Beware HobbyKing

[sparts]

I ordered a Turnigy 2K HD camera and a couple of accessories from them on 3rd May from the UK Warehouse came to just over £100 with postage.
UPS tried to deliver today while I was out at work and left a card through letter box.
I read the card and at the bottom they said they wanted £33.79 cash on delivery.I queried this with Hobby King and they say it's for import duties,but I said I bought from UK warehouse.
They have said my order was place through the International warehouse but it said UK on my screen.I have told UPs to return the items and I am claiming a full refund.
Just thought I'd let others know about this.
Thanks

[Mike Sanders]

That's something to watch out for.

[cycled]

Is that how their prices are so low? Strange though, never had that before (several orders from about £10 to £200).

[bigpops]

Check your order. All items in the UK warehouse have "(UK warehouse)" in the title. If that's not there, it's not in the UK warehouse. Going to the .co.uk website instead of the .com means nothing.

I'm on something like 80 orders from Hobbyking over the last 7 years, and they've never messed up once, and not once has anything been sent from a warehouse other than the one I ordered from. Be that the UK, Germany, Netherlands (both now EU warehouse) or the international one.

[Grumpy]

I've got 77 orders with HK and never seen this happen, not even once. I'm sure you will find that it was 'user error'

The mistake some people make is go to the Hobbyking.co.uk URL address and then assume because it's .co.uk that they only see the UK warehouse. This is a mistake, regardless of if you use the .co.uk or the .com address you still have access to all the warehouses. Which warehouse you are actually viewing when you look at a product is clearly displayed and the shipping options also make it very obvious if it's international shipping... But even so some people seem to miss the fact that they order from the international warehouse.

If you go back into your order histor and look at the items you ordered it will say which warehouse it was ordered from.

Here is a screenshot illustrating the point I just made about still being able to access the international warhouse from the .co.uk website address (and how obvious it is that it's an international warhouse item):


You may be on shaky ground with the refund (at least the shipping element of it) as this is almost certainly your error, not theirs.

[kenny d]

Even though you go on the uk site it will often jump to the international site , usually when something is out of stock in the uk , they automaticly redirect you to a warehouse where it is in stock , a real pain & youve got to keep your wits about you !!!!

[Grumpy]

Even though you go on the uk site it will often jump to the international site , usually when something is out of stock in the uk , they automaticly redirect you to a warehouse where it is in stock , a real pain & youve got to keep your wits about you !!!!

No, it doesnt 'jump' anywhere. it will show you the items for the warehouse you pick from the warehouse dropdown list. When you do the list view it also shows you stock levels in all other warehouses so you can go to those warehouses if you want. Perhaps if you dont use hobbyking much having the choice of warehouses is confusing but once you understand how it works it as simple as can be. As the screen shot above shows, the warehouse you are looking at is made clear by a big banner across the top of the page.

[Mikej]

Someone mentioned that they had this when they ordered from the International warehouse but picked "UK Direct" for shipping.

But as the others over 100 orders from a variety of UK / European / International warehouses and only once got hit with import duties...

[Grumpy]

One genuine thing to watch for.
If ordering from international warehouse Hobbyking by default used to mark down the value on the customs declaration to about 1/3rd of the actual purchase price and mark as 'gift'. This meant small and medium orders passed under the customs radar and you didn't get charged.
Presumably the UK customs people got wise to this practice and put a rocket up Hobbyking. So now the declaration is completed strictly 'legit'.. This means you should expect to get hit with customs and handling charges with every international order over £15 value. The charges will be 20% VAT plus the handling fee that Parcel Force charge you for the 'privilege' of being charged VAT (£8 or £13.50 depending on parcel service)

[fishfiend]

Yeah..they don't do ups from the UK warehouse..only Royal Fail...24hr.or 48..looks like your order was from the international warehouse..

[sparts]

When I placed the order it said 24 or 48 royal mail,also said the UK warehouse in the box.
I've bought lots from HK and never had this problem before,but they say it won't be there fault..
It's their loss as I won't be using them again.

[Shauny]

Well I've just put an order in. Let's see what happens.

[Grumpy]

When I placed the order it said 24 or 48 royal mail,also said the UK warehouse in the box.
I've bought lots from HK and never had this problem before,but they say it won't be there fault..
It's their loss as I won't be using them again.

That is strange then. Have you tried looking at your order history? If you click on the 'Items' button against the order in question it will list the items that were on the order and it will also say what warehouse they were ordered from.

I'd be interested to hear what the order says.

[Gixxer]

Never had an order ship from the wrong country in over 150 orders.

[_tj_]

Never had that issue either.
I've placed loads of orders (obscene amount lol)

Never had it jump to a different warehouse either.
I can see that it could be possible due to them always changing the site.
And a possible bug on the site, but not had it happen to me.

I also make sure my cart says (UK Warehouse) or my order doesn't get paid until it does.

If I do order from international and I'm not in a hurry I pick UK direct.
They then simply place your order in a container and then ship it when it arrives here I believe.

The worse I had was order something that was in stock.
Forgot about the order, a month later I realised and it still hadn't shipped.

Livechat then said some excuse.
And refunded me.