I'm a fan of Hobby King

[Altsickeness]

So I'm a new guy to quadcopters and I ordered a bunch of stuff from Hobby King for the first time.
To start off, I screwed up my email on initial registration and to fix it I utilized the live chat feature on the site. The person helping me was great. They understood my screw up and fixed it immediately. Second, I ordered a bunch of stuff and it showed up already! I got my goggles, receiver kit and two batteries in a couple days! Hooked it up and I love it! I've since cancelled the two batteries from amazon (waiting since Feb 22) and 3 batteries from Banggood (waiting since Feb 26th). I'm still waiting for another quadcopter from Banggood (since Feb 27th) but after that Hobby King and I will be new best friends!

 

[Jackson]

I got my goggles, receiver kit and two batteries in a couple days!

2 days!!!! When I ordered from them (one item) it took them 4 days just to prepare to ship.​

 

[Altsickeness]

I dont know the history, but man Ive been waiting forever for stuff from Banggood and Amazon. HobbyKing got me set up real quick. They must love me and not really care too much for you....

 

[Altsickeness]

I ordered some JST pigtails this morning and they are already showing that they have shipped.

 

[WLDOR]

IMO opinion, they USED to be phenomenal… I've been buying brushless motors, ESCs, 4-channel Tx/Rx and 2s LiPo's from them (for R/C cars) since early 2010, and both their pricing and their service were phenomenal.

But, out of the three orders I have received from HK this year:

Order# 1: XK X380 was an open/returned item. In fairness, they issued a sizeable 'bonus points' credit to me because of their incorrect product description (I was not alone in receiving one of these)
Order # 2 (a): Gimbal controller was DOA. Had to return the Gimbal & Controller. Have JUST received the refund for the gimbal (but not the controller), some 8 weeks after ordering.
Order # 2 (b) DOA 2212-class Multistar motors - again, in fairness, replacements were shipped out immediately.
Order #3: Incorrect shipping information supplied - had to constantly chase them down for accurate ETA's because their system would not allow them to correct the error.

I can't really blame them for DOA/faulty goods, but it is their responsibility to ensure that their suppliers uphold certain quality standards.

That said… call me a thrice-bitten fool! I placed two further orders with them just last Friday! Overall, their service is actually pretty good, but for those of us across borders (I'm across the 49th, over here in Canada <waves!>), their shipping costs are fast becoming extremely prohibitive.

So in conclusion: Bittersweet, but their site is too much of a 'candy store' to simply upsticks and walk away from…!

 

[Altsickeness]

Ha Ha! Thanks for sharing your experiences. For me, banggood has been frustrsting. I had a monitor with vertical color lines that after like 20'pictures they finally sent me a tx, but clearly it was the monitor that was the problem. I installed the tx and of course it didnt fix it. They finally got back to me 2 weeks later and offered to send me a tx. They already did that and it didnt fix it! Trying to explain it, it seems like I was dealing with a different person every time. Very frustrating. Meanwhile, it took so long that I moved on to goggles. They lost out on a controller, 3 recievers, goggles, vtx and vrx and another quad. I bought another quad while waiting for the one I bought from them that has yet to arrive. They send nice sounding emails but its clear they dont speak my language. Ive watched my batteries ordered from banggood read "in process" for nearly a month yet they sent an email that the new shipment was expexted the first week in march, the week after I originally ordered them Still no movement as of today, so I cancelled the order. Tracking china post is excrusiatingly painful. I order my toys and its clear they are not nearly as excited to send then as I am to get them. Waiting for stuff, Ive found that Im not very patient... Ive ordered stuff from Amazon and if its not prime, it can take forever. Ive noticed that some sellers will mark it as shipped with a tracking number that never works on any tracking system. They take your money and mark it as shipped the next day. Ive contacted sellers and they are polite enough, but tell me its shipped. Im thinking that if its actually shipped there should be some form of movement/update/activity. When I got my first quad I was on a hunt for batteries. I mean who wants to go out to a field to fly a quad with just one battery? Ive since lost that quad and never got the batteries. So it was frustrating to me to have my second quad and just wait and wait. Its been almost a month Ive been waiting for my second racer. Ive found that Im willing to pay more for faster shipping. You get your plan set, buy the stuff and obviously you want to move forward. Anyway, I didnt mean to have a whine session, I just felt like sharing that Hobby King was real good to me and If they keep up the good work they will be getting lots more of my business.

 

[Zentg]

Did you get the v2 goggles? I am planning on getting the v2 goggles from them and like the others, i have heard their shipping is slow. but maybe it changed now, hopefully i will get mine as quickly as you did

my birthday is in 2 weeks and I am planning to order my falcon, goggles, vx receiver, and battery for goggles next week!

 

[Altsickeness]

I paid for fedex shipping and it was worth it. Got my stuff in a couple days. The v2 goggles and quantum diversity reciever kit seems great. I had my current eachine racer that I tried out the goggles and reciever with original eachine camera and vtx still on the quad. It was night and day better then the monitor that came with the rtf racer 250. I have another quad coming and plan to put the quantum camera and vtx on that one. Might even get better.

 

[holtneil]

Hi I use Hobby king a lot some times they are great other times you think What the hell ! I ordered 2x 6 cell lipos for my Goblin I had to order as 2 orders , as they cant combine gift card in the UK can in the USA (what) any way both post same time both showed shipped but one came the next day the other the day after ? when I asked them why I got told 24 hour delivery can take 48 hours ( what) I paid for 24 hour delivery on both as its a 12 cell set up and cant fly on one 6 cell
So enjoy it while they are getting it right it wont last lol, but I still use them but not for any thing I need next day

 

[Altsickeness]

Where do you more expereinced guys do most of your shopping?

 

[WLDOR]

hobbyking.

 

[holtneil]

Hi that depends on where you live I am in the Uk so I use
Hobby King , Proflight uk, Align-trex.co.uk, Ebay

 

[Altsickeness]

Well the love affair is over. My order, for the quantum receiver kit dropped in price: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=84883
I paid 79.99 4 days ago so I thought, great I will get a rebate to buy more stuff by utilizing HobbyKing's 7 day rebate policy where if you find a price that is lower within 7 days they will credit you back the amount in points to be used later. I was thinking Id get $13.12 in points so I contacted them. Apparently, the competitive rebate policy does not cover their own store.

I still like the store and I got two more items delivered today, but my love has faded.

 

[WLDOR]

Well the love affair is over.

Lol!

(Sat here, quietly "celebrating" the 1 month anniversary of my first ever orders with Banggood. It would be nice if the deliveries might actually have made it here to appreciate and participate in the festivities, but alas, they are still 'en route'.

Apparently.

I hope.)

 

[holtneil]

Cancel the order and re order at the lower price

 

[Altsickeness]

Cancel the order and re order at the lower price

That's just it, while I sing their praises in my OP for quick shipping, I already got my stuff. So I'm out of luck.

 

[Altsickeness]

Lol!

(Sat here, quietly "celebrating" the 1 month anniversary of my first ever orders with Banggood. It would be nice if the deliveries might actually have made it here to appreciate and participate in the festivities, but alas, they are still 'en route'.

Apparently.

I hope.)

Banggood... offered me a vtx again. I found out today that my quadcopter after taking a nap for a Couple weeks in SHENZHEN, CHINA it finally processed through Chicago on March 14th, with an expected delivery on March 19th... but it disappeared for awhile and took a trip south to Hazelwood, MO before it finally turned north this morning headed for St. Paul, MN. I might see it by Saturday.

That's not really banggood's fault though.

Did you try running the tracking number through Track17 or even USPS or whatever your postal service is? I found my quad on USPS, called them after Saturday and the lady said it might be stuck in customs. The tracking shows they just sent it to the wrong place.

 

[Zentg]

Banggood... offered me a vtx again. I found out today that my quadcopter after taking a nap for a Couple weeks in SHENZHEN, CHINA it finally processed through Chicago on March 14th, with an expected delivery on March 19th... but it disappeared for awhile and took a trip south to Hazelwood, MO before it finally turned north this morning headed for St. Paul, MN. I might see it by Saturday.

That's not really banggood's fault though.

Did you try running the tracking number through Track17 or even USPS or whatever your postal service is? I found my quad on USPS, called them after Saturday and the lady said it might be stuck in customs. The tracking shows they just sent it to the wrong place.

yeah lesson learned, when i ordered from their usa warehouse it came in like 6 days but when i get my falcon i will definitely pay the extra 11 bucks for expedited shipping!

i try to not fall in love or get attached to anything in life these days, cus after all these years i have learned that anything in life can turn around and make you miserable within a blink of an eye.

 

[holtneil]

Well thats Sods law It happens to me a lot the flight packs for the Goblin cost me £100 a time 2 day after I got them Hobby king had a sale on and they were down to less than £50