Just thought I'd pass along another example of incredible customer service.

I bought a Tower Hobbies LCD Mini-Tach in March '05 and it had been working flawlessly until the last time I went to use it. When I turned it on, it would momentarily display a number and then turn off. I assumed the batteries were low and didn't give it any more thought. I put a new set of batteries in it and the behavior continued. Since had a membership in the Super Saver club when the tach was purchased, I thought the extended warranty might cover the item. I E-mailed Tower to inquire if there what could be done about getting it repaired or replaced. Less than 24 hours later, I received a reply E-mail saying that they were shipping out a replacement - no questions asked!

Well Im very happy for you but not everyone gets sterling
service from Tower/GP. They royally screwed me over
on a warranty issue.

They decided to alienate a good customer that had spent
thousands with them in the past and would of likely spent
thousands more in the future over warranty on a pair of
standard analog S148 servos.

They havnt got a dime of my money since.

Mike Hammer

Sorry to hear that - Did you have any success with Futaba customer service?

I agree XTOL, I've had issues with the Evil Empire concerning warrantied items. I've spent thousands of dollars through them, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Another vote toward Tower, I have had fantastic customer service from tower myself. If I have problems with shipped items or warranty issues I call them, I can get more done with voice contact rather than email.
I will go on record now saying Tower Hobbies customer service is second to none and I will continue to do business with them for a long time to come.

Every company screws up sometimes. I have never needed to have warranty work so I have no idea how that goes. I have received a couple of orders with box damage. They replaced the damaged or missing items with no problems.

But, the next order could be a total disaster. I hope not, but it is always a possibility.

XTOL and Stik-n-Rdr probably had good experiences with Tower for a while to rack up thousands of dollars in purchases; then something happened.

A good friend used a certain mail order computer parts supplier for several years, buying the components to assemble at least 100 PCs. I don’t know all of the details of what went wrong but he wouldn’t take a part from them now if it was free. He spent many thousands with them. Maybe the company messed up? Maybe my friend was unreasonable in his expectations of what the company should do? Maybe a combination of both? Whatever the whole story really is, my friend now hates this company; and the company lost a lot of future revenue. I have bought the stuff to build 4 computers from this company, 2 after my friend wrote them off, and I’ve had no issues at all.

I have purchased several items from Tower Hobbies. I have had nothing but excellent service and no issues with their products, at all.

If, I did, I would call them by phone.

It is a shame the XTOL and Stik-n-Rdr have had unsatisfactory service. Tower has lost good customers. I don't know if they tried to resolve the problems by phone. If they did and did not get what they expected as a fair shake, maybe the person on the other end was having a bad day. Sometimes a second effort is worthwhile.

They just refer you to Hobby Services which is the service branch of
the Great Planes/Tower conglomerate. And the only place to get
warranty service on Futaba equipment in the US. And there is where
I had the problem.

What I could never understand and what I said to everyone I contacted
there is why would they choose to alienate a good customer over a
pair of $12 servos? I was not trying to get something I wasnt entitled
to. The servos WERE purchased from Great Planes. They WERE defective.
And they WERE under warranty. Their choice. And my choice to spend my
money elsewhere as a result.

Mike Hammer

I've dealt with Tower over thousands of dollars (10 of thousands? <SHUDDER>) over the years and have nothing but kudos for the Tower Hobbies comglomerate. Sure there have been a few problems here and there but all of my experiences have been like krossk's and therefore recommend them highly without reservation for service and value.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a Tower Hobbies Praise/Bash thread. I'm sure that everybody has their own opiniions and experiences, both good and bad. I have no problem with communicating poor customer service, but it's only fair to also recognize when someone goes above and beyond the norm.

I agree krossk, We let each other know when we have a bad experience with one company or another. I think it is just as important to let each other know about the good service too.

I've had a couple items in the past that weren't up to snuff from Tower but I allways call them on the phone & everyone I have ever spoken to there have been extremely polite, & apologetic. They have allways been willing to do whatever they can to make it right. Which they did in both cases for me. I have no problems with Tower's customer service policies so far.

after recieving dammaged parts from tower they promptly sent me a new one I will continue to buy from them although when I need the little things I buy from my LHS got to give the locals buisness also.

Yup, Tower's a great outfit.

They sent me a bad LI-PO. I shipped if off six weeks ago, and now I'm told they won't get a replacement in until the end of August. Oh yeah, I'm real happy.[:@]