Quote from: Propfella on June 29, 2012, 04:19:21 PM
Try checking prices but don't log on. then log on and check prices again. You should see a difference if your account is tagged as Platinum.

If you don't see any price difference go to live help and ask them why you aren't getting the right prices. Be polite to them and you will probably find it's fixed really quickly.

It sounds like the computer has decided you're now platinum but another part hasn't switched you over.

I tried that stu, but i dont find any difference in pricing

Quote from: Propfella on June 29, 2012, 04:19:21 PM
Tell me, how do you pay for your orders, Paypal? I know there were big problems with India's Paypal but things are much better now. I use it for paying everyone, on-line memberships, Rapidshare and all Ebay and HK orders.
Let me know if you can't get your platinum account working.
Stu

I pay using either credit card or paypal

Hi sushil_anand,

That's great news, I just heard some time ago there were problems but HK didn't elaborate. I was just cleaning out my email in box and deleted 200 Paypal receipts. I never realised I spent that much money. I'm glad my wife didn't see it. Have you contacted Customer Service about being Platinum?

A personal question if you don't mind. I have problems with what to call you guys. You're listed as sushil_anand. What  should I refer to you as, sushil or sushil_anand. The English have what we call your Christian or first name, mine is Stuart or Stu for short. Then we have our Surname, family name or last name. It's considered bad to call anyone by just their last name like Smith but Mr. Smith is formal. We always use our first names socially, among friends. Also I notice you use no capital letters. All names in English are spelt always with a leading capital as in Stu. To refer to someone in writing as stu is just bad English or sometimes used as an insult. I never know what to use. Obviously I don't wish to insult anyone so what do people prefer?

I notice nobody uses Net IDs. Mine is Propfella, how come People from India don't use them? Very few people use their full name as an ID due to privacy reasons. If I used my full name people could find my phone number in seconds and my address. Just a few things which worry me, the last thing I want to do is upset anyone. Oh! one last thing, it's an Aussie term to call a friend "mate" it's like pal, buddy etc. Is that OK to use?

Thanks mate, best wishes  Stu 

Hi sushil_anand,

OK, your next step will be contact Live Help. Just ask them why you are listed as a Platinum member but can't get the Platinum prices. They will understand.

Stu

I thought I might be able to hurry them up but due to privacy laws it seems I can't ask questions about your account

Stu

Hi Stu,

Let me try to answer few of your queries

Quotewhat do people prefer?

We also use first name among friends.

QuoteI notice nobody uses Net IDs.

Net IDs is personal choice, some use it, some dont.
Although, I agree, it is a good idea to use it for privacy reasons

QuoteIs that OK to use?

mate, pal, buddy is absolutely fine

Ditto.

Good on you mate, you've put me straight on most things. I'm still a bit confused about the actual names. I notice yours has an underscore _ between your names. Is it one name or two. raja_mastana and sushil_anand as examples would I be correct to call you Raja and Sushil. I get the impression you are easy going young guys who don't really care what you're called as long as it's not late for breakfast (a joke) but generally would anyone be likely to be offended by doing this. I wouldn't do it to someone I just met but people like RCPilotAcro I call Gusty because I have known him for a while and he told me to call him Gusty.

It's hard to explain but as a stranger to your country the last thing I want to do is have people thinking I'm bad mannered or offensive. I think respect in India is used more so than in Australia. We tend to call our best friends some pretty bad names most of which would have me thrown off the forum but it's known as a term of endearment. We really like each other but we use rude abusive names to each other. A simple change of tone can get you a black eye. It's something you probably don't understand but that's Aussies for you. A weird mob someone once called us. The silly thing is, they were right.

Obviously I can't use our Aussie ways here. I'd hate to be responsible for an International dispute  We also have a strange habit of giving people Nick Names. A short person is called Lofty or a tall person is called Shorty. A red headed person would be called Blue. Somebody who says he's going to do something continually is called Gunner, because he's Gunner buy a new car or he's gunner get a new job, he's always Gunner do something and never does. A person who believes his football team is the best ever when it's not is called a One Eyed Supporter. We certainly are a weird mob.

Now I've totally confused you I'll shoot through (leave)  All the best  Stu

Quote from: Propfella on June 30, 2012, 06:17:37 PM
I think respect in India is used more so than in Australia.

I agree to that.

I usually call people after guessing thier age and their experience in RC, and give more value to their age. But I personally feel it's OK to call someone +/- 8-10 years by the first name. But I think you can call anyone by their first name in the forum, and most don't mind.

Vineet

Hey Guys,

lately i have realized how to use buddy codes correctly and effectively to save money.

Couple of days back i tried to buy PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors, for which i was trying to find out buddy code link for it. But i was unable to find it, i thought that they (connectors) are no longer applicable for buddy codes, but then here on RCI i get to see user sharing buddy codes for the same i dont understand how they are able to get links but i am not..

I asked HK CS about it, but all he has to say was "ITS ONLY FOR NEW CUSTOMERS"

Also i have read on RCG that there is a image/text which lets you know that buddy code is applicable for this product, can anyone suggest couple of products (with links) where i can just check what am i missing, cause i haven't seen any image or text on any products so far..

Can anyone put some lights on this please???

If you have already used buddy code when purchasing a product, you will not get buddy code icon in your order. So when purchasing the 3.5mm connectors did you use a buddy code?

No idea about the your second question - even i would like to know if a product is applicable for buddy code by looking at the listing

What actually i want is, to be able to share buddy code links like others.. I was just trying with this product as i have seen lots of peoples sharing buddy code links for "Polymax 3.5mm connectors", but i was not able to find one.  I got to read from RCG that if one can see image like this on a product description page then buddycode is applicable on that product.


But i was not able to see this image while purchasing.. And yes i was logged in while purchasing...

Today, i recieved my parcel from hobbyking, but it was in very bad condition.
Bag was torn,all air bags were already burst. Prop adapter for 9*4.7 prop was missing(hopefully i dont use it).Luckily there were no delicate parts except propellers and they were all safe.

I know that somebody from hobbyking must be visiting such threads on all RC forums worldwide..

So dears HK, please improve your packing.

Post this in forum as well. I dont know why they dont improve packing.
Most of the parcels i receive are also crushed in the corners.

Those that come via Swiss post are worst!

the more responsible for this is indian postal service, as they need to cut the parcels sometime to see the content of it, but the package quality is also not so good of HK now a days. this cost saving makes customers suffer.

Quote from: raja_mastana on July 13, 2012, 09:28:20 PM
Those that come via Swiss post are worst!

I feel it's exactly the opposite. Those that arrived in swiss post were in pristine condition in my case..

mates anyone kindly help my package is stuck in mumbai custom i ordered it from china through EMS... but seller forgot to put invoice copy i guess or it might be inside package... Its been 7 days today i went to speed post EMS local office in my city they told me ""Retention reason : Awaiting proof of purchase/value from addressee""  i ask them if i can provide copy of invoice to them but they said they cannot help me with this.. i am not from mumbai, I tried calling custom ems numbers of mumbai but no one answered.. Please anyone any suggestion? Your comments are highly appreciated..
Whosoever had any past experience kindly put your thoughts what should i do, its almost impossible for me to visit mumbai and handover invoice copy to them.. I am very much worried about my parcel..

Kindly suggest mates.. !!!!!!!

Please guys, don't post here on a million to one chance someone from HK may read it. I can assure you they don't read these pages. Your best bet is to contact either Customer Service Live or leave a request if Live isn't on-line. They will ask you to send a photo (as you have done here) and if you just follow their requests, be polite then sit back and hope something happens.

I know many people get no replies but many do and get whatever is missing from their order. A few of my friends have done exactly what I just said and they received the lost goods within a few weeks. Those are the ones you never hear about. You only hear from the irate ones and unfortunately I know for a fact irate and abusive complaints tend to fall off someone's desk.

I must add that a number of complaints you hear about are manufactured by small hobbyshop owners in an attempt to give HK a worse name than it has. I agree their customer service was the worst but it has improved dramatically this year. I had a problem only yesterday with their order section deciding to default to the most expensive freight option available. It usually defaults to the one I use and I should have checked but didn't.

I contacted live help and told the girl I wanted the $29 freight and not the $43 one. She argued that I couldn't have the cheaper one and of course I tried to explain I always used that method. It went on for 10 minutes then she said "You can't have the $29 option because there is only a $29.45 one there" I then had to spend 5 minutes explaining that was the one I meant. I didn't say $29.45 because I abbreviated it to type it quicker and anyway I couldn't remember the 45 cents. Finally it was cleared up. I got my refund and the correct freight option. I blame myself for not being as precise as she wanted. So the lesson was, be exact, absolutely exact.

I think if I had abused here or got upset she would have disconnected. So as I said, Be polite and patient. They think a little differently and are tught there is no abbreviations, it's exact or nothing. Avoid local slang or words they may not understand. Be careful with your spelling and never ever use the word pavement. I don't know why but if you say "fall on the pavement" or "hit the pavement" etc it is the greatest insult to anyone Chinese. I asked a Chinese guy what it meant but he couldn't explain it in English. If anyone needs help with contacting customer help I will be happy to assist.

That' not good at all. My advice would be to leave it another week to see if it gets sorted out. I've occasionally had problems with wayward parcels, especially via Singapore or Swiss Post. I usually find the day I complain it turns up. (Murphy's Law)

If it still hasn't turned up contact Customer help on HobbyKing. Use the Live if you want quick help and have your order number ready to give them. It's the first thing they ask for. Explain the situation as clearly as you can. There's no need to tell them when you ordered it or what you ordered. Just tell them what you've said here. If the thought of having to type it all live then go to Customer help and leave a request. Youcan type that in your own time. Give as much Info as you think they need, be polite and try not to exaggerate. It takes a day or two to answer you and you can return and add anything you forgot or anything which has changed. You can also check to see if anything has happened such as "it's being looked at" etc.

Remember it's probably not HobbyKings fault, it would be the freight company 99% of the time but I have found twice HK reported my parcel as being sent only to find it was sent 3 days later. It could have been a glitch or even a new employee, but at least I get my parcel even though it's late. It shouldn't happen but it does and making a fuss tends to make the next parcel slow down, or maybe I imagine it does.

A few years ago I really gave Customer Service a real piece of my mind. I never swore at them but let them know how I felt. My next 4 or 5 orders took about a week longer to be packed. So I gave them another serve and it got slower. I didn't say any more and suddenly everything returned to normal. It should never have happened but then I should never have been abusive. Today I enjoy top service with an occasional minor hiccup.

I know this is stupid and can't see it happening but HobbyKing's advice regarding damaged parcels or even undamaged ones is:

You should open the parcel in front of the delivery man and check everything is there.

If there is damage to the parcel you should check nothing inside is damaged

If you aren't happy withe the parcel's condition refuse to accept it and don't sign for it.

I'm not sure about India's postal service but when I get a parcel delivered the delivery man or woman is gone within seconds of me signing for it.
There is absolutely no way any delivery person is going to wait while I open my parcel. If you try to stop him from leaving you can be arrested.

If I refuse delivery I stand a good chance of never seeing my order again in this decade.

I've received the same advice from a number of other dealers so it's the accepted thing but definitely not the done thing.

If the parcel was crushed and I knew there was a plane in it I would videotape the opening of it and show any damage to the delivery person if they did stay. If they refused I would send the video to HobbyKing and if they refused to help or played games instead of replacing it I would post it on UTube and send the link to HobbyKing.

A number of people who have been left with nothing after a major loss actually keep a video camera ready to tape the opening of all their parcels and go through them whilst recording. They never stop the camera and restart it so they can't be accused of editing it. They have a timer running on the recording for the same reason. A lot of trouble to go to but once caught twice shy I guess.

Until someone convinces HobbyKing and many other dealers that air bags are good but not on TOP of the order, the better. What use are twenty airbags covering everything in your order? It won't stop damage from being dropped. Just lately small items have been placed in one large plastic bag in the hope they will not migrate to the bottom of the box. So far I haven't received one that hasn't. The last thing I pull out of any box is what I ordered. Not the best but I do advise people to check even the smallest items for damage. Not that you can send them back for a refund if theyhappen to be 4 clevices or horns but if you tell HobbyKing about it and send them a photo they have been know to replace them for free with no return required.

Good luck when ordering, occasionally you may need it.

Regarding Buddy Codes. If you are a Platinum member go to the forums. A tab is on the top of the HK Opening page. In the forums you will see one called Buddy Codes. Inside you will see posts from people who have posted their codes for anyone to use. They must be no more than 14 days old to use.

Just click on the item you want and follow the instructions. When you make an order you will see on the list of what you ordered under "check my order" a line of Blue people. I always open another page and start an entry in the Buddy code forum. Copy and paste the description of the item with a blue icon and paste it in the Buddy list you are making. Then click on the icon and a code will appear, copy and paste that alongside your items description. Then continue until all the blue icon items are entered. And submit that post.

If someone actually orders from that code not only do they get a discount on the item but so do you. So if you paste 2 items in the Buddy Forum and 10 people buy those items using your code you end up with 20 lots of discounts. Actually a refund which is added to your credit account. You can't claim that money as cash but you can spend it on even more items. Last year I entered about 10 items in the Buddy forum and made about $40.00 on it.  Obviously the smaller items are only worth a few cents but the more expensive ones can really add up to a nice amount.

Remember that when posting Buddy Codes anywhere the original cost of the item can't be mentioned in the listing. When you enter a listing in the Buddy forum try to mention the major items in the list heading. This will attract more users. Don't try to rort the system. Just about every trick in the book has been used and if a new one is discovered the user is banned for life and the system is closed until the IT boys fix the loophole. Don't post the buddy Codes in any other forum, they get really upset about that. Tell your mates about it being there but I advise against trying to set up a Buddy Code forum of your own.

Good luck Buddy.

Hi sushil_anand,

How did you get along with being recognized as a platinum member. I had a chat with a friend about it and he said he would investigate but I've heard nothing more.

Stu

@kabeer,

Once it happened with my parcel, I  just sent a formal letter with all references along with invoice copy dowloaded from HK, photos of product, manual of major items and with a request that its for my personal hobby and that it should be cleared with any dues.

The parcel came back after three weeks without dues and customs free. Try

item stuck in customs:

ITEM n° EA139781402HK   new search
Local Date and Time   Country   Location   Event Type   Extra Information
7/6/2012 8:12:00 PM   HONG KONG   KLN/SPT   Receive item from customer (Otb)   
7/6/2012 8:42:00 PM   HONG KONG   HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE   Insert item into bag (Otb)   
7/7/2012 8:15:00 PM   HONG KONG   HONG KONG AIR MAIL CENTRE   Send item abroad (EDI-received)   
7/9/2012 10:32:00 AM   INDIA   DELHI, EMS SPEED POST CENTRE   Receive item at office of exchange (Inb)   
7/9/2012 3:50:00 PM   INDIA   DELHI, EMS SPEED POST CENTRE   Send item to customs (Inb)   
7/11/2012 10:46:00 AM   INDIA   MUMBAI EMS   Send item to customs (Inb)   
7/11/2012 10:46:00 AM   INDIA   MUMBAI EMS   Return item from customs (Inb)   
7/11/2012 10:49:00 AM   INDIA   MUMBAI EMS   Record item customs information (Inb)   
Retention reason : Awaiting proof of purchase/value from addressee


mailed the invoice, called them but no response! any idea what should i do?

Some info here
http://www.rcindia.org/wiki/What_are_important_issues_to_consider_while_ordering_from_international_stores_like_HobbyKing_%28customs_costs/issues_etc%29_%3F

Quote from: Propfella on July 15, 2012, 08:04:19 AM
Regarding Buddy Codes.....

I get this point buddy but the thing is i am not able to get those "blue line of people icon" now there might be a thing that the products that i am buying, buddy codes/price is not applicable for them. But then i always cross check the products whose buddy codes are shared by other members like "Polymax 3.5 gold connectors"

But still i am not able to get that blue icon i did had a word with hk customer care this is what they had to say "ITS ONLY FOR NEW CUSTOMERS" any idea what does this mean??