Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

OK, I've been a VOCAL supporter of the T-Maxx on this forum, and I still love my truck. But I must say that Traxxas and/or the people who moderate & administer their Forums have turned a big-time fan into someone who now thinks that the COMPANY is a load of crap.

On Friday, I posted a link on the Traxxas forum to Rex242s post (here) about the new Picco .21 smallblock ("A 'little" something for you Max guys!!).

In that post, I linked to this thread and also pasted Rex's text, and I explained that the reason I did both was that I noticed that they do an awfully lot of editing/censoring on their forums, so I wanted to give the info in case they deleted the LINK. There was NO bad language (even marginal), nor was there ANY negative Traxxas comments, other than the fact I politely said that they seem to censor a lot of posts.

I come in today & see that there have been a few responses in my thread, but when I went to read them, I see that the whole thread had been DELETED[>:][>:]

Talk about irony..my post was censored because I said that they censor the posts

Anyhoo, here's the note I just fired off to all 3 moderators, the site administrator & even Traxxas Support!!

dagass

Well said! If you don't mind, entertain us with their response to you. That should be classic.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

I have to think that you guys are pretty smart...

WHAT COMPANY IS GOING TO ALLOW BAD/MARGINAL/SLANDEROUS posts on their forum, that they are paying MARKETING dollars for? Are you kidding me? If they allow any type of negative post, it could prevent a new user from buying their product!!! Who would risk that?

That is not an open forum. It is a MARKETING TOOL!

I see all of these posts about the Traxxas forum, but I really think it is not the forums fault. It is in their best interests to keep the forum positive!

If that was my website, I would ban any and everyone that discussed MY PRODUCTS in a negative light or drew references to other websites where the product could be bad mouthed.

It's like McDonald's having a forum where members say that Quarter Pounders are making them sick.

I think Traxxas should shut that forum down personally. I think it is great for what it is, but too many people don't understand it's place in the marketing world and then bash it on other websites.

Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

Like I said, I KNOW & understand that blatantly negative posts are & should be edited out, but in my TWO cases, I was clearly NOT slamming anything.

1) I referred to the blue glow plug wire as "lame". NOT the T-Maxx, NOT Traxxas, NOT the 2.5 motor, but a stupid little glow plug wire!!!! I woulda thunk their egos could handle such a mild dig at such a TRIVIAL part of the truck!

2) My exact words on my deleted thread were "I've noticed they censor/edit posts pretty heavily here". No commentary, just something I've observed.

I guess they thought that deleting the entire thread was the only way to keep that hot piece of incendiary news out of public view, but they could easily have just deleted that one line rather than the whole post. That way I woulda just chuckled at the idea of censoring a line about censoring, rather than feeling like I've been slapped in the face by a company whose product I just bought (and a company who I have championed in THIS forum & amongst my friends).

Oh well..

Dean

Avalanche

The traxxas forum is sealed up tighter than a drum. Their mods zap ANYTHING that isnt 110% pro traxxas. I would imagine they took your post on the new engine as a great alternative to the MUCH maligned traxxas 2.5 engine. They are very sensitive to anything that could mean less Traxxas sales. They refuse to outwardly admit there is a bad run of those engines but yet they will replace or rebuild them free of charge.

dagass

A good company will accept both praise and criticism! Traxxas are fools if they think that anybody is falling for this forum that Traxxas makes out to look like paradise. Should people be able to air their dirty laundry in such a way that their subject comes off as a blatant attack? Probably not, but it is ridiculous only allow whats right with the T-maxx to be posted and not whats wrong with the T-Maxx.

A forum is not your basic marketing tool. It's a place where people with a common interest come together to exchange ideas and search for answers to their problems. Is it wise of Traxxas to lead us to believe that their product is perfect? Heck no! Anybody who claims that their product is perfect is hiding something. Customer service is all about listening to your customers complaints and taking the appropriate steps to satisfy the customer.

Look at the Ofna boards. I know if can be a "free for all" on occasion however people are free to criticize the Ofna product if they have a problem. Has it hurt Ofna? I don't think so! They know that nobody is perfect. The ability to openly discuss the bad with the good promotes a feeling of honesty and shows that they have nothing to hide. Ofna even has some of the team guys in there to field questions.

I have NOTHING against Traxxas, I don't even own any Traxxas product. Honestly, I think the Maxx is the most widely supported RC ever created for a reason. It's a great truck. I think it's ignorant of them though to create an environment where you're only allowed to be involved if your willing to fore go the criticism. People have more respect and will be more willing to do business with a company that is honest about their product rather than sweeping it under the rug.

Savage_Dias

They should've played it smart by asking what problems you had with the wire then offer suggestions & / or thanked you for the comment & noted that it could be looked into. I've seen the wire, I know it's in a rough spot. If I had the money to blow on a maxx (doesn't seem like a good investment IMHumbleO) I would look into replacing it myself. As far as the censorship goes, you probably did it just to see what attention it could get (I'm like that too lol) & they should've edited the line instead of deleting the post. into101101 makes a good point by saying it's TRAXXAS's advertising tool & not an open forum so I have to agree with him on that.

POJack

"If that was my website, I would ban any and everyone that discussed MY PRODUCTS in a negative light or drew references to other websites where the product could be bad mouthed. "

Yeah, and that's real smart...Lose customers because you delete them from your forums while voicing your opinion on a certain product. Really smart. They deleted me for voicing my opinion about the 2.5 engine and they permanently lost me as a customer...I'm sure there are many more like me. As a previous poster stated, a GOOD company can take both critisism and praise. If their product is so good, why can't they accept critisism???

mvigod

I think it is not a wise move for a manufacturer of any kind in any industry or line of business to use a discussion forum for anything beyond customer support. If a guy has problems they are great to economically solve those issues but to allow users to buy, sell or generally discuss your own products on your own forum is a double edge sword. Great when everyone speaks the gospel but not so great when unkind words are spoken.

Not every product is perfect and manufacturers would be wise to allow constructive criticism so they can see where issues might be and then work to make their products better. Not doing so only angers customers.

I have taken a huge amount of complaints, criticism and such on RCU and I listen and constantly implement changes and fixes or enhancements. I don't allow outright bashing like "RCU sucks" but will allow "I hate to scroll down to see messages, I would like to see less at the top of the page". Just go to the problems or suggestions forum...man did I get some heat during the site change but ALL of that stuff will be addressed and fixed as a result of that feedback (most of it this week!).

Same thing on any RC site. A difference in saying "xyz company sucks and their products suck" versus saying "I bought xyz product and it isn't working properly because blah blah blah"

At RCU we make it a rule to allow comments and complaints that are proven factual or can be reasonably believed to be factual statements. We don't want anybody with a hidden motive to just slam any person or company without an actual complaint that is explained tactfully.

I don't know if the traxxas mods work for traxxas or are volunteer but perhaps your message to the higher ups there will rattle the cage?

The Boss

I am sorry, I have to give my opinon, I have been in this hobby for 15+ and I have seen many things come and go. There have been MUCH BETTER products on the market than the t maxx that production has stoped on in the past and sooner or later the t maxx will bee no diffrent. The t maxx is NOT a good product when you compare it to others on the maket and this is easly proven by even just the amount of problem threads on ALL forums that you see on this product. It is not hard to understand why there is a large amount of after market support for this product...IT HAS TO HAVE IT... because of parts design/durability issues, it has NOTHING to do with it being a good kit.

Traxxas them selfs do NOT make race quality kits, there products are based on YOU must having to upgrade them... they have always been this way... its good for there business and the after market industry LOVEs inferior products, again it makes for a good business. I am in this business.

You can expect the Traxxass site to be (pro traxxass only) and NOTHING else, they are only interested to protect there own business, if they would alow complaints it could hurt there sales which are now hurting with all the new products on the market that show how flawed there product realy is. Some of our LHS here have large stocks of t maxx kits that they are having a harder time selling now compared to other kits. It is a well know fact here that the LHS here can and do sell the t maxx product for cost because they can make so much money off of the people that have them with stock or after maket parts.

One thing that has realy bugged me for a while now is the (I think) alliance between traxxas and some of the magazine companys out there. how is it possible that you don't see the mags EVER! say one bad thing about this product even though is is a WELL known fact that the t maxx has some major parts durability issues? that has been posted on all forums. How is it possible that with ALL the MANY new products out on the market now that some mags still claim the t maxx is better than all others and some mags criticsize ALL other kits for ANY! flaws but not the Traxxas kit, (what no one knows how to make a good product except traxxas?), ya right lol. Again it does NOT have anything to do with it being a good kit... Traxxass spends $$$BIG$$$ bucks advertising (as do others) with some mag comanys and this must influance what they have to say about there products which is very sad, Have any of you seen any criticism with the weak parts issues of the t maxx kit in the mags?. All I have ever seen is the mags telling you to buy better after market parts lol, but yet I see the mags making a much bigger issue with other kits and there parts. It all boils down to consumers VS companys and knowing how NOT to get suckered into spending our money on inferior products and paying champagne prices for beer (thinking we have champange).

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

A whole lot of thoughts and points have been presented, and very good ones too.

Remember people- Consumers drove the Maxx to popularity. Traxxas can only do so much. The rest is in the hands of the consumer. No amounts of money will make a product successful if it doesn't satisfy consumers. The product has been successful. Argue about it, say what you want, the Maxx probably outsells competition 10:1.

I hear a lot of complaints about the motor, the chassis, the reliability, etc. However, I bet the RC Universe forum only comprises 3% of Maxx consumers worldwide. My motor works perfectly. I have stripped a spur gear, cracked a motor mount, and stripped threads on the transmission, and I have been pretty irritated because it was the lousy materials that caused it to break, but I understand, because I consider economics on the companies side when they make a product.

I DEFINITELY THINK MY MAXX COULD BE BETTER. I think they do make a lot of money on aftermarket upgrades and replacements. I think they could have built the unit more robustly. When I weigh pros and cons, it seems to be ok. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. At least when the part breaks, I am 99% sure it is in the hobby shop waiting for me for IMMEDIATE pickup.

I think Traxxas should just scan every post before it actually goes on the website. I think bad posts can be productive too, if not slanderous and professional.

badboy2

My Feedback: (13)

i agree with rcadmin...when members were bashing these site they even put a page where u can vent all your complains about the new site ....for me i also got upset when we changed the set up of the site but the members gave them time to rebuild and they also let us tell them what we didnt like so it went out perfectly ....and as a member i am also like a consumer were i back up the product or in my case i back up this site cuz this is where i started..rcu....maybe those moderators have nothing to do better ....traxxas sux i knew it

Rex2342

As much as I hate to bring up another Traxxas HPI topic I feel it is needed to explain my point.I've visited the Traxxas forum and eveyone is right.They do not allow any negative comment towards ANy of their products.Witch is understandable.If I were Traxxas I wouldn't want a bunch of posts telling people to buy other MT's or engines and hop up parts.It would make the consumer look elsewhere.I agreee with the Rcadmin.It was a big mistake for Traxxas to make a forum like that.It creates alot of problems but what it does do is make Traxxas look like gold.Thanks to some nice editing and some positive comments an R/C newbie will think Traxxas is the best.Combine that with their marketing campaign and you'll sell alot of R/C's.
HPI does not have a forum like this.They have a customer support area in witch they take the most common questions,post them and answer them.One thing that sets HPI apart from Traxxas is the Savage25 RTR.Since the release of the Savage21 their have ALOT of people complaining about alot of different things.HPI took EVERYTHING that was complained about by the magazines and customers and FIXED it.Even the stuff they wouldn't admit was a problem(fuel tank) was fixed or upgraded.The new Savage25 has already had it's share of problems.Mainly engine issues.HPI has already addressed them and fixed them on the newer runs of the truck.
I've said it before and i'll say it again.Traxxas needs to re think it's entire design on the T-Maxx.It's a proven design and has worked very well on alot of other trucks but it's no longer the top dog.If Traxxas would listen to its costomers they would fix these issues instead of denying them.From what i've seen recently Traxxas is not gaining any favor in the R/C world.They are damaging there reputation.Traxxas has been around a long time and have really pioneered alot the R/C's we see today but they need to learn to take critism and fix whats wrong instead of leaving it the way it is and hiding it from new buyers.

caseyddr

My Feedback: (13)

Am I the only person that likes the new forums [X(]

nitron1ck

they deleted my account becaus ei dont have a paid e mail account.


quote-
Hello,

"Due to rampant abuse of our message board, we no longer accept free e-mail accounts. Please change your account to a paid address and you will be able to post again. "


so i e mailed them a little letter with a bunch of yelling about hopw they are discriminating etc. that was 1 week ago they still havnt e mailed em back

my e mail

"Yes i see. But what about the people liek me that have comcast or soem other form of internet? I think this scheme that you have runnign is completely uncalled for. I want to talk to other rc fans and now i cant because you have decided to discriminate against those who do not have aol or some other form of paid e mail."

flatlander_14

lets see,

likes:
overall design
layout
stock body is decently strong
throttle servo hasnt given me problems
chassis hasnt been broken yet

dislikes:
the fact that it took $1200+ and counting in upgrades and maintainance related cash to make the truck decent. i still need to buy new ti. turnbuckles/ball ends
the engine that comes stock is the most incosistent thing i have ever dealt with(it had inconsistent idle, but constantly overheated all the time, was useless after 2 gallons, and was a big pain to tune)


if you have $2000 stashed away somewhere then you have one heck of a truck.

::gets the undaunting feeling this post will be deleted, moderators. this is constructive criticism::


================================================== =

if i get booted off for this, or get a warning, i swear i will make their message board a living hell and btw - that post was a reply to some kid who wants to know people's likes and dislikes about the tmaxx

Rex2342

I've gotten used to the new design of RCU and i'm really liking it now.It just took a while to used to it again.I was reading some of the posts in the suggestions and problems forum and some of those guys were really pi$$ed off about the change.In fact they were so mad about it they left LOL!!I received a few PM's from some people trying to recruit members to Rcrevolution.Witch is very close to going under by the way.Other forums can't really compete with RCU.There are so many memebers and so much info on these boards that it would take you weeks or even months to read it all.I also like RCNT.It's a little smaller and more laid back than here.The smaller forum land les memebers lets you get to know each other faster.I still come here for the majority of my R/C needs but visit other forums frequently just to BS.I think all forums are great places.Lots of great people and lots of info floating around make the hooby more fun.

Sigmun

If traxxas continues to delete people's post they'll start losing support from people (like you). I think they're just digging their own grave, if they continue doing this i think someday people are gonna be smart enough not to buy their products. I don't have a savage nor a tmaxx but after reading all the posts here everday for months I'm really believing all the things said about both trucks, and traxxas company as this is not the first post about their 'forum'.....for errr....discussIon.
Well they can keep doing this if it suits them. I don't think they will have a great end however.

nodolarsnosense

Sigmun you just read my mind word for word.
plus
in my oppinion a good product is not a product which you BUY completely new but has many of its parts automatically become redundant and WORTHLESS, and large amounts of money must be spent from the outset to make the brand new product lagitimately useable. when hop ups stop being OPTIONAL performance parts and start being a nescisary step up this is when you know the product is severly lacking in some important departments.
from what i have heard perhaps traxxis should stop producing stock a arms etc and instead sell the tmaxx as a kit without them. this would stop people paying for something they will never use.

ITCHYTRIGGER

Is Traxxas an American company?

Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

YES!!!

http://www.traxxas.com/about/trx_about.htm

Plano TX, with an office in England. But are most of the trucks ASSEMBLED in the good 'ole U. S. of A., or in Asia, where many of the parts are made?

That, I don't know!

Dean

The Boss

Hi, most if not all the t maxx is made in Taiwan

migueloo

i don't like things made in taiwan.

Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

Kinda lame, blanket statement. I'm sure Savage & most other MTs have substantial Taiwan/China componentry sourcing. Not to mention most/all radios.

And Taiwan stuff is NOT cheaply made!! Would you say the same thing about JAPAN, or do you realize that they are leaders in RC & "made in Japan" means QUALITY??? "Made in Taiwan" is NOT the same as "made in China"!! Taiwan has really become a quality mfg. center & is rapidly acheiving equality with Japan in ALL high-tech mfg. sectors!!!!

And looking at the Traxxas page I linked to above, it looks like they DO assemble the trucks HERE, which is kinda refreshing.

I have a problem with "Buy U.S.!!!" campaigns in general, but in RC, Asians have been leaders for YEARS!!!!

badboy2

My Feedback: (13)

the only ting i miss on my rcu is my gallery cuz i think uhave to pay now right?