GiantShark (Formerly GiantCod)

[Erfolg]

who are "myHobbystore"?

Although I am aware that business appears to own RCM&E, plus a number of titles, are they primarily publishers? There also seems to be a link to the production of some kits and other modelling supplies. Are there also other links to say merchandising of sewing machines, stamp sales?

The motives of acquiring GC can only be guessed at, particularly if there is no press release with respect to the change of ownership and the future policy.

[Myron Beaumont]

Has Rob sold out 'cos HK is on its way ?

[Erfolg]

I do not think it is Rob that has sold out Myron, was not GC owned by a Chinese company?

Are you feeling good now, Myron

Another thought, once something has been done once, as GC, the same phenomena seems to reoccur. It is that Genie out of the bottle thing.

[i12fly]

Not all the prices have gone up.... from items I've bought this year

GC wattmeter has gone down £2.44, GT servo tester down £1.64, B6AC80W charger down 1p.

Unfortunately these are items I'm not looking to replace. The things I want all seem to have gone up

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Has Rob actually sold out or is he still associated with the company?

I must say that I always found GC very good to deal with - cheap, efficient and informative when contacted.

I wonder if Mr Ashby has any knowledge from either the press viewpoint or from his associations with My Hobby Store. I think some hard facts would be useful here...

[i12fly]

It's disappointing all the reviews have disappeared

[Myron Beaumont]

Erfolg

We all consider Rob to actually BE Giant Cod don't we ? He is " the man " so to speak that we know that does/did a damn good job never mind the Chinese contacts . I wish him the best of luck 'cos he came from nowhere to be the guy he is .I still think HK has given him a signal to get out whilst the going is good .Maybe Rob will let us know eventually . He has a lot of respect from us all I reckon

I'll get mi coat (again) .Yes,I'm feeling a bit more positive today .That's why I'm getting Grumpy!

[Pete B]

I fiind it strange that not one post on the GC forum is mentioning this change, so I've just posted a question in the Feedback section, which is, quote:

'Have something to say about Giantshark? Whether it be good or bad, about our products, site or service, tell us about it here.'

It went on at 2149 BST - I wonder how long it will last?

Pete

[Tom Wright 2]

I placed an order this evening and the confirmation e mail was in the name of My Hobby Store !

Cant help thinking that the advancing shadow of HK is involved but what puzzles me is why would My Hobby Store ( not noted as a budget price outfit ) think they will compete with HK .of course this assumes that HK s UK operation is going to reflect the low prices we are used to .

Could it be that all this will just result in higher prices across the board ?

Edited By Tom Wright 2 on 09/05/2012 22:25:25

[Erfolg]

The puzzling aspect to me is the change of name from GC to GS, with no comment. Yet the names are so similar, in addition to the web site remains essentially the same. These actions beg comment. So are we doing as expected?

Will a press release be made when the full impact of the change has been discussed to death, so by raising the profile of the change of ownership. Is it a somewhat ingenious idea, hoping that myHobbystore are seen in a positive light? This change thereby being seen as a good one?

I just hope that GS can retain the same pricing policy and high level of service. It has been written earlier in the thread that the USP of GC, was price. But was it only price? In my case I thought that they also achieved a very high level of service.

Their weakness has been out of stock items. Some never seemingly being restocked, yet appearing as items that could be purchased in the future.

More questions than answers at present.

[moorer]

Yes Pete I've just seen your post on there,it seems that some stuff is dearer and some has come down in price.Must say that I'm annoyed that Loong Max batteries seem to be out of favour, as i prefer these i am reticent about buying others.

[Ady Hayward]

Well. the site was definately Giant Cod yesterday, but didn't have the servos in that I wanted and earlier today they had the servos in stock and the name was Giant Shark. I notice that the FASST receivers have taken a tremendous hike in prices as have many of the fast moving items. It seems they are competing with Perkins and Ripmax for the market leadership in pricing now. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

[dbflyer]

Do you think there might be some Ripmax in there somewhere? If they were losing sales at Slough Models due to competitive pricing this is a way to get some of the money back. Just a thought.

[JC]

Huge price hikes, HK all the way from now on.

[David Molineux]

As was mentioned above, I just hope that they don't get the MyHobbyStore customer service which is absolutely awful!

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 10/05/2012 00:04:46

[moorer]

Amen to that!

[Steve W-O]

It is very odd that some info has been reported as gone (reviews and purchase history) yet the forum remains.

Well, the forum doesn't remain, as every occurance of giantcod has been replaced with giantshark, which unfortunately gives the impression to any newcomers that giantshark has been around for years.

As for prices, I don't have a complaint, I will buy from whoever can give the best price/service combination, as I imagine most others do.

Service from myhobbystore? It may well be better, as it may be being run by a different team, just under the myhobbystore name for business purposes, so with that aspect I will wait to see what future buyers report, hopefully it will be good.

It is a pity it wasn't changed over in a more considerate way, as the general feeling certainly isn't positive, all have their expeiences and opinions, and those are based on facts, many of which have been posted before, if previous concerns had been addressed in communications/announcements the change over could have been far more positive.

I see the website is hosted in America, so I'm sure there will be no mention of supporting UK business.

[Dave Bran]

A summary on posts by me elsewhere:-

1. Some people are comparing the recent abnormal "clearout" prices with those listed now, which I guess was always going to happen.

As an example I bought something in Aug 2011 which was £80 (rounded), it was still £80 in January and just before the cessation I got one of the last three for £45. Item not yet listed at all (no nil stock listed,no entry at all!) but advised as on way in their front page rolling info.

2. Despite all the changes and people stating (in some cases unfairly IMO) the hike in prices they are STILL in the front page rolling info stating their "Lowest UK Price Guarantee". I have used this several times, it has been ALWAYS accepted, and the last two times the displayed website price was changed promptly THAT DAY to the lower price.

I have not had THAT fast and beneficial a response anywhere else, have you?? Yes, sometimes they seem to drag their heels and its very annoying on after sales service though.

As a personal opinion the flowing of the new name into the Forum for past events is a mixed blessing. I for one now have several posts stating how GiantShark have screwed up, for example!!

Looks like someone did a global "search and replace" not thinking what the effect would be, can't see they would deliberately try to fool given the open history.........

Early days, and maybe the HobbyKing UK warehouse might get a few more customers if they don't sort it out, but give a little breathing space, Eh?

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Dave Bran on 10/05/2012 05:48:41:

Looks like someone did a global "search and replace" not thinking what the effect would be, can't see they would deliberately try to fool given the open history.........

Like I said, pity things hadn't been considered more.

Of course if it was unintentional (I didn't say it was intentional) then they have the option of doing something about it.

Of course a little more time, but they have had quite a lot already haven't they? However we will see how they respond in future, hopefully it will be better than generally expected.

[Antiquated]

TBH, I'm not entirely convinced that either the MHS or GiantShark web sites are totally compliant with UK legislation. According to this page they appear to be missing the registered address, company number and VAT number at least (although I suppose if GS is a new business, they could be waiting to be VAT registered until they hit the threshold).

Presumably if GS is now a UK business, it will have to comply with the distance selling regs.

Edit: A quick look on  the Companies House website shows four "MyHobbystore" businesses (07882931, 07406382, 06635333, 05649018), so it seems they should really state which is the one that any contract is formed with (although some appear to be holding companies).

Edit 2: To be fair they do seem to have their registered address, but don't make it clear that it *is* the registered address, not just a trading address.

Edited By Antiquated on 10/05/2012 08:50:01

Edited By Antiquated on 10/05/2012 08:51:48

[Dave Bran]

And I didn't say you said it was intentional Steve, it was an open comment not in any way aimed at yours.

Re: the amount of time they had, and maybe bending backwards to be accommodating, but it has to be borne in mind that the only way they have kept prices aimed and guaranteed below all others is by paring their costs (and that means staff costs) to the absolute bone, and they were still running the business up to the change. Maybe they should have ceased operation, but that would have brought its own difficulties.

Interesting that My Hobbystore didn't fund/manage a better approach, hope that is not significant in the longer term.

[Dave Bran]

Posted by Antiquated on 10/05/2012 08:40:07:

TBH, I'm not entirely convinced that either the MHS or GiantShark web sites are totally compliant with UK legislation. According to this page they appear to be missing the registered address, company number and VAT number at least (although I suppose if GS is a new business, they could be waiting to be VAT registered until they hit the threshold).

Presumably if GS is now a UK business, it will have to comply with the distance selling regs.

Think you will find that they are listing, the details are in Conditions of Use, which is the usual place for legal wording, viz:-

Giantshark is part of MyHobbyStore Ltd, Hadlow House, 9 High Street, Green Street Green, Orpington, BR6 6BG. Registered: England and Wales, Registered Number: 5649018, VAT Number: GB 927 3225 27.

[Colin Bernard]

Antiquated

They are compliant - on the 'About Us' page they have ...

Address:
Giantshark is part of MyHobbyStore Ltd, Hadlow House, 9 High Street, Green Street Green, Orpington, BR6 6BG. Registered: England and Wales, Registered Number: 5649018, VAT Number: GB 927 3225 27

[Antiquated]

You are right, and I apologise as it now has the info. But I'm pretty sure when I looked last night it only mentioned being part of MHS and their address, without making it clear that it _was_ the registered address or giving a VAT number (or I just missed it - perfectly possible).

In that case it looks as if it may just be a case of teething problems with a new website. Hopefully they will replace the GC name in old forum posts too

However, unless I've missed it again (and I'm sure someone will point it out in that case ), the myhobbystore.co.uk is still missing the information about VAT number and company number.

 

 

 

Edited By Antiquated on 10/05/2012 09:04:26

[Russ P]

I've noticed a couple of coinsidences recenty when looking at Ripmax (Hobbystore) websites.

Ripmax.net (which was Hobbystores site) can no longer be found, and they did not sell online you could only look at items they stocked and you had to buy via one of their Hobbystore network of shops, you could not buy online from these stores. It does surprise me how they make any profit from 6 stores with no online facilities, just relying of people visiting their stores, and being more costly than online stores.

Visiting the Hobbystore website yesterday low and behold they now sell online! after all these years.

Could it be that Ripmax (Hobbystores) have taken over GC? Don't really care who owns these companies, all I look for is good price and customer service, which if Ripmax have anything to do with it will now fall. Airtek and HK all the way from now on.