KGHobby - a rant

[Antarion]

Here is a theroy:
I guess much depends on your own country. I've heard bad things about shipping costs and shipping time to certain countries (Canada, UK) but also very good ones to like Germany or Netherlands. I think it might depend on things like how often does your country deal with HongKong, how many flights go from HK your destination? Because shipments get often added on common flights and the more nonfigure deals your customs get from hongkong the more flights go there, the easier and faster it will be to get also shipments of figures i guess.

I never had problems with shipments from KG they arrived between 6-18 days. Always.

I never preordered Hot Toys though, so I don't know how early they get the figs, but reading this htread, they get it really late (if you know that and are ok with it, I don't think this should be a problem. I can wait)

 

[Gipetto0812]

I’m not having such luck of 6-18days. Mine is probably more of an HK post thing though (I hope). It’s been sitting at “processed through Hong Kong outward parcel selection” for 24 days and counting.

 

[lordnastrond]

Never had a problem with them but if something like this happened I would consider moving on. They have always been good to me, probably because I buy a bit from them. Problem is, I’m running out of places to buy from lol.

Exact same boat here mate - KGHobby have been my go to for a few years now, I have started using OneSixthKit and I must say I am very happy with him.
But yeah, this is concerning.

 

[satanatos]

I do think this is more HK Post than KGHobby, but the whole situation there could be to blame as well.

 

[choombaz]

They have finally received Fett and throne. I have questioned as to the status of Echo, as even PC has that now.

 

[OmarColeccionador]

Does KG still answer emails??

 

[Rexus]

Does KG still answer emails??

I messaged them through Facebook and they got back to me, albeit after a couple of days. Looks like EMS shipping has resumed to Canada for oversized packages, so they finally invoiced my Cloud order.

 

[OmarColeccionador]

I messaged them through Facebook and they got back to me, albeit after a couple of days. Looks like EMS shipping has resumed to Canada for oversized packages, so they finally invoiced my Cloud order.

Thanks I'll try that
I placed an order with them (after I promised never return again)
just because they have the mando 1/4 standard but they don't even bother to answer an email

I also had a lot of troubles with KG in the past, from missin parts (now after reading this thread, I'm pretty sure they are the ones who open the figures and stole the accessories for resell purposes) to pay for expensive shipping just to get the crappy non trackable method

Also I lost 2 important figures thanks to those f...

 

[kyekye]

Does KG still answer emails??

Only the ones they can answer about sales and pre-orders.
Anything about missing parts, delivery trouble.. - they go silent.
Very bad experience with KG since the pandemic. He's on my ban list along with Toys Wonderland

 

[HAL9000.]

I've used KG for the past 7 years or so. They always responded within 24hours and were very helpful. Shipped straight away. Good with problems.

No idea what's changed recently, but I struggle to get answers from them in a timely manner. Sometimes wating 3-4 days, while one or two messages and emails get ignored.

Something else I've noticed is that once a figure is paid, the shipping shows it's been sent right away, but it actually hasn't. I've had a couple of figures not leave them for up to a week after invoice paid.

Because of this, I've shifted more pre-orders away from them and now trying Kit.

 

[HAL9000.]

Only the ones they can answer about sales and pre-orders.
Anything about missing parts, delivery trouble.. - they go silent.
Very bad experience with KG since the pandemic. He's on my ban list along with Toys Wonderland

Nope. My sales and paying invoices emails have been ignored recently, so not just with issues.

 

[choombaz]

I also had a lot of troubles with KG in the past, from missin parts (now after reading this thread, I'm pretty sure they are the ones who open the figures and stole the accessories for resell purposes) to pay for expensive shipping just to get the crappy non trackable method

I’ve never had this issue with them and I’ve bought at least 50 figures from them. I’m curious, where they from a particular figure company?

Something else I've noticed is that once a figure is paid, the shipping shows it's been sent right away, but it actually hasn't. I've had a couple of figures not leave them for up to a week after invoice paid.

How do you know that the figure hasn’t left yet? From the tracking? In my experience, figures are held at customs for up to a week waiting to leave but once that is done, they arrive quite quickly.

 

[HAL9000.]

I’ve never had this issue with them and I’ve bought at least 50 figures from them. I’m curious, where they from a particular figure company?

How do you know that the figure hasn’t left yet? From the tracking? In my experience, figures are held at customs for up to a week waiting to leave but once that is done, they arrive quite quickly.

From the tracking. I’ve bought at least a couple of figures a month for the last 8 years, so know what I’m looking at. It’s not customs. It’s KG raising a label and holding onto the figure. It’s happened to the last two figures I’ve bought from them. They must now ship in batches or something.

 

[choombaz]

I whinge about Kg’s lack of HT and what do they invoice me for but this:

 

[1981DeLorean]

Well, it'll be the last time for me that I use KGHobby, besides the couple of Hot Toys figures I have left on pre-order with them.

Have contacted them several times regarding the absolutely abysmal Star Ace Rocky figure & the fact I'd like to return it for store credit. They originally asked me to send photos illustrating the quite obvious issues with it (that it's basically c**p), lord knows why, as they have them in hand & can see for themselves that they're horrific.

Since sending the requested photos, they've completely blanked my other messages - how lovely of them.

 

[hoodonit00]

You want to return it and get store credit because it’s a crap figure? If so I think you’re in the wrong. We all know Star Ace figures suck. Sounds like this is a mistake you made.

 

[Chopper Face]

Ha yeah, if you don’t know by now that every Star Ace figure is a disaster waiting to happen, that’s on your own lack of research.
You should be done with Star Ace forever instead of blaming a reseller.

They aren’t an official distributor of anything like Sideshow so their after-sales service responsibilities are a little less clearly defined.

If a mistake is theirs, they should aim to resolve it and compensate the customer appropriately.
When a company known for releasing nothing but duds releases yet another dud that you either paid for in full when preordering or fulfilled the balance payment after having seen in hand pictures, it’s not really up to them to absolve your buyer’s remorse.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Well, it'll be the last time for me that I use KGHobby, besides the couple of Hot Toys figures I have left on pre-order with them.

Have contacted them several times regarding the absolutely abysmal Star Ace Rocky figure & the fact I'd like to return it for store credit. They originally asked me to send photos illustrating the quite obvious issues with it (that it's basically c**p), lord knows why, as they have them in hand & can see for themselves that they're horrific.

Since sending the requested photos, they've completely blanked my other messages - how lovely of them.

Sounds more like you're unhappy with the final product rather than there actually being a manufacturer defect. If you're just unhappy with it b/c you think it's a crap figure and not worth the price you paid, that's not KGHobby's fault. If there's an actual defect or missing parts then I'm sure they would help you out, but it's not their fault that Star Ace made a crappy product. It sucks if you just weren't aware of Star Ace's terrible track record of massive drops in quality from prototype to production piece, but again, that's not KGHobby's fault. They're just a retailer, not a distributor or the manufacturer.

This isn't like a department store toy that turns out to suck after you've had a chance to open it, so you can just return it opened box and for store credit. If anything, they'll charge a restocking fee as other online retailer do when you just don't want the figure anymore.

 

[1981DeLorean]

You want to return it and get store credit because it’s a crap figure? If so I think you’re in the wrong. We all know Star Ace figures suck. Sounds like this is a mistake you made.

I don't wish to return it because it's a crap figure, I wish to return it because it's an extremely misrepresented figure which in turn happens to be crap, there's a significant difference between the two.

This was my first venture into the Star Ace brand & will be my last.

Was I aware that Star Ace as a brand were a bit shoddy? Yep, I've seen what they've done with 'The Boys' franchise. Did I believe that this figure would be so far detached from the prototype photos that it's not even passable as the same sculpt, even with the shoddy paint application? Nope.

I appreciate your stance on the situation, however, I am struggling to grasp how my lack of clairvoyant ability is my mistake & not just a simple matter of product that's not as described.

Grateful for your input none the less.

 

[1981DeLorean]

Ha yeah, if you don’t know by now that every Star Ace figure is a disaster waiting to happen, that’s on your own lack of research.
You should be done with Star Ace forever instead of blaming a reseller.

They aren’t an official distributor of anything like Sideshow so their after-sales service responsibilities are a little less clearly defined.

If a mistake is theirs, they should aim to resolve it and compensate the customer appropriately.
When a company known for releasing nothing but duds releases yet another dud that you either paid for in full when preordering or fulfilled the balance payment after having seen in hand pictures, it’s not really up to them to absolve your buyer’s remorse.

My issue with the reseller is the lack of communication. Ignoring a customer's correspondence after a sale speak volumes regarding the integrity of the business.

I noticed you live in the UK, as do I & perhaps the responsibility of the vendor varies greatly across the globe, however, in this situation my contract would be with the distributor, not with Star Ace & if an item was misrepresented to this degree, it would be rectified & the money recouped from the manufacturer. If this isn't the way things operate in the world of plastic figures, then so be it. I won't make the same "mistake" again.

However, I've been a customer of KG for a very long time now, spent an awful lot of money with them & never really had any issues to complain about, so haven't required aftersales support.

The complete avoidance of a response to several emails & messages however, would be my sole reason & I deem a valid one for not using KG any longer.