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Hobby king customer service


Rich Griff
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If you can wait a couple of weeks then ordering from Bangood is a good option, they are sorted for UK VAT so goods ordered just turn up with no additional charges. Their customer services is OK too, they sent me a wrong lipo, I contacted them and after sending a photo got a full refund very quickly.

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On 09/04/2022 at 22:37, i12fly said:

Spoke to HK using online messaging saying if they don't sort out EU warehouse supply to uk and the vat then they will find no sales to uk. Got an almost instant reply saying 

" We are working on this and should be completed by the end of May"

I guess we'll see

June and nothing has changed. ?

 

image.png.c2a4cc79298cd88f721fd2680f7494eb.png

 

Only Global!

 

Steve

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Got a PM on RCGroups from an HK employee saying they have a new "low cost" option from the the International warehouse. Errr, it's still £41 for a £93 model, and Motion RC do free shipping over 99 Euros (and their models have the VAT removed at source for the UK, though obviously that will be added on by HMRC on import). Back to the drawing board guys!

 

image.thumb.png.3ed1cf346add27dcb2c586febcef7297.png

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Hi MattyB

Your HK employee may not be entirely incorrect. Ok, lipos are still expensive to ship, but on the other HK staple, covering film, there is a new name on shipping options. This is SEKO.

Did a bit of checking on these prices.

So, picking one 5mtr roll at random,cost £11.52 plus shipping at £13.19 total £24.71.

On principle I refuse to pay more for shipping than the cost of what is being shipped, but going to 2 rolls gets a lot more interesting.

2 rolls @£12.52 is £23.04, but the postage is only £19.91 so total cost is £42.95 or £21.47 per roll.

Compares favourably with RapidRC at £25.15 in post, or 4Max at £27.04 in post.

All they need now is to get some of the right colours in stock, and I might be convinced to buy again.

We'll see

Jeff

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Jeff, I have done as you did.

 

image.thumb.png.863db74c4d9ebb3c7aaba2a86067c501.png

 

Which is £26.05 per roll before VAT is added £31.26 with VAT there could also be a handling fee, something like £12 or £6 a roll. Which makes it £37.26 a roll.

 

I found this out when I bought four batteries from Global and amusingly UK had them back in stock while I waited for delivery and guess what they worked out more expensive. Never again will I buy from Global; the prices look good if like HK we ignore VAT.

 

Steve

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Hi Steve

Bit puzzled where you got your figures from.

Your shopping cart has 2 (two) rolls at £12.80 ea, adding up to £25.60. Where did £26.05 per roll come from?

Notice the items in your cart are on b/o, so where the shipping cost came from I can't say.

My understanding is that vat is added at sale, so none should be due on arrival. Also, I believe that any shipment less than £135 should not attract import duty, so no handling charge should be payable.

Open to being corrected on any of these, but still seems cheaper than your figures would indicate.

Trouble is HK stocks are very low atm, as are RapidRC.

Once the get some more useful colours back in stock, might give them a try.

We'll see

Jeff

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Jeff, for me it's simply that HK do not say tax included, as others do, so tax and handling will be paid to the courier before or on delivery.

 

Please give them a try and let us know what you find it won't be the end of the world just possibly cost you a few pounds more than you expected (£12/roll maybe).

 

Steve

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11 hours ago, Jeffrey Cottrell 2 said:

Hi Steve

Bit puzzled where you got your figures from.

Your shopping cart has 2 (two) rolls at £12.80 ea, adding up to £25.60. Where did £26.05 per roll come from?

Notice the items in your cart are on b/o, so where the shipping cost came from I can't say.

My understanding is that vat is added at sale, so none should be due on arrival. Also, I believe that any shipment less than £135 should not attract import duty, so no handling charge should be payable.

Open to being corrected on any of these, but still seems cheaper than your figures would indicate.

Trouble is HK stocks are very low atm, as are RapidRC.

Once the get some more useful colours back in stock, might give them a try.

We'll see

Jeff

The £26.05 per roll is just the quoted total, including postage, divided by two - to give the price you would pay per roll.

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Hi Guys

John

Well spotted, I hadn't noticed that on HK website.

Did have a look on the government website for import duties, and found that if the value of the import package is less than £135, no duty will be payable.

So, if vat is charged as part of the price, and the value is less than the threshold to attract import duty, then there should be no extra charges to pay, so no handling charge either.

That's my read anyway.

All I need now is for global to get stock of the colours I want, and I can prove the point.

Not holding my breath !!!!!!

Just to put things in perspective, Profilm/Oracover now showing at £25 or so for a 2 mtr roll. In comparison that works out at £62.50 for a 5 mtr roll.

Meanwhile I notice Bangood are doing film as well, but in very limited colours. Anybody used it, what's it like?

Sorry, Ken can't see them ever re-opening the UK warehouse.

Mind you, if they started shipping from EU warehouse again, that would do for me.

We'll see

Jeff

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In order to test HK customer service, I have asked 'if I buy from HK Global will I have to pay extra charges on delivery?' All I get is a bot directing me to FAQ, which may not be up to date. This is one of the advantages of buying local one can talk to a human being. My current thinking is customer service does not exist with HK. Obviously, I could buy a couple of rolls of film (that I don't need in colours I don't want), wait a couple of weeks and find out, possibly the hard way.

 

As an aside I notice they are closing their Australian warehouse, EU warehouse next?

 

Steve

 

 

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I noticed some cheaper Postage options on the HK website the other day.

I needed some decent servos for a project so I thought I'd give them a go.

I spent £24.76 on 4 Corona Servos and the cheapest postage with French Post Office £4.78 (Untracked)

The delivery date came out as basically when hell was going to freeze over but I thought "In for a penny"

 

Goods arrived in about 2 weeks from the Hong Kong Warehouse in good condition with no problems.

 

I used to be a frequent user of HK UK warehouse (Especially for their own-brand covering film) and this new selection of cheaper postage options means I may use HK again in the future.

The questions above about returns etc still remains to be answered.

 

Happy landings

 

Keith B

 

 

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Hmmmm.

 

I'm slightly at a loss here. I understand the feeling of loss that we have when we enjoyed HK's UK and Euro supply chains, but all good things come to an end. The world moves on, and for someone that earns a living from Far Eastern supply, I can't see HK returning to the UK. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

However, why persist with the dream? There are other places to buy from, and the cost differences are not that big, and you may possible keep a UK supplier in business. Just take a look at 4-Max's website and you'll see 5m of covering film for £20, plenty of cheap decent servos and all the quality advice and back up you need. For what? 10% increase in price? 20%? 40%. So what? ARTFs (I'm told) have gone up a ot more and gear is still comparatively cheap.

 

Personally, I've moved on. If they return, fine. If they don't, equally fine...

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I asked this question

 

How is VAT paid to HMRC in the UK when buying from Global warehouse.

 

From HK

 

'Tax fee or customs fee will be collected by your customs agency or the courier once the parcel is arrived in UK and for delivery. If ordering from our Hong Kong warehouse, we do not collect this fee upon checkout, only for item and shipping cost. Any customs/import fees are placed by each individual country and we have absolutely no control over the amount they may charge.'

 

So, expect VAT and handling fee to be collected by the courier on delivery.

 

Steve

 

 

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July, nothing has changed time to buy elsewhere, everyone else has it sorted.

 

Looked at the new Gloster Gladiator, bit of chuck it in the boot fun and a bit different. I had essentially  two in the cart one plus spares whilst they are available as they usually run out of the breakable items.

 

Check out was a wee surprise virtually £1000 inc postage to the UK from Global for a £195 model, result  is I'm NOT the proud owner of the new Gladiator and wont be spending another penny with them.

 

 

I also needed a new prop for my old MK24 Spitfire  5 blade. This is where the nonsense starts, Spinner from global to home, no problem. Blades from EU to family in EU and five blade hub from USA to family member in the States as no postage option to the UK. Strange family members were able to send here with no fuss.

HK has made a choice.

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Hi Frank

If you put only one kit in your cart, they offer shipping at £73.87, so cost per kit is £269, or £538 for two.  If you have two in your cart, as you say, the shipping goes up to £527, which with the cost of the kits adds up to £919.

Makes no sense at all, but then this is HK!

Bear in mind both these deals exceed the £135 limit for import duty, so you're liable to get caught for that and a handling charge as well.

Pretty model, but not that pretty.

Jeff

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Gents,

 

When asked about tax HK replied

 

 

There is no mention of the £135 limit and as they say tax is not included. My understanding is that the £135 limit can apply if the seller has made arrangement with HMRC to collect tax up to £135 and pay direct to HMRC, HK can't have done this as they do not collect any tax, as stated in their reply above. I expect to pay 20% VAT and a handling fee on all purchases from HK, which means I will not be using HK anymore. Since HK have been forced to include VAT, collected by the courier, the price advantage they had is lost couple this with the far better customer service from UK based suppliers I know who I will be buying from.

 

Steve

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5 hours ago, Jeffrey Cottrell 2 said:

Hi Frank

If you put only one kit in your cart, they offer shipping at £73.87, so cost per kit is £269, or £538 for two.  If you have two in your cart, as you say, the shipping goes up to £527, which with the cost of the kits adds up to £919.

Makes no sense at all, but then this is HK!

Bear in mind both these deals exceed the £135 limit for import duty, so you're liable to get caught for that and a handling charge as well.

Pretty model, but not that pretty.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, I couldnt remember the exact figure but you are correct £919 for two £195 small lumps of foam. You are also correct on import tax, VAT, handling charge. I got caught out on some lipo's  I received a ransom note from Fedex to pay before delivery. 

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Hi Guys
Open to being corrected, but this is how I see it.
VAT (aka Vulture Added Tax)
This is payable on everything bought and sold, whether in this country or imports.
From John Lee's post, pretty clear this is added to the purchase price and paid to HK. They should, in theory, pass this on to HMRC.
Import duty.
Sometimes called import tax or tariff.
This is a duty payable only on imports, and only above a certain value.
This from governments own website, though can't say how up to date it is:
'You will not have to pay anything to the delivery company to receive goods worth less than £135 unless they’re gifts over £39 or excise goods (for example, alcohol and tobacco)'.
This also from the same source:
If you bought the goods yourself and they are not excise goods, the seller will have included VAT in the total you paid.
So, both HMRC and HK are in agreement that HK will be collecting vat. Whether or not they pass it on to HMRC is well above our pay grade!
Everything I have found so far seems to indicate that orders less than £135 should attract no extra charges at all.
Only thing now is to try this out in practice, which means HK having stock I want to buy.
Still waiting.
Jeff

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On 09/07/2022 at 13:07, Graham Davies 3 said:

Hmmmm.

 

I'm slightly at a loss here. I understand the feeling of loss that we have when we enjoyed HK's UK and Euro supply chains, but all good things come to an end. The world moves on, and for someone that earns a living from Far Eastern supply, I can't see HK returning to the UK. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

 

Hi Graham

You make a good point, and I would agree with you except for a couple of things.

First of all, we modellers are a parochial lot.

When we find something that works for us and represents good value for money, we tend to stick with it.

I know I do. HK covering film and Turnigy lipos have long been favourites of mine. To give a concrete example, I fly my Riot on 4s. I have found that the Turnigy 2650 4s fits the battery compartment without modification, where to accommodate other packs would require major surgery.

Secondly, I think the cost issue is not so great as we would think.

BTW, can't blame HK for LiPo shipping costs. They are now classed as dangerous goods, and few couriers will transport them at all, so choice is not wide. When (if) EU warehouse ever starts shipping to UK again, expect shipping costs to reduce, since they do not need to airfreight them.

Anyway, been doing some research on prices, and here's what I found.

Taking as a baseline everyone's favourite 2200 3s 40c.

Current (ahem) HK price is £10.43 If you only buy one, shipping is £25.83 totalling £36.26 (ouch).

However, if you buy two, cost is £20.86 but shipping is still the same at £25.83 so £23.34/pack.

Buy 3 it's even better.

3 packs @ 10.43 is £31.29, but shipping only goes up to £33.06 so totals out at £21.45/pack.

That's competitive.

RapidRC do Turnigy packs but they want £15.99 for a 25c pack, and shipping pushes that up to £21.29, much the same as HK.

I did to try to compare prices for three packs, but Rapid only had one in stock.

4Max have Purple Power packs (pretty good imho) at £23.50 but shipping is a whopping £9.99 so £33.49 for one pack. Buying three gets better. Shipping stays at £9.99. so cost/ pack comes down to £26.83. Better, but still some £5 more than HK.

So HK global not as uncompetitive as you would assume.

Food for thought

Jeff

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6 hours ago, Jeffrey Cottrell 2 said:

I know I do. HK covering film and Turnigy lipos have long been favourites of mine.

Same here Jeff but now the price advantage has gone I have had to reluctantly move on. Your HK prices do not include VAT and handling charge whereas mine do which makes them expensive compared to UK suppliers.

 

I interpret the £135 rule as not applying to HK because the way it works is HK would have had to register with HMRC for it to be relevant then HK would have to collect the VAT and in theory pass it on to HMRC. 

 

I know I am ignoring the information about UK tax on their web site,

which was relevant for the UK warehouse, but this is the latest information from HK.

 

'Tax fee or customs fee will be collected by your customs agency or the courier once the parcel is arrived in UK and for delivery. If ordering from our Hong Kong warehouse, we do not collect this fee upon checkout, only for item and shipping cost.'

 

My logic is that as they do not collect any tax it follows that tax cannot be forwarded to HMRC therefore they have not signed up for it and all purchases will have VAT and handling charge collected by the courier upon delivery, as stated by them. This is the way it has always been from their Global warehouse with the exception that there used to be when below £50 tax would not be collected that has now gone as has tax free gifts. We can all expect to pay VAT on everything we buy.

 

Steve

 

 

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9 hours ago, Jeffrey Cottrell 2 said:

Hi Graham

You make a good point, and I would agree with you except for a couple of things.

First of all, we modellers are a parochial lot.

When we find something that works for us and represents good value for money, we tend to stick with it.

I know I do. HK covering film and Turnigy lipos have long been favourites of mine. To give a concrete example, I fly my Riot on 4s. I have found that the Turnigy 2650 4s fits the battery compartment without modification, where to accommodate other packs would require major surgery.

Secondly, I think the cost issue is not so great as we would think.

BTW, can't blame HK for LiPo shipping costs. They are now classed as dangerous goods, and few couriers will transport them at all, so choice is not wide. When (if) EU warehouse ever starts shipping to UK again, expect shipping costs to reduce, since they do not need to airfreight them.

Anyway, been doing some research on prices, and here's what I found.

Taking as a baseline everyone's favourite 2200 3s 40c.

Current (ahem) HK price is £10.43 If you only buy one, shipping is £25.83 totalling £36.26 (ouch).

However, if you buy two, cost is £20.86 but shipping is still the same at £25.83 so £23.34/pack.

Buy 3 it's even better.

3 packs @ 10.43 is £31.29, but shipping only goes up to £33.06 so totals out at £21.45/pack.

That's competitive.

RapidRC do Turnigy packs but they want £15.99 for a 25c pack, and shipping pushes that up to £21.29, much the same as HK.

I did to try to compare prices for three packs, but Rapid only had one in stock.

4Max have Purple Power packs (pretty good imho) at £23.50 but shipping is a whopping £9.99 so £33.49 for one pack. Buying three gets better. Shipping stays at £9.99. so cost/ pack comes down to £26.83. Better, but still some £5 more than HK.

So HK global not as uncompetitive as you would assume.

Food for thought

Jeff

All true Jeff, but my point is that if the savings are relatively small via HK, then maybe it's time to revert to other (possibly UK) sources? Particularly if you factor the delays and uncertainty of (any) far eastern source.

 

BTW, my day job involves far eastern supply and I spend a fair bit of my time over there. I quite like the place and respect the people greatly, but it's still WAY easier to deal with companies less than 8000 km and several trade borders away!

 

Graham

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