Panther F

So what did ya buy? Come on, out with it! I once emailed them (Warwick) with a question and it was a pleasant experience. I think sometimes it's not who you are but who you have working for you (and with you) that can be problematic.

Trust me, I know. []










~ Jeff

DirtyBird69

I ordered a Panther II, but I am starting to have problems. Warwick cut me a really good deal on the tank, that I just couldn't say no to(I was sitting on the fence for a while about it). Anyways without telling me,and tosave cost(cuz he cut me a deal)he shipped it via Australia post frieght that does not offer active tracking(he says it shipped out Feb. 28th)....well after 4 days and the tracking number still coming up blankon his website, I contacted Australia Post directly....andthey emailed me back and said that they had no record of that tracking number at alland that I should contact the shipper! So now I start thinking hmmmm W.T.F. is going on. I email Warwick and ask him what's up and he tells me that he can check things from his end and he sees that it isin U.S. customs...ok great..I askedto see something that showed that...no response....I ask again...no response...so last nightI file a "case" with pay-pal, not a "claim" just a "case" so that I could put concerns on recordand that I was just protecting my butt if things got worse. At this point Warwick loses the plot and immediately starts slamming me with angry emails and giving me a second tracking number saying that he shipped it via Express and that number wouldn't be active for 48 hours(which means it didn't go out on the 28th). He then beganthreatening to "turn my package around and refund my money", as he wasn't going to allow me to hurt his buisiness or reputation.....I sent several emails explaining my side and saying that I only said nice things about him on the pay-pal case(which I did)but that I was only concerned about having no tracking/shipping info of any kind, and that was it. Well he just refuses to hearmy side of things....as of todayhe still hasn't refunded my money like he"threatend" he was going to do first thing in the morning lol. He even threatened to escalate the case against ME...the buyer whopaid! Can you believe that nonsense?Well we'll see in 48 hours if the new tracking number actually works,then we'll see whenit was actually shipped and all the other details..But already dates and locations have yet to match up. Warwick seems like a great guy on the phone and I wouldn't say not to order from him(yet), but if you do IHIGHLY suggest you make sure he ships via a trackable method(UPS/FEDEX/Etc.). Another thing that gave me weird "vibes" is that when I talked to him on the phone he was just a regular guy and very pleasant to chat with, but the Warwick that emails me writes in kind of choppy english with odd conjugation and what not...completely different from the guyI talked to on the phone.All these little things have been just setting off warningtingles up the back of my neck(and my neck is usually right)....but that's the situation I'm in right now.

B/Man

I've dealt with Warwick in the past and been burned in a similar way as has a friend of mine. It sounds.ike you are getting the full Awesome Hobbies experience.

Sure he's a nice guy and may have the best intentions but his business sense sucks.

DirtyBird69

I know it's so weird...he's such a nice guy, but sometimes things justdon't add up. He's acting like I'm mad that the tank isn't sitting on my doorstep7 days later...that's not it at all. But ifI can't even get confirmation from the actualcarrier that it's been shipped I'm not gonna sit on my butt for 3 weeks wondering where it is. After dealing on eBay and pay-pal for the last decade I've learned a few things..and the number one thing is to ALWAYSget a shipping confirmation! You don't get that within a couple days of when it's supposedly "shipped out", you better start asking questions!I find it ironic that as soon as I file a case he has a NEW tracking number for melol...he'd be better off to just be honest and say "my truck broke down", whatever...something like that. but he should also make it clear to thebuyer of the shipping method and tracking availability..I don't know about you guys, but I like tracking numbers on EVERYTHING! That's going to be a problem for him with pay-pal as they want active tracking numbers...

Panther F

Oh, MAN!!! [:@]











~ Jeff

TigerTankMan

Ithink he has done enough of that himself.

Iordered one of those "Bargain" Tamiya tanks last year and he was handing out bogus tracking numbers for items he never shipped.
Iended up getting my refund after a little over 2 months. Some waited longer.

Ithought perhaps he would learn from that nasty experience.

Keep your head up for now though - your tank is still in the Australia Post window of delivery which is something like 7-10 business days.

Keep us posted!

DirtyBird69

will do thanks......

Panther F

Thanks for the experiment, sort of like a guinea pig.

Now we all know. [] But I do hope you get that tank ... it's the Jagdpanther II, right? I thought of working one of those up but I just have waaaaayy too much crap to work on right now.

Plus I cannot seem to finish the Panther build. A tank I've wanted forever, so why do I need to get more?










~ Jeff

DirtyBird69

no sweat, it's worth the risk. He said the package has been upgraded to international express post, so i would assume that's even quicker the the standard 7-10 delivery time. And if I end up being screwed pay-pal will have my back..guess we'll just have to wait and see. He did say in an email he ships a ton of stuff to the USA, and thisbeing a fairly small hobbyhere in the USA, and I knowonly one guy who got something from him...everybody else just doesn't prefer to do buisiness with him...so that's gotta tell you something..

herlihy22

My Feedback: (2)

DirtyBird, you do understand that Awesome Hobbies is in Austrailia right?? Tracked shipping of a tank to the states is very expensive even if it is air mailed. The lowest airmail would probably be about 70 dollars or more. To get that deal you were talking about, it sounds like he sent it freight which is by sea and has no tracking and can take up to a month to arrive. This is why I havent shopped there before. he has cool stuff and is gifted modeller but it is expensive to buy from him when you add in the shipping. The only way to get a reasonable shipping cost is to by something small or take freight which is very slow and has tracing. He is probably mad because it sounds like to save money you agreed to cheap freight shipping and now because it didnt arrive in 4 days you put in a complaint to paypal. Dude, it will take a month for it to arrive if he sent it freight. he probably should have informed you of that though. You still have lee way. You have 45 days to put in a case to paypal to get your money back. I would wait 40 days and if it never arrives, make a complaint get your money.

B/Man

He doesn't have a great name here in Australia either and as you can imagine the hobby is even smaller here. From your experience it appears Warwick has learnt nothing from his past issues.

TigerTankMan

Just to get back on topic though - i wonder if they do actually make these tanks and Heng Long go to 2.4ghz then what new electrics will we see?
Could they use the RX18 or would it be a whole new system?

YHR

The claim of new electronics has got my attention.

DirtyBird69

Of course I know that...and if you read my earlier post you would see that I wasn't concerned about "when" it arrived, just that the tracking info he gave me didn't work. Also(and the most important thing), he said that when he shipped it, it would take 7-10 days! HeNEVER mentionedusing a cheaper shippingmethodor elseI would have made it clear I wantupdated tracking(I assumed it would just be the usual UPS/FEDEX/etc),and if notand I would have been willing to pay extra for that. I never agreed to cheaper freight..he did that on his own. I might have agreed if he'd brought up the topic and told me the pros and con's...but he didn't. And Like I told him all I did was file a "case" I haven't escalated it to a claim or anything like that(I even said nice things about him in the case lol).I will only do that if I don't seethe tankin the next week or so.....but even the gal at Pay-Pal said he should have used an updatedtrackingshipper as that's the only proof pay-pal will accept..(just FYI)

MrQweeksdraw

I'd just like to see a Sherman that's 1) In Stock, and 2) Doesn't cost 800 bucks!

Panther F

Here ya go ...

http://shop.aaftankmuseum.com/Produc...ductCode=56014

... "Qweek****w".










~ Jeff

MrQweeksdraw

Panther F, thanks, but I've eyeballed that one too. After you buy the radio & battery (fortunately I already have a charger) you're pushing $800!

Panther F

What? A hundred for the radio (and receiver), 25 for a battery and 30 for the charger?

Yup!! That adds up to $800.00! (geez) Okay, subtract the charger.










~ Jeff

MrQweeksdraw

OK, Ok, $600 plus shipping.

Green Amphibian

Great price for what you get.

Herman

Panther F

YUP! Like 'em so much I have 3 of them. What, that's $2400.00 worth of Shermans!!










~ Jeff

mustclime

the men in the white coats have been called, they will be by shortly with a really nice coat with very long selves........

MrQweeksdraw

Alrighty then. You have almost talked me into it. Hard to justify the cost when you consider that a Mato Sherman with the upgrades will cost slightly more than half of that. Also, I have two Heng Long tanks, both with all upgrades, neither have reached the $300 mark. Is Tamiya's quality THAT much better?

Panther F

Hey ... buy what you can afford. It's no different than the car in the driveway. A real expensive car drives the same distance the economy car does, only it's does it with much better options. Same thing.

Eventually I'll have all brands of Shermans because I am going to give the MATO chassis a go with Tamiya electronics in it.

Just a little food for the thought ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTXB_...layer_embedded










~ Jeff

MrQweeksdraw

Good points, guess I need to do more research. I can afford them all, but price doesn't necessarily determine performance. Speaking of cars on the driveway, my Chevy ZR1 will blow the doors off an AMG SLS at 1/3 the price!