-On Dec. 1, 2008: Placed an order for a pre-order item that will be release in April 2009, paid in full via instant pp cash.
-On April 25, 2009, . emailed them to check up on order, they said it has not been released yet as it's still April.
-On May 5, contacted them again to see, said they need to check with their supplier.
-On May 10, never heard back so emailed them again. Said they don't have it, and don't know when or will ever get it. I asked for est. date or refund to buy somewhere else. They said it has not been released yet in the US.
-From May 10-late May, I called and went to several stores around me, they all have the items in stock or on shelves. Contacted Hobbygen.com again and told them that. They no longer response or give me an answer or refund. Email and called them many times.
-Now June 5, no response, no items at all. I even called in and left a message because no one picked up. Also left a message to their website.
So in short, they took the money, but never even place the order with their supplier or they never intend to have real items at all. When confronted by their lies, they stop responding.
Update: on June 11, after I filed a compliant with the NY Consumer Affair and fax all the paper works, I got an email saying item shipped. I waited for days and emailed to ask for shipping info. It has been a week and no item or shipping info. I paid over $18 for priority with tracking and such. They are now a thief and a liar. They even lied about shipping an item they never even have in hand.
AS of June 21, 2009, Never got the item, no response, fake shipping email.
NOTE: One person run both Moonko LLC and hobbygen.com. when I placed my order it was from website, then Paypal show the name and Moonko LLC as the receiver.
This was posted on 6/23/09, so all the above is the truth to this date. Hence they did not response then but only now which is nearly 5 months later.
Hobbygen did not response to to anything or offer any refund. On top of lying about item being shipped in June, then admitted they lied about that in Late July when pressed by the New york consumer affairs and me via email
I have both emails from them both the shipping notice in June and when they said that no item was shipped a month or so later.
On Late July, the NYCA finally able to contact them and with nothing to provide, they agreed to refund me. Only after they send the check to NYCA, they got it in Late July and contacted me to send it out to me.
This is now resolved as of 11/08/09.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
It is not really the whole story. The buyer already got full refund.
I read many poor reviews about Hobbygen regarding items not being received and bad communication. I also read negative reviews on their dealings through eBay. However, I was willing to give them a chance because I understand there may have been circumstances I was not aware of but first I wanted to make sure they had the items I wanted in stock to lessen my chance of a bad experience. I sent an email to Hobbygen asking about two items listed at 49.99 and 84.99 with shipping between $4.00-6.00 for parcel post. I did receive a response saying both items were available. I returned to the listings to place the order and realized that after expressing my interest Hobbygen had changed the prices. The $84.99 item was changed to 104.99 and shipping was increased to $29.17 for parcel post. As an avid seller/buyer from numerous collector sites I do know that from NY (Hobbygen) to TX (me) parcel post would not come close to $29. I did not place the order because it was obvious that Hobbygen did this intentionally after I let them know I was interested and would place an order if the items were in stock. This is very bad business practice and I understand where the negative reviews come from. This company (also listed under MoonKo llc) is a joke, unprofessional and rude.