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Notice from Takom
awrc
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: April 18, 2005
KitMaker: 281 posts
Armorama: 201 posts
Posted: Friday, September 28, 2018 - 12:09 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Did you read the 'terms and conditions' and the 'shipping' that vendor (Soga)? Or are the items backorder/pre-stock? Some sellers usually don't update their stock or specify it, therefore delay would happen.

You should contact them for the problem.



Actually, I wasn't aware that items showed an in stock/out of stock status until you mentioned it, since none of the ten items I'd ordered had any indication one way or another. Then I discovered by examining some items that he'd be very likely to have that he lists stuff as "In Stock" if it's in stock, but lists no stock status otherwise.

So I guess he's waiting on all of my items to come in. That's not a problem for me, as he's one of only two places I've found that stock a large range of Komkplkt Zip stuff, and the other vendor didn't even list a set I needed to order two of. I'd ordinarily have gone with the other vendor (Hobbyeasy) as they've never let me down, but I needed those two sets, and it made sense to pay just one shipping fee.

I've no problems waiting for out of stock - the indications I've gotten from others in responses are that he's a good vendor, and so I'm fine with waiting - fortunately, since it's all the one brand, I've presumably just got to wait for a single restock.

I do think it might be better if he actively listed items as in stock/not in stock, rather than the current "it's not in stock unless it's says it is" system. I might have noticed if I'd ordered items from a number of manufacturers, but everything had the same status, so I wasn't aware of the way he listed stock status.

If there is a terms and conditions, it's well hidden, though - the site's "How to order" link returns a blank page, while "About Us" returns a "Write about your company here" template page. I ordered simply because I knew he'd been in business a long time, couldn't find any negative reviews, and I've dealt with quite a few former Eastern Bloc vendors and I'm aware that their shipping times reflect, perhaps, a customer base who were used to having to wait a long time for good things.

I freely admit I've become spoiler when I can order a brand new kit from a reliable Chinese vendor on eBay for about 30% less *with* shipping than I'd pay anywhere else *before* shipping, get a "shipped" notification the same day, and have the item in the mailbox inside of ten days. I won't contact Soga about my order unless I reach the end of *next* month and there's still been no movement.

I think some of my frustration was that the bits I was ordering, while technically what would be considered "AMS" stuff, were part of a plan to ease myself back into the habit of modeling by tackling two or three simpler kits, the modern equivalent of what an Airfix series 2 was to me as a kid, which means that while the stash is vast, I'm stalled waiting on resin sets to fix up kits that were intended to be 1-2 week builds. Oh well, I can use the time waiting to research the subjects better.
Bravo1102
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: December 08, 2003
KitMaker: 2,864 posts
Armorama: 2,497 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 09:52 PM UTC

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This reminds me of a guy who ran a model railroad store in Colorado Springs in the early 90s... (who) was actually a bonafide con artist...
VR, Russ



I knew Tony Engelhart was in Colorado. Wasn't aware he was also into Model Railroading.


Once upon a nightmare there were only AEF and Verlinden doing resin aftermarket. I usually got his stuff at the LHS so I could inspect it.

And someone mentioned Ridgefield Hobbies. I've been dealing with them at shows and online for decades. At shows it's great because you can look at everything that's in an open box. Most of my vintage aircraft models are from there. But sealed resales from collections? Trust no one. I want to see it. Very least to see if the decals are salvageable.

All those years in retail. I know the shenanigans that go on.

I did mail order trades and sales starting in high school nearly 40 years ago when it was all letters in magazines. Has it really been that long? So much easier to be cheated in this age of email and Ebay.
Dinocamo
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Quebec, Canada
Joined: August 26, 2017
KitMaker: 91 posts
Armorama: 89 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 02:52 PM UTC

Quoted Text

On the subject of site notice, watch out for this one. Got me for around 20 bucks. Ordered some Friulmodel items. Ordered in June(2018) and so far no reply and no delivery

https://www.crepshop.top/models-kits-c-1_118/

Cheers and beware



Lol. The store of my city, Montreal (btw, I believe that other Montrealers here would agree), has their website look just like those scam sites. They never update a damn thing about their stock, for many years, the only thing they change on their site is the schedule. One of the employer even vaguely affirmed that the online purchasing service is outdated and doesn't work properly therefore recommend to contract them or go to the store itself.

At least, they still answer phone and emails..
Robbd01
#323
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Arizona, United States
Joined: February 13, 2013
KitMaker: 791 posts
Armorama: 344 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 12:02 PM UTC

Quoted Text


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On the subject of site notice, watch out for this one. Got me for around 20 bucks. Ordered some Friulmodel items. Ordered in June(2018) and so far no reply and no delivery

https://www.crepshop.top/models-kits-c-1_118/

Cheers and beware



That looks like a scam website. There was another scammer website that I found that darn nearly tempted me into buying a cyber hobby vorpanzer.

https://www.opencomely.top/dragon-wwii-135-pzkpfw-iv-ausfd-vorpanzer-cyberhobby-6512-model-kit-new-p-11036.html



Your are right - it does look very familiar. If I get the time, I might dig up who is hosting their website and see if it points to the same (or similar) principles. When I poked around at the creps site that got me, it pointed to someone/thing in China that was using a VPN/Web hosting site(not sure they are from China), I guess to help get past the great (fire)wall of China or hide their tracks.

Cheers

BunkerBuster
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 29, 2017
KitMaker: 157 posts
Armorama: 122 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 11:40 AM UTC

Quoted Text

On the subject of site notice, watch out for this one. Got me for around 20 bucks. Ordered some Friulmodel items. Ordered in June(2018) and so far no reply and no delivery

https://www.crepshop.top/models-kits-c-1_118/

Cheers and beware



That looks like a scam website. There was another scammer website that I found that darn nearly tempted me into buying a cyber hobby vorpanzer.

https://www.opencomely.top/dragon-wwii-135-pzkpfw-iv-ausfd-vorpanzer-cyberhobby-6512-model-kit-new-p-11036.html
brekinapez
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Georgia, United States
Joined: July 26, 2013
KitMaker: 2,272 posts
Armorama: 1,860 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 11:14 AM UTC

Quoted Text

On the subject of site notice, watch out for this one. Got me for around 20 bucks. Ordered some Friulmodel items. Ordered in June(2018) and so far no reply and no delivery

https://www.crepshop.top/models-kits-c-1_118/

Cheers and beware



I think they left the second "e" out of their name.
Robbd01
#323
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Arizona, United States
Joined: February 13, 2013
KitMaker: 791 posts
Armorama: 344 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 10:14 AM UTC
On the subject of site notice, watch out for this one. Got me for around 20 bucks. Ordered some Friulmodel items. Ordered in June(2018) and so far no reply and no delivery

https://www.crepshop.top/models-kits-c-1_118/

Cheers and beware
Petition2God
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 06, 2002
KitMaker: 1,526 posts
Armorama: 1,294 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 08:48 AM UTC
Thank you for the notice! I've also had terrible experiences with Internethobbies way back - things were always back-ordered and customer service was almost non-existent. Yes, definitely stick to the reputable dealers like lotsofmodels, spruebrothers, hlj, hobbysearch Japan, hobbyeasy, luckymodel, etc. Even Evil bay is better.
Deanwormer
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Virginia, United States
Joined: October 18, 2005
KitMaker: 25 posts
Armorama: 13 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 08:25 AM UTC
I have dealt with Internethobbies and can truthfully say they are felons. Not sure if they’ve been convicted, but slander is my game.

These yahoos need to be run out of business ASAP. Only the credit card companies appear to have sway with them. They lie, cheat and steal. Genuinely bad people.

They will take your order, charge your card and then hold the order for as long as possible to make the charge irreversible. Then they might ship a partial order to avoid outright mail fraud. They are scum, and it hurts me to slander scum like that.

Avoid them like the plague.

If you see one of the on the street in PA. Kick them in the jimmies for me. I’ll give you a nice kit for free.

Kip
RobinNilsson
Staff MemberTOS Moderator
KITMAKER NETWORK
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Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: November 29, 2006
KitMaker: 6,693 posts
Armorama: 5,562 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 06:02 AM UTC

Quoted Text


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This reminds me of a guy who ran a model railroad store in Colorado Springs in the early 90s... (who) was actually a bonafide con artist...
VR, Russ



I knew Tony Engelhart was in Colorado. Wasn't aware he was also into Model Railroading.



Ok-- you guys are driving me nuts-- maybe I've been living under a rock, but who the heck is Tony Englehart?
VR, Russ



It took me a while to sort through old memories:
Tony Engelhart is the man behind AEF Designs
but I think AEF Designs closed down some years ago.
Interesting subjects but the resin casting and the instructions were not quite up to average. Rather the opposite in some cases ....


I have seen a lot worse though: I-Corps Models.
I managed to buy his AVLB conversion and when I unpacked it one of the bridge beams had a lump of resin, as big as two peanuts obliterating some details. When I had unpacked the whole kit I found the cause of the resin blob: A large piece of the silicone mould was stuck straight through another of the beams .....
/ Robin
SgtRam
Staff MemberContributing Writer
AEROSCALE
#197
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Ontario, Canada
Joined: March 06, 2011
KitMaker: 3,971 posts
Armorama: 2,859 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 05:58 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Out of curiosity, what is the reputation of Soga Miniatures like? I placed some orders at the beginning of the month - two with Russian vendors, one with a vendor in Ukraine, and one with an eBay vendor in China. Got the package from China within nine days (the vendor was a known quantity), received the package from Ukraine earlier this week (again, vendor was a known quantity). The first Russian vendor informed me they were on vacation until the 19th only *after* I'd ordered (via eBay) but that package should be here today.

However, the Soga order, which was for ten items from the same (Russian) manufacturer is still "Processing". Have I just become spoilt by vendors that ship within a day or two of ordering, or should I be concerned?



I have dealt with Soga in the past, nomrally no issue. But yes you have to watch what they don't have in stock, as they won't ship till it is all in stock.

j76lr
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: September 22, 2006
KitMaker: 1,081 posts
Armorama: 1,066 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 05:49 AM UTC
thanks for the heads up on these places .I primarily deal with Squadron. sprue bros ,scale hobbyist, even Amazon, older respected web sites . I've never had a issue . Only time I had any kink of issue was with one of the few LHSleft in nj was Ridgefield hobbys
NJ .His prices are very high to begin with , when I found a kit I liked but it was unwrapped , I asked him what he can do with the price . he took the kit and in about 10 minutes came back with it wrapped ! one other time I bought a kit , wrapped , "new" and when I opened it, it was half finished & painted ! . Ill never go back to this thief in Ridgefield hobbys.
Dinocamo
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Quebec, Canada
Joined: August 26, 2017
KitMaker: 91 posts
Armorama: 89 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 05:38 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Out of curiosity, what is the reputation of Soga Miniatures like? I placed some orders at the beginning of the month - two with Russian vendors, one with a vendor in Ukraine, and one with an eBay vendor in China. Got the package from China within nine days (the vendor was a known quantity), received the package from Ukraine earlier this week (again, vendor was a known quantity). The first Russian vendor informed me they were on vacation until the 19th only *after* I'd ordered (via eBay) but that package should be here today.

However, the Soga order, which was for ten items from the same (Russian) manufacturer is still "Processing". Have I just become spoilt by vendors that ship within a day or two of ordering, or should I be concerned?



Did you read the 'terms and conditions' and the 'shipping' that vendor (Soga)? Or are the items backorder/pre-stock? Some sellers usually don't update their stock or specify it, therefore delay would happen.

You should contact them for the problem.
Kevlar06
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 15, 2009
KitMaker: 3,670 posts
Armorama: 2,052 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 05:36 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

This reminds me of a guy who ran a model railroad store in Colorado Springs in the early 90s... (who) was actually a bonafide con artist...
VR, Russ



I knew Tony Engelhart was in Colorado. Wasn't aware he was also into Model Railroading.



Ok-- you guys are driving me nuts-- maybe I've been living under a rock, but who the heck is Tony Englehart?
VR, Russ
awrc
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: April 18, 2005
KitMaker: 281 posts
Armorama: 201 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 04:42 AM UTC
Out of curiosity, what is the reputation of Soga Miniatures like? I placed some orders at the beginning of the month - two with Russian vendors, one with a vendor in Ukraine, and one with an eBay vendor in China. Got the package from China within nine days (the vendor was a known quantity), received the package from Ukraine earlier this week (again, vendor was a known quantity). The first Russian vendor informed me they were on vacation until the 19th only *after* I'd ordered (via eBay) but that package should be here today.

However, the Soga order, which was for ten items from the same (Russian) manufacturer is still "Processing". Have I just become spoilt by vendors that ship within a day or two of ordering, or should I be concerned?
Tankrider
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Oklahoma, United States
Joined: October 07, 2002
KitMaker: 1,280 posts
Armorama: 1,208 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 04:22 AM UTC

Quoted Text


I knew Tony Engelhart was in Colorado. Wasn't aware he was also into Model Railroading.



Thanks Rob,
'bout spit my water on the monitor with that one... I was thinking of a certain individual from Arizona that the description also fit, but that was only about 10 years ago.
Scarred
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 11, 2016
KitMaker: 1,792 posts
Armorama: 1,186 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 04:10 AM UTC
I shop scalehobbyist.com, great prices, selection and shipping out of N.H. I've also had good luck shopping on ebay, orders from the Ukraine, brasil, Japan and China. Just a couple problems that PayPal helped to resolve. I won't shop from a site that won't take PayPal.
18Bravo
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Colorado, United States
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
Armorama: 6,097 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 02:50 AM UTC

Quoted Text

This reminds me of a guy who ran a model railroad store in Colorado Springs in the early 90s... (who) was actually a bonafide con artist...
VR, Russ



I knew Tony Engelhart was in Colorado. Wasn't aware he was also into Model Railroading.
5thMech
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United States
Joined: August 21, 2003
KitMaker: 81 posts
Armorama: 55 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 02:26 AM UTC
Thank you for the specifics with what you have experienced. We all should be mindful of bad buying experiences and the Forum is a great way to "start spreadin' the news."

Thanks again.
jfeenstra
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: April 24, 2014
KitMaker: 342 posts
Armorama: 342 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2018 - 02:08 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I haven't dealt with internet hobbies or hobby models at all. I mostly get my Takom and Meng kits from www.HLJ.com They have some great prices and are very reputable.



While HLJ is excellent and have a good reputation, prices on non-domestic (non-Japanese) products are typically always higher and this includes Takom and Meng, so their prices are definitely not great for these kits. There are many other reputable shops (including on Ebay) that offer these kits at much cheaper prices then HLJ. HobbyEasy has been around for probably as long as HLJ and is just as reputable. Examples - Takom Bergepanther A is $73 at HLJ, $50 at HE. Meng Jagdpanther is $41 at HLJ and $30 at HE.

Vicious
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: September 04, 2015
KitMaker: 1,517 posts
Armorama: 1,109 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 11:29 PM UTC

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Credit card companies all opened headquarters in Delaware IIRC because that state passed loose laws related to credit cards.



All sorts of corporations are chartered in Delaware because they have a special court system that is specifically for disputes involving corporations. It's not biased in the corporation's favor (many cases are corp vs. corp) it's just fast and optimized to handle business disputes.

KL



Delaware is also a Corporate Haven and pretty opaque on tax and stuff like that and very strong on privacy,there are more corporate than people
KurtLaughlin
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: January 18, 2003
KitMaker: 2,402 posts
Armorama: 2,377 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 10:41 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Credit card companies all opened headquarters in Delaware IIRC because that state passed loose laws related to credit cards.



All sorts of corporations are chartered in Delaware because they have a special court system that is specifically for disputes involving corporations. It's not biased in the corporation's favor (many cases are corp vs. corp) it's just fast and optimized to handle business disputes.

KL
Vicious
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: September 04, 2015
KitMaker: 1,517 posts
Armorama: 1,109 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 07:22 PM UTC
if I have to buy something from an online store or call a company because or need its services, if I do not know it I always do a little research on the web, it is difficult if not impossible to hide on the internet especially if your service is poor....if i find bad review or nothing at all is a no go
jasegreene
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Florida, United States
Joined: October 21, 2013
KitMaker: 751 posts
Armorama: 751 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 05:51 PM UTC
For some reason or another I had a feeling about this.Always with the "big sales" and the two times I ordered I had a devil of a time of getting what I ordered.That is why I always go with my trusted vendors and NOT some shady character that might be a scammer.
babaoriley
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California, United States
Joined: June 23, 2017
KitMaker: 195 posts
Armorama: 179 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - 04:51 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I should not have dissed PA, in fact where I live, the local businesses are renowned for their customer service. (snip)



There are sometimes reasons why certain businesses are located in certain states, e.g. weaker consumer protection laws. At one time most of the spam e-mail in North America (if not the world) was coming out of Florida because of a low likelihood of the spammers getting into legal trouble there. Credit card companies all opened headquarters in Delaware IIRC because that state passed loose laws related to credit cards.

As a general rule a company that does virtually identical business under several different names should be treated with caution. It isn't like a company that has a chain of burger places and a chain of pizza places, those are different kinds of restaurants. But somebody operating seeming duplicate mail-order model companies is doing something a bit odd, although it isn't unique in this industry. But for a manufacturer to sound the alarm about what appears to be a website intended to deceive the consumer, yikes, that's a bit startling.
 _GOTOTOP