HK Apparition 2

[Old School]

I just received this boat in this morning's post and alas am not a very happy customer. The clearcoat applied to the boat is very blotchy with cloudy matte surfaces amongst the high gloss finish. The hull has numerous scratches in the clearcoat. The scratches look to have been done after the clearcoating was applied. The boat also was covered in finger print grease smudges indicating the boat has received a lot of handling post construction. Previously received HK boats have not had fingerprint smudges in the clearcoat as any handling smudges/grease were removed prior shipment.

To add insult to injury the right hand propshaft (reverse rotation) is severely bent and when hand rotated the spinner tip tracks a circle about 1/4" diameter. I have raised a claim with the store and hope to get this cleared up quickly as it was intended as a gift for my son. The purchase has left me feeling quite sick in the stomach as online reports show the site is very slow in processing claims. I received two painted "bare" hulls in the same purchase and they were perfect.

I have my suspicions that the boat was a previous customer return that has found its way back onsale. I assume the driveshaft is a two piece shaft and would need a one-piece reverse rotation replacement shaft with hopefully no damage to the stinger.

As regards the cosmetic damage to the hull, I think that either a full repaint is needed or the scratches will need to be ignored and the hull lightly sanded and a further clearcoat added. This is obviously a last resort as I am hoping for a replacement boat to the same excellent standard as other HK boats received.

[rol243]

Thats no good. Hobby king are pretty good with returns so take a couple of pics of the damaged areas and submit a warranty claim with them and no doubt you will receive another boat free of charge.

[Old School]

HK have issued a return authorisation number so will ship the item back today and hope that my opinion of the poor quality of the boat is in accordance with their appraisal. I purchased the boat as they were offering free shipping. Now it is going to cost me more to return the boat than I saved in shipping costs in the first instance. Fingers crossed for a replacement boat that is in the condition a new boat should be, not a previous customer's return.

[rol243]

my son bought an r/c plane some time ago and it was damaged when he received it, h/k shipped out another plane free of charge so he ended up with a spare model.

[Old School]

HK want the boat returned so will cost me $33.00 (I am just three hours drive from their wharehouse) for signature on delivery postage. I will have tracking so will follow the package to their door and the signature will verify receipt. The store says to use the cheapest shipping method available as postage may not be refunded.

What looked like a good deal with free shipping has turned into a bit of a nightmare.

Edit: on looking up the specs on the boat I was surprised that the motors supplied (HK describe as 380 style 2881kv brushless motors) are actually a 4-pole TFL SSS 2961 1300 watt 20 volt (maximum) motor. These retail online for upwards of $50.00 usd each with attached water jacket. The shafts are also counter rotating with the right propellor a reverse rotation.

[rol243]

looks like your a winner anyway thanks to those better motors etc. hey 3 hours drive and return = some petrol. i think i would be going for the $33 postage.

[Old School]

Thirty year ago I used to regularly travel the highway down to Moruya (the golf club had a great 19th hole), Best time for the plus 300 klms was 2 hr 50 mins, including city traffic. Then the government placed a blanket 100 k speed limit and the thrill was gone. The little Mini 1100K and the Cooper "S" knew the way blindfolded and loved the curves through the national forests. A lot older now but still remember the drives down south.

[rol243]

yes driving was a pleasure years back but now its a nightmare. also owned a quick cooper s kitted out to 1310 plus dual webers., ex race engine from Lakeside Raceway Days.

[Old School]

Mine was an original Mk1 with the large valves. The Mk2 had smaller valves due the Mk1 burning out valve seats, cracking the head between the valves. The fix back then was to replace with a 998 Cooper head that had been modified with the additional head studs that the Cooper "S" had. Was a great little car that gave a lot of gas guzzling V8's a run for their money, particularly through the curves. They would overtake me on the passing lanes but I was always there at the end of the straights and would pass them as they slowed down for the curves. They tried to keep up in the curves but gave up usually after the first corner.

[Peter A]

What looked like a good deal with free shipping has turned into a bit of a nightmare.

Ha I know some pain like this. At the beginning of this month I purchased an Osprey and a HK YEP HV 180 ESC, they were both on special and free shipping on the ESC. I did separate purchases to deliberately be under the $400 NZ limits to avoid customs duties/taxes. HK send with Seko Logistics. Three days to get to NZ from Oz, 17 days to get from Auckland to me, about 2 1/2 hours drive. They also combined the two package values and it cost me another $183 so there was the savings gone! It took them 4 days to contact me, 6 days to send me the customs invoice, and another four days to put it on the delivery courier, which when it was loaded locally for delivery, took 5 1/2 hours to bring it 15 mins drive. Freight companies! No care for customer service what so ever. Yeah I know it is a busy time of year but......At least I have it now.
In comparison, I ordered some parts from OSE Monday night (Sunday in the US), they shipped the next morning so I expect to see them mid next week, usually 8-10 days and the tracking works! OSE is by far the best place to buy stuff from for service and delivery.

[martin]

Peter what do you think of the Osprey & build quality also does the Leopard 4074 motor that comes in the boat have the vented end caps with the wires coming out of the end gap. Rather than the earlier Ospreys that had the Leopard car motor fitted with the solid end caps & wire coming out of the side of the can. I did hear that the water jacket is now a metal jacket rather than the horrible silicon jacket they used to come with, can you confirm that they now come with the metal jacket.

[Old School]

Peter what do you think of the Osprey & build quality also does the Leopard 4074 motor that comes in the boat have the vented end caps with the wires coming out of the end gap. Rather than the earlier Ospreys that had the Leopard car motor fitted with the solid end caps & wire coming out of the side of the can. I did hear that the water jacket is now a metal jacket rather than the horrible silicon jacket they used to come with, can you confirm that they now come with the metal jacket.

I also recently purchased an Osprey and the motor has vented end caps with the wires exiting the end cap. The water jacket is a clear anodised alloy cover. The build quality to me is fine, although I will still apply a reinforcing inlay. My two criticisms are that the applied stickers are useless and will simply peel off and secondly the battery trays seem to be just hot glued/superglued in position and a small force will easily dislodge them.

I feel that they represent excellent value plus at present they are $100.00 cheaper than I paid plus free shipping from a local wharehouse.

[Old School]

Peter,
I also feel your pain. At least until the senate decides otherwise, we have the $1000.00 GST free limit. Today, the wharehouse is scheduled to receive my returned boat and hopefully decide on a replacement. With the current discounted price, free shipping and the quality (?) 2961 4-pole SSS brushless motors I feel that the Apparition is great value, so am hoping on a new replacement. I have seen videos of these on 4s (2881kv motors) and they do get up and fly.

[martin]

A question to both Old School & Peter re any hook in the hull bottoms that you have, are the bottoms fairly flat with a straight edge at the rear of the hulls bottom or is their any hollows.

[Old School]

I reported in another thread that one side of the hull has an approximate 0.5 - 1.00mm depression just forward of the transom.

[Peter A]

Hi Martin
A couple of pics to answer your questions.

20171129_165658.jpg20171129_165427.jpg

I gave the bottom of the hull a push and the battery trays began to pop off. It is no problem for me as I will strip out the inside and refit it out to suit what I want. The 4074 motor and it's mount will find a new home in my Whip 20. I have a OSE quick change mount coming and will be fitting a TP 4060 580kv motor running on 10S-12S. The aim of this boat for me is to run it as an endurance boat, so current draws of around 40-45 amps and a speed of 65-70kph are the goal for 20 min plus runs on 20000 mah batteries. The hook in the bottom I will push out and hold with strongbacks and double sided tape when I do an inlay.

[Old School]

The package has been returned to the wharehouse with signature on delivery to confirm receipt of goods. Tracking shows it as delivered this morning. Now just awaiting the outcome.

[Old School]

A week later after a visit to livechat early this morning to advise no action had been taken as yet, I received a phonecall advising that in all likelyhood the store would refund rather than replace the boat. It seems the hazing, cloudy appearance in the clearcoat is a result of interaction with the protective plastic packaging. The store person could not explain how the scratching damage and the multitude of handprints that were on the hull, or the bent shaft.

He had intended a replacement boat but it seems all their stock is similarly affected with the cloudy blotchy appearance in the clearcoating. My son was really wanting the craft so will be disappointed. I now await the final decision to refund me and wonder how long that will take.

[rol243]

maybe ask for a good discount then if you get this boat you just re paint it. remember its only cosmetic damage.

[Old School]

It would involve a fair amount of repair in getting rid of the scratches. The storesperson did say that he had success polishing the hazing with a gelcoat polish. A pity that I will not be getting the boat as it seems at the discounted price it was worth it just for the motors. It is now at full ret6ail so $100.00 more than I paid. The bent shaft was not an issue as the first mod would have been one piece flexshafts.

[Old School]

I have a response from HK warranty centre New York. They have approved a refund but due currency conversions and refusal to refund in store credit the return postage until I submit a receipt for the $32.95 Aud in return postage costs to the Australian wharehouse, I will be rather considerably out of pocket financially. The warranty refund to my PayPal account will take at least seven days and by the time PayPal clears the payment to my account it will be after Christmas before I can access the refund to get my son a Christmas present.

HK have done themselves no favours with this purchase and have certainly not fostered a desire in me to return to the store. Until now I have been quite a loyal customer. I had hoped the troubles one reads about online were ancient history but it seems the store has not learned how to deal amicably with customers when it is their fault. My purchase was a damaged product and a simple inspection instore would have saved me both money and aggravation.

[Bp9145]

That's just not right. I just recemtly had a bad experience with them. My son placed an order and told me about it but he ordered the kit instead of the RTR version and I called back 20min later and told them to cancel my order. They said it was too late because the order was already sent to the warehouse but they will try. Really, 20min and it was too late! ! ?? !@*$. Ok, so it was too late then why did it take 3 days before it even left their warehouse? The order didn't even ship until 4 days later. So I ordered the right version and even more stuff. So I was thinking of returning the kit but now after hearing your story, it looks like I'm stuck with it because then they will hit me with the $42 return shipping cost. .I've also had a pretty good experience with them until now. I can't believe they couldn't cancel my order after 20mins of ordering it. I told them I wasn't cancelling the purchase but only changing the items and they couldn't make it happen. I think they just don't care since they know people will always buy from them. Very disappointed with them this time around.

[Old School]

I have purchased five complete boats and two bare hulls plus three Turnigy ESC plus servos and batteries and until this purchase I was more than pleased. You can only tell how good customer service is when it is them refunding you money. The store has failed me. I could eventually get a store credit for the postage but it would take months of waiting plus I would have to send the post office receipt to Hong Kong so further expense on my part. The return package had the post office label on it and it showed what I paid plus the additional $2.95 for the signed on delivery to ensure they could not come back at me and claim they had not received it.

Edit: I have had a win of sorts. A complaint session on live chat and an email to the States and surprise, the refund has come through and has been cleared in my PayPal account. I can now put this sorry episode behind me.

[rol243]

well atleast they are refunding your postage , many companies specify in any returns the buyer is to pay for postage at his expense. so its just $32.95 thats all ? can,t even buy a box of beer for that. just take a pic of your post receipt and email it to them.

[Old School]

The store wants the original receipt before they will start processing any claim for a postage refund.

[Bp9145]

of course they do in hopes you don't have it or can't provide it somehow. . .another hurdle, hopefully only one

[rol243]

i made a claim some years ago with hobby king and they just asked for a pic of receipt and email is to them. why are you talking to u.s. hobby king store ? did you buy this hull in australia ?

[Old School]

The warranty emails are coming from New York. Several days ago the local (Australian) store rang me and told me they were just a wharehouse only and could not make business decisions, such as warranty claim settlement. All claims must go through head office. I presume the live chat person is in Hong Kong and that assistant told me this morning to send the receipt to them.

[Old School]

Well I know now that there is a Santa Claus. Out of the blue HK processed a store credit for the postage costs plus added an additional $10.00 in credit to spend. Tony, the warranty manager in New York was very helpful and has restored my loyalty to the store with his gracious attitude. I thank him and his staff for this positive outcome.

[rol243]

i thought all would work out fine in the long or should i say short run.