oh no a hobby king thread again..................

[ben goodfellow 1]

well i have just received a smallish order from hkuk and there was 1 thing missing from my order 2m of 20 awg silicon wire , i bring this up because ( and i am not really sure if i am right here ) the price i paid for my stuff is way below any where else and that the procedures to do any thing about it are so hard to get through to the point i cant be bothered for the 2 pound ive lost , i also have a 5s 3600 battery from hkuk which ive had since july/august , but ony just used last saturday for the first time. came home and a dead cell , on it . is this the extra price we have to pay in just excepting it when something breaks or is faulty because we pay way less. PLEASE DON'T TURN THIS TO A HK PUBLIC FLOGGING THATS NOT WHAT IM AFTER.. Ben..........................

Edited By Steve Hargreaves - Moderator on 17/11/2013 09:13:42

[Dave Miller]

As I've said here before you get the level of service that you pay for. This company sells on price so something has to give.

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

I've used HK for several years with absolutely no problems whatsoever apart from my most recent order when they sent me 2m of black wire instead of the fuel tube I ordered. It did take a few emails to get sorted out but it DID get sorted out.

Certainly IMHO they are not quite as sharp on customer service as some other online or high street retailers...on the other hand they are better than some online or high street retailers some of whom seem to think you should be greatful to be dealing with them....

In your specific case Ben (& I'm not having a go at you) I don't think it would be reasonable to expect them to cover a Lipo you've had for 4 months......as far as they know you've been thrashing it to within an inch of its life all that time. Most retailers of Lipos won't cover them beyond a very short period of time....a bit like brakes & clutches on cars....they can't control how they are used.

So in summary yes HKs customer service can be patchy but its not terrible in my experience & set against the range of products offered & the price charged to me thats a reasonable trade off....

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Oh & a quick PS Ben I think you missed the word "DON'T" out of your last sentence so I added it in for you....

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

Five orders to date.

All from the UK warehouse.

All orders 100% correct.

All items 100% satisfactory.

Me perfectly happy (so far).

Kev

[Dane Crosby]

Hi, recently I have been dealing with HK for the first time. I have found their email customer service second to none. They answered queries and sorted out my home made foul-up quickly without fuss. I still get confused about how much I will actually pay but one needs to remember that, in the end it, will be less than most other places! Just ordered a Bixler to keep my hand in over winter. Looking forward to flying my first foamy model! I'm really a wood constructor but will move with the times.

 

Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 17/11/2013 10:32:59

[ben goodfellow 1]

ok steve honest mistake, am better at flying than typing, good job too

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Yeah no worries Ben....I do it all the time..........I just didn't want you wondering what the "edited by....." was all about....

[adrian lawrence 1]

I have placed around 70 orders with HK, and had problems with only 2 orders. In both cases the problem was sorted out to my satisfaction and very efficiently.

In contrast when I have tried to sort out issues with UK companies I have had a real struggle to resolve things, and often do not even receive a response. My friend who purchased an esc (which was defective) from a LMS was refused an exchange and was told to return it to the manufacturer.

Perhaps more modellers would purchase locally/from the UK if they received better customer service, and compliance with the sale of goods act. I must point out though that not all UK companies have poor customer service, and it is a shame that companies like Galaxy Models, who gave excellent service have folded.

[ben goodfellow 1]

i would add that ive had 9 orders in the last year and this is the very first problem ive had , if you could call it a problem . and yee haaa im nearly a VIP platinium member ,(after my next order)

[malcolm woodcock 1]

I find HK reliable and cheap, yes I've had some disapointing lipos from them but I've also had some from other well known suppliers of 3S 2200mAh which have puffed up overnight for no perceptive reason., so I think it's often 'pays your money, take your chance'. In general I'm a big fan of HobbyKing.

[Engine Doctor]

Ive used Hobby King quite a few times now and have been very pleased with the service until my last order from their Global WH in Singapore? I ordered 5 Frsky rx's including two of the 8 channel mk 2's that were on their website.I received an e-mail stating my order had been picked and carefully checked and re-checked and posted .All arrived very quickly. On opening the parcel all seemed OK except that one of the 8 channel rx's was the older mk 1 with the horrid case and had obviously been taken out of its pack , possibly a return. I tested it and it works fine . I sent HK a e-mail out-ling the problem and as the original post said returning was so difficult that it wasn't worth the trouble and that I would not be returning the item . They never acknowledge or apologised for sending what I thought was returned or at best old stock that was not even listed on their site. Obviously their checking procedure needs overhauling. Had the rx not worked I would have jumped through their hoops and returned it. On the plus side the cost of the 5 Rx's I bought from Hobby King totaled £52 and the best UK price was £72 plus a hefty postage charge which more than compensated for the different model .I will use them again as their prices are very good, but a bit dissappointed this time .

[graeme jones]

21 orders, mostly from UK warehouse, a couple from DE and the rest from HK. Every order was 100% correct for content. Couple of quality issues, one of which I resolved myself (foam wing not fitting fuselage, cured with a razor plane) and one faulty ESC which HK gave me a $10 credit for.

Pricewise it's an eye-opener. Futaba S3101 servo from LMS, £32. Digital metal gear version from HK (HK15148B) $4.38 = £2.90!!!!!

Graeme

[Depron Daz]

I have 30+ orders from Hobby King, both UK and HK, and I've never had anything go wrong (touch wood). A couple of the HK orders were a little long in delivery time, but they've always come through. I've mentioned in some other threads that I've still got 5 or 6 3s 2200's that are over 4 years old and still hold a good charge.

I can only applaud them. As a side note, Giant Shark's Gens Ace batteries are also very good.

Daz

[Martin McIntosh]

I have received some sixty orders from HK (sorry UK LMS`s) and the contents have always been correct but I had an issue with three out of four Donkey b/l motors which were described as not pretty but very robust. Within seconds the windings fouled on a protrusion and two broke. They said `OK, please send photos` Ever tried photographing a broken winding inside a motor? Got a $5 credit for one of these after much effort. Not worth the trouble.

Also advise not to buy their Nanotech high C lipos since they all soon swell up. Cheaper TGY ones are fine.

[YakMad]

I think I am up to 45 orders from HK now, only had a problem with one order, a 450mah lipo was missing from an order. It was cheap but decided to go through their claims procedure just to see if it actually did work, even though it took them two weeks to sort it and several emails I was credited with the cost of the Lipo.

I must also agree about the Nanotech high C lipos, all 6 that I puffed up very quickly and none were used at more than even half their C rating, the Zippy and Zippy Compacts cells are my preferred choice now.

[Christian Hollyer]

I've used them in the past and usually have had no problems...until now: I ordered a Futaba 14SG, some servos and a Power Box to be shipped to Dubai. The latter two were fine but the 14SG was a the heli-version, a little shop soiled, did not have a ratchet for the aeroplane option and no battery. That's annoying but even more annoying is the TOTAL LACK of customer support or contact (although a friend who once worked there advised Chinese New Year may entail minimum staffing). Fair enoughski but I've been leaving service tickets, Tweets and Facebook postings (not all of them entirely complimentary in the last few days) to no avail. In fact, one of my service tickets was closed as resolved with absolutely no contact. If I had hair, I'd be going grey...

[Jeff-C]

China does totally shut down over the new year.

In general, I am pretty happy with HK. I have had a large number of orders, and a relatively small number of issues. All of which have been corrected with minimal fuss or delay.........apart from my current one.

I ordered a surface TX 3 CH for my glow car. It arrived but was faulty - Back to the UK warehouse for warrantee it went, and a few days later I got an email saying they were sending a replacement from Hong Kong. Then the LiPo freeze on shipping happened and my parcel was delayed for an unknown period of time. Almost 2 months later it got shipped ChinaPost.

The parcel didn't arrived after 36 days, and apparently had been assigned 3 different tracking codes (none of which worked). I contacted CS and they opened an investigation. That was 12 weeks ago and the whole investigation procedure is only supposed to take 3-4 weeks.

This is the first time I have had a REAL problem other than poor english and horrendously long delays on the live chat (of up to 15 mins between responses). The last thing I have done now is told them they have a week to refund my payment for the TX + shipping or I will start a fraudulent transaction case with my Credit Card for none delivery of purchased goods. It shouldn't come to having to threaten them, but often the CS just don't even look at what the problem is. They have to respond to a quota of queries in order to hit targets.

Edited By Jeff-C on 06/02/2014 14:10:21

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 17/11/2013 09:38:47:

Five orders to date.

All from the UK warehouse.

All orders 100% correct.

All items 100% satisfactory.

Me perfectly happy (so far).

Kev

Now up to 7 orders.

And I think this is the important bit "all from the UK Warehouse"

All items still 100%

Still perfectly happy.

2 more orders and I become a Platinum member. Woo hoo!!.

Kev

[Bill_B]

38 orders to date from 3 different warehouses and no problems, unlike a couple of UK shops I could mention!

I don't think HK are worse than any other web based retailers.

[Nev]

I agree with the original comment. I use the internet and buy from the likes of fleebay, HK, GS and the like. There is very little in the way of personal contact and we buy cheaply but on trust. Probably 99% of the time everything comes exactly as expected, or at least as we ordered. But I have had the odd problem with them all, something lost, something wrong, something broken etc. and they haven’t all been resolved.

I buy with this in mind, especially if buying from overseas and take the risk. In my opinion the problems I’ve had that do get resolved are from the more traditional suppliers, where if all goes wrong you cam pick up the phone but usually you pay a bit more in the first place. That said, I still go back so who’s the fool.

[jolliffee]

I like HK, and have used them a lot 18 orders mostly from China, only had one delay which wasn't their fault..

The only problem is the time it takes for the new products to get to the UK warehouse but I'm now getting more patient; though there are still some items that never seem to get there.

[Dave Miller]

I recently sold some goods to a gentlemen in China who was concerned that it would no arrive before the start of their New Year celebrations, in the event it did but he did tell me that everything shuts down for a month primarily because so many people travel to their parents home for the holiday. So I guess that's February crossed off.

[adrian lawrence 1]

I am now up to 78 orders placed with HobbyKing. 2 orders were problematic, however they were sorted out efficiently to my satisfaction. I have had no problems contacting customer services, or any delays in getting replies.

i still have had no reply to a problem I have with a model from one of the better known UK modelling importers, and when contacting them in the past have problems getting a reply.

Even purchasing from LHS,s I and my friends have had problems. A glitching radio that I had purchased (narrowed down to the receiver) was taken back to the shop the day after purchasing. The radio was brand new. The shop however refused to rectify the problem saying once used it could have been damaged and therefore was not their problem. The model had not been flown and the radio was only used to set up the model. The problem was solved eventually but was a lot of hassle. Another well known company refused to exchange an item that they had incorrectly sold me, as the price of the individual item ( other items purchased on the same order) was below their minimum order value. Once again resolved but a lot of hassle.

A friend purchased a new non functioning ESC, it cost £80. The shop however told him not their problem, they told him to send it back to the manufacturer!!

Not all dealers are like this and many give excellent service and advice (apart from the one that advised my friend to cut down a prop with a hacksaw when they did not have the diameter in stock that he required). They do need our support to stay in business however I can see why people make internet purchases due to pricing and availability of items.

[Glyn R]

56 orders to date from HK and UK with only 1 technical issue with an ESC. This was eventually resolved by a full credit. I think the only criticism I have of the site is that it can be hard to find the reply to a complaint which will appear against the order. Great supplier helping to keep our costs down.