Im still waiting for my rtf trainer to arive in the mail. I bought it off this site for 120 bucks. on the first of this month I sent payment, three days later I received a email stating that payment was recieved. all is good so far, now I have waited and to this day there has been no plane delivered to my door.
Is it usuall for ups or fedex to take so long in delivering a .40 size plane?? im just wondering if I should be getting worried.

I suppose that depends on where you bought it from. What type of trainer did you buy, and where did it come from?

It could be that it is coming across the country, but it should have arrived by now, unless they were out of stock.

Bob

Yes, worry. It takes at most 5 days for FEDEX, UPS, or USPS to deliver via ground shipping. This is also including shipping across the U.S. Call the dealer and find out if it has been shipped. If it has not I would cancel the order and go somewhere else. I have been burned by this problem before and usually if it has taken this long for the dealer to send a plane out, it is either on backorder, forgotten, lost in the mail, or the guy is operating his business from his house and acting as a middle man and doesn't really care how long it takes. I had the last one happen to me and still to this day I fear that my credit card number will get out. I always order from tower hobbies and get everything I order within a weeks time.
My .02

If you happened to use paypal to pay for it. You have to file a complaint before 30 days is up or they can't help you get your money back. Thanks, Mike

I hope you paid by credit card. This will allow you to file a claim that the product was never delivered.

well,
I paid with a money order. I bought from a private seller on the rcu market place. I only bought this plane cause it was a "rtf 40 sized trainer", the price was better than any thing I could get at a reputable dealer and the add said "getting out of hobby, don't need" so I emailed the guy. he even gave me a phone number to call him with any questions.
fun2flyguy sold it to me in the "garage sale, airplane" section. u can see the add here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemID=62582

I think I will attempt to contact some of the other "buyers"

contact the sellor, ask questions, where is my plane? did you ship it? if so, whats the tracking number.

what doi do or can i do if he does not respond? Isn't there some law that says he has to tell me where my product is.

I really do not want to seem negative about this but I have been burned plenty of times buying off sites like E-bay. While I have never purchased anything off RCU there should be some clause about members not doing good business. Sometimes all you can do is write a bad review about the guy and hope others will learn from your experience, but since he is getting out of the hobby I don't think he really cares. I would call the guy and leave a message. You may have a limited time frame to where you can do something about your situation. So if the guy does not call you back within a day maybe 2 contact RCU and see if they can help you. There may be other legal things you can do ,but I would start by calling. If the guy does answer tell him that you have not recieved the merchandise and ask for a tracking number. If he says he did not ship it out yet, I would basically tell him to get off his butt and get it sent otherwise threaten him with legal action. I am not sure about using money orders since I use a credit card and I would advise you to get one and a paypal account. If the guy does not do any of these I would be suspicious of him and not buy from him. Credit cards and a Pay Pal account keeps you from getting burned like I have in the past and it gives you an OUT (as the saying goes) just in case of these situations. You might be able to call the police, but I would not waste my breath on them because they may treat it as stolen property and file it away somewhere for statistical information.

I do a few things before I buy off auction sites. First I make sure that I have a legitimate address and phone number before I buy. I also call the guy and make sure that it isn't some kid selling some junk. I also look for seller ratings. If it says "new seller", then I don't bother. The last thing I do is make sure that I can drive to his place in 24 hours or less. If something goes wrong with the sale, I will probably just show up on his doorstep to ask what the he-- is going on!! [8D]

well just an update. I email the guy last night, and got a reply this morning. he wined about "harrasment" and said he sent me a email last week that said that it would cost 40 dollars to send the plane so he got cold feet. he said he sent my money back in the mail but it should have got here by now.

I never deal with money orders or cash unless it's a in-person transaction. I'm sorry it's worked out this way for you. Some people are just scumbags

leave bad feed back very bad

We all know where the money order went. At this point I do not think you can do a thing about it. You may be able to find out if the check has gone through the bank and if not try to cancel it. If it has it still does not prove that he kept your money. It could have gotten lost (another word for stolen) in the mail. You could call and complain some more, but he will pull the harrrassment card out and scare you off.
Sorry man, I really do not know what else to tell you but to cut your losses, move on, and never order from him again.
I hope you did not lose alot of money on the transaction.
Oh and don't use money orders again.

You can take the copy of the MO to the bank and see if it has been cashed. If not cancell it and get your money back. If it has been cashed, send a copy of the e-mail about returning the money to RCU and post on his ad what happened. And don't stop trying. Dennis

I feel exactly the same way. I include Bidpay in the list of payment methods I will not use. Their fine print basically says as long as they deliver the payment to the seller, they've done their job. If I see something I'm really interested in, but the seller says they only accept money orders I send email asking about alternate payment such as credit cards or paypal (let's not get started on an I hate paypal flame fest). Some will write saying ok, others will ask for extra money for using the alternate payment, and others just never answer. I write off the ones who don't answer, refuse alternate payment, ask for more money, or don't answer. I wish more people would stand up for consumer protection by refusing to send money orders to perfect strangers.

I bought an OS FX 61 engine from a guy in Peurto Rico. He had lots of good guy reviews so I took a chance. I just sent him a money order. The engine was barely used as described but the needle valve was missing. I emailed him and he said that it probably got misplaced when he packed the engine for shipping. He ordered another one and sent it to me as soon as the order came in. Some times you get lucky!

Very true - there are some good people out there but the truth is people get burned quite a bit and since the internet has so many "anonymous" users, it's definitely a Buyer Beware scenario. I have a friend in the secret service. You would not believe how much stuff on Ebay is tied to the russian mafia

Sarges_heroes2003, It's unfortunate when you get scum like that!!
But you sure can find some great deals off of ebay and RCU and
other places.. I would like to think, Hope "most" will follow through
on the deal!! But when you deal with people online and through the
mail anything can happen.. I have been I guess you could say lucky
on my dealings off of those sites.. but as Fastsky has said above,
Well you'll get an address, But email them, and ask for their phone
number and call them to check the product and get a feel on how
they respond... Don't buy the product on the first call, make a few
calls to them and insure you get all the details of the product and
shipping methods and cost.. Some people do hate to give their
number out, when I have a person like that I tell them to call me
collect if need be and let them know if you have more questions
that you would send an email, but you would then like them to call
you back... If that fails.. Look else where.. What others have said
on money orders is correct, No real protection with it's use.. But
after doing the above, I have still sent a M.O. in some cases..
It's a hard choice, But can be made to feel a little safer... And one
thing is for sure report the person and leave feedback,, after you
have exhausted communication to resolve the problem...

I had a similar problem with an engine. Needle was too short, could not lean the engine out enough to get it running. I emailed the seller and told him how much it would cost. He sent the money to me via paypal.

I will take the money order to the bank tomarow as the bank is closed for today. we will see what they can do. In the even I do get my money back I will be looking for another arf or rtf trainer.

Some have suggested using a credit card. what card is the best? are there some that are worse than others??

Hey sarges.. What I did when I got my plane I went to tower hobbies. They have this thing called paylater and you actually get what you ordered and then when they ship it they send you a bill every month like a regular credit card. The interest is probably not so great but thats just an option.

Sarges,,,Are you serious? If you really don't know that much about credit cards, then I really envy you! Seriously, I wish I could legitimately ask questions like that.
For real, though. When you go to your bank tomorrow to check out the canceled check, then ask them about a credit card. They will probably set you up with a house card that carries like 20 or so percent interest. However, if you pay the balance off at the end of the month, then you will most likely owe no extra fee! If your bank says no, then just pick one of those many thousands that come to you in the mail each month (the ones my shredder hates!) and fill out the app. Most cards you can apply for online, and get an answer pretty quick!

keep us informed on this. This is very interesting. If the check was cashed, you should be able to find out where it was cashed. Then, call that bank (or check cashing service) and find out WHO cashed it. This will probably lead you back to him. Keep the e-mail he sent you. Armed with the e-mail and cancelled check, you should be able to go through the local District attorney and nail the guy. Don't be scared about harassment charges. He's had your money for almost a month now, you have a right to ask for the product! If he indeed cashed your check, the last thing he's gonna do is charge you with harassment. He'll be lucky to stay out of jail. Don't give up!

You might mention the term "mail fraud" to him. If he has any sense, you'll get your money.

LarryC

Check cards, as long as they have a VISA logo, carry the same protections as a regular card, have no interest and deduct from your bank account.
That way you don't get into debt, you actually spend the money you have.