CrazyPilot - You should really start a poll asking people who will stop buying from HobbyKing (or any other hobby shop) just because a a very very small percent (of THIS audience) had issues, while they have been working normally for the large majority HERE time and again. In fact, I truly believe that the results will be same whether such a poll is conducted here in India, or in international forums.  Yes, people who are affected by bad customer service are infuriated.  Some of such people stop dealing with the store, others get over it and see if this is a one time / rare occurrence.  Most people look at frequency and percentages of such incidents/issues, as compared to the size the operation, the possibility of the error being on the side of the shop and even the margins the shop is operating on.  This applies to ANY store.

If you buy a BMW, the dealership will give you another car to drive while you take your own for service (in many countries). If you buy a Kia, you call a friend to give you a ride home from the service center. You paid hard-earned money in both cases... makes sense ? 

Regarding postal service losing items, here is an old thread and comment from a HobbyKing reseller.

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-outlets-and-resellers/hobbyking-6112/  (see replies #16 through #19).

But then, let me go on Facebook and deride people for stating their experience so far, that is just more fun

credit card

What about cowardly act of hobby king folks to delete negative review rather than giving counter argument ?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=17626
Another buyer and myself put an opinion that a Wooden block is  better than the Alu jig as Alu would dissipate heat (I am soldering since Class 3, ask me soldering!) and make soldering difficult. Instead of counter argument, they simply deleted the post. If they carry this kind attitude of their mother country, I bet people would surely start moving away from them.  
And why should this 'very small' percentage of people are real people, people who are putting their hard earned money and coming to the site to same some. If they loose money like AkshayB did, they would start loosing faith.
Its takes time to build rapport. Only one incidence to loose them.
HK can vouch on care a damn, there are million others. But sooner or later other hobby shop would sure defeat in their own game.

If this would happened with a Indian LHS, we would have had a  rackus here!! Isn't it ?

As a business man, if such incidence is very rare, I would listen to customer and make them happy, based on their purchase history and 'Crib' record. If there are many customer complaining , I would look at how I am running the business. Working on 50% margin on a business being run from cluster of apartment, evading taxes times a many, Mr Hands can still ensure customer satisfaction, no matter how few of them come back. After all they still don;t have a Six Sigma tag to call the customer wrong. Many of us would have read the parable of the lost sheep I guess!!

<Edit>
I have created a Face Book community to do a WikiLeak on HobbyKing.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_196274350419761

join there and help us reach to larger world audience .

No one says whatever they are doing is all proper, they do employ dirty business tricks to keep reviews biased to them.  They carry thousands of products, many of which are not up to the mark. 

But no one has made the hobby more affordable to a large audience.  You can see many posts in the US forums saying "I am in this hobby only because of them".  Even that situation has probably since changed, with more competition from other smaller entities.

The biggest issue is lost parcels, items lost from parcels due to handling amid transit, especially in international shipping.  A business that lives on really low margins cannot afford to replace such items.  For them, it seems the choice is to make the majority happy, or quit shipping to countries where there is a pattern of increasing issues with parcel delivery.

My take on this thread was, I see others saying I have 30 parcels to date with out issues, even under the postal system complaints.  I personally have never had a single issue with close to 40 parcels. Neither have my brother and absolutely everyone else I know. It gives me the confidence to say the percentage of issues is small. Just look at the swarm sales thread here, and the external site that shares swarm sales.

Just for stating these previous experiences, someone is jumping at the throats of others.  With the issue mentioned, may be we all should just feel lucky that we are not a victim.  May be we all will think twice (or never think) about ordering from HK when we have issues.  I for one, will try at least once more before I quit, as there are many external factors. 

We make fun of people who say "I want cheap and best".  Anyone will know that those two things don't go together.  And HK is attempting to do just that.  They do twist arms in the process, but I would admit that they have had at least partial success with that impossible goal.

Most importantly, no one is forced to buy from them. 

I or the others who commented on this thread do not like getting derided here or on Facebook etc just for saying "I think the occurrence is relatively rare, and the issue is most likely at the postal side", based on personal experience, with so many chances of external factors affecting parcel delivery.  If I don't say what needs to be said, others will... and I would rather not have members going at each other.

PS: I remember the early days of this forum, where I had similar thoughts and arguments about Futaba on the heat issue.  Till date, they have not really acknowledged the existence of heat issue (probably because it was outside their "usage guidelines"), and the fact that they have quietly fixed it in later releases of their receivers.  One can draw parallels here, although Futaba is a premium brand.

When I joined this forum, people reminded me, about open mindedness of this forum, Though I do not have doubts about good job Anwar bhai has done by this forum.

Certainly I can say for sure, the purpose of this forum is diluted, by not able to take criticism of a crap Chinese Seller. And demeaning and degrading cause of it's own community member for a Cheap Chinese Seller.

I think you are doing Anwar grave injustice.  No one is denying the fact that some people have had bad experiences.  With such a large operation, there are bound to be some “mishaps”. One negative episode will be remembered over nine good ones. Such is human nature. And as he has rightly pointed out, the service you expect/demand will, perforce, be related to what you are paying.

About censorship of comments/reviews, all I can say is that I have seen some reviews that, positively  (pun intended) trash the product. So that  is possibly inconsistent.

For what it is worth, I have had no problems whatsoever, with HK. The delays have – invariably – been at the local FPO end. My opinion may well change, but not with one “Murphy’s Law” case.

Finally, no one is arm twisting anyone, to buy from HK.  A similarity is when people complain of the contents of TV programmes being “harmful” etc. There is always an on/off button on the remote. Use the option!

Guys I have 2 grenades in my stock! Free SHIPPING!
Anyone wants them?!?!?!? There's tension all over, its time to blast all the dispute with sellers etc..etc...!!!

Nice one hahahaha............................


I just want to ask couple of  simple questions, Is any thing begins without a start?

Take this as a start, and don't think it as an isolated case, or small percentage, it can, yes it can happen with any body, so be prepared to get cheated if you do not want to open your eyes, right now.

open your eyes and read the other forums, and realize, how people are getting cheated world over by this.......  cheater Chinese seller.

http://www.rcgroups.com/united-hobbies-hobby-king-441/

Views of the members might have been same if it has been a Indian seller? (Question asked by a fellow rc flyer, on last Sunday's flying session)

This forum has rubbished, a senior rc hobbyist because he has cheated another member. and another seller sitting in southern part of India, shown the doors because he has supplied so called sub standard, product to a member sitting in eastern part of India.

No injustice for Anwar bhai, nothing personal here, at least not for me.

Hahaha !!! Nice one

Its a risk buying from HK and people should buy only if they are willing to take that risk. If you read the refund/exchange rules - you will know there is basically no support if the products are bad. Just imagine if a product like Tx doesn't work - according to their policy we need to sent it back to them.
But still ppl take a risk and buy from them because their products are super value for money and rarely bad!
When i started - I placed few orders initially and found their quality was pretty good. I continued and within 8 months, i have placed 32 orders and i don't have any major complaints, except once found the one of the carbon fiber tail blade in bad condition - just threw it off and moved on.
If only I knew about HK before i got into this hobby - i would saved so much $$

Akshay bhai -

Hobbyking is not owned by my father-in-law   And they don't pay me anything to feed my kids (Well, may be the savings I make while shopping there does feed my kids )

1.  I objected to your baseless criticism of myself and others who said they had good experience with Hobbyking, not your criticism of Hobbyking.  There... I said it again for the Nth time   If you cannot see that distinction and conclude that this forum trash, I am talking to a wall, and may be I should finally heed to that old saying about "silence". I also refer you to my initial reponse at :

http://www.rcindia.org/rc-outlets-and-resellers/anything-and-everything-hobby-king/msg67504/#msg67504

2.  Any (remaining?) respect I have for Hobbyking is because they showed to the world that this hobby is not only for an elite class with large disposable incomes.  That, and combined with the fact that they still managed to send me about 40 packets without issues (and the packets of everyone else I know) despite being a huge operation at some of the industry's lowest prices... YES, I still have some respect left for them.  But I am with you on that it can change today, or tomorrow.

3.  About Indian sellers, see each case.  If the item is damaged in transit, or did not arrive, there needs to be a resolution arrived at.  Anybody who has engaged openly with the customer about even attempting to arrive at a resolution will not be vilified.  The operation of Indian stores are at a much smaller scale, where individual attention and customer care should be the norm.  What is the advantage of LHSes if they also start behaving like HobbyKing and other international stores ? 

4.  With Hobbyking and similar low price stores, it is a clear case of you get what you pay for. I don't think the comparison is the same with other stores who charge more.  Ever tried travelling in Air India Express from the Middle-East to India ? The running joke around here is that the average travel time after you report on time for a flight is 24 hours, with all "technical problems" and last minute flight cancellations and so forth.

5.  I have not paid anyone on this forum to talk in support of Hobbyking either, but see what others are saying.  Raja Mastana seems to have summarized dealing with Hobbyking the best. 

I rest my case.

People who think, Hobby King is cheapest check this out,

Hobby King sells GL-Speedy Fiber Glass Hotliner (ARF), with out motor and propeller, for

$83.20 + $30.00 (for postage and shipping)= $113.00X 45= INR 5085.00

(CC charges me 46.5 for a dollar, but conservatively I have taken 45)

LINK:http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=14896

Ujjwaana has bought this same glider from RC Bazaar, he just confirmed that his glider came with motor and propeller for

Inr. 4725.00 add shipping on this RCB tells me it's roughly Inr 300 to 350.

Link:http://www.rcbazaar.com/products/625-speedy-electric-glider-including-motor-prop.aspx

I think you need to pay customs duty above your HK order, and Sujju Sir has already paid that for you.

May be HK is charging extra for their designer decals, yeah I know their quality is best in world

इब्तदा ऐ इश्क है रोता है क्या
आगे आगे देखिये होता है क्या

Well... the thing with internet and online shops is that one can choose where to buy from. Well if Rcbazaar is selling some item cheaper then I would buy from there on the other hand if Hobbyking is cheaper, I would buy from there. However, my own interaction with HK has been pretty good. I am a platinum member myself, but that is no guarantee that I cannot buy from elsewhere

regards
Pankaj

This just for the Blinded HobbyKing Affectionados that HK can't care about failure/mistakes on thier side as they are already operating on the cheapest **possible**. This should be an eye opener.

by all this I don't say I wont buy from HK, but then I won't concede to white lies of HK and use the appropriate way to seek resolution. You cannot have 'Emotions' while doing business.

Well I simply love HK.  I was just starting to have some doubts about its customer care  but they proved again why they are the best  . Long story short, a parcel left HK on 16 march 2011 but never reached me so i filed a complaint. I had to wait a long time as they told me overseas investigation takes about 2 months. today i got this mail :-

Your request (#some no.) has been deemed solved.

To review, comment and reopen the request, please visit www.HobbyKing.com



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rachel, Jun-24 14:57 (HKT):
Hi N-----,
Thanks for contacting the HobbyKing Support Team.

We are sorry to inform you we have received a message from Hong Kong Post that your parcel #Some No. has claimed "LOST". We are willing to give store credit to your account for compensation for the amount of $26.02+$107.06 USD.

Please check bonus points for updates. You may apply the points in your next order.

Thanks for emailing support.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Regards.
Rachel
HobbyKing Support Team
Dont forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for discounts and promotions!
www.facebook.com/hobbykinglive
www.twitter.com/hobbykinglive


so i have no complaints so far. 50+ orders. Happy platinum member. 

I dint want to poke my nose but here is my opinion.
When there is weight and size involved it is better to go for local options.
No one says hk is cheaper in everything. Take a simple example of cf fiber, it is cheaper at hk but due to the shipping involved it would come more than LHS. To some extent it would be wise to buy ARFs from hk but again not all arfs. I dont know why customs is always dragged into calculation, I dont think anyone would have paid a hefty customs duty if he is not importing for commercial purpose.
Not sure how many have sincerely put 100% declaration whenever he is buying from HK, in my opinion none. And also no one would have paid more than 800 whether its a Radio or an ARF.
Once a business grows to such a large scale  - just count the number of inventories hk has it may be difficult to take care of customers. We cant expect everyone to run a business like in US where whatever you buy they would accept returns without any questions.
I am not taking any sides here but sincerely how to know that HK has missed packing the item OR it had gone missing in transit.
 

Wow... did not expect something like this from someone like Ujjwal, who has always been sensible

Have you guys considered why the clone DSM2 receiver sold by HK was initially around $15, then it was around $8, and now it is around $5 ?  Wasn't it the same item ?  Wasn't it in demand ?  The same thing happens with many other items (the other one I remember is the Accucel 6 charger).

The price of an item can vary from batch to batch, and if an LHS goes to the source where HK gets its stuff from at a later time, then the batch pricing can be different (almost always lower).  In fact, any LHS who wants to survive should start doing things like this, and I know Sujju/RCBazaar did exactly this.  Sai is also doing this.  I know one the LHSes in Qatar has many of the items that HK sells, but with their on branding (The Pro Hobbies... I will try to post some pictures later).  Typically when HK gets another batch, the price would usually come down again.

All this said, with swarm sale pricing, and substituting that discount for a motor+prop (HK should get the prop+motor for less then the typical swarm discounts), HK may still be cheaper on the whole combo (exclusive of shipping).

On top of this, NO ONE who is sane would claim HK is the absolute lowest pricing on EVERYTHING.  If people are running out of arguments and begin to quote claims which no one made, this is becoming just some sad personal crusade/vandetta. I am utterly dismayed at how people are missing the basics about pricing and business.

Good to see another dose of reality from foamybuilder.  People are looking for "satisfaction guaranteed" / "returns accepted with no questions asked" type of items and service from a self-proclaimed el-cheapo seller, and nothing else will follow except disappointment.

Has anyone imported Tunigy 9X from Hobbyking?

I'd like to know if there are any customs issues with it?

Thanks.

Surya

What do you plan to do now? I'm importing quite a lot of good from HobbyKing and its a 5kg Box. Wondering if I should purchase locally.

With so many options locally.. Why import ?

http://rchobbyaddict.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=103&osCsid=03d27eaf07a8368fe111250adcffda36

http://flying--rc.blogspot.com/2011/03/turnigy-9x-9ch-transmitter-w-module-8ch_30.html

Turnigy 9X - 53.79 $ + 23.59$ = 77.39$  i,e Rs 3481 + waiting + customs issue, if caught stop dreaming about ur radio

Local hobby shops Rs 4600 to Rs.5000 less waiting + guaranteed shipping 

More shops:

http://thehobbyshop.in/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=23

http://www.rcbazaar.com/products/397-fs-th9x-9ch-24ghz-transmitter-receiver.aspx

How very true. So do not challenge my sanity and/or my intellect if I prefer doing business with HK. While I am not blindly supporting HK but then neither am I a big fan of LHS. Even if shipping and returns are allowed in local shops, how many are required anyway? We may land up with a lemon once in a while, but thats the part and parcel of any hobby.

Pankaj

Well here's the actual total list of items. Can someone help me track down best places to purchase all this?

Its for a college research project, any idea if that would help in customs clearing?



1             6- 12V 5A 110/240V 50/60Hz Power Supply
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6256

3              8X4R Propellers (Standard and Counter Ro.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11331

2             Carbon Fiber Tube (hollow) 10x750mm   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6816

2             Hobby King Battery Monitor 3S                  
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7223

1             Turnigy 9X LCD Backlight Kit - Green (DI..   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=17128

5             hacker Style Brushless Outrunner 20-22L   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4700

2             ZIPPY Flightmax 4000mAh 3S1P 20C   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7634

1             Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charge..
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028

1             Turnigy 9X 9Ch Transmitter w/ Module & 8..   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10442

1             Woven Carbon Fiber Sheet 300x100 (1.5MM ..   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10442

2             Carbon Fiber Square Tube 750x6mm   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8711

5             TURNIGY Plush 30amp Speed Controller   
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2164

@ iamsurya

have u ordered off these items??? if not

Carbon fiber rods and tubes www.rcdhamaka.com

Carbon fiber sheet www.rcforall.co.in

a)  6- 12V 5A 110/240V 50/60Hz Power Supply can be sourced from a compute shop, ask them a 12V 5A SMPS would cost u Rs 500

Hobby King Battery Monitor 3S
http://rchobbyaddict.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=74

Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charge..
http://rchobbyaddict.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=65

Turnigy 9X 9Ch Transmitter w/ Module & 8..   
http://rchobbyaddict.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=103

TURNIGY Plush 30amp Speed Controller
http://rchobbyaddict.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=91

u give them any reason, customs officials wont listen to u all they do is slap a 17% tax on the declared price, doubtful if they release the transmitter