Giovanni LiCalsi
100 W
I have had poor service and lousy warranty care. 
Hobbyking Customer Service.
- Thread starter Marcbot
- Start date
Ricky_nz
10 kW
My latest shipment arrived in NZ last week using the only available shipping at the time FEDEX (expensive) but the box was labelled with lithium warnings and overstow etc. also balance connectors taped to side of bubble wrapped hardcase packs and two hardcase packs in boxes inside another box and then three of those boxes packed in the final shipping box. lithium warning labels on all but the innermost boxes. The outer and next layer boxes were filled out with air pockets.dnmun said:
I think they might be bringing back up airmail again (offered air mail lipo) but it didn't work when i tried. Got to last step then said they couldn't use that method. the new air mail option that showed up only seamed to accept a much smaller amount than in the past. Sadly the days of 8 hardcase packs in one shipment are gone :-(.
The fedex wasn't too much more expensive when ordering 5 hardcase packs (max in one shipment.) It also got here real quick.
dnmun
1 PW
yep, i don't think his order was just poor customer service. i think he just ordered at the wrong time when they got jammed and nothing shipped for a month or so while they created the work around for shipping.
i thought he should try again from HK since they are the cheapest, but i bet his stuff woulda been there by now if he had left the order alone. that is what is so ironic about all this.
i thought he should try again from HK since they are the cheapest, but i bet his stuff woulda been there by now if he had left the order alone. that is what is so ironic about all this.
recumbent
100 kW
RC_guy said:
That's a sad story "RC-guy" . The batteries I ordered were the 6S 5800mah 25-30C Turnigy cells, and two separate orders were a year apart they were near in perfect balance and received them in three weeks time to my door.
Gee, now I'm nervous about ordering my next batch :?
Hillhater
100 TW
What brand, size are you refering to ?? ...Zippy ??, Turnigy ??, etc ???RC_guy said:
Ricky_nz said:
Hey, that's really interesting.. Just for comparison sake, would you mind telling me when you ordered the LiPos and when you received them? FYI, i ordered mine on the 28th of November and like you I went with FEDEX priority shipping.
I noticed that for some reason the Fedex option now seems to have disappeared from their website..
izeman
1 GW
I received my order of 19x 6s 25c packs this week. Came from EU warehouse. NO single label on it. 15kg of lipo in one box. Shipped BC GLS. So far great service (same as all 11 orders before)
Ricky_nz
10 kW
kiwipete said:
Looks like I ordered on 15/12/2013 and received them on 19/12/2013 in napier
. Fedex tracking had it on the 16th so Hobby king didn't muck around packing it.I'm really impressed at the shipping time given the time of the year.
Their site is still offering me the fedex option. It offers me 'Fedex Priority $56.35' for 5 x turnigy 4s 5Ah hardcase ( seems to be about max lipo Wh limit for fedex to nz). so definitely dearer per Wh than 8 bricks sent Singapore post I did a year ago. but much better packed and labeled.
I believe they did have a serious backlog a few months back and were upgrading shipping for existing orders etc when the post rules changed or maybe just started being enforced and I guess you got caught up in that.
I have over the years never had a problem with an order from them,
just had to wait a long time for some things ordered over chinese new year but I expected that one.
The rest of the world keeps ordering while they holiday creating massive backlogs and I guess something like that happened when they had to deal with post changes.
Kingfish
100 MW
That’s my impression: HK doesn’t waste time. :wink:
Some orders – like specialty connectors have to come from overseas – and that’s fine, but with a stateside warehouse 60 minutes away in Tacoma – shoot, my batteries are here in one or two days depending if I order in the morning or afternoon 8)
Dang Happy & Spoiled, KF
Some orders – like specialty connectors have to come from overseas – and that’s fine, but with a stateside warehouse 60 minutes away in Tacoma – shoot, my batteries are here in one or two days depending if I order in the morning or afternoon 8)
Dang Happy & Spoiled, KF
Ricky_nz said:Looks like I ordered on 15/12/2013 and received them on 19/12/2013 in napier
I'm really impressed at the shipping time given the time of the year.
Their site is still offering me the fedex option. It offers me 'Fedex Priority $56.35' for 5 x turnigy 4s 5Ah hardcase ( seems to be about max lipo Wh limit for fedex to nz).
I just put 5 x Turnigy 4s 5Ah hardcase in the cart and yep, I get the Fedex option too (as the only option). The moment I change to Turnigy 6s 5Ah which is what i'm after, it disappears and the only option I get is International Registered Airmail. and then only for a maximum of 2 bricks. Tried three but it barfs at that. Very strange..
Ricky_nz
10 kW
I think it might be to do with shipping limits.kiwipete said:
The forms that came with the packs list max 100Wh per box (seems to be the boxes within the main box) and I think a 6S is probably just above which would be really sad.
I need to take the cat to the vet but later if i remember I'll scan the documents that came with the packs and upload.
Ricky_nz
10 kW
Heres a photo of the Lithium Battery Safety document that was attached to my package.
The interesting part is the <100Wh limit. I think this is what limits the shipping of 6S 5Ah packs.
The hardcase packs being 4S 5Ah which is about 76Wh. Each of these has its own box and then 2 of these boxes per lithium labelled box all inside the big shipping box also labelled with lithium warning/instructions.
Actually I'm wondering about how they put 2 in one lithium labelled box which looks like its ment to be <100Wh. I guess because they are shipped at storage voltage they don't the contain full energy level might be how they get away with it.
The interesting part is the <100Wh limit. I think this is what limits the shipping of 6S 5Ah packs.
The hardcase packs being 4S 5Ah which is about 76Wh. Each of these has its own box and then 2 of these boxes per lithium labelled box all inside the big shipping box also labelled with lithium warning/instructions.
Actually I'm wondering about how they put 2 in one lithium labelled box which looks like its ment to be <100Wh. I guess because they are shipped at storage voltage they don't the contain full energy level might be how they get away with it.
Ricky_nz
10 kW
Good Luck, should be fine
.I just checked and even 5S bricks are too big to ship fedex so looks like unless they get airmail working again we are stuck with 4S bricks and Fedex
.At least the 4s bricks are cheap enough and good enough, just a bit more wiring
This also (probably) explains why my original order just sat there and they didn't do anything: I'd paid for Fedex shipping and they were unable to ship it because its over above the allowable limits.
I just checked my new order and it went from "Paid" to "In Print Queue" to "Printed" within about 6 hours so that at least is encouraging. The original just sat "In Print Queue" for 20 days and went nowhere and knowing what I know now, would probably still be in limbo, because they wouldn't know what to do with it.
Either way, it still bloody p*ss poor that that they won't let you know that there is a problem and what the nature of that problem is. Instead you get told time and time again that everything is fine, we're sorry and it will ship soon.. Yeah right..
In contrast to that, I ordered my motor/kit from Paul (cell_man) and they had a hiccup with shipping which caused a delay. They had the decency to tell me about the problem straight away (which was pretty much outside their control) so because I was aware of the issue I was more than happy to handle the delay.
Thanks again Ricky_nz for your help. BTW, I was out your way last weekend. Lovely place, the Hawkes Bay, had a great time.
I just checked my new order and it went from "Paid" to "In Print Queue" to "Printed" within about 6 hours so that at least is encouraging. The original just sat "In Print Queue" for 20 days and went nowhere and knowing what I know now, would probably still be in limbo, because they wouldn't know what to do with it.
Either way, it still bloody p*ss poor that that they won't let you know that there is a problem and what the nature of that problem is. Instead you get told time and time again that everything is fine, we're sorry and it will ship soon.. Yeah right..
In contrast to that, I ordered my motor/kit from Paul (cell_man) and they had a hiccup with shipping which caused a delay. They had the decency to tell me about the problem straight away (which was pretty much outside their control) so because I was aware of the issue I was more than happy to handle the delay.
Thanks again Ricky_nz for your help. BTW, I was out your way last weekend. Lovely place, the Hawkes Bay, had a great time.
eDahon
10 mW
Sunder said:
I have been overall happy with them but I have noticed that they are not very fast at shipping and their customer service is not stellar. You have to be willing to put up with a little lackluster service to save money. Always a tradeoff.
Don't see that kiwipete did anything wrong by airing his complaint. He is obviously frustrated. If his complaints are completely unfounded then it wont resonate and wont effect HK business. Don't feel like we should be afraid to speak our minds in a respectful way.
ddk
100 kW
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,903
Seems as if down-under needs a local warehouse...
I live in the us of a
-IF- the usa warehouse has stock HK ships within a day. I always order stuff in stock.
Because of how long it takes for the usa HK warehouse to get re-stocked indicates the battery packs are shipped by slow boat.
My latest order for 9 each 4S 5A Turnigy hardcase battery packs in October arrived within a few days of ordering them and all the packs tested normal.
-no weak cells or high impedance cells in the bunch.
The only cells I've received I opine as crap are three 6.8A 3S nano-tech Turnigy packs I acquired this year. Those particular battery packs get unbalanced after every use.
finally
Of all the cells I've received from HK only one cell in a Zippy pack failed. It failed with no dramatic ending- internally shorted out without fire or too much heat
I possess over 250 cells (exactly 253 "working" cells)
*knocks on wood*
-just stating my personal experience with HK
I live in the us of a
-IF- the usa warehouse has stock HK ships within a day. I always order stuff in stock.
Because of how long it takes for the usa HK warehouse to get re-stocked indicates the battery packs are shipped by slow boat.
My latest order for 9 each 4S 5A Turnigy hardcase battery packs in October arrived within a few days of ordering them and all the packs tested normal.
-no weak cells or high impedance cells in the bunch.
The only cells I've received I opine as crap are three 6.8A 3S nano-tech Turnigy packs I acquired this year. Those particular battery packs get unbalanced after every use.
finally
Of all the cells I've received from HK only one cell in a Zippy pack failed. It failed with no dramatic ending- internally shorted out without fire or too much heat
I possess over 250 cells (exactly 253 "working" cells)
*knocks on wood*
-just stating my personal experience with HK
Sunder
10 MW
ddk said:
There is a down under warehouse... An Aussie one anyway. Not so much for our Kiwi cousins that everyone seems to think is our seventh state.
I get my stuff usually in 2-3 days.
dirtbiketoebike
1 W
Im going to have to agree Sorry, I know there are some hardcore hobbyking lovers in here. I tried to order on the 10 this month for the first time and was on the Web site for 4 hours! Why the heck would anyone do that, I want to finish my bike and the price seems to be the best. The website kept having problems, even tried our 2 other computers. I should have just logged off and tried the next day....i know. They offer a screen stare discount then when you went to pay it went back up to full price, the cart wouldn't update correctly then I had to start over, their website or pay pal was messing up and got charged twice. Ok that can happen. But emailed them and they must be short handed, never got a response yet,couldn't get through the phone lines but the recording said it was for new non account customers only. Finally got to live chat,1 hour to try to get a refund for the double billing,they said theyll forward it...so hopefully i get paid back soon. asked if I can have the order number and they said no dont see an order! Taking money and cant produce an order ticket,been a waste of time and now my heart hurts, lol...heres the sad part, kinda like if you dont like Walmart, their low prices makes you deal with the bad. After the refunds comes back I may give them one last chance but feel nervous, hopefully 2nd is charm. Anyone know if there is a comparable hobby shop with the good prices? Needing lipos, all connector and charging stuff accessories. U.S. based.
dogman dan
1 PW
It is Chinese New Year right now. After this weekend, somebody should be back at work to solve any problems with the web site.
I just bought a small quantity of new lico, in two separate small orders. I have come to prefer making the purchases no more than about 4 packs per package, because a box that weighs more than 8 pounds arrives looking a lot more beat up. So I was buying 14s 5 ah each order.
Order one took a bit of a long time to ship, but came eventually. It was ordered right after Christmas. The other one I got the order in just ahead of Feb 1, and it shipped in a couple days.
I will not order from the international warehouse unless it's not batteries. Unfortunately for NZ, they have no choice. But I would still recommend limiting the package size some. Figure out what fits in their smaller box, and order that much per order. Less risk per order that way, if shit happens.
FWIW, last time I got a defect pack was 4 years ago. In the last two years I bought 14s 25 ah, and have a 100% good packs record going. Though I had no defects, I have no illusions either. The cheap 20c RC packs are garbage, and might burn the house down. Don't trust them. But they are cheap, and I could afford more of them than I could afford good cells.
I just bought a small quantity of new lico, in two separate small orders. I have come to prefer making the purchases no more than about 4 packs per package, because a box that weighs more than 8 pounds arrives looking a lot more beat up. So I was buying 14s 5 ah each order.
Order one took a bit of a long time to ship, but came eventually. It was ordered right after Christmas. The other one I got the order in just ahead of Feb 1, and it shipped in a couple days.
I will not order from the international warehouse unless it's not batteries. Unfortunately for NZ, they have no choice. But I would still recommend limiting the package size some. Figure out what fits in their smaller box, and order that much per order. Less risk per order that way, if shit happens.
FWIW, last time I got a defect pack was 4 years ago. In the last two years I bought 14s 25 ah, and have a 100% good packs record going. Though I had no defects, I have no illusions either. The cheap 20c RC packs are garbage, and might burn the house down. Don't trust them. But they are cheap, and I could afford more of them than I could afford good cells.
When they're good, they're very very good, but when they're bad ...
My first HK order went fine - amazed at how cheap stuff was, ordered from UK warehouse (charger, connectors and a couple of Lipos), stuff arrived quickly, all worked well.
Encouraged, I did a big order for several Lipos, the 4S hardcases, because they're the best value by miles. What arrived, was a motor and an ESC. Someone else's order, I think. Simple cockup by someone, easy to sort out ... no.
I contacted them and explained the situation. They asked for a picture, I sent them a picture.
They said "send it back", so I did, via a tracked service, at their cost. It arrived, I got a copy of their signature for it. It then took me a week or two to get them to agree that it had arrived. And by that time, they were out of stock in the UK on 4S hardcases. So a few weeks went by, and then they had stock, and eventually they shipped. So my big order of $s batteries, that should have taken a couple of days, took several weeks. Fortunately, I wasn't hit by withdrawal symptoms, I had other batteries.
One of the batteries shipped had an intermittent connector; sometimes the voltmeter would read 14.4v, sometimes 0. So I contacted them again. They wanted a picture. I thought WTF? and sent them a picture. They wanted a close-up picture. I sent them a close-up picture. From this close-up picture of a battery, they were somehow able to verify that there was an intermittent connection, so they sent me a replacement, without asking for the battery back. My guess is, they decided it wasn't worth the cost of return and the cost of checking the battery.
So, in the end, everything came good.
When they're good, they're very very good, but if anything goes wrong, you do livechat with people who don't seem to have any function except to ask you to be patient and whose name is chosen randomly from a pool of English names, and whose name is different when you're talking to them, from when they log the chat. Which I find slightly humourous. And sometimes, one contradicts the previous one, and says "she was mistaken", which leads me to think they're not working from actual information, just following a script. But the problems (in my case) do get sorted out eventually.
My take is, they're very cheap on Lipos because they have their own tame factory, and they cut costs as much as possible on staffing by hiring as few customer service people as possible.
Will I order from them in future? You bet! The cost of those 4S hardcase Lipos simply cannot be beaten.
My first HK order went fine - amazed at how cheap stuff was, ordered from UK warehouse (charger, connectors and a couple of Lipos), stuff arrived quickly, all worked well.
Encouraged, I did a big order for several Lipos, the 4S hardcases, because they're the best value by miles. What arrived, was a motor and an ESC. Someone else's order, I think. Simple cockup by someone, easy to sort out ... no.
I contacted them and explained the situation. They asked for a picture, I sent them a picture.
They said "send it back", so I did, via a tracked service, at their cost. It arrived, I got a copy of their signature for it. It then took me a week or two to get them to agree that it had arrived. And by that time, they were out of stock in the UK on 4S hardcases. So a few weeks went by, and then they had stock, and eventually they shipped. So my big order of $s batteries, that should have taken a couple of days, took several weeks. Fortunately, I wasn't hit by withdrawal symptoms, I had other batteries.
One of the batteries shipped had an intermittent connector; sometimes the voltmeter would read 14.4v, sometimes 0. So I contacted them again. They wanted a picture. I thought WTF? and sent them a picture. They wanted a close-up picture. I sent them a close-up picture. From this close-up picture of a battery, they were somehow able to verify that there was an intermittent connection, so they sent me a replacement, without asking for the battery back. My guess is, they decided it wasn't worth the cost of return and the cost of checking the battery.
So, in the end, everything came good.
When they're good, they're very very good, but if anything goes wrong, you do livechat with people who don't seem to have any function except to ask you to be patient and whose name is chosen randomly from a pool of English names, and whose name is different when you're talking to them, from when they log the chat. Which I find slightly humourous. And sometimes, one contradicts the previous one, and says "she was mistaken", which leads me to think they're not working from actual information, just following a script. But the problems (in my case) do get sorted out eventually.
My take is, they're very cheap on Lipos because they have their own tame factory, and they cut costs as much as possible on staffing by hiring as few customer service people as possible.
Will I order from them in future? You bet! The cost of those 4S hardcase Lipos simply cannot be beaten.
Giovanni LiCalsi
100 W
Everything was bad for me.
dirtbiketoebike
1 W
Looking around on the internet again today just haven't found any lipos at the prices hk offers. But still looking. Im a slave to money. So hopefully they work out my refunds soon so I can try to reorder. I've seen on ebay in December that the Chinese New Year was coming or present....they celebrate all year? no but seems longer than us? lol I was hoping since I ordered in the u.s. store it would be ok but that doesn't mean our communication is here. like you said , live chat did seem scripted and probably not U.S. based. I bet they have thousands of orders a day...likely it'll work out for me ,too early ..still under a week. Plus I ordered paypal...paypal has been great for me in the past. Now for some adrenaline happy thoughts...the first ride when my bike is ripping the dirt...least I hope its badaz 
