Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (Full Version)

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Kmot -> Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/9/2004 11:50:02 PM)

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Based upon the advice given by a few RCU members, I bought Century Jet retracts fro my P-47. I bought them thru Tower Hobbies. I also ordered, thru Century Jet, a P-47 retractable tailwheel and gear door standoffs. That was on Feb 24. I received my order from Tower Hobbies in 2 days. One of the oleo struts is defective out of the box. It sticks. And if you force it to move it scrapes and galls and it also leaks lube. Tower says thet CJ wants to deal with defects on its own. So I contacted the Tech Dept at CJ. I have heard nothing back.

I also never received my order from CJ yet for the tailwheel. It takes no longer than 5 days for shipping UPS across the country and 2 days if it goes US mail. After a week I contacted CJ and asked where my order is. No reply. It's been 2 weeks since I ordered the tailwheel. They took my money right away. And I have not received it. I have a brand new out of the box defective landing gear, and they won't respond to my warranty request.

I guess it would be fair to say I have been screwed by Century Jet!! [sm=punching.gif]



TLH101 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 12:05:47 AM)

Do a search, and I think you will find others with the same customer service problems[8|]. They sure like to charge your card and then make you wait. Every set of CJ retracts I now own, have were purchased second hand. If I have to deal directly with C/J ever again, it will be too soon. Just keep calling and pestering them, they will get tired of dealing with you soon and take care of the problem. That's what I, and another local modeler had to do.[:o]



voyager_663rd -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 12:24:27 AM)

Thanks for the headsup Kmot. I'm getting tired of waiting for Sierra's for the TF Corsair and was strongly considering the CJ's.

HOWEVER, I am now leaning strongly towards unitracts (albeit their price kinda scares me). Thanks.



JWN -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 12:36:24 AM)

Sounds like it's time to simply return the gear to Tower and let them deal with CJ.

John



lrb75 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:35:59 AM)

I had problems getting responses via email. Try the phone. Bruce was very helpful when I talked to him.



F4u5 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:53:43 AM)

CJM sucks.......period.



cknaack -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:58:12 AM)

Phone, email, talk is cheap.
My best friend had a set that came with a Don Smith HellCat. On the second landing (a very hard landing) the gear appeared to need repair. I am surprised that the gear did not tear out of the wing. He sent the gear back to CJ for repairs Next Day Air. After a few days, CJ calls and says that he has the old version gear, and for a small fee, (about $100) they can be updated, and for no charge they will even set the spring weight to the aircraft. He goes for it and has the gear sent back NDA. Upon receipt, he opens the box and installs the gear. I get a phone call saying that the gear does not look right. I drive over and after a few minutes of checking the situation out, I conclude that the reason the wheel is parallel with the wing is that the strut was drilled 90 degrees out of location by what looked like a hand drill. My friend calls CJ and tries to explain the situation. He is basically treated like an idiot and is told to send the gear back (at his cost). After 2 more complete round trips of NDA and more difficult phone calls, the wheels are finally pointing in the right direction. Now the gear binds. I had enough and fixed it myself. All said and done, he could have almost purchased a new set for the price he paid, including shipping.

So much for great service.



SCALECRAFT -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:59:03 AM)

I'm going to try to make my own retracts. At first it may take time, but once I figure it out. Already turn my own muffllers.

Harbor frieght mini lathe $329.00. Price of a set of retracts on average.

Steve



F4u5 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 3:11:45 AM)

Take a look at the CJM Corsair...and you will see what I mean. No QC...period!!! I have had 6 sets of CJM gear and 2 kits. All were poor. My talk is from experience. I won't even go in to my buddies $1700 F4 Phantom kit with two different size wing cores, that CJM denied, that was proved at Toledo, leading to a 2 hour face to face altercation. I do not criticize often, but in this case...customer support does not substitute for poor QC. It is easy to fix the same gear over and over at $140 bucks a pop. Produce a quality product up front to begin with. They are the ones making out, not you. Think about it. Do you think repairing a set of gear at $100 is your gain? That is profit padding. We had a 51 pound TBF go in hard on the gear and nose. Gear were from Sierra. Now, I would have expected the gear to take the brunt of damage. Know what..plane 30 percent damaged...gear, nothing. I had to sell my $1575 corsair kit at $800 just to dump it. My gain I guess? It takes a quality product to sustain the endeavered hobbyist. I'll pay $1000 for a good set of gear over a set ot $550 gear that have to get repaired every 4th or 5h flight. I wish I were in Steve's shoes....he is on track.



Kmot -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 5:24:44 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lrb75

I had problems getting responses via email. Try the phone. Bruce was very helpful when I talked to him.


I had thought about telephoning. Two reasons I don't:

1) No toll free number. Add the cost of a long distance phone call to the price of gear that is defective? I'm already hot under the collar!

2) See #1. I lose my temper on the phone and we go nowhere. You'd be amazed what I type and erase before I clik the "OK" button. [8|]



Kmot -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 5:26:44 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SCALECRAFT

Harbor frieght mini lathe $329.00. Price of a set of retracts on average.

Steve

Xlnt point!



Chad Veich -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 6:09:58 AM)

Unfortunately I have the same war stories that others have shared above. I have, or have had, five or six sets of CJM gear. I only bought one set new, the rest were part of trade deals. All were of poor quality and some were down right junk. I have also had their Spitfire kit and it was easily the worst kit I have worked with. A few months back it seemed CJM was on the right track with customer service but it appears not. The issues with quality should be easy to fix should CJM choose to do so but that also appears to be a pipe dream. Why people continue to purchase from CJM completely amazes me. More than that is why designers continue to choose them to make gear for their plans.



GrnBrt -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 6:20:50 AM)

ah boy!!! My friend and I are getting ready to do a C-123 and he had these guys make the retracts special and he has them and do look good but now I am going to go over them with a fine tooth comb. Ah Jeez!!!![:o]



tubig -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 11:28:04 AM)

i have a set for a TF spit i'm building. the gear look good but i do have a problem with one of the air nipples being right in the way of the retract bearer when trying to install. i will have to try to install the gear at the same time that i epoxy the outer wing panels to the center section so as not to have to cut into the bearer for clearance for the nipple. this will be extremely difficult to do well i believe. i'm having second thoughts about this gear.



Mustang51 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 12:07:26 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kmot

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Based upon the advice given by a few RCU members, I bought Century Jet retracts fro my P-47. I bought them thru Tower Hobbies. I also ordered, thru Century Jet, a P-47 retractable tailwheel and gear door standoffs. That was on Feb 24. I received my order from Tower Hobbies in 2 days. One of the oleo struts is defective out of the box. It sticks. And if you force it to move it scrapes and galls and it also leaks lube. Tower says thet CJ wants to deal with defects on its own. So I contacted the Tech Dept at CJ. I have heard nothing back.

I also never received my order from CJ yet for the tailwheel. It takes no longer than 5 days for shipping UPS across the country and 2 days if it goes US mail. After a week I contacted CJ and asked where my order is. No reply. It's been 2 weeks since I ordered the tailwheel. They took my money right away. And I have not received it. I have a brand new out of the box defective landing gear, and they won't respond to my warranty request.

I guess it would be fair to say I have been screwed by Century Jet!! [sm=punching.gif]


Kmot,

Return them to Tower and demand your money back. Tower(as a goods provider) is resposible to a consumer(you) to refund or replace(as required by law) at your request, if you are not satisfied with what they sell.
They(Tower) sold them to you, not CJ.

You guys have my sympathy. Personally, I would never buy CJ, nor would I (and on occasions haven't) buy an airplane with CJ gear in it.
Frankly, I'm supprised to hear after years and years of this type of situation(customer support)(along with the LACK of quality), that CJ is still in business. I'm also suprised to hear that some of you "long timers" (Art) in the hobby are still buying these pieces of junk. Do you guys not keep an ear open to what is being said (good and bad) about products in the hobby?

Art, your gear WILL look good out of the box. The eye will not see what the problem is with Century jet Retracts. Guaranteed though, you will after 4 landings. I don't care how good a pilot you are and how gently you set the plane down, those gear will become as rickety as an old man sitting in an old rocking chair
on an old rotten porch. AND!!!! hes got Parkinsons, all while suffering from the "DTs".
Good luck though.[;)]

-Mustang51



DavidAgar -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:11:38 PM)

I have used Spring Air for years with no complaints at all. The only knock they had was the 5/32 struts were to soft. I switched to the 3/16 and problems be gone. I have never had an inflight failure and I will admit that the occasinal hard landing will lead to having to tweak the struts back into position, however I will never change to any other brand. I just wish they made a rotating retreact as I have a Corsair to build. As for Tower not wanting to accept your retracts as a return, I would call Tower and tell them what CJ is doing, or in your case not doing, and ask Tower to take them back. Good Luck, Dave



Hill202 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 2:14:38 PM)

Great [:@] Now I read this, after putting a set of CJ in my P51



2 Piece -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 10:01:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SCALECRAFT

I'm going to try to make my own retracts. At first it may take time, but once I figure it out. Already turn my own muffllers.

Harbor frieght mini lathe $329.00. Price of a set of retracts on average.

Steve



Your going to need alot more than that $329.00 lathe if you want to make landing gear!
2 Piece



TrueScale -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 10:09:19 PM)

David, I can tell you Spring Air will have rotating retracts later this year. Bill and I will R&D
the new sets in a couple months. They will be setup for oleo's which Spring Air also in now
carrying. We are going to be using them on the H9 Corsairs.

Chuck



voyager_663rd -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 10:39:31 PM)

OOH ! OOOH ! [sm=spinnyeyes.gif][sm=spinnyeyes.gif][sm=spinnyeyes.gif] That's the kind of news I love to hear.



Kmot -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 11:00:22 PM)

Mustang51: the option was always there to return them to Tower. I wanted to get the bad strut repaired.

Before ordering the CJM retracts I weighed the pros and cons I had read here and decided to give CJM the benefit of the doubt. CJM has now clearly stated its case. If they would have responded in a timely manner and been honorable I would have still been giving them the benefit of the doubt. But they have not.

I feel defeated. I have boxed them up and am returning them to Tower Hobbies.

I like to make things work. I contemplated disassembling them; reparing them; and doing what is necessary to make them work. But for $200 bucks and with no factory support, why bother?

I better get in touch with Spring Air now. I guess the only reason I didn't before was because I wanted everything in one box and with SA you have to piece it together.

Live and learn........



Putz Brother -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 11:39:16 PM)

Might I suggest that you email CJ and tell them what is going on R/C Universe concerning there retracts. Maybe if they see all the bad press, they will do something about your problem. If not to heck with them and post the outcome and they may see how big this hobby is and how much bad press can finally be possibly be there downfall. I too have a set of C/J's that I bought for a 1/5 scale
FW190D9 that have gone back three times and still aren't right. The rubbing problem as mentioned above.[:@]



Mustang51 -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/10/2004 11:58:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Puff Daddy

Might I suggest that you email CJ and tell them what is going on R/C Universe concerning there retracts. Maybe if they see all the bad press, they will do something about your problem. If not to heck with them and post the outcome and they may see how big this hobby is and how much bad press can finally be possibly be there downfall. I too have a set of C/J's that I bought for a 1/5 scale
FW190D9 that have gone back three times and still aren't right. The rubbing problem as mentioned above.


I have read at least 3 other threads over the past 2 years here on R\C Universe pertaining to exactly the same thing. Each and every time the purchasers complaints fell on deaf ears. Modelers dis satisfaction with CJ products and customer service continues, yet, you guys continue to purchase their product. WHY????????
There seems to be a very small group that are happy with CJ gear, but CLEARLY, there are more complaints then praises.
Do you buy cars, refrigerators, lawn mowers etc, etc, with a roll of the dice? Don't you purchase products according to what you have heard about them? When you bought your computers, didn't you buy that PC because you heard that it was a good brand?[:)]
GOD.... it's mind boggeling that this company has been able to stay a float.
A few sets of bad Firestone tires almost ruined Ford, yet CJ continues to make a profit... (NOT WITH MY $).

[sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif]

-Mustang51



DavidAgar -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/11/2004 12:07:11 AM)

Please keep us posted on the Spring Air rotating retracts. I know that they will be great if they follow the same quality that they now have on their other retracts. Thanks Dave



GrnBrt -> RE: Bad advice to buy: CENTURY JET MFG (3/11/2004 5:30:50 AM)

To answer Mustang 51. I didn't know he had the gear custom made by these guys until well after the fact and I have never used their gear so didn't have much exposure to them till now. I have been out of scale for about 10 years and now just coming back and sadly haven't kept up with this kind of information. Now being they were custom made for this plane I don't know if they are returnable but we shall se, we shall see!!!!!



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