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hobbyking - big changes


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Ah - but two steps forward - one step back.

As I mentioned above I purchased some batteries last week - it went quite well. It was accompanied by the usual 4-5 emails thanking me for my order, confirming my order, telling me the check robot likes my order, etc. etc. Batteries arrived in 36 hours - great!

Today an email arrived - thanking me for my order,....yes, the same order,...Mmmm? Are we "starting over" - if so I don't want another batch of those batteries - I mean they're fine - I just don't need 12 of them!

BEB

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Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 23/11/2016 09:56:23:

Ah - but two steps forward - one step back.

As I mentioned above I purchased some batteries last week - it went quite well. It was accompanied by the usual 4-5 emails thanking me for my order, confirming my order, telling me the check robot likes my order, etc. etc. Batteries arrived in 36 hours - great!

Today an email arrived - thanking me for my order,....yes, the same order,...Mmmm? Are we "starting over" - if so I don't want another batch of those batteries - I mean they're fine - I just don't need 12 of them!

BEB

I've been getting confirmation emails days after the event too with nothing else subsequently arriving, so I guess it's just another foible of the new site.

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Posted by pete taylor on 23/11/2016 09:45:26:

Progress!... The warehouse filters are there again, so I don't have to see what I can't get locally! yes

 

Pete, I've been looking and can't see any warehouse filters from where I am.

Oops, my mistake. Found them after first selecting from the main list.

Edited By Steve Colman on 23/11/2016 10:55:55

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What I find incredible, after 30 years of IT management and application development, is the total lack of attention to detail.

OK - we have all noticed that this project was badly planned and implemented, with an apparent lack of a formal UAT (User Acceptance Test) or a documented test plan - and Hobbyking have deservedly picked up the flak for this.

On the back of this you would think that they would now be insisting that any releases must now be properly tested before they ever get near public use.

But what do we see after the update today?

  • I select GBP as currency and I get a list of products mainly in GBP but some in USD or other currencies unless I actually select a country as well
  • List views show no stock levels, so the only way you can check is by going into the detail view - an unnecessary step if you already know exactly what you want and you just need to know whether it is in stock
  • Value formatting is incorrect - a USD price is showing with only one decimal - is that because the field is not showing the final figure, or is it because the figure is a '0' and they have not allowed for that to be displayed
  • As others have reported, in the LiPo finder, the number of cells as a string, not a number - so you do not see them in proper numerical sequence. This is basic programming and if a programmer cared at all about his work he would never allow that to slip through
  • And why should we have to select the country and currency every time? There is an account record with our details - these fields could easily be in there and the site take these as defaults so we only need to change if we want to override
  • And what's happened to all my reward points? They seem to have vapourised

My underlying impression is that they have selected software houses where price overrules quality - they just want to get the project out of the door using as few man/hours as possible to maximise their profit.

Looking at Anthony Hand's profile he was a database analyst for 2 years so it is not as if he is not IT literate. He must know the old GIGO acronym - 'Garbage In, Garbage Out' - and that this applies as much to the applications themselves as to the data.

Spleen now vented!

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I think they're actually getting somewhere with correcting the mess. I spent some time last night browsing various things of interest to me and also successfully used the search facility & TBH, I felt that I could use the site and complete an order without too much difficulty.

I was directed to items held in the UK site if they were available there and it was made quite clear if you were dealing with the International Warehouse and could decide to proceed or not. They still need to get the local warehouse only option back, but from the reply that I received from their customer service, I think they understand they've made a serious error and are working to reinstate it.

No one's been more scathing of HK and its website fiasco than me and TBH, it's still not perfect by any means, but I think they are getting there now.

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From a layman's point of view I agree with the statements above by Colin and Andy. The site is still a mess and doesn't instill any confidence that your order will come from the correct warehouse or be properly processed.

Just been browsing around the site to see what lipos are available from the EU warehouse as I'm going to need some smallish 2S soon. I select the UE warehouse but when I click on the item it is displayed with a UK flag. In addition the price keeps jumping from Euros to US dollars, and in my case the language changes from English to Spanish on a whim too. I can do without the hassle!

I've recently been trying out both Bangood and Gearbest with a few test orders and so far I've had no problems with either and I imagine that there must be many others in a similar position. The cost of this mess to Hobbyking must be mind boggling given their market prominence.

 

Edited By Steve Colman on 23/11/2016 12:06:01

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Don't see any difference, ask the site to do the EU site, look at the product, and it reverts to the UK site. Beta 1.00 version of the software on a live commercial website. They used to have fairly good filters to sort out searches. Mostly gone.

I am reminded of a scene,

"Yokel, do you know how to get to Nottingham".

"Yes sire"

"How, fool"

"Well, for a start, I wouldn't start from here"

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Gary

Yes, I got the new banner in your screenshot. I tried looking at Durafly models, and was able to select the UK warehouse. 16 models were displayed, and as there is no "In Stock" or "Backorder" indication, I assumed that it only displayed what is in stock in the UK. I then changed to the Global warehouse, and the same 16 models are displayed. Hard to believe both warehouses have the same stock. Looks like they are working on it but there is still some way to go. As others have said, it beggars belief that they can't change and test the features offline, instead of persisting with a half-baked user interface.

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Re: Trevors post above

Ah but even though it shows "16 item(s)" for Durafly, regardless of which box you click on, the actual number of items listed does vary. For instance, there are 12 Durafly models in the UK, even though it says 16 at the top.

What's more, the ones I've clicked on are actually in stock.

Maybe they are getting close to what we actually want. This could be the last we'll see of "Back order" items and could actually be an improvement on what we had before. Fingers crossed.

 

Edited By Gary Manuel on 25/11/2016 16:01:53

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The site seems completely misleading - Looking up a Zippy Flightmax 4S 3000 20C the price comes up as £19.81 pounds from UK but also shows in smaller print " starting from £13.63 " When clicking on this it then shows £15.07

All for the same item as far as I can see and all from UK warehouse!

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I have never had an issue with back order items. I just wait, if the system allows me to order them. Although I am mainly interested for small bits and pieces.

I am beginning to think that not means (I use a PC or a Cheap Tablet) of accessing the HK site, obtain the same capability. When I am directed to the UK site, I do not seem able to transfer to another warehouse that stocks that item.

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thinking of a new engine for xmas I decided to have another look at H/K site to see if it s got any better,none in stock of the one I want in the UK only the US.done the shipping and tax box to find out the cost only to get a message no shipping options available.i think that's the end of H/K for me.

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