AirBearMA

My Feedback: (1)

I have discovered today that a $24.00 Hobbico Starter that Tower Hobbies shipped to me by their mistake has resulted in a trashing on my Credit Report.

I purchased a Hobbico Battery Charger and $800.00 of assorted parts and a Futaba 9C from them last May 2003. When they shipped it instead of the battery charger, they sent me a starter. I contacted their customer service as I had no use for their Hobbico Starter where I already owned a Sullivan Dynatron and Magenetron.

They were supposed to send me the battery charger and a prepaid shipping label so I could send the starter back to them. They sent me the battery charger but no shipping label.

I contacted them by phone and they said they would mail me a shipping label. After waiting a month, no mail with a shipping label. This went on for a few months of me calling, them promising, then not getting the label in the mail.

Finally I said the heck with it and it had been sitting in my cellar collecting dust.

I received a Email from Tower in December 2003 asking me to pay for this or it would be sent to collection. At this point I just wanted to end this mess and I gave them my credit card number by phone to close this mess out. I figured I could give the starter away for Xmas.

Today (Feb 04) I get a call from a collection agency AT WORK (Midstate Collection Solutions) demanding the money for this starter and that they had already reported it all to all 3 Credit Bureaus. I stated to them the whole story and they said I had to still pay up the $24 as Towers turned it over to them.

I was close to going postal.... I called Tower about this as well as checking my on line account purchase history on their site (I spent approx $5000 last year at Tower). I got the invoice number that they generated on this starter so I would have all the information available when I blasted them.

Towers said they had no record of me paying for this starter last Dec so they turned it over to their Collection agency. I checked my credit card history on line and sure enough there was no charge by Tower.

When I called Tower again telling them at this point I did not want to give them another nickel of buisness and that I wanted an address and reference number so I could send them back their mistake (at my expense) the invoice number they told me to write on the slip WAS NOT the invoice number that is posted in my account. Now I know why I wasn't charged as it would have been to pay an invalid invoice reference so they didn't charge me (or notify me of any problem)

The BIG PROBLEM now is that now I have a big blemish on my credit history that Towers collection agency says they will not remove EVEN AFTER TOWER GETS THEIR STARTER BACK.

Needless to say as a result of incompetence at Tower Hobbies, it will cost me to ship the $24 starter that they sent by mistake and it will cost me when I apply for credit anywhere for the next 7 to 10 years. Towers will not lift a finger to clear my credit history even though they get their crap back.

Have you got any Tower Hobby Horror stories and are there any lawyers out there who might have an opinion on how to deal with this problem.

JakeCarter

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I had a similar situation with them about 2 years ago. I ordered about $50 worth of stuff, can't remember exactly what it all was now but they ended up sending me double what I ordered. I got one box one day and one the next. Being an honest person I called them and let them know what happened. They said they would send me a pre paid shipping label. Nothing came after a few weeks, called back, they said they'd send another one, few more weeks, nothing. Then I got a call from Tower saying it would be sent to collections, I asked right then to be transfered to a manager, the lady told me that their supervisor was not in at the moment and I could call back later. I then asked to speak with whoever managed her supervisor, I was actually transfered to Kevin Hisel, the VP. He had the shipping label delivered overnight and that was the last I heard of it.
I would suggest that you call Tower and speak with someone in a position to do something about what happened. See if you can get Kevin or one of the other execs on the line and explain the situation, let them know that you have already posted this message here, they no doubt know of the site, and let them know that you will be more than happy to share with this forums readers how wonderful their company is once they resolve the issue They caused you grief by sending to collections when they shouldn't have, surely they have the power to undo it.

ekrcflyer

AirBear:

It is sad story. Unfortunately sh&^&%t like this happens here and there everytime. I remember when I had to fight my local hospital after they applied the payment for some procedures to wrong account. They sent it to collection, but when things cleared - they won't give me money back: "...we'll keep it on your account..." Duh! Over $600!!!!

Anyway. I don't think it is a big deal for your credit report - $24, one time... Nah. In addition, if there is any way you can get Tower to send you a letter clarifying what happened - you can make the copy of this letter and send it to all Credit agencies. They must (I beleive there is even a law about that) keep this letter in your file and make it available as a part of your credit report.

Worst comes to worse - you can send your own explanation as to what happened, and they have to do the same thing.

Good luck!!

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

I think if I were you, I would look up Bax on here, and talk to him about it. Explain it, fax him the copies, have him take care of it and have him get it taken care of. He is the man at hobbico and can help you. His name it Bill Baxter and is always more than willing to help. Don't waste time calling the people on the 800 line, talk to him and it will be taken care of quickly.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

You think that is bad....

My company has corporate VISA credit cards. These are company cards with he same # but diff officer names and all are the same bill. Like any VISA, we have a preset spending limit. My business partner had an abnormally large purchase than he needed to make. VISA declined saying he was over the limit... but it wan't over our total limit, just the limit on his actual card.

Fine, after about a 1hour call to VISA, VISA claimed we could use my card and we should be OK. So, we did. Declined again... abnormal purchase. OK, again a call to VISA. The said they would correct the decline due to abnormal spending. Finally, using my card, we were able to make the purchase.

But this put us right at our overall spending limit and the billing cycle was still a few weeks off. So, we send a check to VISA to pay off all cards such that we could use the cards for normal purchases. VISA received the check, but refused to apply it to our account until the end of the billing cycle anyway. They offered to return the money, but it would take 6 weeks for them to cut a check.

Fine, after some shuffling up the ranks at this particular VISA company and still getting nowhere, we decided we would ditch them at the next of the billing cycle. But before the cycle ends, we received a past due notice. It claimed we were past due a negative amount (that was the check we sent them) and we were billed a late fee for for paying in advance! That was last month... we are still trying to straighten that one out.

dershark3

Neandethal man had more effective communication than modern man has today.
How fast can we get this phone call over with? is the driving force behind how service reps will handle your call in most cases.
It's all just communication breakdown caused by a "I don't really care that much - when is payday? - wonder how long this job will last?" attitude of the people who are in place to resolve these things.
There are exceptions - few and far between.

Hypter

My Feedback: (2)

AirBearMA, sorry to hear that. I had something similar like that happen tome with a money order that Tower claimed was canceled. Turned out that it was a mistake with the printing of the MO, got it straight with Tower finally to where I can order from them again. But no the collection agency, still working on that. Its a big mess. How you get everything worked out.

mglavin

My Feedback: (31)

Bear

I would definitely take it up with a higher level at Tower... They can request the collection agency to remedy the situation.

If nothing else, you can file a dispute with the credit reporting agencies. They have 30 days to validate the claim or have to remove the derogatory report.

I once had a problem to the tune of $1800.00 with a large well known corporation. I could get no where with them. I spent many hours on the phone with collection agencies and more. The primary problem I was having fell upon deaf ears as the original creditor and reporting company has since been adsorbed by another company and they really did not care about my non-scenical problem... So I decided to slay the giant, I filed a small claims court proceeding for the $1,800.00 they claimed I owed plus punitive damages. In California this court is a means for the average individual with a monetary claim under $5,000.00 to bring others to court without benefit of attorneys and the fees associated thereof.

Low and behold they got concerned. Prior to actually stepping into court they agreed to remedy the error and call off the dogs... It’s kind of funny, when the table was turned and a claim leveled at them they had time and the where with all to settle the dispute...

H. Wayne S

My Feedback: (18)

Way to go Michael, good to know there is action to be taken if we only think it through. Touche.!

SDR-Hammer

If attempting to remedy the situation with some higher ups in the Tower organization doesn’t work. I suggest calling your states attorney generals office. I can confirm this certainly wakes people up and gets action.

Also I would suggest getting a copy of your credit report to see what is reported if anything. Sometimes these people attempting to collect will say that as a scare tactic. They don’t care that it’s not your fault because they don’t make money if they don’t collect. Can you tell I’ve been through a similar situation?

AirGar

My Feedback: (7)

I agree with Michael.

It sounds like you've made an all out effort to clear this to no avail. Slap a Small Claims suit on them, including an amount to cover your time, and you'll see how fast they git off their "you know what" when they're served.

Fight fire with fire.

Gary

scottrc

I agree with the above, take it up with both the business bureau and attorney general since you have evidence of completing a good faith transaction. That was the only way I was able to get out of my mess, and I was going to a lose a house!

I had a major problem with a mortgage company who went off-shore. They lost my transaction record when they sold my mortgage and the lien holder was not getting payments. For 11 months I made mortgage payments to the bank and they were not forwarding them. I didn not know anything until I got some nasty phone calls from a collection agency telling me to cough up $5600.00 or else they were going to start repossession actions against my assets. Try talking to a bunch a non-american, non-english speaking low paid people gets you nowhere. So I went to an attorney and he went to the state. The attorney general stated that they broke the law by not telling me they sold off my note and giving me the information to send my payments to. They had to clear everything within 5 days or pay some huge fines. I owed my attorney $1500.00 for his services.\

These big companies thrive off our inability to protect ourselves without having to go through a lot of time and financial resources to prove them wrong. Don't even get me started on insurance companies.

Scott

rsallen13

My Feedback: (1)

The simplest way to correct your credit report issue is to:

1) Write a letter, and provide documentation, to each or the three major credit agencies(Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian disputing the entry on your report. In some cases this can be done online. Once they receive this they are required to investigate the claim, and until this issue is resolved by the agency, it must not be displayed in your file. If it is resolved in your favor it will stay off. If it is not then it will be place back on your record, but your dispute will also still be noted as part of the record.

2) The credit agencies will then investigate the claim on your behalf.

3) The credit collection agencies must stop calling you while this is in dispute. (you will need a dispute file number from one of the agencies)

4) Return the item via a trackable method in the original unopened packaging and include that as part of your documentation.

5) Forward a copy of everything you provide to the credit agencies via Certified and Return Receipt to Towers in-house Credit and Collections Department Manager and request that they cease collections and correct their mistake.

6) Stop using Towers and switch to another mail order house or support a local hobby shop.

Just my two cents.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

So AirBear, where did you go? Have you done any of the suggestions given? Give us a follow up on it since you brought it up. Just curious if you have contacted Bax and gotten it taken care of.

ksechler

Airbear:
Sorry to hear about your problems, but I'm going to play devil's advocet. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I don't believe the whole stories coming out. I worked in collections in a past (thank god) life and know something about the industry. The first thing is this: the collection agency must notify you (typically via a letter) that the account has been sent to them. You have 30-days to dispute before it can be reported to a credit agency or they can take you to court or any other nasty stuff. If they didn't do this you should look up the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and hire an attorney. If they did then you probably should have been more proactive about getting the issue cleared up. It seems that there is a high level of GROSS incompetence in the workforce these days (not just Tower Hobbies) try calling any insurance company for example. The only way to counter that is to be persistant as heck and follow up on everything. I suspect that if you are polite and persistent you could run this up the ladder a few notches and get it cleared up, but be warned, you may need to call them 3-4 times a day for a week to do it. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck.

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

I use the "Let me speak to your supervisor please" approach. Usual answer "I'm the supervisor of this department". Question "Do you own the company" ? Answer "No". Then you must work for someone and that's who I want to talk to, and so on up the ladder. Usually only a couple of steps to the fix. I don't feel the least bit of guilt about having a couple of people fired. It has happened that way. The threat of small claims court is usually enough. Those who cannot or will not do the job they are hired for deserve a place in the unemployment line. I've even fired a couple myself. On the other hand I will go to the mat for an employee who is being verbally abused without extremely good cause.

rc247

Flyboy,

Who is Baxter and what is his relation to Tower Hobbies?

Just curious.

Bill

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

He is a moderator here, and customer service manager at Hobbico which owns tower. I had a problem with an engine I bought, couldn't get them to do anything about it, ended up talking to him, sent it to him, they fixed it and sent it back. It still didn't work right so I called him and he replaced it for me. Seems to be a good guy, seems to care about the customer, and is able to take care of the problem. It would be worth calling him or PMing him and asking him to help with the problem rather than getting bent about it. If he can't fix it, then do as others have said, but I think he would solve the problem quickly.

BiplaneCrasher

I read your post in disbelief. This hobby is to enjoy and relax, but now the reality comes in. I do feel for you guys and your credit happenings. I am sorry also to see that companies like FMA Direct, Tower and others loose the translation of the founders idea of customer service in liu of profit and corperate red tape. My employer looks great on paper and the stock market, but try dealing with my customers. Sometimes I am scared for my life when things go south. It works for the sales leaders and department managers down the line from the owners/president. They end up looking good at the meeting and get the best parking space. But the mistakes, and taking responibilty for them is even more importaint than the "sale".

I would be quicker to purchase agian from a company, even if they goofed and went as far as damaging my credit if they took care of the problem that they have created. No body in that office is proud to be at the water fountain later in the day boasting how many credit scores they have saved. The made the sale, but have now turned it over to another agency. They don't have to care anymore. Pass the buck baby!

It's too bad they can't stick to the origional principle of delivering the founders ideas, maybe someday it will all be a better world. Until then buy stuff through your local shop and avoid the corperate hobby store if at all possible. You have to see them in the supermarket after all and face them, not Tower or Hobbico. Plus they are quicker to give netter deals in some instances, more often than the giants.

Good Luck and Kick *ss!

Ed

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

I'm sure that by now AirBear has gotten a PM from Bax, but the problem is that the situation happened at all. Damaging someones credit in todays society is a very serious attack on a persons, or familys, ability to conduct their daily finances. It can, and often does, have a very serious long term effect on the persons ability to purchase large capital items, such as a home. It would seem that if all the evidence presented here was true and accurate, that there could be some basis for legal action, including possible damages. Personally, if the situation was mine, I would immediately consult with legal counsel.

In any case, I hope you get the situation corrected to your satisfaction soon. Needless to say, I quit doing business with any product distributed or owned by Great Planes, or through Tower, some time back. Same reasons, poor customer relations.

AirBearMA

My Feedback: (1)

I sent Tower Hobbies their starter back today Parcel Post Express as I wanted to make sure I could track exactly when someone over there received it. This way I won't get one of those "We never received it" responses later on. Since they never sent me the prepaid shipping sticker, it ended up costing me $28.00 to send their $24.00 mistake back to them.

It cost me more to ship the starter back to Tower than what it would have cost me to just give in and pay them for it. Right now it is just the pure principle that I will not give these people 1 cent more of my money. They are the ones who will lose my buisness and hopefully the buisness of others who discover how Tower Hobbies treats their customers. (If it happened to me, it can happen to you!)

Live Wire

One little fish in a big big stream, Life is hell.

radcon56

I bought plenty of product from tower and always have them ship to my work and never had any problem.One thing I always do is send a money order .

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

I use to use towerhobbies for 99% of my orders, but I find now that I need specific things and support the "smaller" companies. Ones that you actually know the owner, talk to them online, joke and have fun. You get things quicker, customer support is unmatched, and its easy whenever you have a problem because you KNOW the person.

Cajun

Unfortunately, it's a sad fact of life, that the larger a company gets, the worse it's customer service gets. WalMart is a good example. When Sam Walton ran the company customer service was the highest priority. Now, they not only don't have customer service, they want you to check yourself out.

I have a personal policy,,,a company does not have to appreciate my business, but it damned sure better act like it does.

As Shortmans says, I like doing business with the small web companies where you can call them and talk to the head honcho. I could list twenty of them here, but most know who they are. Ten years ago Tower had all of the R/C web business. Today we have numerous choices.

Maybe we need a thread here where guys could post the virtues of their favorite small web supplier. If they deserve our support by giving good service, let's tell the world about it right here.

Two of my favorites are RadicalR/C and Servo City. These people have always treated me right.

Cajun[8D]