"The most ridiculous online shopping experience I have ever had.

I placed my order on November 14 and did not hear from them for 2 weeks. So, I contacted the customer service. They said they contacted the warehouse and the order was being processed. A couple days later I get a message about an unavailable item in my order. I replied right away with directions and asked to ship the rest of the order asap. A couple days later I get another message about another item unavailable in my order. They finally shipped the order 4 WEEKS after I placed it. After this screw up, they refused to send it with priority shipping and as of today, December 20, 5 weeks after I placed my order, I am still waiting for my order.

In the meantime they managed two mess up two other things. I specified the shipping address different from the billing address, and although they got the shipping address right, they used the recipient name from the billing address. They also sent separately, as directed, one of the unavailable items from the order, worth $8. The shipment was supposed to be free, but the value provided by their shipping to the customs included additional $50 for shipping, so now they have issued me an invoice to pay another $15 in taxes.

Below is my conversation with their customer service (when their live chat started to work eventually after a few days of not working):

Below are excerpts (to limit review length) of my chat with Customer Support:

(...)
[14:53:49] Patrick: I made my order or November 14, which is almost a 4 weeks ago. After two weeks, the order still was not shipped so I contacted Hobbyking. Then, after another few days, I received information about one of the items not being available. Now, I have just received information about another item being unavailable. I expressed in my prior communication how disappointed I was with how much time it was taking, but it looks like no one cares. Do you guys pack my order one item every 5 days? Am I gonna get another update about missing items in another 5 days? When will you finally ship my order? I think you will agree that this is the most ridiculous online shopping experience ever. Is Hobbyking doing anything to mitigate this situation?
[14:55:09] Eugene: Thank you for elaborating your concern, Patrick, and we deeply apologize for the delay of the process of your order. I'll be more than willing to assist you, let me just check the status of your order. Please give us a few minutes.
[14:56:50] Patrick: I have heard apologies already three times over last 2 weeks, but the order still has not been shipped...
[15:02:24] Eugene: As I checked your order, it's currently in Printed status, and all the items are now being scanned, aside from this one Product ID: ***-***-****-0. Rest assured that this is the last missing item on your order as all the items are marked as scanned. I fully understand how frustrating this matter on your part, and rest assured that this time, your order will be processed and shipped. For back order item, please choose on the following: (...)
Patrick: When will the order ship?
(...)
Patrick: Ok, I am glad it will be shipped soon.
(...)
Patrick: How long is the shipping time?
(...)
Eugene: We really appreciate your cooperation with us, Patrick. The shipping time of your order will be 3 to 14 business days.
(...)
Patrick: Well, this is unacceptable, because it means I may be waiting another 3 weeks after already waiting for 4 weeks. Please ship it with a faster method, FedEx Priority or something similar.
(...)
Patrick: I may receive it after 3 days or after 14 days and given that Hobbyking has totally screwed up this order and I have been waiting for four weeks, I am not going to take chances to wait another three weeks, this is totally unacceptable.
Patrick: You guys should now make an effort to fix this situation.
Patrick: And what you can do is to ship it using a fast method, so that I am guaranteed to receive it fast.
Patrick: This seems like a reasonable thing to do and any reputable store would do exactly this.
Eugene: You may receive the parcel within 3 to 14 business days. In order for us to ship your order to any faster shipping method, you must need to settle first the shipping difference. We can only choose from the shipping method that will be provided on the check out page.
Eugene: We sincerely apologize for inconvenience, however, there's nothing to worry about, as your order will now be processed and ship sooner.
Patrick: I am not gonna pay extra to get my order after FOUR weeks of waiting.
Patrick: I would like to contact your manager about this situation.
Eugene: I'm sorry if our manager is not available at the moment. The reason why there is a delay in the process of the orders, is due to a high volume of orders that we are receiving, some orders are getting delayed in processing. But rest assured that the warehouse management are processing an alternative way to ship all the future orders on time.
(...)"

"
WARNING Stealth Import Tax Charges!

This is the first review i have written but i think it worth while. I purchased an RC Plane (Bix3) advertised at £88 gbp...... all in i have now spent £148 gbp to get it to my house. There is a huge delivery charge to get it from their warehouse in Hong Kong which i knew about but then the shipping company slap on a standard charge greater than 33% of the value of the item and call it import VAT?? Before it even reaches UK shores?? They say that they are holding the goods awaiting payment...what can you do but make the payment and write a review in the hope that nobody else gets stung without knowing.

Good Luck.


SCS Express International Limited
Dear

Just to inform you that your Hobby King parcel has arrived and completed customs clearance by
bulk under one shipment in Europe. In order to dispatch the parcel to you, please settle the below
VAT payment within 7 working days. You do not need to pay the VAT payment again in your own
country.
The invoice of total amount EUR 35.49 will be sent to you via PayPal shortly. Don't worry if you
do not have a PayPal account, you can still make the payment on www.paypal.com by credit card.
Our PayPal account is ****@****
Once we have received the payment confirmation, your parcel will be sent either by GLS or DPD
and should be with you within 3-5 working days.
GLS or DPD will send you a dispatch email to confirm that your order has been sent.
Alternatively, the tracking details can also be found at our website www.scsexpress.com
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ****@****
Thank you for choosing our services.
Please copy & paste the following details on PayPal for our record
? ? ? ? ? ?
? ?
? ?
Order no.
Customs Clearance Dated :

Kind regards,
SCS Express International Ltd
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ?
Import VAT & clearance receipt ?
? ?
ANTHONY H. ?
36-42 SHAN MEI STREET ?
HONG KONG ?
NA HK ?
? ?
? ?
Hobby Parts ?
Description :HS9503099 ?
? ?
ENTRY VALUE ?
DETAILS ?
? ?
? ?
? ?
? AMOUNT from Currency at exchange rate ?
? Shipping Value (USD) $ 55.35 USD 1.***-***-**** ?
? EUR 1.***-***-**** ?
? Invoice Value (USD) $ 128.78 USD 1.***-***-**** ?
? ?
? ?
ENTRY REVENUE TOTALS ?
? ?
? ?
? Total Value (EUR) € 147.87 ?
? ?
? ?
Total Deferred Amount = Total Value x (%VAT + %DUTY + %HANDLING) ?
* DUTY is only appliance if Inovice Value is over USD210.00 Key Figures ?
? VAT: 20.00% ?
? DUTY : 4.70% ?
? HANDL 4.00% ?
? Total Deferred Amount (EUR) € 35.49 ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

"

"I have been purchasing products from HobbyKing for a couple of years. Their prices are good, but the quality has always been hit and miss--mostly marginal.

I have also been frustrated by the fact that they have so many inventory issues. (I almost never find what I am looking for in stock.)

Up until now, I have been able to accept this as being the price you pay to save money. (They are generally less expensive than other online hobby shops.) But my last order sat for weeks without being processed, even though the items were in stock. And no explanation was ever given.

I opened a service request and asked them to cancel the order. It took so long to get a response that I opened a dispute with PayPal.

When HobbyKing support finally responded, they told me they could not process my refund until I canceled the PayPal dispute. I did as they requested (even though I knew better), and now they have simply become unresponsive. Nor have they refunded my money.

Even worse, you can only open a dispute once for a particular PayPal transaction, so I am stuck having to deal with HobbyKing's silent treatment. (I kind of get the impression at this point that I was just conned into giving them a monetary donation without any recourse. :( )

Never again! This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced with any online merchant.

I doubt they even care, but they have forever lost a formally loyal customer. (And I spend a lot on this hobby!)"

"Placed order. Four days later get email to say item out of stock and I can get a refund in Bonus Points. I asked for an equivalent item but they would not substitute. I would have to place a new order for that item and pay postage again! Asked for refund. They eventually accepted my request but said it would take 4-6 weeks to pay back to my card! Not happy. Spoke to customer support in UK - he said order on UK warehouse. He will sort it and throw in a few freebies. Placed another order and paid with my credit card. 10 days later their site still says unpaid. Tried to cancel order and, you guessed it, 4 - 6 weeks to refund me. So they now have GBP 80 (about US $120 of mine and I'll have to wait at least a month to get it back. Unethical and very bad customer service! I won't be buying from them again! "

" Ordered a FatShark fpv from this site, The Hobby King courier charged an additional 81 Euros for duty and handling, I was under the impression this was coming from UK, at the time thought this was a good price but with the 81 Euros for duty and handling charge it would have been cheaper to buy local, will NEVER use them again!"

"Ordered Soldering iron station and some other stuff. Payed immediately, but payment was not visible, than I had to contact support to process my payment. In the meantime soldering iron was out of stock and HK promised 7-30 days for restocking. No e-mails, no nothing, 35 days after still no item.

Now i am in process of refunding.

NEVER AGAIN!"

"Ordered a Tarot t-2d gimbal from hobbyking that didn't work. Investigated it further by connecting it to my PC and no communication, investigated further by connecting another controller board to (a friends) it and found the gimbal worked pointing to a problem with the controller board. Followed all the instructioins to log an RMA, take pictures, post a video, even bought another controller board from HeliPal. HobbyKing had me jump through hoops, were only going to offer only $10 for a £40. I finally arugued to get $45 - but that doesn't cover anywhere near the cost of the new unit, or the postage to send it back. Further, I asked for it to be creditted to the paypal account but the creditted it to me as bonus points - I don't want to have anything to do with this company ever again. Please, please, please stay away from these guys and tell you RC buddies. Some have luck with them but there is beginning to be a high percentage (maybe not a majority yet) that have bad service. There are others out there and if you have problems with these guys theyre aweful in sorting it out. I'm fortunate that it was only a relatively samll amount £50 in total, and only lost out on perhaps £15-£20. "

"I feel I should add my two cents. Just had a very positive experience with HobbyKing customer service 24/7 chat. Couldn't find where to track my order, and two minutes after connecting to chat, the guy showed me the URL indicating the status of my shipment (Swiss Post, on its way to JFK airport). It remains to be seen how long the shipment will take to arrive, but I'd say that most of the frustrating delays probably come from unpredictability of Chinese (and perhaps US) Customs, rather than any fault of HK. Try as you will, you won't find the kind of stock they carry anywhere else. I was able to order all electric / electronic parts for a quadrotor for under $200. "

"Delivery 9 days after I paid for the order!. All items were in stock and it was from the Australia warehouse, likely Sydney. Only 3 hours drive from where I live. I ordered shoes from Amazon and got them to my door in 7 days from the US..........what the??????. I cannot imagine what happens when you deal with the International warehouse!. If you like gambling with your money by all means buy something from these numbskulls but personally I would rather go to the Casino."

"I've been ordering from Hobby King for a few year now. Their batteries are outstanding for the price. I've also ordered some excellent planes from them as well. Read the reviews carefully before purchasing!

People complaining about this company are insane. If you want the absolute BEST experience and the BEST customer service, you will certainly have to pay for it! Order from an American company if you want peace of mind! Great customer service requires great people, and great people require higher salaries, so that additional cost is passed on to the consumer. It's common sense! My mind is blown by the number of idiots here who want both the best price and incredible customer service. Sorry, guys, it's doesn't work that way. This is business 101.

But for those people who understand that their products are cheaper for a REASON, and who can accept that they will receive some defective items once in a while, there is no better place to shop. Their prices are so low because they cut corners on things like customer service.

If you can't accept that you may experience shipping delays and poor customer service every now and then, then order elsewhere.

Just another classic example of Americans being ignorant. "

"they have nice web page and Youtube videos but those impressions dont count! customer service are like robots with standard replies and frustrating. how bad can it get!
I had a 2nd disappointment when a Walkera QR X350 body shell was delivered without 2 fastening nuts on one of the arms. its completely useless without them and being machine installed. a $30 purchase and was offered with a $5 credit. further chats were futile and they dont understand the feelings of hobbyists. they being in the hobby business!
1st disappointment was a damaged carrying case delivered. they offered a replacement but never came! offered a credit but in that I lost $45 of delivery charge and now $9.99.
hobbyking is definitely not a merchant for subsequent purchases considering their service and customer service whom are good in checking delivery dates. not suitable for disputes.
I still have credits with them and they can keep it!"

"I ordered a Quanum Nova quad copter from this site. The item was advertised with free shipping. The Hobby King courier charged an additional 70 Euros for duty and handling. One of the motors burnt out on the first flight of the quad copter. I returned the unit (at my expense) and Hobby King agreed a free of charge replacement. When this was sent, again by the Hobby King courier, I was again charged 70 Euros for duty.When I complained Hobby King agreed to send out another Quanum Nova via a courier that would not incur a duty charge. This never happened so I asked for a refund. To date this has not happened either. Interestingly when I tried to leave a review on the Hobby King website I was unable to. You need to have placed three orders before you are allowed to review! I will never buy anything from this site again and strongly urge others not to either. "

"Been ordering from HK since 2009 and my total orders count is 100+. Feel sorry for people who have bad luck with their services and shipment. Never had a problem in getting refund for a lost or damaged package. Though getting a refund requires a bit of patience. Its not quick, i guess due to their standard procedures but if your case is legitimate then eventually you will get it as a store credit, which is OK for me. I also have a good experience with them regarding damaged stuff. They just asked for the pics of damaged stuff with packaging and i didn't have to send the broken stuff back. They just sent it again."

"Warning! Do not use this company. I placed an order 2 month ago and package still has not arrived. I talked to customer service about obtaining a refund and they informed me that I would have to wait another 2 month during an "investigation" to get refund.
I urge you and your friends to stay away from this company"

"Had to wait three months before they would start a lost package investigation. One month later, haven't heard anything back and they finally gave me a refund after multiple requests. Will never order from them again."