UPDATE 06/30/06:
Sal called me personally today and has worked out a satisfactory resolution to my problem. He was very pleasant and I intend to try doing business with him again in the future.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___________
Unfortunately, now I am also a victim of Sal and Northeast Sailplane Products. When my 'Blizzard' glider arrived the left wing was damaged. The balsa and fiberglass on the bottom of the wing had been crushed/cracked from the leading edge to the aileron servo bay. Hopefully I can eventually get this resolved with NSP but thought it would be a good idea to alert others to the problem I am having with NSP. I will simply post the description of the situation I sent to Chase VISA to dispute the transaction with NSP:
I ordered a ‘Blizzard’ radio controlled glider and motor system from Northeast Sailplane Products (NSP) on 05/25/06 for $720.89.
I notified Carolyn at NSP on 06/08/06 the left wing of the Blizzard glider had been damaged during shipping. I emailed pictures of the damage to her NSP address (
[email protected]) and was told a new wing would be shipped to me and that I could proceed with building the kit.
Since 06/08/06 I have been given numerous dates by Carolyn at NSP that the replacement wing would be shipped. In each case NSP failed to ship it. The first reason given for the delay was “They needed to contact Reichard (the manufacturer, located in the Czech Republic) to see if the wings were a matched set, but they have not been able to contact him.” This continued for several days, so I sent Reichard an email on 06/15/06 and was answered in less than an hour –
“Hello,
it is possible to buy one wing only. Any two wings can be used together.
regards
Radana Reichard”
I called Carolyn at NSP, she said they had still been unable to contact Reichard, but would try again the next day. I told her I had contacted him and they only had to supply a new left wing. She asked me to forward the email from Reichard and they would ship the wing the next day. I sent her the email.
On 06/16/06 I called Carolyn at NSP just before they closed to see if the wing had been shipped. She said it had not been shipped because the person that does the packing was not in that day, but it would be shipped on Monday 06/19/06. I call Monday 06/19/06 and got the same story, they had not shipped it. But, she promised, it would be shipped by Wednesday 06/21/06. It was not shipped. On 06/21/06 I told Carolyn that I felt that I had been more than patient and if the wing was not shipped by Thursday 06/22/06 I would contact Chase VISA and dispute the charges. I also sent an email to both Carolyn and Sal (the owner) outlining the problems and my intentions to dispute the charges if it was not resolved. I was assured that it would be shipped on Thursday. I called Carolyn on Thursday and she admitted that they did not have a wing to ship me, but they did have a wing with damage to the tip. She asked if they repaired the tip to new condition would I accept it as a replacement? I told her that I would if it was like new. She said they would have it repaired and shipped by Wednesday 06/28/06. When I called on 06/27/06 to check the status I was told they had a buyer for the wing 'as is' and it was sold. NSP did not repair the wing and send it to me as promised. Carolyn said that NSP may get some new wings from Prague ‘in a few weeks’. I now have my doubts that they intend to supply me with a replacement wing.
An offer from NSP to return the kit has not been extended to me, but at this point that would not be acceptable. I have completed the remainder of the kit and have my radio equipment installed. My time is of value, the compensation for the number of hours spent working on this kit and dealing with NSP is already far in excess of the purchase price. I simply want an undamaged left wing for my ‘Blizzard’ glider, until it is received I would like the charges by NSP for $720.89 to be removed from my account.
If you would like copies of the email correspondence and the pictures of the damage I will be happy to provide them to you.
Thank you.
UPDATE 06/30/06:
Sal called me personally today and has worked out a satisfactory resolution to my problem. He was very pleasant and I intend to try doing business with him again in the future.