Originally Posted by
JSF-TC
So when can we expect the previous order to arrive??
I placed my order for an unpainted SM Xtreme F-86 back in November 2014, with a quoted February delivery.
When I called in February I was told April.
When I called in April I was told June
When I called in June I was told August.
The person I spoke to in June also said that it wasn't even ordered until April, even though I had paid 50% in December. What had they been doing for 6 months?
I'm glad I didn't order anything complicated like a custom paint scheme or anything
There's the 'On the Slow Boat from China' and then there's Chief.......
I don't normally post publically about issues, but 9 months+ is pretty poor performance.
Paul
Even though this is not the medium for which to raise your issues, I will address them and see if I can help. Did you speak to Dana? Based on what you are telling me, I can easily arrive at the conclusion that your order fell into the Chinese New Year delays. Even though the deposit was taken in December, we still have to wait for the order to be processed, accepted and put into the Que at Skymaster. That sometimes can take weeks on its own. That is probably why they said it didn't go in till April even though that sounds a little long. There are numerous orders going into the Que every day from many customers. That entire shipment is delayed because of it.
The issue for those who order aircraft in the US from china must understand that as a company here in the US, it is next to near impossible to predict what delays may arise in the factory in china. Anyone who has been in this hobby long enough knows that if you order your product right before Chinese new years, there may be huge delays. When we tell a customer when to expect their aircraft its because that is the information
given to us by the factory. If the factory is delayed, we give you the next date they give us so forth and so on. If you take advantage of the shipping via the container, then there's an additional 3 weeks on the ocean.
There is absolutely nothing we can do but advise my customers of when its the best time in the year to order your aircraft so that you do not run into these periods when delays are most common which are mostly after Chinese new years. That order your aircraft is part of has taken almost 24 weeks to complete. Very delayed and believe me, we are just as frustrated as you about the order delay but again, we do our best to try and mitigate the problem. It does not matter who you order your jet from, they will ALL have the same issues unless the aircraft you order is in stock or completed at the factory. Some customers are not meant to have their order shipped by container as it takes the longest, they need to pay the full amount and ship DHL but even that will only speed up the process a couple weeks. We are trying to have product here in stock in the USA but before the container arrives with what we ordered for inventory, it is all sold. As we move forward, we continue to work closely with Skymaster to streamline the process but that's all we can do.
Paul, your aircraft should be here soon. I did not handle your order myself. There are several customers dealing with the delay and have been patient and we appreciate that from them as they know that we do the best we can and what happens in China is out of our control. Let us know if there is anything else I can do to help even though at his point were just waiting for the container.
My recommendation to anyone who has a time sensitive situation, order by May and even though its very expensive, the quickest way is to air freight.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and I will now along with Dana be providing extended hours for support and ordering. Skymaster and I are working to try and provide US based customer service for our customers with a US number to answer questions and help with troubleshooting, parts, and general questions.
