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General Hobby - Beware

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  • General Hobby - Beware

    I also have a scam alert. I'm sure almost everyone in this hobby has heard of general hobby in California. I wish I had been aware of this place before I ordered from them. I am a newbie in rc plane world, and I can tell you that it has not been a good experience so far. I placed an order with general hobby on 12/30/18 for f15 eagle 64mm rtf. Payed 2 day shipping. 3weeks 6 days later I received a T45 Goshawk in very poor condition. Obviously not a freewing product and no instructions. It is very cheaply made. Instead of the foreseen night mare of contacting them and sending it back and possibly end up worse than I am now, I kept it. I make an order with Motion RC for the F18 hornet pnp. 4 days plane shows up very nicely packed, in great condition and awesome. I will definitely be doing business with them from now on. STAY AWAY FROM GENERAL HOBBY AT ALL COST and look at Motion RC, they are great.

  • #2
    I've bought many planes from General Hobbies. I think my position is helped by me living in San Diego. I think they know if they piss me off, I'll just go up there and confront them personally. I haven't had to do this though. Not one of the best providers for sure. But some times they have fire sales and I just can't resist. Most of the times I have been pleased. But I ordered a grey Dynam T-28, and got a yellow one. Was pretty pissed about that one and haven't ordered anything since.

    Motion is certainly better in virtually every category, service, integrity, etc. If they have what you want they're the best by a large margin. The only thing I might want from them is a Dynam Blackwidow. But, I think I will order this from Greyson if the urge strikes. (Yes I know the Backwidow has issues, I can handle the issues).

    It's worth mentioning I've got some unblievable deals on some really nice planes from General Hobbies. But to be honest, it feels kinda like I'm rolling craps every time I order from them. Never know exactly what to expect. Also if they screwed up your order, or like you Axeman, you get the wrong thing. Then if you can manage to get them on the phone, they will usually make it as right as they can, if they can, and have the thing you want.

    There kind of like the, "Big Lots" of RC planes. They're not a SCAM origination in my books. Just one to be very careful with, and know there very inconsistent, and poorly organized.

    Woody

    Hey Axeman, ooh. I almost went for that Freewing F-15 my self. They probably ran out of them. I saw the flight video on the Freewing 64mm F-15. Pretty amazing actually. So I went to Motion to get one, and they were out of stock. So I decided to wait until they had them back in stock. So I was just about to pull the trigger & noticed the one they had back in stock wasn't the Freewing version, but an FMS version that looked almost exactly like the Freewing version in almost every way. Flight demo and flight reviews of the FMS didn't seem to be as good as the Freewing. I looked into this a bit, the Freewing one had more wing area. FYI. I'm still kinda looking for one of those. I like park flyers a lot, would have loved one of those.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Woodcock View Post
      There kind of like the, "Big Lots" of RC planes. They're not a SCAM origination in my books. Just one to be very careful with, and know there very inconsistent, and poorly organized.

      Woody
      I agree with your analogy Woody, they aren't a SCAM like what this thread was originated towards but they do have business practices that are reminiscent of the Banana and Nitroplanes days.
      Warbird Charlie
      HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190

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      • #4
        Ok maybe scam is a little harsh to say. What I have a problem with is first, the shipping charge. They give 2 options for 2 day shipping. Mine was 38 bucks. My plane was shipped with regular postage and took almost a month. As for the plane. The one I received is a cheap flimsy t45 Goshawk that I could have ordered directly from China for less than what I payed. I PAYED $233.00 for an f15 I never received. I personally will not buy from someone that does business this way. I am now going let it go, make the best of it and try to make the plane they sent flyable. Any recommendations on servos or transmitters.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Axeman View Post
          Ok maybe scam is a little harsh to say. What I have a problem with is first, the shipping charge. They give 2 options for 2 day shipping. Mine was 38 bucks. My plane was shipped with regular postage and took almost a month. As for the plane. The one I received is a cheap flimsy t45 Goshawk that I could have ordered directly from China for less than what I payed. I PAYED $233.00 for an f15 I never received. I personally will not buy from someone that does business this way. I am now going let it go, make the best of it and try to make the plane they sent flyable. Any recommendations on servos or transmitters.
          Don't let it go.......... you actually should focus your angst on making contact with them and holding them accountable versus your method being used here.
          Based on your first post (Instead of the foreseen night mare of contacting them) you gave them a pass because you were not up to dealing with the inconvenience.
          This is a great forum where you can get a lot of help on modeling and we welcome you but we can't help you with this, you have to help yourself. ;)
          Best regards,
          Warbird Charlie
          HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190

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          • #6
            Thank you for the insight and it is something to consider. Me being new to all this means that the entry level planes I have now are going to be somewhat testing the water so to speak. I have very little free time available to dedicate to this hobby. Now once I get the hang of flying without fear of crashing a beautiful model, then I will upgrade to the bigger 90mm and such. When that time comes Motion RC will get my business. Even if I contact them and go through the motions of trying to fix it. I still would not do business with them. I am glad that I found out who not to use.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Axeman View Post
              Thank you for the insight and it is something to consider. Me being new to all this means that the entry level planes I have now are going to be somewhat testing the water so to speak. I have very little free time available to dedicate to this hobby. Now once I get the hang of flying without fear of crashing a beautiful model, then I will upgrade to the bigger 90mm and such. When that time comes Motion RC will get my business. Even if I contact them and go through the motions of trying to fix it. I still would not do business with them. I am glad that I found out who not to use.
              Axelman, are ya open to a little feed back? Yes they're no fun to do business with, this is a fact. If your trying to call them and not getting an answer, they're not there very often mate, it's kind of a part time shop. I have always had to really work at getting a hold of them, seriously.

              So if ya do manage to get them on the phone, (Thick Chinese English Accent, pay close attention) tell them your problems with the service. Try to be polite, and professional. They will try to do almost anything, (Short of a Refund LOL) they can to resolve this in a manner acceptable. They might give you another plane, make you a really special deal on something you may want, (I've gotten some really crazy deals on really nice planes this way) you may come away smiling, you may not. Remember Crap Shoot.

              Charley is right though, raising Cain here isn't going to do a darn bit of good mate.

              Woody

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              • #8
                Thanks guys. Now I am going to try and get my p51 up tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Axeman View Post
                  Thanks guys. Now I am going to try and get my p51 up tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.
                  Break a leg man.

                  Woody

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                  • #10
                    Got a good deal on a discontinued plane I wanted, couldn't find it anywhere else. A Dynam Albatros DV. Shipped timely, no problems with the product. In my case, not a scam.
                    Twenty six tanks, and not done yet!

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                    • #11
                      Ordered a plane from General Hobby on January 3rd. Haven't received anything since. Tried to contact them through phone and email. Nothing, nada.

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                      • #12
                        I bought from General Hobby last year. NO problems. They had the Unique Models T-6 Texan I wanted at a sale price that made the shipping cost more acceptable. Yes, it took some time to get but it arrived in great shape. I may be lucky, but I buy what I want from whomever has it and don't pay attention to brand snobs. I have also bought planes from Motion, Grayson, Hobby King, Banana, Horizon, Ebay, and local stores... all with no problem. If I were sent the wrong plane, I would make sure they made it right. I am cautious so from what I read about quality issues at Banana, I bought the KIT version of the folding wing Corsair I really wanted and finish the build my way.

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                        • #13
                          Update: Wanted to work on a Dynam Grand Cruiser, General Hobby has them. I placed an order late at night... It shipped in less than 10 hours and arrived a week later (east coast) in perfect condition. I have been very happy with General Hobby despite the other bad reviews.

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