Long term project 51" mono proposal

[Old School]

It is now four weeks since purchase and apart from an initial email requesting confirmation of my home phone number, the company is mysteriously quiet. There was the week or so of Chinese New Year just days after the purchase was made so this possibly has contributed, however, if a site says an item is instock then a production delay caused by the New Year period should not cause an issue.

The three associated eBay stores are still listing items which I know are not instock, as does the parent company, Toucan Hobby. When one looks at their inventory it makes one think they are the new Hobbyking rival, but alas, the stock seems to be nothing more than imaginary book keeping,

I will give them another two or three weeks and then start PayPal buyer protection action. It is now five months since the initial eBay purchase and embarking on this doomed adventure and still no hull. This project is dead in the water.

[rol243]

what is this ebay sellers Feedback like ? what percentage ?

[srislash]

Hey there OldSchool, I had notification from Hobbyking on March 1st of my shipment leaving from post holiday so hopefully yours is similar. Keep us in the loop.

[Old School]

The purchase was from the main Toucan Hobby website which is affiliated with all three eBay stores. Like their eBay stores the main website lists hundreds of item, with ten of each item shown as instock. When an order is placed they then dropship from the manufacturer/supplier. If the manufacturer is not tooled up to supply then delays occur.

As with the eBay store I dealt with, they will only tell me the "bad news" after I request information on the progress of the sale. I will give them a further two weeks and then request information. Then PayPal action. All three eBay stores are still showing the items as available on their eBay listings, even though there is no stock.

[Old School]

Now a week later and still no response from the website. I have requested shipping details and have as yet not received a response. I find it incredible that a website and its three associated eBay stores still list the item as instock and yet it is obviously not available. when I purchased the item five weeks ago the website was showing ten items instock and my purchase dropped the number available to nine. This initially convinced me that maybe they did actually have stock but I am now convinced that the site does not have any stock and props up the stock available to make potential purchasers believe the site is far bigger than it actually is.

Personally if one was considering purchasing a hull from these people or their eBay stores then consider that I have been stuffed around now for almost six months and nothing but grief to show.

Edit: not a good sign, the original eBay store that I purchased the hull from last year "bingishere4u" no longer lists DT boats on his store site. Also the eBay store for Toucan Hobby ("toucanhobby") no longer shows boats available on their eBay store site, even though they still show ten instock for the full range of DT boats on their main website.

Thus two associated eBay stores with Toucan Hobby have dropped any reference to DT boats on eBay. The third associated eBay store "ceramic_lady" still lists some DT boats available. The owner of this site actually emailed me about my recent purchase five weeks ago from Toucan Hobby requesting my phone number for the shipping information when they shipped my hull. If this person is not associated with Toucan Hobby then why would she email me using the Toucan Hobby email address?

However, a fourth eBay store, seemingly associated with Toucan Hobby as their item description clones that of the Toucan Hobby website item description lists some boats available. This store is "color-never-fade". Personally, I would avoid all stores and the website like the plague given the treatment that I have received. Since late last year I have paid for two hulls and yet have received nothing in nearly six months. I was refunded for the first purchase only after eBay dispute resolution intervention action. That seller falsely supplied an invalid tracking number and only after two months waiting was I finally told that a hull was not available. It was this tracking number last year that convinced me my hull was on its way to me and I outlayed over $1000.00 on motors, ESC, drives, props, etc., all to no avail as no hull is coming.

I can see PayPal buyer protection intervention in a week or so if no response to my latest email requesting shipping information on the last hull purchased.

[rol243]

Thats really bad from this or those ebay sellers , i must say if i was in your shoes i would be extremely frustrated with this seller and would be doing whatever to either receive my item or get my money back now . you should get the ball rolling now with a complaint to ebay as well as a paypal claim as 6 months is just a no no. name and shame this rip off mob so no one else gets trapped . time is up. good luck .

[Old School]

My recent purchase was with Toucan Hobby through their website. When you look at their website it makes you think they are a major competitor with Hobbyking, given the number of items listed. I believe now the instock items are just imaginary. The company is just two or three people operating out of a wharehouse and definitely not a company Hobbyking needs to be concerned with.

The company specialises in RC aircraft, 1/16 scale tank metal replacement parts and metal parts for model RC trucks and has been supplying these parts for some years I believe given the Google search returns. Feedback on their affiliated eBay store sites show that they do actually supply these parts so they do have access to stock. The DT boats seem to be a different matter. After the fiasco with the first eBay store purchase of a boat hull I eBay messaged "ceramic_lady" as she had several hulls listed enquiring as to whether the hulls listed as available were actually instock. she failed to reply and yet only several days previously I enquired as to the colour of a hull she had listed (there was a discrepancy between the images shown and the item description on the listing) and she responded immediately.

I have read up on the PayPal buyer protection policy and it is at PayPal's discretion whether they actually pay out or not. All the seller has to do is supply a tracking number. Given that the first seller (seemingly associated with the main store website) supplied me with an invalid tracking number, I am not hopeful of getting my money back after I initiate a dispute. I have over $1000.00 of purchased parts specifically to go in this 51" hull, so am inclined to give the store more time to sort out their supply problem. I would like some assurance though with being able to communicate with the company and not simply being ignored.

I have not found another source to supply this hull as the Toucan Hobby website and its associated eBay stores seem to be the only potential suppliers.

[Old School]

.........................................you should get the ball rolling now with a complaint to ebay as well as a paypal claim as 6 months is just a no no. name and shame this rip off mob so no one else gets trapped . time is up. good luck .

I am not implying that the main store website or the associated eBay stores are trying to rip any one off. What they are doing is list items instock which in reality are most likely just imaginary. This way they can sell items without actually having to prepurchase the item and when a buyer purchases the item they then obtain the item from the supplier/manufacturer. All is fine if the item is available from the manufacturer. Many U.S. companies trade this way with drop shipping.

They do not intentionally with hold the goods purchased nor intend to deceive but given my frustration for almost six months now I advise anyone considering the purchase of a DT boat hull or completed boat to be content that they may be in for a very frustrating rough ride with no guarantee they will actually get anything for their money.

[rol243]

Don,t you think 6 months waiting is abit over the top ? thats not good ebay service atall.

[Old School]

Don,t you think 6 months waiting is abit over the top ? thats not good ebay service atall.

My initial hull purchase was from eBay seller "bingishere4u". Immediately after purchase he showed the item as shipped and supplied a tracking number. Alas, the tracking number proved to be "false" and any attempt at tracking the goods returned that the tracking number could not be found. Two months later I messaged the seller and he finally admitted the goods were unavailable (stated the item was returned from the post office as damaged) and that he was awaiting a "replacement" hull. Subsequent eBay dispute resolution process and he willingly refunded me the money. That was almost three months wasted. Not long after, with no reply from the other eBay stores mentioned as regards actually having the hulls instock, I went to the main store website "Toucan Hobby" and with the site showing ten instock I purchased another hull.

just days later I received an email from Toucan Hobby requesting confirmation of my home phone number details for the shipping notice. This encouraged me into believing a hull was being shipped to me. Coincidentally the email from Toucan Hobby was from the same person that runs the eBay store "ceramic_lady". This confirmed my suspicion that the website and the four eBay stores are all the same. Now five weeks later I am awaiting a response to an email sent confirming shipping details on the hull and have been met with a wall of silence.


Edit: until just the last several days, "bingishere4u" (eBay store) had listed continuously over sixty DT boats on Australian eBay for the last six months or so. Suddenly all listings for the boats have vanished. Now there are just a few DT boats listed by another store, who coincidentally uses the same wording in the item description (word for word) as Toucan Hobby on its website and on the other three eBay stores previously shown.

[Old School]

Enough is enough. Twice now I have emailed the Toucan Hobby website requesting shipping info only to be ignored. I have opened a dispute with PayPal. I may or may not get my money back but fingers crossed, but more importantly I would rather the hull that I believed that I was purchasing.

[Peter A]

Seriously do you not think that it was bad idea to go this way a second time? There are other hulls and manufacturers, good ones out there. It would have cost you less money and time to get a hull from a reputable supplier. Like everyone else does!

[Old School]

........There are other hulls and manufacturers, good ones out there. It would have cost you less money and time to get a hull from a reputable supplier. Like everyone else does!

Peter,
perhaps you could advise a supplier of suitable hulls available for shipping to Australia, please. As regards purchasing from Toucan Hobby, the site shows a multitude of items and states that they have stock instore. Prior purchasing I had no reason to suspect that the site may have "exaggerated" the stock level in the store inventory. The website's apparently affiliated eBay stores have reasonable feedback levels and the few negatives that are shown do not reflect that they so not supply items purchased.

[Peter A]

Did you do a google search for manufacturers in Aussie? There is Viper Hulls and Sonic Racing, an email to the likes of Aeromarine, or try AB Marine here in NZ.

[Old School]

Peter,
Many thanks, the 55 inch Viper Fountain offshore boat looks nice.