I just wanted to give ya'all a heads up that HobbyKing is having some major issues right now. I've been buying from them for years with never so much as a hiccup -- until now. I've done the LiveChat with them to try and resolve the problem, but got nowhere. I've filed a ticket with them and have yet to hear back on the matter. I will give them one week to resolve the matter, and if in that time they haven't made things right, then I will boycott them. Here's what happened. I placed an order for 2 Zippy 5200mAh 2S2P 30C battery packs, along with a set of hex drivers, some charging cables for the batteries, and a couple of waterproof servos from their USA East (AR) warehouse. The webpage said all items were in stock. I made my purchase via paypal. A day later I check my order status -- all items still in stock, and my status said "Paid, processing". HobbyKing's order status webpage said that backordered items will say 'processing' on the order status until the item comes in, then it will ship. So I'm a little annoyed at the apparent backorder of items they said were in stock. That was over a week ago. On Thursday of this week I got an email saying that my order had shipped. I checked my order status online - the status is now 'shipped'. Yesterday (Saturday) the package arrived. No hex driver set and no battery packs are in the box. The packing slip printout lists these items as 'Items on Backorder'. However, the word 'Backorder' has been crossed out with a red sharpie, and the word 'Cancelled' was written in red sharpie in its place. I was given store credit for the missing hex driver set, but not for the battery packs. I then spent nearly an hour in LiveChat with a customer service rep thru the HK website. No joy. They can't tell me if the missing battery packs are on backorder or not, and they refuse to refund my money for them or even give me store credit for them. I should point out that their webpage still lists both the hex driver set and the battery packs as "In Stock". When I go to the battery pack webpage, I see 2 other customers experiencing the same problem: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=58854 I don't know what's going on with HobbyKing, but I will at this point warn everyone "Buyer Beware" when dealing with HobbyKing. They are clearly lying about having items in stock, and are giving no customer service right now worth mentioning. I will post back here when I have more news.
A friend had a similar problem with them when ordering two radios; a Turnigy i10 and i6 Transmitters. He received the i10 almost immediately, but waited several more weeks for the i6, with no word from HK. He ended up contacting them and cancelled the original order for the radio and placed a new one. The new order showed up almost immediately. HK does have it's problems, but you just can't beat their deals; then again, you do need to receive your product. Be careful when you boycott. I have been boycotting one of our two Combat Parts Suppliers and while it has cost them hundreds of $$$ in parts I would have bought from them (I build a lot of gun systems for other people), sometimes I feel like I am the loser since I have to find the parts in other places. Hope HK makes things right for you.
I take boycotting very seriously, and only do it when I feel there is no other choice. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that. As I said, I've been a happy HK customer for years. But this is ridiculous. I can't help but wonder if this problem is limited to the newer USA warehouses. Many items in the International Warehouse show up as out of stock, but every item I look at for the USA East warehouse says "In Stock" when they clearly aren't in stock. From all appearances, the hex driver set has been discontinued, but the USA East warehouse still says in stock...
Man, that stinks. Sorry to hear it. I try to avoid the East US warehouse. I only ordered once from it and it took forever for them to get it packaged(3 days) and it arrived terribly packaged. I always order from the West US warehouse now. So far have had great service.
Thanks for the advice, Beaver. If I do order from them again, I will avoid the USA East warehouse at all costs. A brief update: notes from my LiveChat now appear on my order status. There is also now a note on my order status saying the following: PHBS_Pam - 20/05/2016 09:31 : Order shipped without BK item Stored $7.09 BP This note wasn't there previously. The $7.09 was for the hex driver set. Notice that it says only 'BK item', not 'BK items', as if the hex driver set was the only back ordered item. Still no word on the missing battery packs. But I did find it very strange that they sent me the charging instructions for the battery packs w/o actually sending the batteries. Makes you wonder what they were thinking...
Sounds like staff issues. Glad I can't order from the east warehouse anyways. I usually order from the international warehouse because for some strange reason my orders arrive quicker from China than they do from anywhere on the western side of the US.
this is why I always order from them using paypal/credit card. if they give me any grief I just let paypal deal with it. I do this with all overseas ordering, be it them or propshop or others for that reason.
I just heard back from HobbyKing: Greetings! Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Let me provide the necessary assistance needed with regard to your concern. Please accept our sincerest apology for the discrepancy in the stock available in our site and warehouse. We are in the midst of improving our system to avoid cases like this and for the convenience of our valued customers as well. Anyways, as a prompt resolution, we have credited $44.42 bonus points to your HobbyKing account for 2* Z52002S2P-30 that was not sent with your order. Kindly check your account for bonus points adjustments. You may use your points to cover the product cost of your next purchase. If these points are not fine with you, please let me know and I'll remove it from your account and make a refund request instead. Thank you and have a great day ahead! Kind regards, HobbyKing Support Team I removed the name of the person who emailed me back out of respect for their privacy. I am glad HobbyKing did the right thing here. They apologized, gave me store credit, and offered me a full refund in place of the credit if I want. I'm satisified with their response, and do not intend to boycott them. Thanks
Good show !! Glad to hear it was resolved. I order from HobbyKing as well and use my Paypal. I haven't had any serious issues but this will keep me alert. Thanks for the Heads Up!
so they finally bit me. gave up after an hour of chatting with them and have gone to paypal... really annoying.
Well that is a bummer. My last order from the US West warehouse went fine. Oh, well.... Guess it's a good thing I don't need to order from them anytime soon.
I will still order from them, but I always use paypal and credit card because then I can go to those groups if HK is as HK is. way I figure is that even if I have a screwed up order, it has still saved me money in the long run and there are not many other good options.
I always use paypal with them, but I've never had a glitch in like 20-odd orders. Might have just jinxed myself...
Just to follow up, they finally got me the parts, but only after the parts went on a tour of the continental US due to HK being HK. Just be warned, they may say "well we can't do anything unless you close the dispute first" or claim they don't have to ship anything when there is a dispute, the proper answer is "then give me a refund or it will be elevated beyond the contact to a full on paypal dispute/call my credit card". Moronic customer service is about the gist of it. I will say that I will probably be minimizing my ordering from them when possible, as completely cutting them off is impractical, after dealing with them.
