Husko

(A thread to discuss both GOOD and BAD online-business in the RC community)

I'm expecting this thread will be deleted, but I'm going to roll it.

xheli.com.

Hell, I even simply stopped trying to email and call xheli.com asking for the missing parts that were supposed to come with my RTF heli. I'm starting to wonder if the entire RC retailer community is at best, nothing more than a money taking machine that is not interested in your participation of RC, but more interested in your online dollar and then leave you to the wolves the moment you press that 'SUBMIT ORDER' button.

Buy from a local dealer. Place your order and when it arrives, inspect it 'in store' before you actually purchase it.

lol, what a novel ideal.

That is what consumers tried to do in the past... Even many local hobby shops today will not order your requested item until you actually pay them for the order. Why? Simply because they too understand the risks involved because even your local hobby is participating in this nonsense and searching the web, and will purchase your order from a resource that will maximize profit and hope to sell you a $10.00 item for $25.00. Mean while, we all laugh at each other and tell ourselves it is the cost of business. Pathetic.. if you want my opinion.

I'm not all about doom and gloom about online purchases though.

Just ordered two more heli's from ka-planes. Also ordered a 300 class fiber body from heli-fever.com. I hope these orders come on time and as advertised else I'm finished with this stupid attempt at a hobby online and will work with my local hobby shop and require them to take the problem and deal with it until I get the product I purchased. Or maybe attempt to sell my $129.00 Honey Bee King V2 for $169.00 on ebay. Hey, why not become part of the problem?

Also, you might want to watch nuttcaze's video about castlerockhobbies.com and their poor service, so be careful, or stay away from them as well....

Below I have posted a link to his video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX1NFQO_XIQ

Some might not like the idea that I point out particular problems with online retailers on these forums but, oh well, to quote someone: 'Life sucks, get a helmet.' Or what ever and i'll add a get a limited liability, that way, you can not only piss people off, but you can also take thier money.. Online retailers have taken (stolen) money from my credit account and should be held responsible for it, Even if they simply dont care.

These LTD's and silly operations have more rights than you do while they utilize tax payers dollars to defend their defunct businesses if they operate or sell in America. Add foreign entities into the equation and you have an even a larger mess than what you started with after you pressed the 'SUBMIT ORDER' button.

I guess this is the new age of consumerism. History may reflect upon, and question, these rip-off artists, even if the collective consumer is able to muster a slight bit of intelligence, which I doubt will happen, giving the crude medium, and protocols we as consumers must adhere to in their silly game.


Thanks,

www.husko.net

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

i order from ka-planes. and they send it, and i get it within the week.

UTM

I do most of my purchasing from www.ushobbysupply.com Michael is great. His service is fantastic and I almost alway get my parts within 3 days. If you've a problem or question he is quick to answer emails. All around a good vendor.

I've also purchased from charlieshobbies.com. Got all my parts but shipping took 8 days inside the states.

I won't touch xheli as that has already been covered.

Bottom line...if I can possibly get it at my LHS I will do so!

Kaelan

I've ordered from ka-planes many times.. always great service and they always answer emails promptly.. plus you can get them on the phone if needed. parts orders from ka-planes arrive at my door in 2 days.. my heli took a total of 5 days (they gave it a test flight first)


not all online places are bad.. some are very good at that job.. ka-planes is one of them.. readyheli.com is another.. and there are many many more. just use the search feature here if you're thinking about ordering from an online shop and see if they have a good reputation or not..

mcdaniel

ka-planes....SWEET
UShobbysuply.....SWEET
HELIDIRECT (WHEN PARTS ARE IN STOCK [:@])......SWEET
READYHELI...................SWEET
Miracle mart..................SWEET
E-HIROBO.......YOU DONT KNOW WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO SEND YOURS ITEM......
HOBBYCITY #1 IN batt,servos,etc,VERY LOW PRICES........sweet ,but dont wait yours items for now.

homeunt

My Feedback: (3)

USHobbysupply-Good service, good products and fast shipping
E-Bay- not yet had a bad experience. You can always report any problem.
Depending the who the seller is, there are scammers, helpful sellers or ones who dont even speak a word in english.
Yet from the chinese sellers, they tried their best in translation and I'm satisfied with their service.
Hobbycity-Okay experience, your question will be answered in like a week.

Magic Hook

http://www.modefosheli.com/
Great customer service, same day shipping, awesome price.

I have also had good luck with Helidirect, and Readyheli, and the previous ones mentioned above.

davidbegg

No local hobby shop really so order online all the time. No problems with Tower Hobbies or hobby shops in other parts of NZ, great system.

Cheers
David

VulcanGrey

No problems at all so far

4 orders from xheli.com, all good
2 orders from Ehirobo (Ebay Cwtco), all good.
2 orders from airborneRC in Australia, all good (slow shipping from Australia)
1 order from hobbycity, great prices on batteries, fast shipping
1 order from besthobbysite on ebay, all good.

Also several orders online from an RCUniverse member and Ebay, bought a used Futaba 9CH, and a used Futaba GY-401. All good
I bought a used triton charger on RCGroups, all good.

noobflyer01

i just got my exi 450 from xheli. took 6 days total. not bad. i guest i'm lucky. $111 shipped. i probably wont roll the dice with them again.

cactus hopper

I've ordered from just about every genuine, bona fide vendor (and I don't include hobbyists with affiliates that hang around R/C forums in that catagory) more than once and I was a little dissapointed with the time it took Ehirobo to ship one order but other than that I've never had a problem.

nuttcaze

Ka-Planes - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
BPHobbies - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
HeliDirect - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
Horizon Hobby - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
Heli World - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
Castlerock Hobbies - [sm=thumbs_down.gif][sm=thumbs_down.gif][sm=thumbs_down.gif][sm=punching.gif]
Hobbycity - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]
Heli-Fever - [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

xodarap1

Using a 1 to 10 rating scale with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, based on overall experience:

RCHobbyCN - 9
Ka-Planes - 10
CheapBatteryPacks - 10
TowerHobbies - 10
BPHobbies - 9
HeliDirect - 10
SkyHobbies - 6
Horizon Hobby - 10
HeliProz - 5
HeliWarehouse - 9
Heli World - 8
DollarRCParts - 10
Castlerock Hobbies - 10
Hobbycity - 10
Heli-Fever - 8
Flying-Hobby - 10
ReadyHeli - 10
Xheli - 6
BoomTownHobbies - 10
Performance-Hobbies - 9
FMAdirect - 10

Skarn

For TREX stuff, by far the best place I've ever used is www.techmodelproducts.com

I never wait more than 2 day's for anything to get to me.

Skarn

F-15 Fan

Ordered a Belt CP rtf from xheli.com, had good luck with them.

ginnz

My Feedback: (2)

ive made 2 orders from hobbycity in china lately, and man, its been fast! first one was here in canada in 7 or 8 days! and the second will be tomorrow (about 8 days)..... and the lipo prices. i mean, yikes! the price for 3-4 is the same a one in N.A.

this time around i ordered 2 more 3s 2200 mah packs, and a zippy 4s. good deal.

nuttcaze

those 2200mAh's for $20 are awesome, I have 4 plus a zippy 5s1p and just bought 5 7.4v 800mAh's too, super cheap prices, especially on motors

Blaze1593

I had a couple of really bad "flying hobby" experiences with ready to fly versions and real good experiences with KA-planes

ag4ever

I buy 75% of my stuff from my LHS (RC Hobby Shop in Sugar Land, Texas). They routinly order parts for me before I pay for them. All I have to do is ask if they have a part, and they usually order one for stock. A great local hobby shop. Good thing they are relativly close and have great weekend hours. Too bad they don't have a one night of the week where they are open late though.

As for online retailers, I have bought from hobby People, TowerHobbies, and ReadyHeli.

All three delivered exactly what I ordered, and promptly.

I guess the biggest thing to do peior to ppacing the order is research the company. With the internet, there is no reason to buy a part at the lowest price retailer just because the price is low. If they have the low price and a good reputation, then buy away.

But keep in mind, even the best have their hickups every now and again. It is how they deal with those hickups that counts.