DjBac

I wanted to display in public my frustration with Horizon Hobby, in order to see if I am the only one. In the beginning of December I mailed them my JR 12X from Greece to US (for a DSMX upgrade and a switch replacement) after a lot of e-mails that were not instructive at all. At 12/6/11 the TX checked in and in the Service center status it was saying Holding for Payment. Today 12/29 (23 days later) it STILL says the same. Throughout this period of time I’ve contacted Horizon Hobby with a LOT of e-mails and even called them in order to check the status. Unfortunately there was no definite answer, but after 21 days they finally informed that they cannot do the DSMX upgrade, since the TX will be shipped back to Greece and they haven’t even checked for the switch replacement.

Has anyone else had a similar treatment from HH?
If I hadn’t contacted them, then what? Would the TX stay there forever? Moreover after a lot of e-mails they finally informed that I had to call them and after a lot of e-mails AGAIN they informed me that they couldn’t do the upgrade.

karolh

I have had very little dealings with Horiozon but not withstanding, this is a most unfortunate situation.

Karol

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

In fairness I would have contacted them before you ever sent your transmitter there to ensure they could do an upgrade on a european transmitter.

DjBac

That's the problem! I had contacted them, and not just once as you can read above.

rexbirk

I have had nothing but fine service from them. They have been fast and fair with me.

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

did you contact them BEFORE you sent it to them?

DjBac

Of course, I mention it in my first post! I had explained them the whole story, where it had been bought from and where I live.

Dick T.

My Feedback: (243)

Does Horizon hold exclusive JR rights worldwide? If not, send it to another service center with better communications skills.

If they hold the exclusive then start up the chain of command within Horizon until you get someone to pay attention and explain the issue. If that proves to be a dead end contact JR directly.

If there is a reason the 12X cannot be upgraded other owners and prospects need to know.

luv2flyrc

My Feedback: (6)

When you sent HH the original email inquiring about the possibility of upgrading your 12x, was the email as clear as your posts here? If so, I completely understand the misunderstanding. Your posts are very confusing, it may be that English is not your first language?

Regards,

Mike

slarty

The problem is that we have JR AND Horizon based technology, as Horizon is the Dealer for JR in the Americas AND owner of Spektrum, they can update JR systems from DSM2 to DSMX.

Everywhere else has their own Spektrum Dealership and seperate JR Dealership. THIS is where the problem lies, outside the USA Horizon centres (such as the UK where he first contacted Horizon) are not allowed to touch JR equipments, and JR centres are not allowed access to Spektrums DSMX as JR have not made a deal to distribute DSMX unless to Horizon.


So would be no use contacting JR........

He did contact the European Service Centre who advised him to contact Horizon which he did. Horizon need to resolve this problem.

Contact Andy Kunz (Spektrum) who lurks on this forum and ask for a name to contact at HH who has the authority to sort it out.

onewasp

DjBac

A large portion of your original post, I.E. reference to emails and at least one phone call to HH
does not seem to hold water.

ALL purchase(s) of a DSMX update is done here : http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/spektrum-dsmx-tx-add-on-12x-tx-only-JRP12XUPG

The purchase is made prior to receiving the shipping label/instructions etc.
Yet you shipped yours independently of this procedure.
Pull up the site and read through it to understand how it is supposed to be done.

This site will also indicate that the DSMX update is available in the USA, Puerto Rico and Canada.
It is shown in red letters BTW.
That's it on locations. No other locations are listed.

Based upon these facts and the site graphics/information it seems rather unlikely that you received approval to send in your radio from Greece for a DSMX upgrade. If it had been approved you would have paid and received a shipping label and shipping instructions prior to your shipping the radio.

I had mine converted to DSMX when the availability was first announced and that was the only method available then. It appears that that procedure is still the only one in use as the site ID'd above is current.
Their procedure literally assures that the parts and procedures required for the conversion are reserved in your name before you ship it to HH.

I sent you a PM explaining what I thought the problem was (the above except in more detail on 1/1/2012)
In that PM I also gave you the name of a person at HH USA to contact as your problem involves:
1) purchasing a USA spec JR radio on a "gray market" basis and having it shipped to a European address which is outside HH's JR distribution area.
HH USA cannot ship a USA spec radio or for that matter any JR radio they sell to Europe or any other geographic area for which they are not an approved JR distributor.
Slarty touches on this in his accurate post.
2) based upon the only known procedure available to purchase a DSMX update you clearly have gone outside their (HH USA) system
3) based upon the data you have furnished your problem is between you and the distributor from whom you purchased the radio .
4) the USA spec JR 12X is different than the European version 12X. To wit: the USA 12X has analog throttle trim and appropriate software while the European version has all digital trims and the appropriate software.
Generally the RF output level is also higher than that permitted in other countries.
I believe (but without absolute certainty) that the European 12X also utilizes a modular RF section while the current US version is a dedicated 2.4GHz set.
It would seem that the US 12X is not an approved radio for Europe and that you must have known that when you purchased it initially.


Repeating what slarty has pointed out, the European service sites cannot service DSM2 or DSMX and do not have the
schematic, software etc. to do so .
Conversely the US JR service site (HH) is in the same position on the European version.

By purchasing outside the appropriate JR distribution set up you have created a circumstance where you now have an orphan that no one can touch and 1) stay within distribution agreements and 2) within the legal RF constraints existing in Europe and elsewhere.

Unfortunately it seems you are caught in a web of your own making and that the only way out will require legal (approved RF power levels) and distribution agreement modifications (JR approved distribution areas) gymnastics.

I wish you well but to blame HH for your problems is to ignore the true facts.

rmh

Bad service?
How about bad choices?
The explanations offered lead me to suspect that the problem is really one of license (who has authority and where the authority starts n stops.
This problem will repeat as time goes on.
The ability to purchase any version wanted has no limits BUT once the boundries of authorized (licensed) sales/repair are ignored - the buyer is likely to find themselves in a bind.
True for radios - cars - many electronics -etc..

onewasp

rmh

Similar to the YS service issue, now past, on foreign purchased engines (not through the USA YS distributor) sent in for "warranty" etc. repairs.

They had to add engraved serial numbers to their USA distributed engines to get it under control.
No serial number = no service.

gxaid

I personally doubt that schematic, software etc. of DSM2 or DSMX technology are not available to the European HH service sites since DSMX transmitters under the brand of Spektrum are widely sold both in UK and mainland Europe. Then seems like it is most probably a JR brand/company agreement issue and not one of RF constraints.

Putting aside the blur issue of link protocols, DjBac also refers to a switch replacement, also not serviced as far as I understand.

Borrowing DjBac’s quote:
“…I mailed them my JR 12X from Greece to US (for a DSMX upgrade and a switch replacement) AFTER a lot of e-mails that were not instructive at all”

So, besides the fact he did contact HH prior to the shipment, what is more instructive than a neat message “Sorry sir, we are not able to service Greece from the US JR service site” accompanied by the respective official link and the site that IS ABLE to service the customer from Greece. A fellow forumist did present this link in a previous post, why should this be difficult or – I don’t know – maybe out of scope for the service company itself to do?

Why should somebody risk the (overseas) back and forth travel of his precious equipment (after all we are not talking a $200 transmitter…) as well as a non-productive downtime of more than 20 days due to the lack of a clear cut answer from the very beginning.

If “terrible service” sounds exaggerated to some is fine, but willing to be fair, this is far from basic appropriate service for sure, not just “customer’s bad choice”.
Mind you, I am a satisfied HH Germany customer after a service issue I had once with my Spektrum DX6i.
George

dinorc

I live in Italy, please refer to my post:"Spektrum Evolution Receiver"...but I e-mailed HH in the USA....same treatment....No further comments!
Dino

Free Bird

Did you ever pay as requested? I didn't see anything in the posts about payment. Just asking..........

FB

yorkiepap

My Feedback: (18)

Hey guys,
Somehow, there is a blurred picture here. I just, yesterday, called the HH Service Center toll-free # for an inquiry for a repair on my JR10X. I left my phone# & got a call-back less than 30min. Ispoke to the service rep. & relayed my needed repairs & was given the follow-up steps on the website to print out the service order & information needed to send my unit in. The service rep, Ken, was quite accomodating, very polite, answered all my queries, & gave me a rough estimate of costs &indicated my unit would totally checked overall to insure my satisfaction. To say I was elated would be an understatement. He also indicated that this is a good time of year as the return time would be quite short. I printed out the repair request, signed/dated it, &sent it out this morning with the Ticket# provided by Ken on the label that makes it easier for the service dept. to get the unit to the proper repair station........extremely simple to do. I find this kind of service & commitment to customer satisfaction to be quite refreshing in this day of poor customer service with many companies. Somehow, Ifind there was a lack of "homework" by the OP to determine what steps needed to be initiated prior to sending his unit in for repair/service, especially an individual residing outside the CONUS. Would like to see the outcome of this situation with the OP.

Denny