Has anyone recieved their VectorFlight plane that they ordered around 11/21/2004?

I have had 2 responses one week apart saying that mine is in the next batch for production and will ship at the end of the week and I still have not recieved the plane.

I know they are a small company and up to this point their service has been great.

Or am I just being impatient?

Well........With all due respect, Yes!

I Ordered a 66" extra on 11/23. I received an email reply on 12/8 saying that due to the high volume of orders they have recieved they have been working around the clock 7 days a week to try and catch up. Mine is scheduled to ship next week. If you haven't noticed, the website has also been updated to declare a 4 week lead time. Remember the old saying, "good things come to those who wait...".

I think what got me going is the 2 emails I have received both saying basically the same thing. I felt like I got a basic "canned" answer instead of the great customer service I have heard so much about.

Order was confirmed on 11/21/2004. Both emails were in response to me asking about the progress of my order.

First one on 12/3/2004

Dear Bill:

Thank you for your message. We apologize of the delay in shipping your 540. We have been manufacturing around the clock to expedite the large number of orders received, and your Edge is the batch going into production over the weekend. It should be shipping near mid to end next week and you should be receiving it in PA 17022 shortly thereafter.

Thank you very much for your patience.

Best regards,

C/S
VF

Second one I got today (12/11/2004)

Dear Bill:

Thank you for your message. We sincerely apologize for the delay in shipping. Since the last several weeks, our order volume has increased significantly, which has caused a backlog to build up. This is our biggest concern right now and we are trying our best to ship out orders as quickly as possible, to minimize inconvenience to our customers. We are currently working around the clock to expedite manufacturing. Your order is in the batch being prepared this week and will be shipping out by the end of the week.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your patience.

Best regards,

C/S
VF

If VF can speed up their manufacturing time and shipping time, I'm sure that they will be poised for world r/c arf domination. Think about it, not only will the Canadians beat China at Hockey, they will take away their r/c lead!

Guess I spoke to soon. Now this is really good customer service. Re-arranging orders to meet customer needs says allot.

Dear Bill:

Thanks for your reply. I absolutely appreciate your concern. These are, in a strange way, very difficult times for us because of the delays we are encountering in shipping out orders and the inconvenience it is causing to our customers. Every day brings new circumstances which sometime require changes in shipment schedule. Normally we go very strictly by first order in first out. However during this holiday period we often get special requests from people who have ordered an airplane as a gift and require shipping before Christmas, or sometimes people are traveling and request shipment priority. Often times we will get requests at the last minute which can result in modifying our shipment schedule at that time because of the limited number of airplanes we have at any time. We wish we could manufacture these faster but manufacturing a labor intensive product in North America has its own challenges and we certainly could not speed up manufacturing at an expense of quality. However we are quickly learning from this experience and hopefully will be able to avoid these issues in time.

Regarding your question, an airplane does take about 1 week in production. They are made in batches obviously so a batch usually takes up to a week. There are separate batches for fuselages, wings etc and several batches are in process at any time.

I am making sure that your airplane goes out in the very next shipment. Please let me know if you may have any questions.

Best regards,

Chuck
VF

I too have been waiting since I placed my order in early November. They confirmed receipt of my Money Order on 11/21/04. I have sent them a few e-mails regarding the status of my order. Here is the last e-mail received from them on 12/09/04:


Dear Gary:

Thank you for your message. We sincerely apologize for the delay in shipping. Since the last several weeks, our order volume has increased significantly, which has caused a backlog to build up. This is our biggest concern right now and we are trying our best to ship out orders as quickly as possible, to minimize inconvenience to our customers. We are currently working around the clock to expedite manufacturing. Your order is near the top of our current batch list and it will likely be mailed in the next 3-4 days.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your patience.

Best regards,

C/S
VF


I think that I am just a little too excited/impatient to receive my Edge 540. I already have a Saito 120 and several upgrades ready for her. My LHS has ordered my props for me so I can break my motor in. If this plane is as good as everbody claims, than it is worth the wait. I have tried to occupy myself with other things while waiting for the Edge.

Good luck and happy flying.

Saito 120? Seems like overkill to me... you POWER FREAK YOU!!! hehe... I have a Saito 100 on my VF Edge and it just kicks all kinds of a@@! That 120 ought to make it scream like a banshee.

aaron2874,

That's the point... HeHe.

Because of the weight of these planes, I wanted to ensure that I would have power to spare. I just have to learn how to manage the throttle. With my Aresti 40 I know to speeds, full throttle and idle. LOL. Not really, I have learned to restrain myself. Plus I picked up the Saito 120 for a steal. It's NIB with all papers and tools, and it's a GK version, that I bought from a friend for $250.00. Horizon has them for $355.00. So I would have been stupid (not that I'm all that bright either) to pass up a deal like that.

Later

I've been waiting for 6 weeks for my extra. The price - demand curve would suggest something here.

rcoregon,

It's definitely worth the wait. My just got here and all I can say is [X(] what quality. I admit to being a little frustrated when I started this thread but I feel much better now that it's here (figured as much).

I have been dealing with Chuck and as you have probably heard, the customer service he has given me has been first rate all the way.

So to everyojne that reads this thread, be patient, it's worth it. Send them an email and if you already have send them another, if the emails look very similar, explain that to them. They have been building like mad to try to get all the orders done and shipped before christmas so these people are probably worn to a frazzle right now.

bubbagates,

I finally received word from them about my plane. Here read it yourself:

"Dear Gary:

Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to let you know that your Edge has been shipped today from Windsor Canada. It will be reshipped from Detroit distribution to you on Monday and hopefully you should be receiving it in a couple of days thereafter.

We sincerely apologize for the long delay and the inconvenience. As you know we have been under great pressure due to a large order volume recently and we are trying to make sure this situation does not repeat in the future.

Best regards,

Chuck Weber
VF"

I sent them an e-mail explaining my disappointment with the constant e-mails stating about their delay. I think I finally got their attention when I said I was having second doubts about keeping my order. I felt that they were not being fair in their priorities. They were shipping to customers that requested their plane by X-mas first although they had several orders placed and filled before those customers (including mine). Read the post I started "Disappointment with Vectorflight" and you will see my frustration at the time.

Good luck with your plane bubba. Let us know how everything goes as you build it. Happy flying.

What have I started?!!

Chuck said the same thing to me about re-prioritizing the orders for Xmas shipping. It frustrated me also. I did mention about cancelling me order at one point and that's when Chuck got involved.

It's here now, it's a beauty and you will see a complete review here on RCU in the next few weeks.

I'll check out your thread.

If anyone from Vector Flight reads this, I would like to publicly apologize [] for venting my frustration both to the customer service people at VectorFlight and publicly here on RCU. I wish them a very Merry Christams.