Do not send money to THG Props

[gmoney]

I haven't posted very often here, but I have been lurking for years reading hundreds and hundreds of posts by Gazmosis, Pandatrooper, Ukswrath and many many others.  I've bought things from many of you on this site, Darman, Evilboy, JustJoseph63, and others.  This community is awesome, the encouragement and help given out unselfishly is a thing of beauty all by itself.  So many of you have helped with my build that I feel like the least I can do to give back is to warn others on this forum about scams.

 

 

 

 

Do not send money to Ron or Janet Kieser or their company THG Props in Eugene, OR.

 

 

 

 

 

I bought an ANH stunt helmet two years ago from ATA and the armor to go with it in May.  The last piece I needed was an E-11 kit, so I sent money in July of 2016 to THG Props for one of their unbreakable ANH kits.  Their post claimed that these kits ship in 6-8 weeks.

 

 

 

It has been six months since I paid for my kit.  I never received my kit and a few weeks ago I asked for my money back.  My money has not been refunded.  Ron did buy a used Explorer, here is a photo:

 

 

 

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I sent them payment through Etsy.com and since then they have quit using that website and are now using Ebay.

 

 

 

Ron is in the Cloud City Garrison and has used this forum in the past.  His alias is "Ronime".  I've sent him messages here, on Etsy, and on Facebook which have mostly been ignored.  I have recieved several messages saying "your kit will be shipped next week" which is obviously false.  Also, Ron has another stalling tactic where he prints a label for your shipment to trigger a "Your kit has been shipped" message from Etsy, but the tracking number shows only that a label has been printed. No package has been received for shipping by USPS.  Someone named Scott Markham posted the same thing on Facebook, so Ron and Janet are doing this to other people.

 

 

 

If anyone on here knows him feel free to forward a link to this post.  He is welcome to challenge my claims that he is engaging in fraud.  In fact, as of 12/28/16 THG Props has a post on eBay for these E-11 kits:

 

 

 

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If Ron or Janet ieser does read this post, you should take down this link.  How can you promise in good faith to ship something to someone in February when you don't have the inventory to meet orders taken in July?  

 

 

 

Also, has anyone here actually gotten an E-11 kit from THG Props in the last six months?  Please post a photo or reply with your experience doing business with THG Props.  

 

 

 

If you have been scammed by THG Props please post how much money you sent them and how long ago.  I would be very interested to learn how many other people are in this same situation.  Hopefully by exposing this kind of behavior we can protect others on FISD and minimize the number of scammers using this website. 

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[TK4205]

It's best to buy from detachment members that are always present. Nothing we can do about facebook or etsy sales.

 

A few years ago, a member from another garrison ripped me off for a couple hundred bucks. I joined his garrison forum just to call him out. I got mixed reviews from his garrison mates (understandably) some accused me of looking for trouble on their board. In the end, I got my stuff that I paid for.

 

Good luck and thanks for the heads up.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you for the heads-up, agree. We will definitely be keeping an eye on activities here at the FISD site. Good luck with the unfortunate situation.

[Trooperman]

Thank you for letting us know, I was close to ordering one of his E11 blasters, glad I didn't! hope your issue gets resolved in your favour.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Trooperman

[Daetrin[Admin]]

It's best to buy from detachment members that are always present. Nothing we can do about facebook or etsy sales.

 

A few years ago, a member from another garrison ripped me off for a couple hundred bucks. I joined his garrison forum just to call him out. I got mixed reviews from his garrison mates (understandably) some accused me of looking for trouble on their board. In the end, I got my stuff that I paid for.

 

Good luck and thanks for the heads up.

Truth. I'm very sorry to hear about your situation, and hope it works out to your satisfaction in the end.

[kman[TK]]

For what it's worth, I know of at least two people who have received their E11 kits from Ron in the past few months.

 

And I, personally, received one of his rubber M19 scopes just today.  Nice little scope, which I'll be using on a blaster I have.

 

 

I believe I saw a post on the THG Props FB page a couple of weeks ago stating that he had had some sort of health issue and had not been able to do any new moldings for a few months, and another one recently that he was up and running and making kits as fast as he could to fill backed up orders.

 

Beyond this specific information that I personally have been involved in (or personally read), I can't really make any comments about his full kits, or his handling of any particular cases.

 

But I don't believe any blanket blacklisting is warranted at this point, without additional information.

Edited December 29, 2016 by kman

[Trooperman]

I understand real life can get in the way! but communication is the key here! and to be fair he was well enough to start a new project.... his Jurassic Park jeep! so why not take care of Greg and the other guys who spent there hard earned cash on a prop they have yet to receive.!!

[keys[TK]]

I went through the same ordeal. 6+ months, no response, had to file with Etsy. Still then when I did get a response, it was another month back and forth before a shipping confirmation was received... then another 3 weeks until the tracking number was even valid. When I finally received the E-11 kit, it was in such horrible conditions there was no way I could salvage it. Bubbles I couldn't repair no matter how much time or effort I spent--- the folding stock was so bubbly that it's basically paper thin. Chalked it up to a huge mistake/loss and bought a Doopydoos.

Edited December 30, 2016 by duckie

[Ronime]

It has already been shipped, I told you it was shipped, and multiple times a day you spam my page demanding refunds and telling people not to use me.

 

It took way too long, and I am deeply sorry for it. This is why I am discontinuing orders for props and will be doing things different in the next month. 

 

Communication is one thing I am terrible at and I very much know it, and am trying to get better at it. 

[TK4205]

Hey Ron! Din't realize they were talking about you. How's it going? 

[Tacblue[TK]]

Sorry to hear about it. My sig other (81510) might have just ordered one for her up and coming TK, on my recommendation. Hopefully eveything goes smooth. And hope all works out for you.

[gmoney]

I did receive a blaster from THG Props on 12/31/2016. I honestly thought I wouldn't get anything, so I'm relieved about that. That said, I'm not very impressed. In July I paid for the solid one-piece rubber blaster that was unbreakable. THG had posted a link to a video on their Etsy.com site where they ran over it in a car. THAT was cool. That was what I wanted. The "kit" I got is not great.

 

Here is what I got for $185 plus shipping:

 

 

The grip/trigger assembly is good:

 

 

The Hengstler is all bubbly and some of the edges are messed up:

 

 

The power cylinders are just awful:

 

 

 

Detail on the receiver and bolt are ok, the bubbles on the edges will be difficult to fix:

 

 

 

The M38 scope (see the photo in post above I ran out of upload space) turned out the best of all the parts and looks great.

 

I'll need another T-rail as I need 2 long and 4 short, but got 1 long and 5 short. I'll also need to find some hex screws for the muzzle as they were not molded in.

 

Thanks everyone for all of your comments and concerns. Duckie, if you still have your kit I could use some of your parts.

 

G.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

It looks as if someone's dog had a field day with of a few of those pieces.

[Locitus[Admin]]

Yeah, those castings should not have gone out the door, let alone be sold.

[TK4205]

Yeah, those castings should not have gone out the door, let alone be sold.

I tend to agree. 

[Jaltrooper]

Thank you for the warning...glad I got my hyperfirm!

[jkno]

It looks as if someone's dog had a field day with of a few of those pieces.

 

It looks like it came from the exploding Death Star. Not good

[keys[TK]]

Your kit looks better than what I received. The only thing salvagable off mine is the scope minus a few bubbles on it. Tried in vain to patch some of the holes but there's no use. <br><br>

I'll get pics later this afternoon when I get home from work.<br><br>

Honestly I wish I had cancelled the order. If I had known the kit I would receive was this bad I would've done a charge back through the CC but it took so long to even ship.

[keys[TK]]

Greg-- sorry for the delay, was swamped this week.

 

I looked over what I received from THG, and honestly the only salvageable pieces are the scope and grip. I received 1 long 5 short T tracks as well (didn't catch that until I saw you mention it).

 

Attached is the various amounts of damage I noted. When I first received it I thought it was "normal" to have that many holes and went about trying to fill them in. By the time I got to the folding stock it's paper thin, more holes than actual rubber.

 

(let's hope the uploads work, I apparently can't forum very well lol)

[Jaltrooper]

Holy cow guys! I am sorry to see this kind of stuff. Very unfortunate. 

 

I went with a Hyperfirm fro Slavefive on the forums and was very pleased with the quality. Some of these "kits" scared me...and it looks like I dodged a big bullet because this particular one was in my top 3. 

 

I hope you somehow get your justice on this. 

[gmoney]

What material were you using to try and fill the holes?  

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

If you guys purchased these using PayPal, I would definitely contact them and explain the situation.  As long as you have plenty of photos of what you were expecting and what was delivered, you could very well get your money back.

[TK4205]

If you guys purchased these using PayPal, I would definitely contact them and explain the situation.  As long as you have plenty of photos of what you were expecting and what was delivered, you could very well get your money back.

Especially if this member has existing PP disputes.

 

Paypal considders these hoby products to have a high disasatisfaction rate to begin with. My accound is in a constant state of red-flag. I get funds frozen all of the time, pending "customer satisfaction", which means a week after the shipping date and only after I prove shipping.  Things have gotten better with paypal since I got a business license.

[keys[TK]]

Unfortunately I purchased through Etsy, and because I attempted to fix all of the problems with the piece, any claim I have would be ineligible for any sort of claim. I think I'm past the period to do a chargeback through the bank, anyway.

[darthweezy]

I just received my E-11 from THG today after 6 months of waiting... I share duckie's sentiments (and the original poster!)-nearly every piece is riddled with bubbles and holes. The folding stock is missing the end due to a large bubble so the stock won't even be functional. I could go on and on with the issues. I paid close to $200 for this and it is nowhere near what it was advertised on Etsy. I PMd THG pointing out all of the issues and so far no response. I too will chalk this up as a waste of time and money. I was really excited about purchasing a kit as I love prop replicas, costumes, and studio scale models. Could I make this into a nice prop? Sure. But the time and extra materials won't be worth it. The time bugs me the most- the amount I would have to put into it wouldn't make it fun anymore. If anyone has any suggestions for another E-11 vendor, I would appreciate it. Also looking for First Order Stormtrooper weapon vendors as well!