SCAM with kits

There's no question this is what is happening. The part about the hobby laser in a backyard might be a little over the top. It was not cut on a hobby laser the parts are better than a hobby laser would do. I had one for a few years so I'm sure my laser wouldn't have made the $112 kit parts. The laser cutting and wood is actually pretty descent, but mine was missing sheets of parts as well. I have the ZHL Pearl kit as well, paid the normal $550 ish with shipping. I can assure you ZHL had nothing to do with the $112 kit. Mine did come with a CD that contained photos of an instruction manual with the steps in no particular order and no english writing, with out actually sitting down and comparing them I would guess the images were from an early ZHL Manual.
 
At this point let's look at the word SCAM and it's meaning and see if it applies to this thread.............

scam
/skam/

noun: informal
noun: scam; plural noun: scams

a dishonest scheme; a fraud.
"an insurance scam"

Similar:
fraud
swindle
fraudulent scheme
racket
trick
diddle
con
con trick
flimflam
gyp
kite
ramp
twist
hustle
grift
shakedown
bunco
boondoggle
rort

verb
verb: scam; 3rd person present: scams; past tense: scammed; past participle: scammed; gerund or present participle: scamming

swindle.
"a guy that scams old pensioners out of their savings" (AKA telemarketers from central Asia, etc. Very prolific here in Australia. I get up to 6 a day both on my mobile phone and landline.)

Those people who have purchased what they believed to be a complete kit may have been unwittingly scammed.
 
eric61 said:
Those people who have purchased what they believed to be a complete kit may have been unwittingly scammed.
Click to expand...

Those same people may not have read and understood the description of the product. Why would anyone think they could get a $450 kit for $100 in the first place? There has to be some common sense and logic applied to everyone's decision. Scam implies "deceit with intent". I do not believe that is Banggood's business model nor some of the others that have been labeled as scams. Banggood is just like Amazon. Is Amazon a scam?
 
mrshanks said:
Those same people may not have read and understood the description of the product. Why would anyone think they could get a $450 kit for $100 in the first place? There has to be some common sense and logic applied to everyone's decision. Scam implies "deceit with intent". I do not believe that is Banggood's business model nor some of the others that have been labeled as scams. Banggood is just like Amazon. Is Amazon a scam?
Click to expand...

I agree Mike perhaps what is being sold is lost in translation,

when i first saw the ad i did think hey wait just a minute here there has to be more to this. my thoughts exactly how can anyone sell a $450.00 kit for $100.00
but it does alert us to check before you buy you are getting what you pay for.
 
Gentlemen, I can only concur with what Dicas, UweK and Zoly said. I am living in Nantong, Jiangsu Province and can tell you that the Chinese government has been amazing in coping with the virus. Sure, they have put strict measures in place (here we are only allowed to leave our communities once every two days, cinemas, schools, shopping malls and other places of potential mass gatherings have been closed down temporarily, etc.), but that is to be understood. My Batavia that I ordered from Kolderstok in the Netherlands arrived yesterday (fifteen days after it was sent) which is amazing taking into account the pressure that customs must be under coping with all emergency medical supplies from around the world. The general public has also been extremely co-operative in adhering to the measures taken - hence Trident, and ZHL's temporary closure. But one has to understand that the Chinese government is extremely cautious (probably far more than is really necessary) in combating this disease. I can tell you that there has already been a drastic reduction in the number of people infected, so hopefully all will be back to normal soon.
 
Best is to contact Trident and ZHL directly (speak to Sam and Max directly), order your kits from them and forget about anything else that gets offered on eBay, Amazon, or what-have-you. That way you are sure that you are getting the real deal - which are world-leading products.
 
Hi Mike, as I stated in post #95 and I quote: It never ceases to amaze me that people will not read "instructions" properly, 10/10 complaints on their web site about no instruction manual !!
wasn't specifically aimed at assembly instructions (you probably gathered that) but at the larger group of homo sapiens that for some obscure reason will not read all the way to the bottom of a web page or even read past the first question in a multi question email or whatever.
 
In any case buying a lower quality kit at a low price doesn't mean seller is a scam.
What I'm talking about is buying a branded kit of 1/3 of a price from a seller that doesn't even have proper contact details, except from a contact form. And its not hard to find them if you spend some time searching.
 
Even with careful research of a business some can occasionally get taken and/or taken in. One on-line retailer I dealt with offered 50% off list price and implied that the product was in stock and ready to ship. It took 2 mos. before I saw my order. Did I complain to them - damn right I did. Did i file a complaint with the BBB - of course. But I did eventually recieve my order and it was just what was expected. This is a "Hobby Business" that claims in excess of $1 million in annual sales and boasts of over 20 employees and is based in the US. Would I order from them again? Not on your life! While I agree that researching a company before placing an order with them is necessary, sometimes that is not enough. Was it a scam? No. Was it unsound business practices on their part? Most definately. Caveat Emptor!
 
Simple

There are and always will be con artists in the world offering unbelievable deals. It has always been buyer beware. never make a purchase without doing research from an trusted seller.

Sometimes a trusted source will accidentally fail, perhaps not through their fault, but through others in the chain, but we have to allow for that.

The scam kits on ebay, Amazon, Wish, Aliexpress are fairly obvious, they all look the same, with a stupid price. The images are nearly always of half the kit parts only.

Buy from your trusted sources or someones recommendation only. Most buys do not realise that Ali express sellers expect you to negotiate and communicate with them to ensure you both agree on what your getting. Us Westerners do not seem to understand that philosophy and just plonk down our hard earned cash and there in lies the opportunist.

Unless you really want to risk your money find out what your getting. ie the Dodgy kit, the kit thats been in the humid attic for 20 years, the "i think its all there, I'm not a modeler just sell it it for a friend" , etc etc etc.

Were intelligent folk ( we build complex , difficult and frustrating models ( hmm maybe were not!)) we should be able to spot a scam easily enough. We know the price of the "Well made EU/Chinese kits" . The price does not vary much over sites. When it does unless its a special from the supplier, its obvious that it is either, 2nd hand, or a "deal you want to miss" product.

Yes there are bargains to be had sometimes, but these are far and few between.
The scams are thick at present because the regular asian suppliers are down and obviously there are enough gullible buyers to partake of the scam.
 
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