Warning about Lanier RC [ 1 ]

After all the trouble I been through with this POS product from Lanier , I wrote to them to complain about the product.

A guy named Wayne from tech support wrote me back an email after about 6 weeks - he said " have a nice day".
That's all he said.

OK everybody - Please do not patronize these people.
Lanier is possibly the worst excuse for a rc plane maker that could possibly be.

That response from Lanier really says it all.

They have no qualms screwing you over and then tell you to have a nice day.

Please stay away from Lanier RC. I guarantee you'll be sorry if you don't.

What exactly was the content of your email? I've never had a problem with them or their products, but if you send a angry, defamatory email, you can expect the same in return.

Jesse

It all depends how you worded your contacts with the company.
What product are you talking about and the problem ?
I've had many of their products starting with the ARF Jester to the current kits of the 120 and giant Stingers without any problems.

Lanier Hawk 75" sailplane

everything was badly warped, from the fuse to the wing spars?!
the abs fuse skin had so many warps and defects it looks like the mold was in a fire.
I paid 28USD for shipping and then they didn't put enough postage on the package and it got shipped ground - took 31 days. They said air shipping guaranteed on the web site.
1 wing was 1" longer than the other?
the spar joiners were warped too? and a different design than what was in the plans?
the elevator hits the rudder when going up only 1/8 inch?
the shipping damage due to poor packaging?
the staples that went through the light ply and missed the target on the other side?
the glue joints that fell apart in my hands when I had to disassemble the whole thing during weight reduction work?
absolutely no washout in the wings at all?
1 wing cap was crooked?
the solid steel hinge pin for the rudder weighed an ounce?
the fuse bottom plate was not square?
I get no response from Lanier when I contact them?

What a nightmare.

If this is how Lanier intends to introduce beginners to RC planes I think they have lost their marbles.
I myself only have a couple left after this mess.

The tech support guy ( Wayne ) got back to me with a short email today....... all he he said was " have a nice day".
What a screwed up company Lanier is!!!

I never have dealt with them(lanier) directly, but I own 2 of thier planes and enjoy flying both of them. Sorry you had a bad experience with your purchase. What do you think would have been a goo resloution?

Call them and ask for BUBBA

There is no good resolution.

My time was wasted.
My trust was abused.
It's not worth shipping back for a refund.
It's just a lesson in " let the buyer beware ".

The best resolution is that any potential Lanier buyers look elsewhere.

Thanks for the heads up. Life's too short to mess with people who don't care about their customers.

I have three of Lanier's products. An 80" Cap232 kit, A Razor and the 30% Edge 540T. The Kit was complete, I had never sheeted foam wings before. They always had time for me, even Bubba. The Edge had some small hardware items missing, they were replaced. The Razor, to me is a very nice flying plane. I will buy from them again. Sorry you had problems.

I think something may have been explained incorrectly or was misinterpreted. I lived in the same city as Bubba and Wayne and flew with them for a few years. I don't beleive they honestly know what your problems are or they would take care of them. I have been to the factory and have seen them take care of problems like this. Send an email to Lanier and put it to Bubba's attention and I bet you get some positive results.

Yeah and fight the urge to get angry with them. Just state the facts even the fact that he responded with "Have a nice day" can be put in there but don't word it with anger. Tell them what the damage was, dates, times, dollar amounts. That's it.

dershark, I have and do own several Lanier products. I'll admitt I have a 4FU Corsair that is pretty bad, But I'll also say I have never experienced anything but good from Wayne or Bubba, They have always responded to my e-mails and phone calls in a timley manner and have satisfied any and all concerns I have had about there product. BUT as it was pointed out, wording makes a big difference. If you start your communication with "your product is a POS and you as a customer rep suck", well you ain't gona get diddly from anyone, Lanier, GP, Tower, all of them are likely to tell you to take a hike. Burning a company just because you may not have approched them right is wrong.
Just my $ 00.02.
Enjoy your plane.

I've built several of their products, stinger, giant size and 60 size, pro-twister, Giant Staudacher and now working on 40% Edge. All were good quality for what you pay. I've dealt with them several times in the past and had prompt reply's.

I've known several people who have had problems with some of their ARF's. The guys that Flamed Lanier got no-where and the one's that took the approach as telling instead of scolding got good results.

Good luck! Sorry to hear about your results with them. Like was said before take the approach of telling even if you have to apologize for the flame. Shoot, I know a guy that got his wing broke in a fence and when dealing with the manufacture he told them that it was his fault. But the way he approached it landed him a new set of wings for that airplane at no cost. It's all in the way you treat people. Treat them how you would want to be treated...if they are unwilling to stand behind their product then accept the loss and just don't buy from them again. I think in some form we all go thru that once in a while with products we buy.

Very well put wagas. nuf said.

Another thing to remember is that the hawk is a very old design. Its listed as an "early arf" on there site. The older Arf's are no where near the quality one would expect from the newer models and I think that may also be part of the problem.

There are many, many satisfied customers and have been for many years.........

But one newbe doesn't get his way and he thinks he is going to shut Lanier down.

get over it

I agree, calm down, swallow your pride, and get Bubba on the phone. He may surprise you. But if you blow up, be prepared to hear a loud click sound.

The good:
I've had two planes from Lanier, one was the 40 size Corsair and I liked it. It had a nice glass fuse with panel lines and a built-in vert fin and flew great on a Saito 72.
I recently bought a set of Mariner fiberglass wing floats for my Sea Master and they are first class parts.
The bad:
The mistake you made was buying that POS Hawk. I bought one in 75 and they were a POS then. The first thing that should have tipped you off was that their sooo dam ugly.

DerShark 3,

In reading your post, no, you didn't mention all of those things.

If that's the type of email you sent to Lanier I can see why they didn't bother with you.

I wouldn't have either.

Lanier has sold 10's of thousands of planes, do you think maybe yours was an exception?

Don't break your leg jumping to conclusions.

<edited for content>

LOL , thats funny. I think that DerShark is new to the hobby and doesn't realize how old and well respected of a company that Lanier is. I do agree that the letter he wrote does sound kind of harsh. I know that this is a cliche but I always follow it, because I know how it is to work in customer service....

[size=3]"Treat others the way you want to be treated"[/size]

Several years ago when the Air Expo was in Des Moines, IA, Bubba was here with his product display. After all the events, there was a mid-air between a helicopter and one of Bubbas models (owned and flown by a pilot, not Bubba), Bubba saw the mid-air, went over picked up the pieces and said that "looks like a wing failure (it wasn't) to me". He went to his display, picked out the kit that had been destroyed and handed it to the guy. That's the kind of guy he is, do like the others have suggested, give him a call, I'll bet you will come out OK.

Those old Lanier ARFs are junk...they were junk when they were new too (60s technology). Lanier should really discountinue them. As for the email response "have a nice day"...not in the least professional. I've heard lots of negatives about Bubba and Lanier myself...but what should you do? You should do what I do...don't do business with them.

Yak

Thanks for your reply Yak.

Was a pleasure to hear from somebody who actually understands what's up with this Lanier Hawk POS.
People seem to think I'm trying to get some sort of satisfaction from Lanier.
I'm not.
I'm just warning people that they might get shipped a box o junk and then told to have a nice day.

Doesn't matter if I ever flew a plane before or been flying for 40 years - I still know when I been decieved and lied too.
Some old timers think that just because I'm a newbie I can't use a scale or realize when the wood is warped or that the product is not as described.
It's not enjoyable being assumed an idiot untill proven otherwise.

I don't think I'll spend much time here any more.

Here is where you went wrong. Just because you had a bad experience, don't go telling other people not to deal with someone. Just do what you personally want to do.

Don't know Bubba personally but have heard lots more good than bad but have heard both. I have built 4 of his kits. The only one worth a flip was the Corsair but the others ( I don't remember the names of them, they were for other people) were pretty crude and really didn't build well at all. In fact they had the positive impact of making me want to scratch build which I have found very satisfying. No more three letter word planes for me.