Hobbyking Vampire

[John Campbell]

Looking good. I have this plane on my list of desires, but I have other planes under construction and about 6 or more to maiden. LOL, I have been way behind. Keep up the good work. Want to see more from what your model really does.

 

[midnightsabotage]

Decided this plane needed a specialty pilot. I think he's pretty darn appropriate

 

[John Campbell]

Decided this plane needed a specialty pilot. I think he's pretty darn appropriate
View attachment 3711

He fits, but if he wants to be successful, he needs to keep his hands on the controls...

 

[mikey]

Just took the Vampire up for its maiden flight - with the wheels down as hobbyking has demanded video footage of the gear not working.....seriously!?! All went well for the first lap of the oval but then the normal whine of the EDF turned into a high pitched scream after a small bang sound and then I lost all controls - completely dead stick and watched it plough into the ground like a well greased crow bar :-(

I'll be contacting Hobby King to ask for a new one given this EDF imploded mid-flight? However, given Hobby Kings infamous customer service I reckon I'll have more chance of being abducted by aliens than getting an issue resolved with them!

My lesson from this.... never buy RC aircraft from Hobby King again. Sure they're cheap but they are pretty low quality compared to Horizon, Parkzone, e-flite and after sales support is the worst I have ever experienced.

Well, it's been 3 months since the motor on the Vampire failed and I did as HK asked and posted the plane back to them. I fondly remember my misguided enthusiasm when one of the support guys replied to my email "we will help you with this Michael"...

It only took Hobby King 8 weeks to collect my Vampire from their local post office and another couple before they let me know that they would be doing nothing to help me and that they were deeming the support case to be closed and cancelling the ticket. I didn't even get stickers John!

So, will I be buying anything from Hobby King ever again? Sadly, no. There stuff is certainly cheap and the quality is marginally acceptable but the attitude and arrogance of their support staff is woeful. I'll be buying all my stuff from my local hobby shops from now on.

Lesson learnt.

 

[John Campbell]

Well, it's been 3 months since the motor on the Vampire failed and I did as HK asked and posted the plane back to them. I fondly remember my misguided enthusiasm when one of the support guys replied to my email "we will help you with this Michael"...

It only took Hobby King 8 weeks to collect my Vampire from their local post office and another couple before they let me know that they would be doing nothing to help me and that they were deeming the support case to be closed and cancelling the ticket. I didn't even get stickers John!

So, will I be buying anything from Hobby King ever again? Sadly, no. There stuff is certainly cheap and the quality is marginally acceptable but the attitude and arrogance of their support staff is woeful. I'll be buying all my stuff from my local hobby shops from now on.

Lesson learnt.

I just finished an episode with them. Took over 60 days, worked with them. They shipped the wrong parts, then broken parts, and then one delay after another. Finally I had to file a paypal claim. Paypal credited my account and took it from them. Case closed. You can see the thread at: "http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?1496-When-it-rains-it-poors-More-HK-Bad-Luck"

 

[mikey]

Hi John! I tried that last week but given its been longer than 90 days PayPal can't take any action... Bummer!

 

[John Campbell]

Hi John! I tried that last week but given its been longer than 90 days PayPal can't take any action... Bummer!

Sorry to hear that. I hope it works out for you.

 

[lobstermash]

An unfortunate experience for you. I've bought pretty much everything I have RC wise from Hobbyking. My experience has generally been quite positive (with the odd little hiccup) but I can understand why people who've had excellent service from local hobby stores get frustrated by HK's lack of it.

My take on it is that your lhs and HK operate on very different business models. Your lhs has a small base of clients, selling at a high profit margin but providing high levels of support. If there's a problem with the product, the profit margin allows them to replace the item without losing the customer. HK, and a lot of online (predominantly Chinese) businesses sell at small profit margins to a large client base. This means that the value of an individual customer is much less to the business and there is less profit per customer to spend on making an individual happy.

There are drawbacks for the customer with each model, especially considering that the majority of people do not request post-sale service. The former means that the customers that don't have a problem are paying for those that do. The latter means that you're on your own if you have a problem unless you're able to influence enough other people not to buy from that source.

Personally, I buy from HK because that's what I can afford. I've had issues, which reduces my 'loyalty' to them (therefore if they have credible competition I'll happily use them), but I still buy plenty of stuff from HK for while they provide the best range and prices of the various online stores.

 

[John Campbell]

An unfortunate experience for you. I've bought pretty much everything I have RC wise from Hobbyking. My experience has generally been quite positive (with the odd little hiccup) but I can understand why people who've had excellent service from local hobby stores get frustrated by HK's lack of it.

My take on it is that your lhs and HK operate on very different business models. Your lhs has a small base of clients, selling at a high profit margin but providing high levels of support. If there's a problem with the product, the profit margin allows them to replace the item without losing the customer. HK, and a lot of online (predominantly Chinese) businesses sell at small profit margins to a large client base. This means that the value of an individual customer is much less to the business and there is less profit per customer to spend on making an individual happy.

There are drawbacks for the customer with each model, especially considering that the majority of people do not request post-sale service. The former means that the customers that don't have a problem are paying for those that do. The latter means that you're on your own if you have a problem unless you're able to influence enough other people not to buy from that source.

Personally, I buy from HK because that's what I can afford. I've had issues, which reduces my 'loyalty' to them (therefore if they have credible competition I'll happily use them), but I still buy plenty of stuff from HK for while they provide the best range and prices of the various online stores.

What you say is very true... However, when they get such wide range bad reviews from every angle. Look on RC Universe, RC Groups, and others... Not to mention clubs. People are not going to continue to be run over, and there business model that they have grown is going to go down. I hate to see it, but they are doing it to themselves. Just because a company operates on a small profit margin does not give them the right to run over people. Sometimes you have to stand up and say no more.

 

[mikey]

Good point re business models and with most people having less disposable income to splash around on aircraft HK is a compelling option, but for me service and support is far more important. Most people I fly with have seen what has happened with me and many have their own experiences - most now refuse to support HK and purchase stuff through our Local Hobby Shops in NW Brisbane - Wired RC and Mild to Wild - both exceptional. The Vampire wasnt that cheap when you factor in freight from Hong Kong, approx $300.

 

[lobstermash]

Damn, they're in the Aus warehouse now! Only ~$140 delivered. Although I don't know how you got to $300... Shipping on this bird from HK is only 32.71.

From a bit of research I've done on the plane, the servo wiring is a bit longer than needed. If you don't pick up the slack and secure it, it can get sucked into the fan unit and blow off the blades and occasionally cutting off the leads that went into it. When I get one of these I'll be securing them wires nice and tight...

HK bashing is common everywhere I fly. Yet when people pull out their gear, 90% of it comes from Hobbyking. And I understand why. When I just had 2 planes, one (a Guanli p51 I bought without knowing better) was severely underpowered. I went into my LHS to see what motors they had to fit it. Their brushed motors were $30-40 and their cheapest brushless was $65. They recommended a $75 job to fit it. I didn't buy it and was so discouraged that I made it my mission to understand what they were and how to pick one out from Hobbyking. I bought a motor with similar specs for $13 delivered, including a huge accessory pack. The motor is just as well made as the $75 job, and survived every crash without a dent including the p51's last flight. It's still going strong and is currently being used on a trainer that my mates regularly crash.

I think Hobbyking has a place in the RC world. I don't expect everything I get from them to be perfect (for example, see my Art-tech Mig-15 thread), but their prices on most things are exceptional. I've also been lucky enough to get approx. $400 worth of free planes in a regular promotion I've not seen the likes of anywhere. So having to spend a little longer on a build, or replacing a notoriously awful EDF motor, or even gluing a plane back together after a mid-flight technical failure is worth the cost savings in my eyes. Although as I mentioned earlier, I have no loyalty to them if I can get a better deal elsewhere (whether that be service or cost, whichever is more important to me at the time).

 

[mikey]

Yep, hear what you're saying Lobster, your making decisions based on cost with some consideration for quality. Also, fair cop on the pricing, I checked my invoice and it was $259 which included the Vampire, 3 x R610 receivers (which I have not and probably will not put in any of my aircraft - spectrum only for me - not worth the risk) and 2 x 3s 3300 batteries which came to $259 of which $74.38 was freight. It'd be interesting to find out how HK get their stuff so cheap... sweat shops? child labour? I know many will argue that the components are from the same manufacturers but I disagree, the proof is in the quality of the components, not in the profit margins of the major brands. Anyway, enough of the HK bashing, I could go on for ages, they really suck... oops, did I say that? Bad Mikey! ;-)

For my birthday my beautiful wife bought me a e-Flite PT-17 Stearman from my LHS - Wired RC at the Gap (Michael at Wired RC is like a Master Yoda of electric RC planes!). How good is this plane - its beautiful and the quality!!!! HK vs e-Flite is like comparing Holden/Chev vs Lexus!!!

 

[treadd]

An unfortunate experience for you. I've bought pretty much everything I have RC wise from Hobbyking. My experience has generally been quite positive (with the odd little hiccup) but I can understand why people who've had excellent service from local hobby stores get frustrated by HK's lack of it.

My take on it is that your lhs and HK operate on very different business models. Your lhs has a small base of clients, selling at a high profit margin but providing high levels of support. If there's a problem with the product, the profit margin allows them to replace the item without losing the customer. HK, and a lot of online (predominantly Chinese) businesses sell at small profit margins to a large client base. This means that the value of an individual customer is much less to the business and there is less profit per customer to spend on making an individual happy.

There are drawbacks for the customer with each model, especially considering that the majority of people do not request post-sale service. The former means that the customers that don't have a problem are paying for those that do. The latter means that you're on your own if you have a problem unless you're able to influence enough other people not to buy from that source.

Personally, I buy from HK because that's what I can afford. I've had issues, which reduces my 'loyalty' to them (therefore if they have credible competition I'll happily use them), but I still buy plenty of stuff from HK for while they provide the best range and prices of the various online stores.

Very well put lobstermash!

Here is an interesting bit of info:

• Studies of customer dissatisfaction show that customers are dissatisfied with their purchases about 25% of the time but only about 5% complain. The other 95% either feel complaining is not worth the effort, or they do not know how or whom to complain. Of the 5% who complain only about 50% report a satisfactory problem resolution.

• On average a satisfied customer tells three people about a good product experience. The average dissatisfied customer gripes to 11 people.
(source- http://www.jvmarketing.co.nz/perspective/the+facts+you+need+to+know....html )