Aeronaut,

I agree about the hobby shop and customer service, I dont think the owner in my case did anything out of the ordinary in comparison to other shops. In most cases they dont even support you and send you back to the manufacturer.

I should probably clarify a little about my situation and I will try to do so in this post.

First, I would not tell anyone to stay away from Lanier ARF's, I base this on the fact that my situation is the only plane that I have ever owned from this company. While I feel it could be looked at as a second or lower grade ARF, I dont think it means that they all come out that way. I guess I would not have a problem buyng one of thier arfs from Tower because I know if I have issues that they will resolve them.

As for the Hobby shop, I think the owner is a good guy, he has supported me in building the model and would probably help me build the thing if I asked.
I am just very anal when it comes to customer service, I normally buy most of my larger items from Tower and I have never had to argue with them about anything. My recent GP big stick 40 arrived with a crack in the outer portion of the wing. I called Tower and told them it was cracked and without question there was a new wing on the way. They didnt say "You can CA it" but rather "we are sending out a replacement" and that was the end of that.

So thats what I look for when I purchase from a hobby shop, I dont feel that I should have to argue or put up a fight to get resolution. And in this case the model is workable, its not as if it was broken in half in the box. Im not mad, I just choose not to purchase my larger items in the hobby shop and I certainly cant tell someone else to purchase large items there, I have to send them in Towers direction. I know they will get good service from Tower and be happy with the hobby.

Also notice how I didnt mention a name of the hobby shop, and I wouldnt do it, I dont put out bad information unless its warranted and would protect someone from a bad situation.
I would actually rate this particular hobby shop as one of the best in comparison to others in the area because the owner does take the time to support the details.

I hope I have clarified myself in this post because I dont always come across in writing as I would like.


Dbow