kingtut49

My Feedback: (3)

My wife bought me a Scale BlitzRCWorks Art-Tech F-14 from Banana Hobbies for Christmas. Great, I thought, until I opened the box and found the key components missing. The wrong F-14 was sent, but I told them that I did not care as the color was not really important. The specially machined bolts to hold the swing wing on and let them move were missing as well as the stab spacers. I called the support number twice and emailed them twice without resolution. I have since emailed back and forth two more times and called them four times. At first I was told to make the piece myself and then when I protested, I was told that they would get it through the parts department. I asked to take the missing pieces from another plane and they said they would. Weeks went by and nothing and then I was told they would know in three days and would call…nothing. Next I was sent an invoice saying that it would be shipped in 4-7 days…nothing. Finally I was told that it was in the next shipment that they were going to receive (I was told that twice before)…you guessed it nothing. Their site said they have great customer support. It is now March and I have been at this since Dec 26th. I have been in the hobby since 1984 and have ordered from Banana hobbies before. As long as the product is correct, there is no problem.

rcmiket

Try this.


[email protected]

or this

[email protected]

Mike

Hellcat716

My Feedback: (2)

They are terrible to work with. I will never buy from them again.

lnelson

Hello, I am new here and this site is very interesting and informative. I am now glad to be a part of the community.
I too, have had an issue with Banana Hobbies. To be honest, I am new to RC aircraft, although I have been involved with RC boats for quite some time.
I wanted to become involved in flying, so I bought a BlitzRCworks F16 EDF from them. It was a low dollar way to become involved and if I crash the plane, nothing substantial lost. When I opened the package, all looked good, until I noticed the applied decals, such as the word "step" was spelled "stup". Ok, I understand the language barrier. However, the fuselage has an applied decal that reads "US Airforce...." The opposite side decal was applied backwards. Ok, bad language
skills again. Next, I found all the backing plates for the control horns missing as well as the nuts. The screws were there.
I tried calling, waited on hold much to long (40 minutes plus) and with no luck there tried the "live" support link. There, someone tried talking to me who had limited english and comprehensive skills. After about 4 go arounds, I was terminated, or cut off. All I really wanted was the backing plates for the control horns. Simple enough a request.
I understand the low quality of the kit, but missing parts, although low dollar, if I can find suitable replacements, is something I do not appreciate.
I am not too happy with the service (lack of) and having to track down missing parts.
However, the rest of the plane seems robust enough, although the servos appear a little weak. Time will tell.
Thank you for letting me vent.
Larry

AraTidwell

I donno about you guys but my eye is pretty good at spotting chinese crap

lnelson

I knew it would be imported, but certainly thought at least ALL the parts would be there. This is my first endeavor into rc planes/jets, so I did not want to spend too much.
Actually, regardless of the missing parts, it really is not too bad a jet. I can work around the lack of instructions, no transmitter instructions, etc. Some parts were sent from BH, after 2 weeks, but still not what I needed. I wrote them and this will be the last time. I do expect better service from anyone willing to take may money, regardless of how little it may be.
Had a chance to go through what I could on the F16. Seems to have a good amount of power, as at wide open throttle she tries hard to pull away from me. All else seems nice. Can't wait to get what I need and take her for a spin.

Speaking of missing parts, the missing 4 hole control horns I cannot find locally. I need 3 along with 3 backing plates and 12 screws. Can I use the Dubro 107 2 hole units? Will they be strong enough? Thank you.

AraTidwell

First off... a RC jet is NOT FOR BEGINNERS... There is about a 99.8% chance you will destroy the thing on its first flight.

skyblue

The problem is you don't speak Chinese.

lnelson

Ara. Thank you for your pm's. I do appreciate your comments and suggestions.
I knew I was in for a challenge and accept the fact I may be in over my head. Being an inexpensive jet, I am really not too unhappy and if I crash her, so be it. I can assure you it will not discourage my desire to fly. I will let you know how I did if I can ever find the missing parts from the kit, or modify something to work. Thanks again!  larry

Wap4life

My Feedback: (3)

I add my 2cents.  I purchase an Mig 29 for BH the $500 it worked great i received all the parts.  I hit a tree  and totaled the plan.  I have sinced ordered the kit version and it came it with a cracked outer box so some pieces were cracked in side.  They said they would shipped the pieces.

By they way the shipping was also great.  So no problem with BH for me. 

lnelson

I'm glad to hear that. But, it does not resolve the issue with my missing parts. They will not, nor have not contacted me, including a written letter 2 plus weeks ago.
The next time, I will look at other sellers and not BH. This is really too bad, as , as a newbe, I was really looking forward to some assistance when needed, be it replacement parts, service, technical help, etc. Kind of frustrating. Maybe I should stick to hand built RC speed boats....At leat they don't take your money and leave you hanging. Even at $100, it really is a shame. (on me) for not doing my homework first.

gary41

My Feedback: (5)

Have you received the replacement pieces, yet

Wap4life

My Feedback: (3)

i just sent the request in Thursday the 31st of march.

Tcoltpilot

For all concerned, just know that Banana Hobby is just a distributor and not the maker of the products. I would say do not fault the distributor on deffective merchandise. As far as parts missing that is another question that should be on the distributor for replacement. I would have gotten an RMA number and shipped it back and gotten a new one. As long as it is within the prescribed 30 days. I just got their Big A-10 and it took a total of 5 days to get it. This incuded a weekend. 3 days to assemble with pictures only in the constructions. It is a great looking aircraft to say the least. My advise is to buy their planes without the radio gear as it is defintely inferior. For the A-10, I removed the aileron and elevator servo's and replaced with HITEC HS-81's and used the Spectrum DX-7. (NOTE: Do not use the servos that come with plane on the ailerons or elevators, they may lock up or just burn up.) They sound really bad too. I had to use a reversing Y adapter for the elevator servo's. The battery it comes with is good and must be placed all the forward against the seat block. I opted to use only the canopy opening function and not the ejection part. After sitting in the sun at a display the hot glue holding the gear drive to open the canopy got soft and came off. I VPoxied this in place and it isn't going anywhere. I also used VPoxy on all the surfaces to be glued. Make sure you sand off the paint for the parts that will be glued together. The first flight of the A-10 was last night and must say I was extremely happy with the outcome. One great flight with a walk on landing. This plane flies very smoothly and you won't be disappointed. With 40 years of experiance in the hobby I give this plane a thumbs up with the way it looks, goes together and best of all flies. The misses I have already mentioned and don't use the glue that comes with the plane. Feel free to contact me on any Banana Hobby issue. I have not had any bad customer service with them. I don't work for Banana Hobby just had success with the company.

lnelson

I could not get ahold of them for an RMA number, either by phone, email or letter. Still no reply as of today, so I'm done with them. If anyone should ask my opinion, I will be honest. I will modify the jet and go from there. For my first foray into this side of RC sports, I am a little unhappy.

Troy1954

I am also having a problem with BH. Ordered the Blitzworks F-16 to have a cheap beater jet to abuse and be brave with. I ordered it at the end of January andassembled it after it arrived in February. We have not had much good weather here in the midwest to get out and fly. Finally last Sunday I took it to the field for its first flight. It flew great at first, but approximately 3 minutes into the flight everything went south. After getting the feel for it over two passes I turned it around and kicked it wide open. Within 10 second of it being maxed out it made a very loud "pop" and the motor began to race. I did my best to land it under no power but I was unable to avoid damage. Somehow all fiveblades on the EDF unit broke off. I have contacted BH and even sent pictures per their request. Now I am getting the silent treatment so it looks like I am out $100+. I will keep trying to get the bird replaced but they have a really bad customer service department. All BH cares about is sales and your satisfaction is not atop priority.

Troy1954

Here are some more photos of the BH Blitzworks F-16 with the EDF failure. My advice is to save your money and get an F-16 somewhere else. Only flew for about 3 to 3.5 minutes when EDF blades shattered.

Tcoltpilot

I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I too have had to order a missing part with pictures and still to date haven't received the part. So with that I made my own part that worked for what I needed. Sometimes that is why this is a hobby and you have to just suck it up sometimes. Even many years ago there would be some part missing and you just had to make the part yourself. When a company says thirty days from date of purchase, they mean exactly that. If you waited a month later to open up the kit and find things missing you're not going to get any replacement parts free of charge. It's best to open everything up once received and ensure you have all parts required. If there is a problem don't delay in trying to get a hold of someone. Keep trying and don't give up. Put everything back in the box if things are missing and get an RMA number and send the defective item back for a replacement. You'll still have to pay for the postage for shipping back. There is not much else you can do. Don't fault Pete as he just flies the planes for demo purposes. He is a good pilot. When I flew the A-10 yesturday, I didn't go to full power as the plane didn't need it. It flew very well at half throttle. I have heard and seen fan baldes coming apart with other companies planes also such as Nitro Planes and Hobby King. These jets are all made at the same factory in China. Sometimes Pete will answer the phone or live chat. You have to have lots of patience to get through. I haven't had experience not getting through to BH. For what it's worth. As of to date I have had the F-18 with retracts, F-4 which you can find on you tube, and now the A-10 soon to be on you tube. I am waiting on the 1/12th scale tank and should be here Friday. This has been for the past 3 years doing business with BH. If I see something I like I will still purchase from BH.

Regards
Tim

lnelson

Just a follow up to my experience with BH. Never received a reply. No replacements for the missing parts. Nothing.
I have completed the Blitzrcworks F16 and am very disappointed. The material it is made of is very weak, and I spent hours getting it set up. Quite frankly, it really is a cheap, low quality product.

On the other hand, after some research, I purchased an Air Field F-18 and let me say I was very surprised. It was ordered from a company called Electrified Hobbies, only after numerous emails to them, which were all answered in a prompt, efficient manner. The F18 was ordered Friday and received on the next Monday. When unpacked, all parts were accounted for, even the control horns missing from the BH kit were already installed!. The plane is very light, but the foam from which it is made is quite denser and rigid than the BH jet. Much stronger. Even the texture and finish was fantastic. Unlike the BH jet, even the applied decals were all spelt correctly and installed properly. I am very pleased with the quality of the jet and their support.

IF BH had given me half the support that Electrified Hobbied had, they would have had my repeat business. As a newbee, when I crash and burn, and I know I will, my money will go elsewhere in the future.

Tcoltpilot

To date I have four flights on the Banana Hobby A-10. I am very pleased with it's performance. I keep the flight time to five minutes which takes the battery down to 22.75 volts. This is average for an EDF jet with twin 70mm fans on a single 6s 4000 lipo. The landing gear works great. On landing the flaps aren't needed as the plane floats in for landing nose high as the real one. Slow rolls, 4 points and standard rolls are all excellent and axial. Go inverted and hold very little down elevator and tracks very straight without wandering. This plane is not pitch sensative either, even on high rates. The HITEC HS 81 servos on the ailerons and elevators are what I used to replace the preinstalled servos. It was worth the expense to do so and have a plane that I know is going to work. Next I'll be changing out the nose gear landing light with a high intensity white LED. The changing multicolor light just isn't the ticket for a scale airplane. I had to resolder the plug end for the canopy actuator as that was a little weak and broke from over flexing when removing the canopy to install the battery. Soldering made this much stronger. The nose gear didn't want to retract all the way. When the wheel rotated into the wheel well the nose gear light rubbed on the edge of the well. I used an #11 exato knife and cut a small slit in the foam where the light was rubbing and fixed the problem. 3 in the green as they say.

There was one person I know of who had a bad experiance with this plane as I watched it spin in and get totaled. He used the equipment that came with the plane which I felt was substandard anyway. The preinstalled aileron servo on his plane locked up in one direction causing the plane to spin in. He tried to fly the plane on the rudders but was unsuccessful. Therefore when I ordered mine, I opted not to get the radio but left the servos in. The reason for this was so I could use all their wire harnesses. The servos on that come with the plane are cheap, noisey and aren't worth the time to use. So with $80 worth of good seros I have a great flying A-10.

mobaddawg

Learned fron experience........ I bought a 50mm F-16 from them and ordered a set of 5 min and 30min epoxy...They only sent the 30min. I asked them about 3 times to send the 5 min epoxy. The just sent more 30min. I also ordered a R/C boat from them. They stopped it mid shipping even! And sent it to someone out and said they ran out of stock on the item.

mobaddawg

I find NP to be quite supperior to BH.

Tcoltpilot

Nitro Planes has some good EDF's but they don't have the A-10 that Banana Hobby has. Jets need retracts or at least hand launch without the landing gear. Out here in the desert there is no grass to sofly land a no wheel airplane. Most of the flying fields out here have nice hard surface runways. The Nitro Planes F-18 with retracts is a good flyer as a friend of mine has one and looks good. I just got the 1/12th scale tank from Banana Hobby and everything I ordered with it was there. As far as epoxy goes, it would be best just to go down to your local hobby shop and get it or hardware store. Remember to support your local community. Nuf said. Time to move on.

BuckeyeBomber01

I agree, NP is much better than BH. Their shipping is good, their customer service is excellent too. I forgot to add something to my shopping cart, and remembered the next day. Nice lil lady "holly" manually added it for me, no change in shiping costs. Much batter than BH. I dont know what Pete thinks he's doing, going from snowboarding and "modeling" to RC distribution. I mean, its one thing to lover the hobby, its another to get a business degree, find investors, and start a legitimate company. Hell, If i wanted to make some quick cash and upset allot of people I'd buy 100 planes from china for 50$ and sell them for 100$ too. But thats not a business. A business has ethics, and an overall goal. Note ETHICS. Keep em flyin boys!

Tcoltpilot

Well to date I have 22 flights on the Banana Hobby A-10. What a great flying EDF. I changed out the servo's on the ailerons and elevators. Not one hint of trouble flying this plane. Pete does not own or run Banana Hobby. He only flies the planes for them and puts out the videos. Most products on the market no matter where it comes from is marked up between 300 to 500%. Commerce 101. Until you actually run a business with overhead don't fault the business how they price their products. Again I have not had but one issue with Banana since I've been dealing with them the past 4 years. I always get great service. More pics on the A-10 coming.