[Thessair]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gogglev

Honestly, AmiAmi and HLJ both have their problems, but I've been pretty much been forced to switch over most of my preorders to HLJ because the EMS price hike plus AmiAmis tendency to over pack boxes was getting a bit out of hand and 6-9k shipping really is not fun. With that said, I can't think of another store thats fucked me over as many time as HLJ. Like ignoring the unfulfilled preorders, they've already somehow lost items in my private warehouse twice in the past year. Items I already PAID for.

They definitely ship out slower than AmiAmi, and as someone that also collects Macross, SOC, and Metal Builds, the randomly putting preorders up without a set time is one of the most annoying things. You think the fight for a preorder at 3am on amiami is bad? HLJ doesn't even front page most of the stuff until its sold out, and you just have to hope you somehow are able to find the listing before everyone else. And then lets talk about how terrible HLJs website actually is, they somehow don't know how to send you a email if an order gets unfulfilled so you pretty much have to contact them if you don't get a payment request to find out. Also seriously, who limits figure stands to one? Oh thats right, HLJ does.

As you can see, I might have some issues with HLJ and Mark Kutsugi is my nemesis.

They didn't used to be that bad with shipping but, somehow, even their FedEx Express packages take a week to get here. That doesn't even count the 2-3 days (not counting weekends) it seems to be taking to get the thing in the mail in the first place. Also, having to go out of your way as a customer to pin them down about whether they can actually provide something you ordered is kind of ridiculous. It's especially frustrating that when you finally get them to respond they say things like:

Quote:

If you really need to get this item, I recommend you should secure it at some other store.

I appreciate them as a last resort or when I need to go over AmiAmi's item limit and, to be honest, they do carry some things no one else seems to but, man, dealing with them can be an exercise in frustration. I tend to make my orders with AmiAmi -> HobbySearch -> HLJ for the most part these days. I've really never had a bad experience with HobbySearch that I can recall, but they seem to get a smaller stock of things than AmiAmi does so it can be harder to secure preorders.