I am a small press game publisher and was looking for some modern 28mm vehicles to use in a game I am developing. I came across Hobby Armor Depot and thought I'd found a gold mine of possibilities. I contacted them on May 19th via email -- they do not have an online shopping cart because, I imagine, it is a one-man small business -- and, after a bit of back and forth, placed an order for over $160 USD via Paypal. Joe Conego, my contact with the company, assured me the order would be shipped by the following Wednesday, at which point I would be emailed a tracking number. I made it clear the order was for professional reasons--I needed to assemble and paint the vehicles ASAP to prepare them for a photo session to appear in my publication. Paypal indicated the money was withdrawn from my company's account that day, May 19.
The Wednesday came and went, and no word from Joe.
Considering the importance of a timely delivery I had made clear to Joe, I sent emails asking about the status of my order on May 23rd, May 25th, and May 29th. Sill no word from Joe. Not even an "It has been delayed. Sorry about that." I sent a dispute notice to Paypal on June 1 hoping this would push Joe to respond and send me my product, which I still hoped to get. He had not responded to the claim as of June 7, so I upgraded the dispute notification to a claim to get my money back. The claim was closed in my favor on July 18 without Joe having responded to it or me via private email. My money was returned, but still no word from Joe to so much as apologize for the hassle.
Looking around messageboards and the like, I've since learned Hobby Armor Depot has a reputation for similar dishonest dealings, including infringing on other people's copyrights by making molds of their models and selling them as his own. I am certainly glad I did not give money to someone so that he could deny it to the rightful copyright owners. Don't get fooled by this guy. His product line may look great and offer things you cannot find elsewhere, but what good is that if he has a reputation for taking people's money and not sending them the product -- years after the order is made, as it turns out in some cases.
For taking money without providing the promised product and a total lack of customer service, I can only define this company as a scam looking to take advantage of miniature wargame players. Avoid, no matter how tempting the models may seem.
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