jos9051

One of the biggest mistakes I make was to buy a redcat. I have the earthquake 3.5 which I purchased almost 3 weeks ago. I have gone through 5 gears, and now I have to install a new motor. Its really sad that when I called customer service, I was treated badly. So not only did I buy a piece of JUNK, I also get bad customer service. I guess I get what I pay for.

krossracing

Did you get the new version with the black head, or the old version. RCR recently fixed the majority of the issues with the earthquake with their latest release. . .only real downside is that I haven't found a electric starter backplate that works yet on this model. As a Redcat dealer, I generally handle all of the customer service issues for my customers, but I haven't had a negative experience yet with them. If you don't mind me asking another question, where did you purchase the Earthquake?

jos9051

I purchased the Redcat from BrooklynHobbies. I Paid $300 for this truck. This is actually my first RC. This truck has the black head engine. After running 5 cycles like the shop recommended, I started to run the truck harder. On day 2, I went back to the shop because it had a strange noise. It turned out to be the gear. They charged me for the gear and labor. I went back to the shop on day four and on day 7 to buy more gears. Just a few days ago I went to another hobby shop and the mechanic was trying to figure out why the truck kept shutting off. The engine had no compression. I had to buy another engine for $145. Before I bought the engine I called customer service, and the rep was nasty. Not happy at all. For my first experience on having an RC. Its been really bad.

krossracing

Sounds like it. I killed an original backdraft engine by running it too lean and had to get it pinched to get compression, but we have been tearing up a new backdraft on the track trying to get it to break, and the only thing we have had go wrong in 3-4 gallons of nitro has bee the front lower arms, but it had some BAD landings. It sucks that you had such a horrible first experience in RC and that kind of experience is what makes it hard for some to stick with the hobby. Unfortunately, it is a tinkerer's hobby; but no RC motor should loose compression after a week. I wish I could do something for you, but I did want to tell you not to loose face if you enjoy racing. There is so much fun to be had in this hobby; that I would hate to see anyone who took the first step miss out on the rest.

jos9051

Wow. So that's it. No type of reimbursement. The truck will be 3 weeks old on 6/2/2015, and I haven't yet to have a good time with it. I would of never thought that such unfairness took place. Its a tinkerers hobby if I were trying to upgrade. I would never buy another Redcat, or even think of Recommending. .

Solmangrundy

There is supposed to be a 90day warrenty, ontop of that they claim to replace the motor at half cost of you send it too them. All found here: http://www.redcatracing.com/Warranty

krossracing

I would definitely fill out a warranty claim if your dealer can't take care of it. You can do that at this link http://www.redcatracing.com/Warranty-Form

I'll talk to Rich at Brooklyn Hobbies tomorrow and let him know about your situation as well. . .

Guff15

I had an issue similar to this after purchasing my Backdraft 3.5. Redcat's website stated it came with an SH .21 engine with the blue head but when I received it I noticed the head was black. Upon further inspection I noticed it was an OS .21 engine but thought it was a better engine. Fast forward a few weeks and I began looking into the electric starter and discovered that the backplate would not work on the OS engine. I contacted Redcat and received a generic response via email, then a phone call with the same response. I then contacted Great Planes (OS parent company) to inquire as to which engine I had and they stated it could not be identified even with the 10 pictures I sent them of the engine.

It was then I began getting EXTREMELY upset with Redcat and began basing them on RCU and another forum. I then sent a not so pleasant email to Redcat and received an immediate response from Billy Fischer (Sales Manager). After a few more correspondences, Billy offered to swap a brand new SH .21 engine for the slightly used OS .21 I had. I agreed and Redcat paid for the shipping to me as well as the shipping of the electric starter kit I purchased at the time I made the agreement with them on the engine swap.

Basically what I'm getting at is DON'T give up. Contact Redcat and demand to speak with a supervisor (my bet it will be Billy Fischer). In the end, Redcat made my situation right and hopefully they will do the same for you.

**NOTE** Since my issue, Redcat has since taken down any reference of the SH engine coming in the Backdraft and Earthquake. BUT what I still dislike is it only states that it comes with a .21 Big Block, thus still leaving my issue to happen to someone else.

pmoen70

My Feedback: (4)

I am currently speaking with Sullivan Products to see what they can do for me about a different back plate and electric start system. They seem to be interested in helping. Have you spoken with them?

Paul

Guff15

Paul I think that's great! Hopefully they'll come through and make a backplate for the non-SH engine Redcat is putting in the Backdraft and Earthquake as it appears Redcat isn't going to.

krokodyl

There is no way that the gear should gat destroyed so often. Which gear are you talking about? I'm guessing it's the spur? Anyways, if your gears are going so fast then your gear mesh is not setup correctly. I own a caldera ( very similar to the erathquake) and didn't have many issues at all. My experience with their customer service has been great, but i guess different people respond. The engine also should no be blown after a week unless some serious user error occured or it was defective. Just a tip, don't always trust hobby shops when they say "oh, it's broken" because they always come to that conclusion...