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Hobby king customer service


Rich Griff
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John, I appreciate the feed back with respect AliExpress.

 

My only issue with them and Alibaba is I have struggled to find what I might and know what I want. Any tips?

 

The advantage I found with HK, Giant Cod is that browsing made me aware of what is potentially available and at what general price. A example of the advantage was that a loclish company near Lancaster, were charging approx +£50 for a electric motor, whereas a differently badged (same motor) at in the region of £15. Yet the real benefit was that the potential of stuff for a variety of models.

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Hi Guys

Erfolg

Agreed I find it difficult to navigate the Aliexpress website at the best of times, and the CHNL shop isn't any better. Looking for some 5000 6s packs.

Put 5000 in the search engine, got the message 'nothing matches your search', really?  Did a search for 6s instead and got loads, but nothing at 5000. Seems you can put either 5000 or 6s in the search engine, but not both, ho hum.

However, not all bad news.

Not sure if you're aware, but CHNL do have a UK warehouse, not mentioned on Aliexpress. Looked on there a couple of days ago, no luck.

Just got an e-mail saying they had re-stocked, and the packs I was looking for are now in stock.

Nice touch, didn't even have to register my interest, like I would with HK.

Out of interest, the 5000 6s packs come at £126 for two, that's £63 each. Equivalent at 4Max are £115 each or at Overlander are £105 for the cheapest. Quite a saving there.

Only got a couple of CHNL packs at the moment. Pretty good so far, but can't comment on quality long term. We'll see.

Forgot to mention, anything over $69 from UK warehouse is free shipping as well.

Jeff

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I also agree AliExpress's search can be bit cumbersome. In my case I just put in '3s Lipo', saw there was a CHNL shop, opened that in a new tab, spent 10mins looking at other options then went back to the CHNL tab & placed my order.

 

I stocked up with a load of CHNL Lipos from their EU warehouse just before Brexit. I've been very happy with them, particularly their Black series (100C-130C) in EDF's. I was hoping to buy some more from their UK warehouse but they had none in stock at the time (nor with the re-stock) so I was pleased find them available via AliExpress.

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I received the following e-mail this morning; I am treasurer / membership secretary of our club and all potential membership enquiries come to me and a couple of other committee members.

 

Dear Fellow RC Enthusiast,

Hope all is well with you!

HobbyKing has been serving the UK RC community for many years. Even though we have closed our warehouse in the UK, we would like to offer continued support to local RC hobbyists and would also love to strengthen the relationship with local RC flight clubs.

Some of your group members may have been experiencing difficulties in getting RC planes and accessories due to items being out of stock / the high shipping cost.
We actually do have some RC planes as well as parts and accessories in stock locally (not available to retail customers), which can be made available to your flight club at discounted prices.
We can also arrange for a special delivery so your club members will be able to enjoy lower shipping costs for items that are only available at our warehouses outside of the UK and EU.

If that is something that your club would be interested in, please be sure to let us know by replying to this email / sending an email to [email protected] so that we can provide you with further details.
If you already have a list of items that you know your group members are after, please also feel free to let us know.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,

Sonia
HobbyKing Wholesale Team
https://hobbyking.com/

 

The address given for any replies is [email protected]

 

Perhaps HK are getting desperate and are trying to overcome the lack of availability of their products in the UK by getting clubs to do their work for them?

I think we may pass on their kind offer....

 

Brian.

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5 hours ago, RottenRow said:

I received the following e-mail this morning; I am treasurer / membership secretary of our club and all potential membership enquiries come to me and a couple of other committee members.

 

Dear Fellow RC Enthusiast,

Hope all is well with you!

HobbyKing has been serving the UK RC community for many years. Even though we have closed our warehouse in the UK, we would like to offer continued support to local RC hobbyists and would also love to strengthen the relationship with local RC flight clubs.

Some of your group members may have been experiencing difficulties in getting RC planes and accessories due to items being out of stock / the high shipping cost.
We actually do have some RC planes as well as parts and accessories in stock locally (not available to retail customers), which can be made available to your flight club at discounted prices.
We can also arrange for a special delivery so your club members will be able to enjoy lower shipping costs for items that are only available at our warehouses outside of the UK and EU.

If that is something that your club would be interested in, please be sure to let us know by replying to this email / sending an email to [email protected] so that we can provide you with further details.
If you already have a list of items that you know your group members are after, please also feel free to let us know.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,

Sonia
HobbyKing Wholesale Team
https://hobbyking.com/

 

The address given for any replies is [email protected]

 

Perhaps HK are getting desperate and are trying to overcome the lack of availability of their products in the UK by getting clubs to do their work for them?

I think we may pass on their kind offer....

 

Brian.

 

Place your bets for the HMRC view on this one.... 🤔

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I am assuming that Vat and a handling charge would be applied?

 

I would have thought if people are purchasing as a group of friends, that such a arrangement would be no different than a Club build (say a group purchase of balsa for a single model build). It is not a business, even if it were, i would expect that the expences would be higher than any tax that may be seen as due. Then again, HMRC are not known for there reasonableness.

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33 minutes ago, Erfolg said:

I am assuming that Vat and a handling charge would be applied?

 

 

Based on HK's current and previous practices, I that would appear to be a pretty big assumption... I have still never seen a single HK invoice with a VAT line.

Edited by MattyB
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Looks to me that the club would have the job of sorting out the vat etc.

I think let them stew, they've been told what to do.

If they don't want to bother with sorting vat with HMG they should let the Netherlands warehouse sort it,  as it would appear they are now doing for EU countries(?). Then allow uk to purchase from there. But perhaps EU warehouse don't want the hassle of registering with HMG either.

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8 hours ago, i12fly said:

Looks to me that the club would have the job of sorting out the vat etc.

I think let them stew, they've been told what to do.

If they don't want to bother with sorting vat with HMG they should let the Netherlands warehouse sort it,  as it would appear they are now doing for EU countries(?). Then allow uk to purchase from there. But perhaps EU warehouse don't want the hassle of registering with HMG either.


It is never the purchasers job to “sort out” the VAT! Either it is paid at the point of purchase to a VAT registered seller who pass it on to HMRC, or if it’s a direct import by the buyer VAT id collected (where applicable) by the shipper based on the paperwork provided by the seller.
 

The key question is where are the goods being sold from? Did the email say that, or did it give any example items that only became available after the old UK warehouse was shut?

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I'm thinking this is a scam. HK only email club officials is worrying as I don't remember anything on the HK site where club status was recorded. Then they are offering a bargain not available to others, be quick and send us your money before the offer expires, comes to mind. I have never heard of Hobby King Wholesale before. 

 

Steve 

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56 minutes ago, EarlyBird said:

HK only email club officials is worrying as I don't remember anything on the HK site where club status was recorded.

 

Club contact details are freely available on the BMFA Club finder pages. It would not be difficult to arrange a mail shot.

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47 minutes ago, Erfolg said:

If genuine, I had assumed that the purchaser would pay the VAT and handling fees.

 

Although it is not clear to me  what is the benefit.

 

See my previous comment. When you buy from HK you are not transacting with a UK entity, so VAT has not historically been applied. 

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3 hours ago, Anthony Scott 2 said:

Minimum order $1k, to be collected from Elmsett warehouse.

 

Interesting - that's the one that no longer exists, right?! The very fact that the amount is in $ shows this is a not a transaction with a UK entity. I think I'm going to pop them an email to find out more...

Edited by MattyB
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Lots of guessing going on here but if HK are effectively offering dealerships to clubs then any liability for faulty goods will be on the clubs rather than HK - I don't think many clubs would want the hassle of chasing HK in the event of a warranty claim without UK consumer protection unless they add a hefty mark up to their members!

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I think they are just clearing the left over stock in the UK warehouse, which was closing anyway because the tax regime changed.  Very soon (a few hours) after announcing a closing down sale in 2020, the Ipswich area was badly affected by Covid & that finished the UK operation.

 

They can't be faulted for trying to sell in as few transactions as possible.

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I'm very confused about the UK VAT situation.

 

There is a statement on their website that the prices do not include sales tax (VAT in the UK) with the exception of New Zealand, Australia and the UK - that is a very strong statement that the UK prices include VAT - and suggests that HobbyKing are collecting the VAT and paying it to HMRC, as many other foreign companies are doing.

 

But I am dubious for a few reasons

  • I notice that if I keep the warehouse as Hong Kong but change the shipping destination to different countries the price doesn't change.  I would have expected that a UK customer would see prices 20% higher than a US customer.  But I'm not seeing that, so either VAT is not included or the US customer is being over-charged
  • If I proceed to checkout, there is no mention of VAT being included, there is certainly no breakdown of the price showing the product price and the VAT separately

Has anyone received products from them recently - if so, was there clear indication that VAT had been pre-paid, did you get hit by customs?

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

 

Edited by Nigel Heather
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6 minutes ago, Nigel Heather said:

There is a statement on their website that the prices do not include sales tax (VAT in the UK) with the exception of New Zealand, Australia and the UK - that is a very strong statement that the UK prices include VAT - and suggests that HobbyKing are collecting the VAT and paying it to HMRC, as many other foreign companies are doing.

I took that to be old, outdated information which was true when the UK warehouse was open. They have confirmed to me that they don't include VAT at checkout and the courier will collect it and forward it to HMRC upon delivery. See here-

 

This is the way HK Global have always worked, nothing has changed.

 

Steve

 

PS any progress with The OHmen?

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6 minutes ago, EarlyBird said:

I took that to be old, outdated information which was true when the UK warehouse was open. They have confirmed to me that they don't include VAT at checkout and the courier will collect it and forward it to HMRC upon delivery. See here-

 

This is the way HK Global have always worked, nothing has changed.

 

Steve

 

PS any progress with The OHmen?

 

That makes sense, the statement threw me, especially as it is still available on their website.

 

The OHMen, no, no progress, I need to clear space.  To be honest, I'm juggling too many different hobbies and house/garden jobs at the moment.  Realistically at best it will end up a winter project for flying next year - that is if I decide to do it at all - must admit it is looking to be much more expensive than I imagined.

Edited by Nigel Heather
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