ThacherD

I hate to hear stories of how people have had bad experiences with hobby shops. I personally do not have any horror stories regarding the 2 HobbyTown USA stores that I have shopped. (One is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the other in Minnetonka, Minnesota) I was just at the Sioux Falls store today, and had some good conversation with the workers there. The employees who fly rc in that store are the ones I have dealt with, not because I requested them, but because of other employees that admitted honestly "I don't fly, but I will go get someone who does and they will answer your questions" Your complaints in this forum boil down to two items that have nothing to do with RC. They are customer service, and training. The first one actually falls under the second, and they are the responsibility of the Management or owners of that store. I guess Hobbytown USA has problems that every other retail store, chain, etc. has in America. Some managers and employees just don't get it, that the customer is the reason that they have a job. (Can You tell I used to work retail?? Hell, I have a Masters in Business!) Unfortunately, poor customer service will kill a store. I mentioned that I have also shopped at a Hobbytown in Minnetonka, Mn. I would say that this store treated me very well. My son and I were visiting my brother in Minneapolis to help him move into a new house. For entertainment we went to the Hobbytown store, looked around, and impulse bought a couple of Zig Zag 2 boats to take out to a nearby pond and race around. To make a long story short, we had nothing but problems with my boat (my son's ran fine). I actaully returned it, and the manager gave me a new one, which did the same thing as the first, so we returned it again, and got a third boat. The manager was nothing but helpful in this situation. He was also apologetic for our troubles. The best thing is that we first dealt with a clerk who was new to the job and had the training to ask someone if he needed help. He went and got the manager and the rest is history. Was I happy about the product that I purchased, No? But the manager was helpful in resolving my problems. He even offered to refund my money. (But my son wanted to race). I guess my point for this whole reply is to point out that just because the McDonalds that you eat at all the time is good, doesn't mean that all of the McDonalds restaurants are good, just because the Ford dealership that you do business with is honest doesn't mean that all Ford Dealerships are honest, Just because the Super 8 Hotel down the street from you is clean and cozy, that all Super 8 Hotels are going to be just as clean and cozy, and just because your local Pizza Hut delivers to you in a timely fashion with a hot pizza doesn't mean that all Pizza Hut's have the same service. All of these businesses have one thing in common. They are all franchises. They use a common name to create stores that people identify with, but they are not all run the same. In the end, I don't want people to bash the name Hobbytown USA, just because they encountered poor service from one franchise store. I'll bet that for every poorly managed Hobbytown store, you could find one that is run in an exceptional way. By the way, I'm not a HobbyTown regular. I live 120 miles from the nearest Hobbytown store in Sioux Falls. So, I do most of my shopping online. I just know good service when I receive it.