My First Hobby King Horror Story...Take it or Leave It

[alexchen86]

I'm sure many of us have ordered from HK before without any problems but every now and then people mess things up especially halfway across the world where communication and transportation become an issue at times.

So Hobby King now has lost a customer that I have probably spent in the ball park of low $200 worth of lipos. It would have been another $100 on top if they didn't screw the pooch on their last order from me.

It's like a bad high school break up with immature adolescents lol!

So here's the story:

I have ordered from HobbyKing at least 5-6 times without any issues whether it be from their stateside warehouse or Hong Kong.

Now...LATE LAST MONTH I PUT IN A $100 ORDER for 4 specifically sized lipos thinking sure HobbyKing is slightly cheaper than HobbyPartz.com but they didn't have one that would fit this particular Tamiya kit I have.

Their site says shipped, PayPal said shipped because Hobby King deemed it as shipped, Hong Kong Post tracking number cannot even show any sort of status or even recognize the tracking info provided by Hobby King. I have all the emails on record if need be.

Now it has been over a month. I emailed their customer care email which turns out to be BOGUS! Instant rejection kicked back to my inbox. Being on the other side of the planet I'm not going to call these people in the middle of the night just for some batteries.

So of course I file a dispute with PayPal and expedite the process. Then follow up with a call directly to PayPal for instant money back into my account.

LAST TIME I WILL EVER PURCHASE FROM HOBBY KING EVER AGAIN. It really irritates me sometimes why people would even bother putting a "customer care" email if they don't really care about customers anyway.

So just to warn other fellow r/c enthusiasts out there direct your business to HOBBYPARTZ.com much better batteries maybe a dollar or two more. About 1-2 weeks faster shipping time as well since they have more than ONE U.S. distribution center which HOBBY KING ONLY HAS. I have a feeling Hobby King's little warehouse is probably somewhere in California near Long Beach where all the other junk from China usually arrives.

That or Jacksonville, FL but I think the rent over there would be too high for these cheeky folks. So a big thank you to Hobby King for being by far the worst experience I have ever dealt with in the past 6 years of ordering junk from you. May others learn from my horrible experience!

[xxx123]

yeap. totally agreed with you. I am done with them. Similar shipping troubles.

[lemonhead]

Originally Posted by xxx123

yeap. totally agreed with you. I am done with them. Similar shipping troubles.

your not alone, I've had my share of problems with them also.

hey ALEX if your looking for lipo batts. try

valuehobby.com

huge selection of batts and other goodies at great prices. I have some of there lipos that are 3+ years old and never had an issue with there batts. or ordering.

always speedy shipping at a low cost.

[alexchen86]

I feel THAT much better lol. Stick it to them stuck up Hong Kong commies. Yeah....CHINA OWNS YOU NOW!!! And no I am not racist by any means or prejudiced. Part of my family left Hong Kong way back in the day. So I can speak their language but you couldn't pay me to go there.

I hate how stuck up they think they are just because they feel like they are better or higher class than the rest of Asia. What because the British came and colonized your little island? You don't see Vietnam being stuck up because the French came and colonized them! I am also part Vietnamese so I visit my home there yearly.

Just don't go too far north in Vietnam. It gets a little too red up there for my tastes. Even down south where the nationalists still hold their heads up high where you still get harassed by military officers on shake downs always with some lanky guard with some of the dirtiest long barrel rifles I have ever seen.

Makes me wonder if we can have a little shooting gamble out back since our family "property" in Vietnam is quite large enough to go outside and have a little fun. Yeah....I'm damn proud to be an American and even prouder to be born and raised in TEXAS. There's a reason why us cocky southerners have that slogan "Don't Mess With Texas" because you don't want to find out why.

[wings_of_fire]

Yup!! That is an issue buying from china!.. I have my horror stories to tell and you pointed it out exactly, that it is irritating. Just ban chinese mass manufactured crap.

People only understand it when they face it. Every nation on this planet should ban chinese mass manufactured crap. They are taking everyone for granted and it has turned out as if a customer has no value and they are doing a favor selling their stuff to the world!!! In fact the reality is that there is no way to feed their overly populated country without working their ass for the world and they think they are on top of the world.

[ssdub33]

I also have ordered from them 6+ times so far 2 bad lipos and one bad servo the emial to their support is pointless I have learned
#1 only order from the US warehouse in Washington
#2 only order in stock items
#3 do not email customer support it is pointless except for getting a rma ID # which is to send it to their US warehouse
#4 only deal with the 24/7 live chat support not support@hobbyking.com they will always get it dealt with
#5 when a problem arises bug the living crap out of the 24/7 support

If you follow these rules u will be taken care of from my experience with them

THEY HAVE WARRANTIED EVERY SINGLE BAD ITEM I HAD GOT BUT THEY WILL ONLY REFUND THE ITEM PRICE IN CREDIT THEY WILL NOT REFUND SHIPPING OR LET U USE CREDIT FOR SHIPPING CHARGES SO BE PREPARED TO SPEND $6 SHIPPING EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY WARRANTY YOUR ITEM AND U WANT THE SAME ITEM OR SOMETHING ELSE

Just my 2 pennies for thought

[bdth9447]

I agree with ssdub you fallow those lines and you'll be fine. I waited 8 months on a $130 order but I ordered over seas and was especting it to take forever. Not that long but I bugged them all the time then one day I finally had a package. (8months later) and my convos were not pleasant with them.

Key thing order from there us warehouse or wait months for over seas

[bdth9447]

If I order from US warehouse on a Thursday I have it Monday in NY

[JesterSpec]

Even if they have it in stock sometimes it will not ship, I got notified 3 weeks after I ordered that my batts were out of stock. I switched to another brand "in stock" and waited another 3 weeks for them to tell me those were not in stock either when both times their site clearly showed 20-30 parts in stock.

I order from value hobby.

[CrazyNick]

This is not the right place to be discussing this topic.

[JesterSpec]

Originally Posted by CrazyNick

This is not the right place to be discussing this topic.

This conversation happens here about once every 2 months though.

[ROWDY RACING]

Ironic...