads do you need ?

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Of the 37 orders I placed with HK in the last 8 years, only one order had a slight problem. They failed to ship a bottle of CA glue with my order. I contacted them through their chat service. Within five minutes they were able to verify that they did not ship the glue. They were able to verify this from their records of the shipping weight of the package vs. the shipping weight of my order. They asked me if I wanted to save the difference as a credit that can be used on my next order, or refund the difference to my credit card. It was just as easy to deal with HK as it was any other American company.

LarsL

Who here thinks that waiting since February 13 of this year (that is over 70 days ago) for a model that was paid for, sounds OK?

There are not too many who have posted so far so each of you HK detractors and supporters can respond. Unless it was on back order, which is possible, I would say it is ridiculous and a very poor reflection on HK. OP was it on back order when you ordered it?

Lars

Joe 1320

Whether a company is high volume or low volume is moot. Good service or bad service is what matters so all the wanna be hobbiests who aren't in the business that run to the aid of their beloved cheap outlet just make matters worse. They post in such desparate dialog, attempting to derail a negative thread, they start the 20 million condescending questions to a poster trying to discredit them, I've had 10000 orders and never a problem so you must be crazy to have a problem, don't file a paypal claim as they will take care of you in 6 months maybe...... And all sorts of other crap. And that is what it is..... CRAP. Who cares how many orders you have, it's not relevant and trying to rub someone's nose in it even further is why people get even more pissed. For those of you that call yourself "helpers" probably didn't even think that quoting all of your successful orders is a direct rub to the one who is upset. then again, the Trolls know the game and that is how they get their jollies, by pushing an already pissed off person over the edge. The really crappy one is the statement " all this over a toy airplane?" That is such a trolling and condescending way to laugh in someone's face. The sad thing is that some forums seem to allow those trolls to thrive.

I've had many orders over the years and when service went into the toilet, I stopped feeding them. There is no excuse for the BS runaround that Hobbyking gives it's customers when the items don't get shipped, they arrive damaged, or some other error. getting a refund takes more patience than most people have and that is exactly why HK stalls, plays the communication gap game..... Everything possible so that the consumer just gives up. Funny thing is if they do all that supposed volume, they could afford to take care of the customer quickly. no? Oh yeah, maybe the volume isn't that big after all! lmao......either that or it's intentional. Either way you look at it, there is no viable reason to make customers jump though so many hoops to get things handled in a timely manner and there is no reason to defend such shady service actions unless there is a vested interest.


the only way to protect yourself is to either pay with paypal or a credit card and be ready to follow those institution's dispute process. I had to use paypal dispute/claims a couple times with HK and both times paypal made it right when Hobbyking was sitting on their arses doing nothing, and that was waiting until day 44 to file. Hobbyking was ignoring my request for a refund on a product that was in stock, being held for shipping until I pay an additional shipping fee which I refused. This came about while a previous order was being refunded by paypal because HK sent a dead lipo and I was ignored by customer service. Hobbyking demanded I close the dispute before they would lift a finger to resolve anything. Now what makes them think that I am going to close the dispute when it took weeks of requests that they ignored and it took the paypal dispute to even get their attention? So as soon as paypal judged in my favor and refunded, Hobbyking got pissed and held my recent order hostage. Literally the same day. Coincidental?

So they admitted that they had my product, had "misquoted" a shipping fee but won't refund or give store credit when I cancel the order. All they kept saying is they wanted more money. LMAO..... That's what it is all about, right there. money. If any of you think it's not about HK holding on to your money as tight as possible, you are fooling yourselves. The amount of the refund was "coincidently" the same amount that the additional misquoted shipping was for. Now what are the odds of that happening in a coincidental world? Twice In a row, paypal made it right.

I've dealt with many companies overseas, there is no reason for HK to play these kinds of games. I have had zero problems dealing with multimillion dollar companies as well as little hole in the wall venders and none have been as difficult to deal with as Hobbyking when issues arise. Others can claim what they want, until hobbyking returns to a reasonable amount of customer service like they did prior to all the name changes, I shop elsewhere. There is far less drama and if one is diligent in scouring the net, the prices can be similar and some cheaper. Go figure.

topspin

Very well stated Joe.

There are a handful of people who claim they are only trying to help but their constant support of Hobby King, even when it is completely irrational, make me very suspicious of their motives. I am absolutely convinced that there are people on the forums who are compensated by Hobby King for derailing negative threads either directly by being paid or indirectly by receiving bonus points or free merchandise.

By the way I just saw some pretty good deals on Lipo batteries at Hobby People.

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

Click the little tab that says United States warehouse if you want to avoid lengthy wait times.

It has taken over 2 months to get a little foamy from the "global" location, and when the package arrived the customs and postal dates on it were very far apart.

So now I always make sure to click the button that only gives me options from the USA warehouse which is in Washington state. If it isn't in the USA already, I don't need it that bad.

Global service from Hobby King sucks. But not surprising for a postal service run by a Communist government. Stick with the USA warehouse.

Joe 1320

I don't know for sure one way or another, but when hobbyking was advertising for Internet spokespeople for $xx.xx compensation per month, it does open the door for the possibility that it is occurring. I would guess some like to troll, some are wannabes who want others to view them as someone important, some are fearful that HK might go away as in some countries it looks like HK is their only saving grace for cheap prices. I can remember a time when folks in Australia were griping and moaning about how expensive getting anything from the US was, when Hobbyking opened up in their backyard so to speak, they all tend to sing praises because their cash outlay dropped. Whatever.

There is an old saying that you can polish a turd and it's still a turd.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

Those with issues should check this thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2139842
May help, maybe not.

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

I wish I had that spokesman job for $$$ a month. I'd work on taking care of people's problems since they seem to be kind of slow with those that have problems. So for now I'll just share what I do and hope it helps people in the future.

ira d

Very well said.

topspin

That's really great but last I heard his mailbox is completely full. Must be a lot of issues to wade through.