Warning - don't buy anything from KA Engineering

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Warning - don't buy anything from KA Engineering
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flag Crossmaxx
O+
Posted: Mar 1, 2020 at 8:43 Quote
Hi,

Just wanted to warn anyone who is considering ordering anything from KA Engineering. Most of you probably don't know about this company, they are Ukrainian-based, offering some nicely machined N/W chainrings and pulleys not too dissimilar to Garbaruk.

Short version: don’t do it, some people have been waiting for their order for over a year so you are highly unlikely to get what you want within any sort of reasonable time frame – if at all.

Long version: I’m writing this post to provide some feedback on this shady business – which I couldn’t find when I looked around ahead of placing my order some five months ago. Despite not finding any feedback, I decided to order a chainring and pay via PayPal to have some sort of buyer protection, conscious of the fact that there was very little social media noise around the company in 2019 and hence giving the impression they might not be in business anymore.

Initially, everything seemed fine, I got an order confirmation and the transaction when through. Then weeks started to go by without any updates or activity whatsoever. So I started trying to get in touch with the guy behind the company (Alexander Kutikhin) via e-mail, Instagram, Facebook, and even phone, with very little albeit some success: he would pick up on every 20th call or so, and just make empty promises, stating the chainring had indeed shipped and that he would revert with tracking information soon.

This continued throughout November and December. In the end, I started a PayPal claim to get my money back as I realized this was looking more and more like a scam. It wasn’t easy, but eventually I got my money back. The guy promised he would ship me a chainring even though he refunded me, to which I said I would happily pay for the chainring once I’d actually receive it. Needless to say, two months after the refund, still no shipment. At some point I asked him a direct question on when I could expect to receive the chainring, and he basically flipped out and said that I got my money back and should shut up. He will also delete any comments on his Instagram posts that allude to the fact that people are not receiving what they’ve ordered.

To conclude: at best, there is a legitimate business behind this, and they just have some massive issues in both communicating and actually shipping orders. At worst, he has stopped production and is just trying to scam people for as much money as possible without any intent on actually delivering anything. Clearly, they have been producing chainrings in the past, and some renewed activity on Instagram in January brought my hopes up that they would actually start shipping the orders, but as of today, there is nothing to indicate that this company is what they make out to be.

I’ll update this post if and when I do receive the chainring I’ve been promised, but until then, my strongest advice is to not order anything from them, and if for some reason you still want to do it, use protection Wink (i.e. PayPal).
flag Ploutre
Posted: Mar 2, 2020 at 8:42 Quote
Oooh that reminds me it'll soon be the 1year anniversary of the chainring I never got!

I bought one in 2018, that was shipped within a few working days. Nice. Then decided in 2019 to buy one for the other bike. Well, that one didn't go so smooth, and I'm still kind of waiting for it? (I'm not)


So yea, definitely won't recommend.
flag lance-h
O+ FL
Posted: Mar 28, 2020 at 17:21 Quote
I got two rings and one set of pulleys from them with no issues. Too bad about your scenario
flag Crossmaxx
O+
Posted: Apr 10, 2020 at 12:37 Quote
lance-h wrote:
I got two rings and one set of pulleys from them with no issues. Too bad about your scenario
When was this? Let me guess - not during the last year and a half?
flag lance-h
O+ FL
Posted: Apr 10, 2020 at 14:08 Quote
True.

I think it was two seasons ago.
flag Crossmaxx
O+
Posted: Apr 13, 2020 at 11:44 Quote
Undoubtedly this company has delivered products to customers in the past, but from what I've heard, people who've ordered from early 2019 and onwards (i.e more than a year ago) have not received their orders nor a refund.
flag Ploutre
Posted: Apr 13, 2020 at 12:03 Quote
Yep, that's the case for me.
flag twiggy
O+
Posted: Jan 15, 2021 at 13:19 Quote
Same here....still waiting for a chainring I ordered in 2018 Razz
flag lance-h
O+ FL
Posted: Jan 15, 2021 at 18:37 Quote
If you guys are looking for a chainring that looks close to the KA Eng stuff, Works Components makes some that are similar.
flag Darkstar187
O+
Posted: Jan 20, 2021 at 15:37 Quote
So I am another person who got burned by them I ordered a chainring and never received it.
flag Godless
Posted: Feb 26, 2021 at 5:59 Quote
Me too. Ordered twice. First order was canceled within 6 months,and was refunded. Even if they told me week after week that I was going to get my order. Fast forward a year later and decided to place an other order. Same scenario week after week, yes we are shipping your order in 2 weeks blah blah blah. I ended up waiting again, I was going to cancel but ended up getting scammed. Never sent anything. No website anymore. No chance of getting anything at this point. Live and learn.
flag Luchydh
Posted: May 30, 2022 at 17:15 Quote
thanks for sharing this information
flag eliflap
Posted: Dec 16, 2022 at 3:22 Quote
Damn me ... if I had read this thread on May

7 months and counting
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