I received A f-16 tiger for a 13 year old birthday which came broken. the aileron hinge was snapped off and and the metal plate that holds on the air duct was not affixed to the fuselage, the answer given to me buy SAM, and another guy jun h. ma was that i should take it apart and glue the metal plate on. I explained that was not exceptable because it was brand new and i should not have to disassemble a brand new plane to fix it. I was hung up on today 3 times buy there customer support, i called they asked for my order number and when it came up they just hung up on me and one time just left me on hold for over a 1/2 hour (just wanted to see how long they would do that to a customer). how can anyone do business this way. the plane came broken and they are giving me attitude that is unreal. I also was trying to call to work out the situation but i could not get a rep on the phone as they would hang up on once i give them my order number. jun h. ma was not on the phone with me for more then 3 mins and he was telling me that he is sending me return labels he does not want my business and is going to band me from future purchases as if i ever would buy from here again, is this a company or a bunch of 15 yearolds in a basement trying to run a business. look at the poor guys post about his proken plane ups says it was shipped there and they are claiming they never got it come on. well i am keeping the plane and i have my pictures i will not be using the return label as would not want them to claim they never got it, as i believe they would just to make things hard for me as they show there unprofessionalism. I was wrong for sinking to there level but it was unreal how i was spoken to as a customer if if i am dead wrong which i am not there is no excuse for this, if anyone goes threw this please post they can not get away with this. I am waiting for a new left wing and a fuselage.

they hung up on me like 5 times today, iheard the guys laughing in the back groung about me and bo on better buisness bureau they have 88 complaints in the last 36 months

An F16 for a 13 year old? Probably a good thing it WAS broken, or it could have wound up hurting someone. You didn't do your homework about this company. I have had 5 Nitroplanes, and every one of them flew. Yes, I had to re engineer some things, replace some things, etc. BUT I figured these issues out from using/studying RC Universe.
YOUR English is terrible. I can only imagine the attitude you have, and don't wonder why they are laughing at you. Go back to school and learn how to spell and compose. Geesh.

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. When trying to get something for nothing, diplomacy is the way to go. Might be too late for that now, on this issue. Sounds like minor repairs to make, and I think I would just make them and have some fun, rather than continue to get my bloomers all bunched up. Your 13 year old probably just wants to fly.

I have met a couple of these guys at Toledo this spring, and they seemed like pretty cool dudes to me. They are fellow fliers and do seem to want to provide nice planes at inexpensive prices. I asked about the spare parts system, and if they just ordered extra planes to part out for parts. That isn't how it works. Sometimes parts are hard to come by from the Chinese factories. I almost wonder if it isn't just better to get two of the same plane so one has plenty of parts.

You get what you pay for.

There are a lot of good companies out there like Hobby Lobby, Tower, Horizon, Hobby People, etc. - You may pay a few dollars more, but it's well worth it.

I too fell victum to Nitro Planes when I first got into this hobby. They have real nice color pictures and unbelievable prices. My plane arrived with a damaged wing and after six attempts to get a replacement wing I gave up. That is there intent, to wear you down so you give up. With all the complaints on this forum about Nitro Planes I can't believe they sell anything to anyone. Stick with Tower, Hobby People, Troy Built,or any of the big name brand shops. They didn't get big by not providing service after the sale.

AMEN

I enjoy reading these posts and have learned alot from the many that have been in the sport that take the time to pass on their knowledge but there is no need and in my opinion no room for the reply that Citped post. The rules for the post are very clear . Please read the rules citped and keep your unpleasent remarks to yourself.

Thank you batdog its ok, cjtyped I received a broken plane and was told to glue it together as for my 13 year old nephew he is hovering a 90 sized yak 5 inches of the ground but no need to inform you of that. Also I have recorded phone calls.with nitro planes service reps and manager that will be on utube very soon link will be posted soon. I am just trying to warn fellow hobbiest that is all. Also there are people on airplanes.com own forum explaining that they sent planes back and got no refunds.

Nitroplanes.com. oh and not that I need to explain but the typing errors are because am using a cell phone with spell check and.some times it.changes the word around but like I said that does not have be explained just thought I would mention it. And cjtyped I guess the 88 complaints to the better business bureau in the last 36 months there all wrong to where all wrong.

I think we all want to purchase a nice plane for the best price we can get. I know I certainly do and I am very frugal with my funds. I have so far stayed with Great Planes or Hangar 9 planes and from good companies. The planes are definitely higher priced but sometimes only by about 20-30 dollars so I am learning to go with that.

It is amazing how sometimes we can buy cheap and get a good deal. I wonder though in the long haul is it really a deal? Any company should be cautious about giving their customers a bad experience. I refuse to do business with any company that treats me less than they would treat a dog. I know some guys that will pay 40% more just because the people they do business with treats them well.

Ya gotta wonder sometimes [X(]

I HAVE THE INSIGHT:

Nitro is a company that is a china based manufacturer that sent its people to the US to sell their products. They are looking for the fast buck. They for the most part don't speak English. They have no concept of customer service. It's sell and make profit and service has no meaning. The Chinese way. They have no problem with selling an inferior product as long as it makes them money. NEVER expect them to provide quality customer service....they are not capable. They only understand profit.

In the Kit Building world, there are products known as "Builder's Kits" - These are kits where you get a box of sheets and sticks, a few die-cut parts and minimal instruction.

These kits are for master craftsmen who have a passion for woodworking and don't need or care to be told HOW to put the parts together, They just enjoy the experience of the biuld.

These types of kits can make a regular kit builder crazy. They can also make a novice kit builder swear off building for life!

I tell you this so you will understand when I say that after having reviewed a few Nitroplanes models, I have dubbed them "Builder's ARFs"

You buy it, build it with little or no instructions and fix any mistakes along the way yourself.

Paul, I agree that you SHOULD NOT have to disassemble and repair or rebuild any ARF or RTF.

I guess NP gets enough "one time" sales, and sales to people who aere willing to rebuild to get a cheap price, to stay in business.

They do not need to care about BBB complaints because the BBB has no power to do anything. They simply track complaints and tell you about them IF YOU ASK. Problem is, nobody asks.

I will make the assumption that you didn't contact the BBB to check them out before you placed the order.

Best explanationIhave heard.

That's not exactly right. They will work with you if you ask them nicely and explain what is up. The family that is based here is old school business. The younger guys are flyers. I've had them help me to the point of removing stuff from another model.
The Chinese factory provides the stuff and it's cheap and plentiful. There seem to be no spare parts. The models sell out quickly and then there really are no spares because there are no new ones to rob from.
(I don't think many people quite understand how many units they push, it's really incredible.)
Then that model is done.
The next shipment comes and it starts all over again.
The old man has told me plainly before that the radio is cheap, don't buy it if you don't need it. They only charge 20 to 30 bucks for them, which now seems really expensive when Hobby People will sell a 2.4 5 channel for 99 bucks.

My buddy bought an RTF just to see if it would work. We had two bad servos and the receiver was rolling around in the body right off the bat. After replacing the two bad servos and mounting the receiver it has flown for a year and a half and has been a lot of fun. The radio is weird and really badly designed, poor gimbals, etc., but it works. And the model flies well, is light, and the EDF works well enough for us dad's and the kids to have fun. For 139 bucks, and a little modeling exertion, it is what it is.

I have bought a lot of VQ and BH ARF's and I think they are the same way. Get your spares early, because in a few short months they will be hard to find and in a year or two they'll be discontinued. Some of the Nitroplanes stuff just has a shorter cycle.

I like the poster here who refers to them as "builders ARF's". Good analogy. Sometimes I like to fly them at the park so the other guys that complain about them can see me flying the heck out of one and then I tell them it's just the way it came. True to a point, I just had to do some "modeling" on it first.

I take it that the thread originator is not a modeler.

I don't use the pushrods, landing gear wire (The Panther broke a main gear wire at a bend after about 20 flights), clevis's, I rehinge the controls, or at least tape the hingelines, balance them (especially the jets), and after a while, the esc's get bad, and of course the batteries are short lived. Hey, what do you expect? It's not made in the USA and this isn't the 60's!

I've read a lot of these Nitroplanes complaints and they usually fall into the category of a person that expected too much, or a guy that is just never happy with whatever he gets.

Chris...

So if you wind up buying two of these planes so you will have what you need how does that become such a good value? [X(]

Well good, that's two people who like the term "Builder's ARF"

Let's see if we can get that term into common usage

Great explanation, Minn. I would say you can use a slightly-modified version of that term for some of the Chinese surface vehicles also - Builder's (A)RTRs - if you are prepared to do a little work with little or no instruction, you can end up with a good vehicle for a really reasonable price.

yep, and rcu allows them to advertise on this site. i have never bought from them and never will. some of my flying buddies have and had simular experiences with them. it a shame that they are allowed to stay in buisness.

Nitroplane's definition of ARF: Almost Ready to "Fix-up" .

I rebuild and bash every arf I have , so I lile the term "builder arfs "

This is some fun scale bashes to my 1400mm P40 , split the flaps , eletric retracts , moved the pilot , added an interior ect ect .
All in fun from Nitro Planes , plane is epo , you learn to love foam lol when its big like these planes

NitroPlanes - Xheli are one in the same and thier customer sevice is just Great !

I order from them all the time and have had3 complaints within my last 11 orders and they always solve them fast and easy without many questions and my lastmoan was about a barebones kit I bought and itsfuselage not aligning and they game me a RMA and I sent it back to them and they sent me the fully updated version of the kit, but in it's RTFstate and it was even one version higher than the kit I sent back to them and they never charged me a penny more for it.

Nothing like 2.4GHz 4-Channel F-4E Blue Phantom EDF Jet 100% Ready-to-Fly w/ Brushless Setup $199.00 plane for only $59.00

paulieb1979,
I hope you informed them you were recording them before you post that audio on You-Tube, there's very strict laws regarding that practice. I would check into your state laws.
There was a spycam video of a guy getting pulled over by the cops that was recorded, he failed to warn the cops he was recording them, he's in some trouble right now.

I'm not promoting Nitroplanes but if you can find a ARF that does'nt need some kind of work let us know who's that is, especially if they are as cheap as NP. I've never bought an ARF that did'nt need some attention, they all come from the same place, China. If you read thru this section of RCU you will discover all the problems that previous buyers have uncovered so you can address them before your maiden flight, loose or broken parts are common and cheaper to fix then spending time messing with the company. Ever buy from Hobby King?

ARFRTF are just intials and BS, when you build a plane, heli, car, truck and or a tank from scratch then you Realize. Dam there is more here than I expected and you play with sims and talk to others about your class of Rc Hobbey. Don't ever think that RTF really means READYTOFLY.

Because it ANIT and RTF will always cost you parts and heartaches, Always check everything Twice before you take it out for the maiden .!.