Where not to buy a DRO from HXX
#1
Here a bit of a story for anyone thinking of buying a DRO through this company.
Shenzhen Hengxingxing Precision Instrument Co,Ltd

I thought I would post this so no one else got stung by them.
I had planned to post up here recommending this company after buying them because they where a good deal, but it has turned into a nightmare.

I have had 3 DRO's (2 Meister's, 1x Sino) for around 6-7 years and my lathe Meister XPOS3 readout went down a bit over a year ago now which was only 5 year old at the time and not used every day, the seller offered to sell me a new board for $135 exchange which I thought was fair as it did cost me $950 back in the day when the dollar was 67c to the US dollar.
It was up to me to pay the cost to send my board back which I was fine
with.

I separated from my wife not long after so I had other things on my mind and didn't even have my lathe at that stage. After this last Christmas (about 8 -9 months latter) I contacted the Meister guy and explained the situation and that I wanted to buy the board for the $135 we had spoken about.
He said that they had changed the layout so I had to buy the board and the complete front and to use my old back with all the sockets, switch, etc, then he hit me with a $390 price. These days buy a whole new system with scales for that, and when I emailed him several times he didn't reply.

I was using the other milling Meister DRO on the lathe for the time being, but I went looking for a new one for it on Ali express, I was only after the readout as I have plenty of scales.

When I was looking I was only going to buy a 3 axis lathe readout to replace that one and they where around $70 from this company from memory, and then I spotted a 4 axis which I had never seen before for around $145 which they said would suited lathes, I had planned on putting a digital vernier type scale on the tail stock, but at this price and having spare scales here I thought it would be a far better system as I have found the cheap digital vernier type do play up sometimes depending on the weather.

While I was looking I also spotted a 5 axis mill one from them for $163 which would save me changing the knee and quill scale over all the time, and I could use the other 5th axis for the ram to go with the Y axis as I have spare scales that I mentioned above. It's a bit of an over kill, but would come in handy for some jobs.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/830111...adout.html

I had looked into buying a CNC TTL converter for the quill and knee which married to signals into one for routers with 2 stepper motors etc, and would suit 2 scales as they are TTL, the only problem was it was $120 plus post and is unavailable now.

So after getting carried away a bit I thought why not spoil myself with all the crap I have been though and I bought a 4 and 5 axis DRO direct through Paypal from the Hong Kong manufacturer along with a 1um scale ($66)for the cross slide as they where not available when I bought my systems 6 years ago from Meister, and it's been a nightmare to say the least.
I also asked to buy 10 D type plugs to change over my round plugs of the Meister to suit there system and they said they would throw them in for free.
They did charge me a $20 bank fee on top and the whole lot came to $500 with postage.

After receiving them around 5 days latter I noticed one was the wrong model case, it was still a 5 axis but in a different case than I ordered and cheaper, as I paid extra for the "Golden 5 axis one as they call it" so they would both function the same and have the same button orientation. Their excuse was the other ones where still in Chinese language, funny they where selling them on Ali express all the time in English.

I also found the 4 axis was not a lathe readout, but a mill readout. It had a lot of scratches and dents on it as well as on the screens which was done before packing as it was under the foam. He said he would discount my next order to make up for the damage to the case, and I asked that he send me a new overlay so I could replace it as it will be annoying to look through.

The 5 axis didn't have a mounting bracket to go on the readout and when questioned they said they didn't have a mount for 3 screws only 4 like the "Golden one" (which was the one I ordered) The other DRO had 3 different type of screw heads holding it's bracket on, why I don't know.

I turn them on and find the calculators don't work, when you push = they say out.
They didn't know how to get into the advanced menu and only supplied a 3 axis model manual (if you could call it that) with both systems, After around 10 emails they finally spoke to someone and the button was hidden under the model number. The transfer from the calculator to an axis didn't work either.

I emailed about all the problems and weeks go by while they are supposedly testing the mother boards they have there (while there still available on Ali Express to buy) and one of there excuses was these are new for 2013, you would think they would have tested them first.

After a few more weeks I said I would buy another scale to save them on shipping and to help out, hoping this would get them moving quicker and understanding the position there in with freight etc.
So I bought a 600mm 1um scale that was $78, postage $32 and the $10 bank fee, so this was another $120 I paid them. I didn't get any discount for the damage on the DRO like he said he would, but really just wanted these systems working.

Around 14 days after I paid for these I started a Paypal dispute on the original purchase as it had been 38 days since I originally paid for the DRO's and didn't want to get caught out with going over time if they didn't end up working, seeing all the trouble I am already having. I have been stung by that before and some Chinese sellers actually ask you to wait another week knowing it will go over the claim date.

Waiting for my parcel to turn up all this time I sent them an email telling them the mother boards, over lay and scale etc had not turned up yet and could I have the tracking number as I was waiting on them, and they replied they would send them the next day? This was 15 days after I paid and the managers excuse was he has been on holidays, bloody good for him.

They send them 2 days latter on a Tuesday night at 10:40pm and sent me an email asking me to drop the Paypal dispute as they had been sent, I just ignored it as I wanted to see them working first. I think it was the Paypal dispute that got them moving.

They arrived on the Thursday at 8:30am after only 2 days and I put the new mother boards in to find that the memory buttons on the calculator don't work and the buttons to transfer the calculator reading over to the axis doesn't still doesn't work either.

I found the boards are the same in both, and the 4 axis has provision for the 5th axis, so they lied earlier about the other one being in Chinese as they are the same boards in both models, only the cases are different. When I opened them up there where only 3 screws in each holding the boards in, and there where spots for at least another 6 screws that where missing.
There was no front over lay sent to replace the scratched one
Still no mounting bracket, but instead they send 2 new mounting arms which are 50x25mm steel tube.

The scales work fine and are the double lipped seal type, so no
complaints there.

They sent me an email a few days latter
i have check the product have arrived your country.
can you cancel the application for drawback? (Paypal)

I replied telling them about the calculator memory button problems along with the transfer buttons, and also the over lay not being sent. I didn't even bother about the mounting bracket.
I also said I was not happy about all of this.

They email back with this below.
i am also very tired, too.
about this business, i don't know how to expain that.

All through the emails I have been polite to them, but I will tell you it's been hard sometimes. I am a very patient person but boy they have pushed me to the edge. I just looked and I have 38 emails to the girl Scenery, and 40 to the manager who is named Locket working all this out and still no better off really.
This company is a joke and I will never deal with them again. I escalated the Paypal claim last week and today I have my partial refund through Paypal that I asked for which I thought was fair on both the seller and myself, the seller never replied to it. The language barrier was bad enough without this on top.
I have dealt with hundreds of Chinese sellers over the years, but never had problems like I have had with this one.

The scales have HXX on them, I don't know how long they have been in business but at this rate it wont be long. They have no idea of what there selling, how it works, and they need to iron out all the bugs in them, they are supposed to be the manufacturer. From what I can see they are selling all mill DRO's but they advertise them as multi machine.

This is the company on Ali express
And this is the 5 axis DRO
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/830111...adout.html

And this is there website
http://en.szhxx.com/_d271552726.htm

Looking today to get the link I see someone else has had problems, but they went through Ali express so could leave feed back where I couldn't
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/feedback...09805.html
His comments
DRO does not function, supplier is a nice person but will only send me a replacement if i buy a another DRO but i already lost my client and my money, also the sensor bars connectors arrived damaged and the fasteners were rusted i will not buy from this supplyer again, I'm sorry.



To top it all off
I had an email from Ali express a few weeks back for items that match my recent search on there and of all things there was a XPOS3 from another manufacturer, LOL
I inquired about buying a board as they where identical, but they said they only sell them complete, no parts. Their price for a complete unit was $164, just goes to show the Meister guy was trying to scam money out of me, where all this drama started.

So be really wary of this company. Home shops can't afford to be laying out this sort of money for faulty goods. I did not right this to bad mough the company, just to warn other members here.
One DRO I do recomend is the Sino's from the guy on ebay, they are a good (multi) machine DRO and have stood the test of time.

Dave
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#2
I'm sorry to hear of the troubles. Over here in the US, most of us are reluctant to deal directly with any Chinese suppliers because the distance lends itself to a "who cares, he's 12,000 miles away" kind of attitude. I can understand why you in AUS and NZ may have to deal with them. It's the cost of everything there in your countries being so outrageously high for everything mechanical.

Over here, it seems the go-to guys are "DRO-Pros". Good products, fair prices and good customer service is about all I've heard about them.

Thanks for sharing that.
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#3
That's a real bummer Dave. Thanks for sharing your experiences with that vendor. Hopefully it'll help keep anyone else here from getting screwed.

Ed
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#4
That really sucks Dave. Thanks for the heads up.

I've been keeping an eye on DROs and plan to get one once I get my mill up an running. I may also get one for my lathe as the dials are pretty much non-existent and the cross slide lead screw is a weird pitch.

I have spoken to the The DRO Store which is based in Singapore and they seem helpful and appear to know what they are selling. The other is Machine-tool and DRO which is in China but I haven't contacted them.
Hunting American dentists since 2015.
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#5
(07-08-2013, 10:02 PM)Dave J Wrote: ---------<snip>--------------

All through the emails I have been polite to them, but I will tell you it's been hard sometimes. I am a very patient person but boy they have pushed me to the edge.

They have no idea of what there selling, how it works,

Dave

I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a lousy experience Dave. I feel your pain because I am currently going through a similar battle with a US company/individual through ebay/paypal. They also don't have a clue of what it is they are selling. They are trying to pass it off as something else. It's not going to end well for one (or both) of us I'm afraid.

Thanks for the warning about the fly-by-night DRO company. That info could save another member a lot of grief someday.
Willie
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#6
That really sucks Dave, sorry for all your 'pain'. There are just too many of this sort of sellers around these days.
Smiley-eatdrink004
DaveH
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#7
Hi Guys thanks.
I did not end up that out of pocket as I got $350 back and the DRO's are workable, they just don't have the memory buttons in the calculator and they will transfer the axis number to the calculator, but not back to the axis.
The case is still scratched which is no real big deal, but the buttons on the other one with the wrong case are terrible. With the front overlay I have been able to remove part of it and blend the scratch from behind. It was worth a try as I had nothing to loose. As for the dents in the screens they are not removable.

They are very light DRO,s where the others I have are die cast cases, other that the XPOS3.

I thought I would throw up some pictures as we all like them, the scratch damage was all over but I only posted a few photos.
You can see the screen scratch and dents, there where also dents on other screens.
In the 2 photos with the screen shot I can't count how many photos I took trying to get the photo when it flashed "OUT" after pushing equals as it was a split second.
If you pushed equals again it then said "-1.0001"

Dave


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#8
Yikes! Dave. I would be pissed about that also. You pay for new, you should get new. That looks like a returned item.

Ed
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#9
Smiley-signs009
Smiley-eatdrink004
DaveH
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#10
I was pissed off, but was more concerned with working with them to fix the problem so I didn't loose my money.
Ed they told me the damage was done in transit when the damage was under the thick tight foam packing, no way could it have been done. I think they where trying to get the DHL to pay for it in the beginning. Hopefully this comes up in google searches and brings their new customers here to read about these problems.

Damage and problems aside, it will be good for some jobs having the Y axis and ram scales so if I have to move the ram halfway through a job like I have done, I still know where I am. I always align the ram and the Y axis to run true to each other.
Having the quill and knee with separate readouts instead of changing the cables each time like I did with the 3 axis will be a lot better.

I still need to see how I will mount the lathe tail stock glass scale on it, but will figure out something.
Being a milling DRO I can use the holes in an angle line to set my compound and taper attachment at an angle, and I set the X axis cross slide axis to 0.002mm instead of 0.001mm to get diameter instead of radius.
The dedicated lathe readouts have a taper button and a radius/diameter button which makes it easier, but I have been working with a mill DRO on the lathe for some time now so know how to do it.

The 5th axis on the DRO can either be linear or rotary if needed, the Rotary mode goes down to 0000.00.00 for Degrees, minutes and seconds. Not sure if I will ever use it as that takes away one of the needed axis's.

Would not be bad readouts if they just work out the bugs, but at this stage it's unlikely.

With this latest buy I was going to sell some DRO gear to recoup some money as I have 5 x 3-5 axis DRO's and 15 odd scales, but with the problems I have had I might be better off keeping them just in case.
Have the spare milling one for when the lathe broke down was a good because I would be lost without them after using them for so many years, I hate dial and counting hand wheels, LOL.

Dave
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