hate hobbyking

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kingbee

Member
:mad::mad::mad: hi guy i hate hobbyking it been 30 day iam waiting for my order i live in montreal canada and they send it to vancover bc at the other end of the country before it get here i think there it will go around the world . frist time ordering from hobbyking and the last time ill stick to greatplanes here in canada no duty charge and fast even if it snell mail . did anyone of you guy have problem with hobbyking?
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
Shipping from Hong Kong is always an issue. I live in Montana and my packages always come through New York. I usually choose Swiss Post and it usually arrives in two weeks. Of course it can take a week before they ship it.

I have had no issues requiring customer service, knock on wood, but I've read not good things. But most of us put up with hobbyking because of the prices. Some of the local (in country) shops are getting better and we support them as we can. But I still get most of my stuff from Hobby King.
 

tramsgar

Senior Member
There's a lot to say about HK, and from time to time they frack up pretty bad, but most of the time they at least try to fix the problem. This time, with the massive HK Post mess, they're not really to blame more than any other HK based retailer. Thousands of frustrated customers all around the world are right now missing a package currently on a large pile at some HK airport, and not just HK's customers, mind you. Check out their updates regarding this for an explaination. Regarding the parcel's route you should direct your frustration towards the shipping company rather than HK. I myself am quite shirty at them right now for a badly handled support case, but it's more constructive to put the adequate amount of blame at the correct party for the right cause imho.
 

eagle4

Member
Hey kingbee, did your order include a lipo battery? That's what's caused all the problems lately, customs.

Oh and where do you fly in montreal? I'm in the plateau.
 

rcspaceflight

creator of virtual planes
A lot of people find out the hard way that it's a really bad idea to order batteries from the International warehouse at Hobby King. Even though it's tempting to just order everything you need from the International Warehouse, it's a lot better to order as much as you can from the local warehouse and then only order what you can't get there from the international warehouse, maybe even find a different place to buy those things. I completely stopped ordering stuff from Hobby King's International warehouse, too many issues. The USA warehouse, however, is great. Fast shipping and still the cheapest around. I just have to go else where if I want something that the USA warehouse doesn't carry, but Hobby King is getting better at having their better stuff in the local warehouses.
 

eagle4

Member
rcspaceflight, the problem with the usa website for people not in the usa is we have to pay massive for brokerage and shipping to get it from you guys, its cheaper to get it sent to canada from their international warehouse.
 

robschonk

Senior Member
I've placed 23 orders without the first problem, both from the international and USA warehouses.

Granted, international shipping can be slow. I've had orders sit in HK Post for 10 days before they left the country. Then they go to one of the international hubs, NY in my case, Vancouver in yours, to be sniffed and X-rayed for contraband, then forwarded. Don't order international if you're in a hurry.

Prices are so cheap, that if they screw up an order, I'll just grin and bear it, and still be money ahead.

There are a few exceptions, like Aloft for Frsky, etc.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
My first attempts to order through HK was an epic disaster that resulted in fraud alerts shutting down two of my credit cards. It took me almost a week to PLACE the order (did not have a PayPal account). It took another week for HK to SHIP the order. Once shipped, I got my stuff 12 days later.

Posts looking for HK alternatives are numerous on this forum. If it wasn't for the KK2 (which they are sold out of today been on the mail list for 2 weeks) I would never look at HK again having found better options locally.

IMO, HK has three HUGE advantages.
1. You can find what you want on their web site. I have never seen a better hobby website. They are almost as good as Newegg at making it easy to find what you need.
2. Prices. Hard to compete with China state labor.
3. KK2. It is the simplest, least expensive way to get in the air.

Fortunately, we are starting to see some competition. Hopefully, this will get us better service from HK and lower prices domestically.

If you have to order from HK, use the local warehouse whenever possible. Always use PayPal to screen your credit card. Never order anything expensive (customer service is high comedy at HK) or politically vulnerable (like Lipo batteries) from the Hong Kong warehouse.

Search this forum for alternatives. I found 7 or 8 options just on this forum alone. Amazon may result in orders that take weeks to get here from China, but Amazon customer service is FAR better than HK if something goes wrong. If push comes to shove, Amazon.com.

I live in Colorado so I advocate for RCFoam and my very favorite AltitudeHobbies. I personally shop both for my builds first and HK last.
 

kingbee

Member
Hi eagle

no lipo battery in my order , just motors rec,esc, prop push rod .basic stuff . i live in laval i fly at my oncle place up north farm land when i get the chance to go there . i looked in to fly club here around but it cost alot for 1 years flying it about 250.00 and it go up to 300.00 plus you need insurance. so i go to farm land where it free . how about you do you have somwhere to fly where it free ?
when you buy stuff from hobbyking do you pay costom charge fee or not ? some of my co worker at bell helicopter say we dont pay costom fee cause it come from china is that true ?
 

RoyBro

Senior Member
Mentor
My first attempts to order through HK was an epic disaster that resulted in fraud alerts shutting down two of my credit cards. It took me almost a week to PLACE the order (did not have a PayPal account).

Obviously you've already learned, but I would NEVER order anything from HobbyKing using a credit card. PayPal all the way.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Yeah, I hate Paypal's fees, but HK eats them and, frankly, I like the security of using Paypal...At least you have recourse when things go south.
 

Foam Addict

Squirrel member
Hey, just to chime in, HK order 15 arrived safe and sound and was flying after a days worth of Mods. In all those orders I have never had an Issue.
 
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eagle4

Member
kingbee, if you order from the international website, you wont pay customs fees, but you will from the us warehouse.

I don't have a car, so i cant join any clubs, as they aren't near my place, so i just take my planes down to a local park when no one is down there and have a fly :)
 

iCrash

Member
I think I'm done with HK too. I've had an order waiting for over 5 weeks. I've contacted customer service 4 times (including today) about it and get the same reply. It's been printed and will ship in a few days. This is the second time I've had a problem with them. I'm willing to pay extra for great customer service.

I strongly support Heads Up Hobby. They have a flat rate $2 for US. (sorry if you are international). They also have great customer service. I had an issue with one order and they fixed it quick!

The only thing I plan to buy from HK in the future are batteries simply because I love the nano-tech, however if there is another batter just as good for similar price, I'll be buying that instead of supporting HK anymore.

Good luck on your stuff.
 

kingbee

Member
Hi guys
I talk to canada post support online they told it left vancover and will take 3 to 5 day before getting it also eagle the lady told i had 30.00 of customs charge to pay i wasnt a happy camper so i think ill order some where here in canada cause ordering from china (IT A RIP OFF) .
 
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eagle4

Member
Mate that's really odd, I've ordered a bunch from hobbyking and never had to pay customs fees from their international warehouse, I do always pick the cheapest shipping option, but if you were paying $78 for shipping I'm not sure what's going on there, perhaps you picked the express option which has different customs regulations.
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
My most recent order took almost 5 weeks, it went from HongKong to Singapore, then to Mexico, then to Ecuador. And I don't complain.
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
I've placed 48 orders over the past 18 months and have had what I would consider a real problem only once. The Orange T-Six transmitter I bought for my dad had a bad LCD screen so I had to return it. I ordered it from the China warehouse but was able to return it to the US warehouse. Yeah, I was screwed on shipping both ways but they did refund my purchase price and I eventually bought another one for him which works fine.

My dad has placed 10 orders in the past few months and recently took delivery on a Pitts Special. It was damage in transit, we assume by the USPS. The post office washed their hands of it and flat out blamed Hobby King saying "it was probably damaged when they shipped it to the US" since it came from the US warehouse. The shipping box had indications of being dropped on the end, no obvious bad damage, but obviously enough to damage the plane. I contacted HK for my dad (computers are his sworn enemy) and it took 17 days for a response. Possibly because of the problems with the LiPo shipping changes, but that is only a guess. However, they reviewed the pictures I sent and immediately offered a replacement or a refund of the purchase price. I requested they re-send the plane, and the order is already pending. No extra charge for the plane, nothing for shipping, and they don't want the old one back. Yeah, it took 2-1/2 weeks for a response but I'd take that any day if I could end up with an extra plane for spare parts! The damaged one needs new tail surfaces, but we can easily make those out of balsa and will then have two Pitts Specials for the price of one!

Like anything in life, you get what you pay for. I'm willing to take a few more chances while saving a bunch of money. I'll buy from locals and domestic companies when it makes sense to me, but most of my parts tend to come from HK.
 

kingbee

Member
Hi guys

ok the guys that have no problem with order from hobby king thumb up for you.. iam really happy for you bravo. i am just say i got rip off with custom fee and shipping an waiting time for it come to my door step . in my book when your a client ,and pay good money ,the service has to be good .dont forget we are in 2013 not back in the stone age . post office have airplane it shouldnt take that long .shipping isnt free guys you pay for it . you can go to the moon come and back and it still will not be at your door step .... kidding side hobbyking suck big time with there shipping . anyway like said ill pay more at greatplane but iam sure ill get it right way in my hands with no extra fee and no damage .
 
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