Garden Railway Forum

I know labour's cheaper in that part of the world, but by my reckoning, if the same chap's building all of these he's on less than 2p an hour, and has a VERY long waiting list.

It is quite an appealing little loco...

Hi All,

I can confirm I have been dumb enough to order one of these.
I'll document what happens here; the possibility that I'll have to ask PayPal for my money back is pretty high, but what's life without a little risk?

Lovely little loco and at a great price but I'm trying to avoid buying anything from China at present.

invicta280 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:11 pm Lovely little loco and at a great price but I'm trying to avoid buying anything from China at present.

Definitely the wiser choice, but I thought I'd go for it for the common good. Everyone needs a bad example!

Yes it is a scam, good thing im not buying it!!!

Needless to say I have not had any response to my email I sent them.

Quick update: this past afternoon I received a shipment notification from the folks at hxhing.com; naturally, the tracking number they provided doesn't register literally anywhere, so this is looking more and more delightfully suspicious as time progresses.

CaptainClockwork wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 8:34 amthe tracking number they provided doesn't register literally anywhere, so this is looking more and more delightfully suspicious.

Not necessarily suspicious. I've often been sent 'tracking numbers' even for sensible carriers like Royal Mail, Hermes etc and they don't register until after the item has arrived, let alone the Chinese ones from obscure carriers that are impossible to trace.
I think you'll get the item eventually, but I'd be amazed if the promised delivery schedule is met, but stranger things happen.

I checked their registered office, its in London with one Director registered with a correspondence address in China, Incorporated 16th April 2020 and over sixty other companies registered at the same address. Don't know if that helps in any way.

CaptainClockwork wrote: ↑Sun Dec 06, 2020 8:34 am Quick update: this past afternoon I received a shipment notification from the folks at hxhing.com; naturally, the tracking number they provided doesn't register literally anywhere, so this is looking more and more delightfully suspicious as time progresses.

Thanks for reporting back on your progress, I'm really intrigued. Fingers crossed for a good outcome!

Andrew.

Andrew wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:50 pm
Thanks for reporting back on your progress, I'm really intrigued. Fingers crossed for a good outcome!

Andrew.

I think a 'good' outcome is extremely unlikely! But he's said he's happy with the risk...

EDIT: see below.

CaptainClockwork wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:37 pm ... the possibility that I'll have to ask PayPal for my money back is pretty high, but what's life without a little risk?

The thing for me is this: assuming it is a scam (which I confirm I do assume), it's not so much about people who can afford a one-off loss of fifty quid taking a bit of risk, but more about (a) giving that fifty quid to the black market and (b) actively encouraging the scammers both to invent more scams and take money from people who can't easily afford to lose it.

CSL wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:17 pm

CaptainClockwork wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:37 pm ... the possibility that I'll have to ask PayPal for my money back is pretty high, but what's life without a little risk?

The thing for me is this: assuming it is a scam (which I confirm I do assume), it's not so much about people who can afford a one-off loss of fifty quid taking a bit of risk, but more about (a) giving that fifty quid to the black market and (b) actively encouraging the scammers both to invent more scams and take money from people who can't easily afford to lose it.

That's a completely valid way to look at this, and I do agree that this isn't something I would actively encourage others to do, but I like to think that I'm helping to educate the public, if only a little. If this does indeed prove to be a scam, I have a paper trail to prove it as such, so if and when the next scammer tries to hit the garden railway community, we're that much more aware and on our guard.
And hey, on the very small off-chance that this ISN'T a scam, it'll at least make for an interesting story.

CaptainClockwork wrote: ↑Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:10 pm That's a completely valid way to look at this, and I do agree that this isn't something I would actively encourage others to do, but I like to think that I'm helping to educate the public, if only a little. If this does indeed prove to be a scam, I have a paper trail to prove it as such, so if and when the next scammer tries to hit the garden railway community, we're that much more aware and on our guard.
And hey, on the very small off-chance that this ISN'T a scam, it'll at least make for an interesting story.

Ian
Assuming you paid through PayPal, you should be protected. I've found PayPal to be very forthcoming on the occasions when goods I'd paid for failed to turn up. I do hope it all works out and your loco (and the track...) arrives, though.

Rik

As per my post on the first page, I still have not had a response from my email to them, but maybe they are just very busy.

Jimmyb wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:06 am As per my post on the first page, I still have not had a response from my email to them, but maybe they are just very busy.

Maybe...

It boggles my mind that anyone thinks this could possibly be anything BUT a total scam. Every day my "face book" page features these obviously Asian adverts featuring things including:

a large tandem-rotor radio controlled helicopter
an all-metal radio-controlled bulldozer large enough to carry a child
a large ducted-fan-powered radio-controlled jetliner
an internally-fired live-steam locomotive with walschaerts valve-gear (which we see here)

all being on offer for less than £80 and any one of which any enthusiast knows would cost no less that £1000 normally.

Every time I see one of these ads I report it to "face book" as a scam. They reappear days later under a different name.

In the case of the helicopter, people have fallen for this scam, ordered one, and received a small die-cast plastic toy helicopter that most certainly does not fly.

I am sorry to be rude, or sound scold-y, but I am extremely surprised anyone on this forum thinks for a minute a live-steam loco can be had for 60 quid or that there will be any satisfying outcome to this at all.

In fact, I will, in a private YouTube video that I will post here, actually eat my hat if Captain Clockwork receives a live-steam engine of any type whatsoever for his £60.

Over the summer I ordered an inflatable kayak for a similarly bargain price from a legitimate looking site. After placing the order I realised it was shipping from China and looked at the site closer and started getting a bit suspicious. I received a tracking number, which worked, and a few weeks later a small parcel turned up. They’d sent a pair of knock off gucci sunglasses. Tried contacting the seller and no reply, managed to get money back from my bank fairly easily though.

Keith S wrote: ↑Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:18 am In fact, I will, in a private YouTube video that I will post here, actually eat my hat if Captain Clockwork receives a live-steam engine of any type whatsoever for his £60.

Please, let the loco turn up

Rik

Keith S wrote: ↑Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:18 am In fact, I will, in a private YouTube video that I will post here, actually eat my hat if Captain Clockwork receives a live-steam engine of any type whatsoever for his £60.

For the record, I hold no illusions about what I've done - for every chance that I bought a live steam loco, there are 99 other chances that I've ordered a box full of nothing but misshapen brass and COVID-19 (Any package that arrives at my location, regardless of origin, is thoroughly disinfected before use). However, I thought, and continue to think, that this will serve as a good example of what happens when you trust a scam; if any poor sap needs to lose their money, I'd rather it be me, and not some youngster who doesn't know any better.
For the record, I'd offer a counter-bet against your hat, if only the odds weren't stacked against me.