Scale Specialties

OK, first off I know what it means to be in business making parts for scale models. I have been doing it on a limited basis for 20 years. So I already know the challenges these companies can and do face. Secondly, I know modelers can be a tough and demanding crowd to cater to. That being said, I am really appalled with what I have been subjected to with my last several purchases from various companies. First off, I will leave the actual business names out of it as I don't want this appear to be just an exercise in mud slinging. My longest standing complaint starts with a well-known retract manufacturer who makes the best gear out there, hands down. I have dealt with them in the past and I am fully aware of their quirkiness. I have been waiting for about 8 months to resolve my last order. That's right 8 months. I have never left a nasty message or email, and I have just asked for a simple call or email to acknowledge my situation. In fact I have a credit from a return that I wanted to add additional money to for another item. I can't even get a response letting me know how much money to send them!!!!!! My next purchase was for a set of plans for one plane and cowl for another. This is an overseas company that has a supplier here in the states. I ordered online from their site. I waited weeks, the cowl was correct the plans were for the same plane, not the one I ordered. When I contacted the company and explained the situation, she stated, "that doesn't surprise me". To their credit I did finally receive the correct plans. Next I purchased a high-dollar cockpit kit from an overseas vendor. I waited months and when it finally arrived it was missing several parts. It took multiple emails and fair amount of detective work to correct as the company's website had gone down as well. Next I had an ARF warbird on pre-order from a Canadian based company for months only to start to hear that they might not actually be handling these kits anymore. I had to investigate this as well and finally got someone to admit that I would not be getting the kit from them. Luckily I was able to order it through a new supplier. Next to last, I ordered a Sea Fury canopy for an uncommon English set of plans from a company still handling these. The canopy arrived completely bent/distorted from poor manufacture or improper shipping. They said I would receive a replacement. That was over a month ago, still no word or part. Lastly today, and the final straw, I have had problems reloading my flight sim software. It is an older version, but so is my computer on which it used to run fine. After trying all the help available online. I finally called the vendor they did not seem to really care as it was too old to be supported any longer by them!!! I did get a link emailed to me that was supposed to have a more recent version of the software, but of course it is a dead link......... I am I alone or do other scale modelers encounter similar problems??
Frustrated enough to write this book of a post, - Dave

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

I check out companies here first. If I see any unresolved complaints or general no response late response issues, I dont do business with that company. I have a pretty fair list of companies with the (bad company) lable next to them. It takes a fair amount of work to filter out the cry babies, but I deal with it. I let somebody else risk working with unknowns.
Edwin

Chad Veich

My Feedback: (60)

I hear you loud and clear Dave and I concur. Like you, I'm one of those folks who supplies scale accessories as something of a side business. Because it is nothing more than a hobby and not my living it is very easy for "real life" to get in the way and for things to get backed up. I totally understand this from a hobby manufacturer and especially the small "Mom and Pop" type business that we seem to have so many of in the industry. However, I try my best to keep my customers completely informed as to the status of their orders and don't understand why so many vendors find this to be such a problem. I find that my customers are very patient and considerate folks as long as I'm straight forward with them and COMMUNICATE. That's my .02 cents anyway.

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

With the internet, it is easy to do some homework on the company that you want to do business with. It just takes some reading and a person can figure out who is not worth doing business with. Even if the company has the best retracts in the world, if they have a noted reputation for being months, even years behind on delivery as well as a reputation for not responding to people that have sent money to them, they are not getting my money. I will use the second best retracts out there instead of tying up hundreds of dollars for months at a time. As for lousy customer service, they screw me around once, they don't get a second shot at it. Good Luck, Dave

pc55bomber

Hi Dave
This is what we call a "purple patch". (just endless problems)
We all have these sort of problems from time to time but it appears yours have come all at once which makes life interesting to say the least, and its only hobby related.

The ones that really PMO are the everyday multinational service providers, the ones you have to use and can't get away from, then my hobby dramas pale into insignificance with these profit driven, faceless, thieving B*******S.

You have had a win on this one with greatly reduced prices.

This is a software/hardware problem that no vendor would help you with, this is a mates job, especially with older systems.

Sounds like you need a..... coffee, beer, scotch or a holiday.

Remember it could always be worse.

Good luck

Cheers
Paul

BobH

My Feedback: (2)

Unfortunately most of the companies we deal with are small and unprofessional. Hobbiest get into business thinking they can earn extra$ by selling products. The problem is that most of them have no clue as to running a business let alone how to do it properly.
I've had some issues with products over my 40years of RC but not a lot. I do a lot of homework before I purchase. It usually pays off.

Walt Thyng

My Feedback: (9)

Having been in retail/public service for 40 years I tend to give "cottage industry" (the vast majority of our suppliers) a lot of leeway, but I do have a couple of DDBW(Don't Do Business With) labels on my vendor's list. One got nasty over a bad product and another called me a liar. Good luck to'em, but they won't get any support from me.
Walt

Scale Specialties

Chad,
I agree with you 100%. If you are honest and up front with your customers and communicate properly with them you have nearly won the battle. I for one am willing to wait a good long while for a quality product if need be, just let me know that. Over the years I have seen R/C businesses come and go and have known a few people to get caught in the lurch while waiting for something they have already paid for, sometimes paid quite a lot. On a more positive note, I recently made a small purchase from BVM Jets and while it was relatively insignificant, just a couple sets of offset hinges, they were absolutely on the ball with their process. I immediately received confirmation of the order via email, I was then sent another email with the tracking information when the order was shipped. Now not being a jet guy, I have not done much business in the past with Bob and his company, but from this lone experience and knowing they produce top quality products I can see why they have been able to make it as a top-tier manufacturer even with the substantial asking prices they have for their kits. I guess my original post was also a bit of the frustration that scale modeling, at least as we have known it over the last few decades, is really hanging on life support in many ways. Sure there are more and better ARF kits than ever, but the real dyed-in-the-wool builders are dwindling and the resources they have available to them are also fading. A number of the other posts suggest that you should just not do business with companies that don't a good or reliable track record. This is good common sense for sure, but nowadays there may not be any other alternatives available, so I guess like in Vegas sometimes you just have to role the dice and hope you don't crap out.... -Dave

abufletcher

I foresee a possible future when scale modelers will have to go back to basics where we're building with tin cans and popsicle sticks. So, by comparison, today we are living in the lap of scale luxury.