My nearest hobby shop is 300 miles away in the next town and even thats only fairly small with a limited range. The next closest is in Perth which is 1200 miles away. I brought my plane through the local Toyworld store (An ARF 40 trainer). Whilst building the plane I noticed that it didnt come with any fuel tubing so I went back toToyworld to buy some. He didnt have any in stock but said that he could get it in. Im still waiting and that was around 6 weeks ago. I understand that its only a small amount of fuel tubing and to just order that would cost a lot in freight but thats why I end up buying through mail order because I can get it quicker than trying to buy local.
On the other hand though when I did buy my plane through the local Toyworld store I wanted to layby it and pay it off. The owner of the store gave me the plane and said just come in every now and again and give me some money for it until its paid off. You certainly wouldnt get that from a mail order company.

Regards,

Troy.