raabid
Posts: 182
Joined: 1/10/2003
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Status: offline
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Ok guys lets step back into reality. How important is this in the grand scheme of things. I dont get stressed over bad service at my LHS. I get stressed out about an $1800.00 mortgage payment that's due the week after my car just died.
Not all hobby stores are made equal. I have five hobby shops I frequent, and they are all different.
1. The crappy store. (25 minutes away) - This guy is in business to mock people and belittle their intelligence. They have a meagerly decent stock.....if your into nitro. Everything's way overpriced, and on the weekends you have to fight through the horde of weird fat older nerds playing RPG's in the corner.
2. The so-so store. (30 minutes away) - This guy has the personality of a wet noodle, he has a small stock selection, but has recently come to realize that electrics are the future, and has radically added a lot of electric stuff. He knows his inventory well, but you have to coax information out of him.
3. The good store. (1 hour away) - A family run store, typical train, plane, and model store. Their service is ok during the week, but they get a little swamped on the weekend. Their prices are competitive with the internet. They are always pleasant, but sometimes unknowledgable.
4. The great store. (15 minutes away) - A part time store ran by a retired modeler. Kept quietly tucked away in his barn behind the house. His inventory although not conviently displayed always, is organized, and even or lower than internet prices. Having flown airplanes for 50 years, he knows more about gassers than anyone I've met. He started buying some electric stuff two years ago, and still only carries about 10 percent of his stock in electrics, but he is the nicest guy in the world. He even has a free swap shop where there are consistently 10-15 planes for sale. It's a good thing he's tucked away because, a dishonest person could rob him blind.
5. The best store. (1 hours twenty minutes away) - Mecca, yes this is the hobby store, all other hobby stores aspire to be. Overstocked, overstaffed, I don't see how they stay in business. Oh wait a minute, yes I can they have the greatest customer service of any store I've been in, the employee's are proficient in all areas, but they all have their own expertises, planes, helis, cars, and they even have one of their guys playing with electrics so he can understand them better. Their prices are a little over internet, but it's worth it for the service and in stock items.
So before you bash the LHS, you must realize, that they are there to make a living, not to be your personal slave. People get too wrapped up in the customer is always right philosophy. They're not always right, but often because they think they are, they're rude. The guy behind the counter may have gotten into the store and hated it, but now can't get rid of it, so he's bitter. But you can't lump all stores together, they're just not the same.
Tom, I've been you your store. Well not physically, but I know the kind you mean. They probably were di**s, but that doesn't mean you have to go there again. Although, I would have been back two days later with my H-bird, hovering in front of their window, as I pulled my hand off the TX to flip them the bird.
****ascal, I worked in retail for twelve years, and there are plenty who want something for nothing. But most just want a smile, and someone who honestly wants to try and help them.
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RE: The guys at my local hobby shop suck - 
RE: The guys at my local hobby shop suck. - 