Why I've said Goodbye To Ak Interactive
All is not what it seems with the overseas sending service at AK. If you're outside Spanish territory, beware of the AK shipping scam.
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"A totally unique experience." @richardms
Thank you for this video; I was wondering why my beautifully $60 packaged box of pencils didn't work as advertised.
I thought modelling horrific scenes of genocide was tasteless unless being made for a museum/ educational purposes, although I do think we lose sight that by modelling war machines we are glorifying the murder of other humans at war.
I also wondered why it seems that a day doesn't go by without another new line of products showing up from AK purporting to make my modelling easier and tempting me to part with more of my money; effects and products I didn't know I needed. If I did in the past, I learned how to use standard artist's items to achieve the effect rather than just throw money at it.
Just the other day the manager of a local hobby store was trying to sell me outrageously priced masking putty in a small tin. When I told him that 3M Blue Tack from any office supply store works extremely well and at a much cheaper price he couldn't buy that something not made for modelling was as good and didn't have the magical properties that modelling required.
It seems I spend far to much time watching YouTube videos to learn how to effectively use a new product line. More and more I spend more time learning and perusing new products rather than at the bench.
So I just made a fake order, and put about a 150€ worth of light stuff like brushes etc. to the shopping basked and went to checkout, I didn't get extra 18€ charged. With you spending 300€+ on stuff and from what could be briefly seen from your shopping basket, there was quite some paints and some tools included, I am guessing you just crossed that 5kg mark where you have to pay extra shipping cost for bulky shipment and I don't see anything wrong with that. I mean, you have free shipping conditions option in the top menu clearly visible with everything described pretty neatly.
As for you paying the VAT I don't see where the problem is? It is the post-Brexit reality. I just received custom post notification for the Paradise Lost book that's worth just north of 100€ with s&h and I expect to pay around 25-30€ to customs for VAT and their extra charges. I am not trying to defend AK in this case, but it is just the way it is. Unless the company has IOSS system where they charge you VAT in advance and you don't have to pay it to customs when you get the shipment but either case you are gonna pay it.
As for the quality of their products - I use some, but prefer either Mig's Ammo stuff or as in the case of your acryllic pencils - stuff from local art store.
If thats the case, they should display that, but as i showed, they didnt. There were a list of companies that this applied to, but the UK was not one of them. I could understand this from a small company, but one that operates on this level? nah. And i dont think its bad, or wrong, to expect a higher level of operation from such a company
That’s a real bad purchase experience, and I agree with your remark about AK website info on terms and conditions for shipping policies being a bit confusing and probably misleading. That said I purchase the occasional kit regularly from their webshop, the prices are usually very competitive, and never had any issues with unexpected extra costs, but then I live “next door” to Spain, so no fuss with customs and stuff.
I won’t go about their own product range quality, like Sebastien I too find some better than others, but that’s the usual with all brands out there. Take all new advertise products with a grain of salt is my policy, AK or elsewhere.
Thanks for sharing. One should be able to contest these charges. It would serve the manufactures as bad press cuts into sales.
Post Brexit shipping rules may be part of what you experience as well. paperwork and customs.
Myself, I Try to buy from Hobby stores that represent their products. That is a good firewall and keeps the small Store or hobby operator alive as we are ourselves nothing but small pawns in the money game.
As to AK, I think they have way too many products that they could not have developed By themselves. Possibly they are the middle men in the very large pigment industry. Pencils ? Try setting up a factory for that and make it pay for the investment with sales to our hobby. Most Art supply stores have test pencils you can try .
I've made the decision to only buy from local online hobby stores from now on. It should avoid this issue as well as look after the future of shops like these
I made the decision a while back to only buy from my side of the pond, hobby shops, retailers in Canada or occasionally from either Ebay or the an american retailer but before doing so, always request what the shipping cost will be before committing to complete the purchase.
I understand you frustration, shipping costs can be surprisingly high in some cases. Also, the post-Brexit custom fees made me stop ordering from the UK, even though I love the hobby shops over there.
That book… I remember how desperate AK was to delete angry comments, trying to control the outrage, but made things even worse. Yes, the made an apology, but way too late.
I think it would have been an amazing book, if they simply presented the dioramas with historical background, and nothing else. But no, they had to make a step-be-step tutorial of making a gas chamber, with carefully selected AK products to represent human urine. I found the idea of commercialized genocides disgusting.
I mostly use their acrylic paints, those are fine, but other products are sometimes a “little bit hyped.” I think if you get a good set of carefully selected oil paints and a few pigments, you can get the same effect for much lower price.