Question for smartechracing- is poor service part of the deal ?

Question for smartechracing- is poor service part of the deal ?
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Question for smartechracing- is poor service part of th... - 5/13/2008 6:15:59 AM

ozace

Posts: 54
Joined: 6/13/2003
From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
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Att Smartechracing,

I have had a Titan 4x4 for several months now and have seen interest die off from those that own the truck due to lack of upgrade parts.
I have seen announcements of parts to allow us to make our trucks robust and reliable yet no parts are available for purchase.

Maybe some effort from the company to support existing product is needed to keep the current owners happy instead of teasers of more variants of the same structure.

I have enjoyed the Titan but need some aluminium parts and drive line upgrades to continue bashing.

At the very least get some of the upgrades out to dealers.

< Message edited by ozace -- 6/17/2008 8:25:32 AM >

Post #: 1

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/13/2008 8:26:12 AM

Foxy

Posts: 8092
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From: Kingston UK, but living in Athens, GREECE
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This is a very valid request. One of the big reasons for the success of the HPI Baja, is the tremendous aftermarket. I hope Smartech realise the importance of this, and start to get some of the hop up manufacturers on board. Of course it's important to make sure their own alloy parts are well distributed too. This will be a significant factor in the future success of Smartech and help it to compete with the bigger names. If better aftermarket and better distribution channels aren't forthcoming, Smartech will be left in the 'also available' category, whereas with a good aftermarket, they could be elevated to the 'highly recommended' category.

The Thunderbolt RTR is a good spec out of the box, as I mentioned in my thread with the pics, it has some parts that are already considered hopups on other cars, but I for one, will still want to add a few parts here and there. I hope Smartech looks into their options in this respect. Even getting companies like GH Racing on board will be a good step forward.

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Post #: 2

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/13/2008 9:52:43 AM

Smartechracing

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From: Taipei, TAIWAN
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ozace

Att Smartechracing,

I have had a Titan 4x4 for several months now and have seen interest die off from those that own the truck due to lack of upgrade parts.
I have seen announcements of parts to allow us to make our trucks robust and reliable yet no parts are available for purchase.

Maybe some effort from the company to support existing product is needed to keep the current owners happy instead of teasers of more variants of the same structure.

I have enjoyed the Titan but need some aluminium parts and drive line upgrades to continue bashing.

At the very least get some of the upgrades out to dealers.

Please check our website carefully, we do have different kind of upgrade parts. If you dont know where to buy our parts, please contact our sales department or pm us.

Thanks

_____________________________

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(in reply to ozace)

Post #: 3

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/13/2008 10:09:23 AM

ozace

Posts: 54
Joined: 6/13/2003
From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline

The option parts on your website are exactly what i need BUT the dealers i have contacted tell me they are not available ???????????

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Post #: 4

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/13/2008 5:34:06 PM

pwaicon

Posts: 128
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Hemet, CA, USA
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The only place I know of that has hop-ups in stock is Hobbythek in Germany. It is not the cheapest place due to the shipping and the exchange rate, but they have great customer service and I usually get the stuff in less than a week. I did find that fgsupply.com now has some upgrades for the Titan/Hurricane C5. However, I don’t know if they have them in stock yet and their prices seem to be very high. For example, a complete set of suspension arms (rear lower, front lower and front upper) will cost you $456 plus shipping from fgsupply.com while the same set would cost around $310 from Hobbythek and that includes the shipping.

http://www.fgsupply.com/Option_parts-Hurricane_C5_Titan.html
http://www.rc-car-online-shop.de/lshop,showrub,18770,e,1210695660-18815,carson.carson_tuning_alu_gasdevil,,,,.htm

(in reply to ozace)

Post #: 5

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/13/2008 11:04:43 PM

ozace

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From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
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I tried the german shop, good range and very fast to reply. Unfortuantly i cannot bring myself to pay the VAT(19%) which should be removed for out of EU purchases but they do not.

What i really want is smatech to send out their own hopups.

(in reply to pwaicon)

Post #: 6

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 12:09:10 AM

hellya

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From: Bonney Lake, WA, USA
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thats still the best price around even with vat....look at what cnc guys here in the usa charge for items... alot more than the european shops

there are a couple of CNC companies here in the usa that are decent priced....oz may have a couple...

quote:

Please check our website carefully, we do have different kind of upgrade parts. If you dont know where to buy our parts, please contact our sales department or pm us.

your sites been down went looking for parts yesterday...no luck no site

www.smartechracing.com

< Message edited by hellya -- 5/14/2008 12:24:57 AM >

(in reply to ozace)

Post #: 7

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 2:33:58 AM

ozace

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From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
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I couldnt get the smartech site either, maybe the earthquake has caused problems for them (i hope all are well).

The German prices offend me , not the actual price but the tax hit is unfair. We (out of EU) buyers are exempt from VAT and to be slugged the extra 19% is just unfair and greedy. Right or wrong , in my mind they are charging OS customers 19% more for the goods and i would be almost sure they claim the exemption themselves.

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Post #: 8

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 8:12:27 AM

Foxy

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From: Kingston UK, but living in Athens, GREECE
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No they don't. You are not being cheated. You are cheating your government out of the sales tax it is owed, by trying to avoid paying vat on imports into your country. You have to understand that when you buy something from another tax region, that is currency LEAVING your country permanently, devaluing your currency. In europe we pay the tax as part of the price, it is not something we have a choice on, and nobody in europe is tax exempt on hobby parts, unless they own a hobby shop and claim the part was used internally to the business, such as a display model.

Having said that, of course I always do whatever I can to 'help' my packages get missed by customs when I order from the US, but I don't do anything illegal (like incorrect descriptions of goods or value). If they miss it, it's their problem.

Even just lately, to receive my Thunderbolt, I had to pay 200E (over $300) to collect it. I didn't even buy it, it genuinely was a 'review sample', I shouldn't have had to pay any tax at all. I could have contested it and I probably would have won, but that would have delayed my review another 2 weeks, so I took the hit. I hope you guys (who were whining to hurry up the review) appreciate that by the way.

< Message edited by Foxy -- 5/14/2008 8:15:22 AM >

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"I love rice. Rice is great when you`re hungry, and want 2000 of something" - Mitch Hedberg
"Those are my principles. If you don`t like them, well... I have others." - Groucho Marx
The dogbone`s connected to the...

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Post #: 9

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 8:39:59 AM

ozace

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From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
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Foxy, i have to pay tax on imports. I dont see why i should pay Euro tax when i am not in the zone. I am from Australia, i have to pay the tax on the items that turn up here, so my tax dollars go to my country not the country of origin.

The german govenment website explains the tax exemption for out of zone purchases, so we will have to disagree, this is just greed from the German supplier.

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Post #: 10

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 9:06:20 AM

Foxy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ozace

Foxy, i have to pay tax on imports. I dont see why i should pay Euro tax when i am not in the zone. I am from Australia, i have to pay the tax on the items that turn up here, so my tax dollars go to my country not the country of origin.

The german govenment website explains the tax exemption for out of zone purchases, so we will have to disagree, this is just greed from the German supplier.

Ah, I see what you mean. You shouldn't have to pay German euro tax, you are right. That's insane. Are you sure? Have you contacted them (they're very responsive to communication, send them an email)?

_____________________________

Foxy. RCU Car Forums Moderator.
"I love rice. Rice is great when you`re hungry, and want 2000 of something" - Mitch Hedberg
"Those are my principles. If you don`t like them, well... I have others." - Groucho Marx
The dogbone`s connected to the...

(in reply to ozace)

Post #: 11

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 10:05:03 AM

ozace

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From: melbourne, AUSTRALIA
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i did contact them, the reply i recieved was very prompt but offended me, that is why i will never so business with them.

I will wait on smartech to deliver to dealers and maybe if these things get popular some of the aftermarket suppliers will jump in.

(in reply to Foxy)

Post #: 12

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 12:46:55 PM

HaveBlue

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Joined: 1/3/2005
From: Sydney, AUSTRALIA
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paying the tax is a big suck..but come on foxy, you got a 4X4 28cc buggy for $300.00..thats not a bad deal even if it is a review sample..thats much better than what Smartech have in store for me..you three(reviewers) are lucky

and after considering the extra tax , I might renouce my review..I'm running out of time, as the on road nationals are coming up and I want to focus on that

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RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 3:50:38 PM

Foxy

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From: Kingston UK, but living in Athens, GREECE
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Yeh, for what I've got, I paid little, and from that perspective, I have no problem at all. What I take issue with, is the Greek customs having my money that they don't deserve. If I was paying smartech, that would be a different story. But basically, I have been wrongly charged $300 to have them delay the delivery a week.

Anyway...moving along...

Good luck with the Nats, by the way. What car are you taking?

< Message edited by Foxy -- 5/14/2008 3:51:13 PM >

_____________________________

Foxy. RCU Car Forums Moderator.
"I love rice. Rice is great when you`re hungry, and want 2000 of something" - Mitch Hedberg
"Those are my principles. If you don`t like them, well... I have others." - Groucho Marx
The dogbone`s connected to the...

(in reply to HaveBlue)

Post #: 14

RE: Question for smartechracing - 5/14/2008 5:00:54 PM

hellya

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Joined: 2/18/2005
From: Bonney Lake, WA, USA
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quote:

Foxy, i have to pay tax on imports. I dont see why i should pay Euro tax when i am not in the zone. I am from Australia, i have to pay the tax on the items that turn up here, so my tax dollars go to my country not the country of origin

When I purchase items from websites and it comes your country, OZ, your taxes from australia are included in my purchase...they dont give any tax break.
powerslide is a Oz vendor here and said they legally have to include taxes in the web prices.......

rc-car-online has always included the european vat in their prices ......no breaks for anyone

I asked them about this 3 years ago they said they sell internationally .....that was their answer

when I purchase 1000 euros item almost 180 euros of that is tax thats they charge...thats almost $300 in taxes

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

US websites also have taxes included in the price...we just dont say anything....... B.O. and State Sales Taxes....you want it you pay taxes

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

There are alot of hobby stores in europe the have 2 different prices 1 for europe and 1 for non residents of europe....like this website

Bottom price is for non residents of europe

http://www.fg-modellsport-vertrieb.com/fahrzeuge____cars.htm

06007 Monster Truck Zenoah 260 FG
EUR 729.00
(Euro 628,45) = $980. US

06004 Monster Beetle Zenoah FG
EUR 670.00
(Euro 577,59) = $900 US

quote:

Even just lately, to receive my Thunderbolt, I had to pay 200E (over $300) to collect it. I didn't even buy it, it genuinely was a 'review sample', I shouldn't have had to pay any tax at all. I could have contested it and I probably would have won, but that would have delayed my review another 2 weeks, so I took the hit. I hope you guys (who were whining to hurry up the review) appreciate that by the way

OUCH.....I didnt pay any import taxes for the T-bolt......I get alot of stuff from overseas.....never had to pay import taxes

< Message edited by hellya -- 5/14/2008 8:27:17 PM </