Yep, you've read the horror stories. You've read the positive comments on how some people rave about Hobby King and get great customer service. Which is it? Good for some, bad for others?

I've dealth with them for years. Occationally have had an issue, but it's now to the point that if something goes wrong with your order, you're going to see horrible service. Chat support is closed, forum support is a joke, the only way to get resolution is to file paypal claims immediately. I've been getting a runaround for over two weekson a stupid defective lipo that was sent. All over a miserable little $10 part, the Abbott and Costello runaround dialect with support would actually be funny.... if it weren't for the fact that they owe me money.

Protect yourself from the double talking and stonewalling money takers. Pay with Credit Card or Paypal. You'll need their assistance in reversing charges when a problem arises...... Hobby King must be in the "emergency conserve money mode", usually pointing to a decrease in revenue but not a decrease inbottom line costs. A sign of a troubled business?

In any case, protect yourself....... you'll need the leverage if the order goes bad. Beyond that, their prices are good..... but service is the worst I've seen in years.

I think they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Originally Posted by Jon Shaw

I think they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Well..... I know what the drill is. Make it as hard as possible for the consumer to get a refund so that the consumer gets tired of the runaround and gives up. So in essence, they win by default. Either that or stall until any kind of payment dispute deadline has passed and the consumer has no recourse.

It screams of a business in trouble. When the cashflow is slow, service gets cut back, chat support gets closed, etc. They do whatever it takes to keep the doors open. It doesn't look good, but that's not really my concern. My point is that we all know the situation, be vigilant in protecting yourself by using a form of payment that offers recourse. You'll need it.... and it does work.

In this case, I filed a paypal dispute. It gave them the opportunity to respond and they didn't. Keep in mind that they still had the time to stay in communication with me on the "Support ticket", effectively ignoring the paypal dispute. After several more brick walls and the brush off, I stepped up the dispute to a claim. They have been given until May 7th to respond. My bet is that just prior to May 7th, I will get a notice from hobby King that they will resolve the issue if I close the paypal claim. Well that's not going to happen. Hobby King was given the opportunity. If they don't make it right, Paypal WILL. If Hobby King does what they advertise and are supposed to do, the claim is cancelled and goes away. The time for games is over, the time for debate is over. It's time to get results.

It screams of a business in trouble. When the cashflow is slow, service gets cut back, chat support gets closed, etc. They do whatever it takes to keep the doors open. It doesn't look good, but that's not really my concern

Business in trouble? The orders per day they get don't support that thought.
From Jan 20th to Mar 23rd, they were getting over 6000 orders/day. This is up from 5000 orders/day over the holidays. The problem is too much business IMO.

But getting back to your problem, have they gotten your battery back yet? Probably takes longer to send it back than it took to get it and then have to stand in line for the QA guy to check it out. I'd expect a couple of months wait. Not good which is why I buy my packs USA. I'd like to know if they refund your money before the pack gets back to them if that is the case.

hoppy I think Joe has a dead pack and isn't sending it back. I think the voltage was well below 3.2V so it's actually a cactus pack and they should just store credit him for it. But we all know what happens when a paypal claim is put in.

Mark

I agree Mark. I missed that part of the atory.

Originally Posted by hoppy

Business in trouble? The orders per day they get don't support that thought.
From Jan 20th to Mar 23rd, they were getting over 6000 orders/day. This is up from 5000 orders/day over the holidays. The problem is too much business IMO.
.

Interesting that you have those figures, however orders are not the same thing as cash flow. You can have 6000 orders per day, but if the cash coming in is less than the cash going out, it's called negative cash flow. It's a proven fact that most business don't go under from lack of sales, they go under from lack of cash. In any case, HK's bottom line and top line numbers are not really my concern, that's for their CEO to worry about. Thanks for sharing though!

Originally Posted by Joe 1320

Interesting that you have those figures,

Why do you think it's interesting?

You too can have those numbers. Simply subtract a previous order number from your latest order number and divide by the number of days in-between.

Some have questioned that method saying they generate random order numbers, skip order numbers, etc etc. but I don't question the sequential order # data. I have enough orders (68) to convince me it's good data.

Looking back about a year.....they were in the 3000 order/day range and now they are in the 6000 order/day range. I think they are just overloaded and have chosen to prioritize incoming orders over solving problems with previous orders.

Originally Posted by hoppy

Why do you think it's interesting?

I think it's interesting that someone took the time to do enough investigating to obtain those numbers. That usually points to a more knowledgeable person. It's not often I run across that in day to day conversation.

Originally Posted by hoppy

Why do you think it's interesting?

You too can have those numbers. Simply subtract a previous order number from your latest order number and divide by the number of days in-between..........
.

Perhaps. I never cared to know about that.

Joe, everyone who shops regularly at HK and participates in their forum knows they do anything from 3000 to 6000 orders a day depending on the time of the year.

Mark

Originally Posted by KCV6

Joe, everyone who shops regularly at HK and participates in their forum knows they do anything from 3000 to 6000 orders a day depending on the time of the year.

Mark

That's good to know. I normally don't participate in their forum discussions, my focus is elsewhere. In fact, I think the only discussions I tend to get involved with are in designing, building and flying. I especially like to steer clear of Politics, Religion, and so many other types of controversy and debates. People have their opinion and are entitled to them, who am I to debate them?

I probably don't qualify as someone who shops regularly at HK. Although I've been dealing with them since it was HobbyCity I believe....... it all seemed to happen so fast, there were a few name changes. I also only tend to be the nickel and dime buyer, buying parts, airframes, motors and such. I've probably only spent a couple thousand dollars. I'm not the type to order weekly either. So yeah, I probably wouldn't be in the know on those numbers.

Originally Posted by hoppy

I agree Mark. I missed that part of the atory.

then maybe you should edit your post to reflect the information.

Originally Posted by KCV6

Joe, everyone who shops regularly at HK and participates in their forum knows they do anything from 3000 to 6000 orders a day depending on the time of the year.

Mark

these numbers have yet to be proven as fact.
how these made up numbers have some type of bearing on the OP's problem is a mystery to me.

Nah, they go through 3000 to 6000 order numbers a day, nothing made up at all, but you would know this if you were a HK customer sgtdirt. You are a HK customer aren't you?

We are just chewing the fat here sgtdirt, a comment was made, others have commented. What's the issue?

Joe will either get his money back from paypal or HK will credit him the bad pack. I suspect he will get it back from paypal.

Mark

Originally Posted by KCV6

Nah, they go through 3000 to 6000 order numbers a day, nothing made up at all, but you would know this if you were a HK customer sgtdirt. You are a HK customer aren't you?

We are just chewing the fat here sgtdirt, a comment was made, others have commented. What's the issue?

Mark

Mark, I'm a HK customer for years and I didn't know that. That's twice you made the same comment and really....you can't really claim that. Unless you are an employee of Hobby King or the CPA, everything else in regards to their business model and bottom line figures is conjecture. It sure may be an intelligent and lucid arguement, but the fact is that the figures cannot be substantiated. Case in point..... I've dealt with them for years and like I said.... I didn't know that. Besides..... half of those 6000 orders could be locals buying a tube of glue. That's one order right there. Customer returns tube of glue and the order number vanishes. Maybe a silly comparison, but just as probable. For example, my order number under paypal dispute was removed from my order history. Now why would that be? The same goes for the order that was in waiting. That order number disappeared too.

Since the customer numbers really aren't the issue here, can we agree to not argue about it and all get along. I would hate for this thread to get heated for no reason.

Originally Posted by sgtdirt

these numbers have yet to be proven as fact.
how these made up numbers have some type of bearing on the OP's problem is a mystery to me.

I think he already made his point. The part that is most distressing is that these type of business practices normally point to cash recession. But as mentioned here in this thread.........

Originally Posted by hoppy

Business in trouble? The problem is too much business IMO.

That would be the worst case..... worse than going out of business, worse than cash poor...... the idea that there is so much business that they don't give a crap about customers and service alludes to a crooked side and only motivated by getting your dollars. How horrible would that be if you are true?? Business 101 survival suggests that taking care of vested customers ( previous and current purchase) should be equal to persuit of non vested (future sales). Sad thing is that if buisness was in trouble, I can be sympathetic. The global economy is rough, business is tough, 25 years in high ticket retail management has given me a different perspective than a regular consumer. I can feel for the business people that are going under. I can't feel a shred of sympathy if the business isn't going under. If they have too much business to deal with customers, that's a whole other hornet's nest and the ultimate shame on them.

This thread has taught me a lesson. Two years ago, HK screwed me the same way on a lipo. I've bought thousands in parts, arfs, etc.... the only thing I've had issues with of any concern at HK were lipos. I gave HK a second chance and ordered a lipo that I just couldn't find elsewhere. Now I"m in the same boat where I get the runaround. Fool me once.... fool me twice.....

Originally Posted by hoppy

. Not good which is why I buy my packs USA. .

As is suggested, buy your lipos elsewhere. Hoppy is right on the money here, I've bought tons of lipos from Hobbyparts in the last few years and no issues. I learned it once before, I should have stuck to my guns. Hoppy said it best........ buy USA and not Hobby King when it comes to lipos. in fact, you pointed out some dark sides that I didn't think of. The fact that they have too much business and don't care is a disturbing trend. Disturbing enough that I am done with HK. I've known for some time that most everything is available globally, if not.... then time for a substitution. I'm done with Hobby king. Thanks Guys, SGT, hoppy, KC.... you guys are tops.

The ironic twist is that I was holding an order to be placed at HK. I wasn't going to place that order until getting a store credit for the defective lipo they sent me as I probably wouldn't put in another order for a few months. I kept telling them I have an order sitting in waiting, all they had to do was solve this and I would finish and pay for the next order so they can ship it. Evidently that meant nothing so that $300 order was flushed.

Originally Posted by KCV6

Joe will either get his money back from paypal or HK will credit him the bad pack. I suspect he will get it back from paypal.

Mark

So in the end, KCV6 is right...... I'll get my money back from paypal, HK just drags their feet 'cause they don't care, purchases will be made elsewhere, everyone is happy and I learn a valuable lesson! Cheers!

I also think it's best this tread get locked. It's evident that there are problems with HK as posted by people who are more in the know about the inner workings of Hobby King than me, to prevent any thread degredation it's done.

Thanks again KCV6, Hoppy and sgtdirt for your support. You've reinforced my feelings of dumping HK. I owe you guys one for the moral support and insight. If I can ever return the favor just ask!