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HobbyKing

How would you rate HobbyKing?
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Australia
1 review
2 helpful votes
Follow Disgruntled D.
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Hobby King is a total scam. I've had nothing but bad experiences with them in every way. What I can't understand is, given the consistently bad feedback on various blogs, why hasn't Hobby King been shut down? Isn't there any avenue to report their shabby operation to something like a Consumer Affairs authority?

Date of experience: December 30, 2013
Hong Kong
1 review
4 helpful votes
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I have been a customer for long time and service is just getting worse and worse. Hong Kong based branch is the worst. I found out they always charged me doubled or tripled shipping fees. When I complained, I was told someone would get back to me but I was never approached by any one. Every time I tried to seek help, I got more outraged by robot-like customer service staff based in the Philippines that won't even understand what you are saying. Once I said to one of them "Shame on you" she said to me something like "Profanity is not allowed". Is "Shame on you" considered profanity? I decided to take my business else where and now I buy from China where things are cheaper and people always thrive to offer the best service.

Date of experience: October 23, 2015
Arizona
2 reviews
7 helpful votes
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Get used to it!
November 18, 2014

It seems lately whenever I buy a plane from H. K., I can expect to have at least one bad servo. Get used to it if you want their products. I also accept the fact that if there's something wrong with my order that there's no sense in trying to do anything about it, would only cause more frustration. Can anyone else relate to this?

Date of experience: May 13, 2014
Tennessee
3 reviews
2 helpful votes
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A lot of interesting products, low prices. Some of the quality isn't the greatest. To put it this way, if it appears too good to be true it is probably really cheaply made. Other than that the deals are still good and I have been happy with them. Shipping time is a little long.

Date of experience: October 27, 2013
Spain
3 reviews
10 helpful votes
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Great prices, great service. Once package was prepared for shipment, they were a bit slow processing it for actual courier pickup, but said it was due to temporary overload. Still, for the price, i recommend.

Date of experience: September 1, 2011
Washington
1 review
7 helpful votes
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Ordered an item, charged my account, item in stock at the time of order, shipping date set, 4 (!) days later get a notice the I have to wait 30 + days to get it due to "error" between site and actual stock... Asked for help to find similar item - customer support people (though not sure if those are people) are useless, absolutely useless. Save yourself trouble go elsewhere, Never again will I do any business with these idiots.

Date of experience: June 15, 2016
Florida
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Terrible experience
March 16, 2019

Terrible shopping experience, shipping more expensive that actual item, i cancelled 3 minutes after shopping and they never answered my email for cancellation request, they lost a good consumer and i am sure many others, there are better opinion in the market.

Date of experience: March 16, 2019
California
1 review
8 helpful votes
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Ordered a number of items on 5/4/2015 from the USA West warehouse, all showed in stock. As of 5/21 items still not shipped and both of the contacts I've had with HK could only state the items were not shipped. I will not purchase from this company again unless they can get their business processes much improved. It is my opinion that the company falsely reports items in stock, fails to properly update their inventory stocking, and intentionally misleads its customers into purchasing items that are described as in stock but, in fact, are not in stock and may have never been in stock. If one person reads this and it stops them from making a sell then this post has performed it's purpose.

Date of experience: April 22, 2015
New Zealand
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Pathetic
July 30, 2014

Pathetic - I would not touch them again with a 20 foot disinfected barge pole! I am still waiting for delivery over 2 months after they took my payment.
Love the way they tell you delivery could take up to 45 days only to change that description to 45 business days when questioned knowing that if you wait this length of time PayPal will not accept a claim. Why PayPal are still supporting this parasite of a company is beyond me?

Date of experience: July 30, 2014
Canada
1 review
2 helpful votes
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Buyers beware
September 29, 2014

Buyers beware - Placed two orders three months ago and still have not received the items. Indicated that they have 'opened a investigation that takes 4 to 8 weeks'. Wow! Must be a major investigation or perhaps they have lost a bunch of items. Both orders where apparently shipped via Malaysia post airmail. Extremely poor service - Not sure how this company is able to stay in business.

Date of experience: September 29, 2014
Sweden
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow Lasse K.
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I have made 30+ orders from HobbyKing of various sizes and contents (from small envelopes with almost nothing in them up to really big boxes with planes inside). I have 99% positive experience from all these orders. The only things I don't like is that once I got open ball bearings instead of sealed ones (in spite of getting the correct ones both before and after this order), I got the wrong batteries once (no big deal, got refunded for the price difference), and a jet plane I bought was so-and-so regarding performance (was visible in the reviews so my bad), but that's really it. I love this site, especially its system of rewarding people that make an effort to help others, it's very encouraging both to ask questions and answer them (even when the answers are not in favour of the site). The prices are also very much lower compared to anything I can find in my country (Sweden). Recommend it.

Date of experience: April 9, 2013
Dan C. HobbyKing Rep
over a year old

Thanks Lasse we really do appreciate your positive feedback.

Dan

GB
1 review
3 helpful votes
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Purchased a drone that came with a missing piece (prop nut).

Rather than replacing the product immediately, I'm awaiting a back-order prop nut for nearly two weeks now.

In my opinion, I would recommend you stay away and purchase through a reliable company.

Wish I had read all the poor reviews this company gets before parting with my hard earned cash!

Date of experience: May 13, 2015
GB
2 reviews
3 helpful votes
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Placed order
December 6, 2014

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 had to place a new order for that item and pay postage again! Asked for refund. Eventually accepted but 4-6 weeks to pay back to my card! Not happy. Spoke to customer support - 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!

Date of experience: December 6, 2014
RU
1 review
6 helpful votes
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Ordered a set of products from them. They took my money and started claiming that they don't have the money. Customer support supposedly keeps sending messages to their accounting and accounting never replies. This has been going on for more than a week. Daily chats with customer support end up with nothing.
Will never ever order anything from hobbyking.com

Date of experience: September 8, 2011
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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So much for their No Fuss return policy. It has been two months since I return the item that was never used (was not able to use it because of missing parts). Still, no refund. They even disputed the paypal dispute and I got screwed.

Date of experience: June 16, 2015
Nevada
1 review
2 helpful votes
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The return system is unbelievably bad. They had me front the cost of the return, learn to make out a RA form online. Now trying to get my postage returned I am offered a store credit and having to jump through all kinds of hoops. They should have issued a return label, (I do and I am small time), at their expense and immediately shipped the proper items. I was considering placing a significant order, now not so much.

Date of experience: August 14, 2015
California
1 review
3 helpful votes
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I placed an order for about $240 worth of merchandise. They hit me with a $65 shipping charge. When I complained they cancelled my order. BEWARE: If you don't specify the "US warehouse" they ship your order from Hong Kong. They say it will arrive in 21 days but the charge is more than FedEx charges for 3-4 business day delivery. My complaint was handled by Rachel, who has lost $240 worth of business for her company, plus whatever I might have ordered in the future. I hope Hobbycraft management is reading this so they take appropriate action.

Date of experience: July 22, 2013
New Jersey
1 review
2 helpful votes
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I ordered an electric motor in Sept., 2013. The site indicated it was in stock in the US warehouse. After hearing nothing for about three weeks, I emailed them asking about the order. I received several responses from them that the item was being delayed in customs and would be shipped soon. I got tired of waiting and requested they cancel the order and refund my money. They gave me some story about not being able to cancel the order until it was received in the warehouse. Weeks rolled by with no refund. I'd get emails assuring me my refund would be coming soon, and emails asking me how I'd rate their service! Every email I sent or response to their emails got the same promises for quick action. They owe me $31 and still won't give me a refund. I will NEVER again order anything from these crooks and suggest you don't either.

Date of experience: March 7, 2014
California
1 review
6 helpful votes
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These clowns are painful to deal with. They had my money (my credit card account showed a charge) but insisted on a photo copy of the credit card showing my name to continue the order process. This was not my first order to HK so it caught me off guard. And since I was traveling in Europe it took about a week to submit the image. After I sent them the picture it took almost another week before they acknowledged receipt of it and released the order. Three weeks (3!) later they still show the order as paid and packed but not shipped. How do they stay in business? Certainly not from repeat customers who are happy to spend their money there. This will be my last order from them unless hell freezes over or they are the only source for something I need.

Date of experience: August 1, 2014
Michigan
1 review
2 helpful votes
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All of the above pretty much sums it up. I have payed for items and have not received them. The tracking number dead ends and they tell me it's up to me to find out where the item is. Waiting on Paypal to get a refund. Second bad transaction with these losers and the last. Beware. Easy to fall prey to the fancy site and prices but most of it is junk and they will probably fail to deliver it or warranty it.

Date of experience: June 28, 2014

Overview

HobbyKing has a rating of 1.5 stars from 207 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with HobbyKing most frequently mention customer service, live chat and store credit. HobbyKing ranks 11th among Remote Control Cars sites.

service
42
value
39
shipping
42
returns
34
quality
35