Jones who? They got any big airliners to work on? Got to live near where the work is.

When I was first interested in R/C, and now that I am a newbie, I still find that I am treated as though I am bothering them with my questions on the products they sell. I am a pretty confident guy, and when I ask a question, it's not as though I am some 12 year old who is bombarding them with questions and hanging out in the shop for hours on end. When I ask a question, I expect a professionally delivered answer, even if it's an honest "I'm sorry I don't know, let me find someone who does".......If I am treated poorly, I'll spend my several hundred dollars elsewhere....

Everything is a service business these days, and sometimes I would rather order online, and have it shipped to me with no attitudes to put up with than get poor service and a higher price through the LHS's.

My $.02 cents

I just ordered the Goldberg Protege ARF from my LHS. I did it over the phone. He said it would be there by next Tuesday. And, I saved about 10 bucks by getting it from his store. No shipping, plus about an 8% discount.

Need I say more about OUR Local Hobby Shop?

That's sort of like an alcoholic living between 2 liquor stores, isn't it?

If you're in Hickory, look up Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Eddie, the owner, is our club treasurer, retired, and runs the place for something to do. He may not be as well stocked as the two near you, but can get us anything we can get online, doesn't charge shipping, and we pay what Tower, Horizon, etc, would charge us, or a bit less. Great place to just hang out.

yeah i been in places where the owner treated me as i was a 12 year old hanging out in the store like i had nothin to do. i bet he would changed his mind if he knew i had 5 hundred bucks in my pocket that day.

well bruce there is a fedex airport in blythville ar. which i think is even smaller than jonesboro. i fly rc's with a guy that works there. dont know how much he works or how much he makes. i figured if it was my business he would tell me but all i know is he works on planes there. the airport used to be the old air force base. i'm sure you've heard of it.

I fully understand what many of you are talking about. Some hobby shops just want to make the sale, if its on the shelf thats what they recommend. Others just won't take the time with a new flyer, giving one the feeling of putting them out by asking questions. And, I have run into some fanatastic shop keepers that really treat the customer well and gain a loyal following. While I do have a local hobby shop.. a large chain.. I still drive 40 miles to the next town to frequent Performance RC in Burlington WA. The owner, Suzy, has a very loyal following as she is patient, generous and will follow through on promises to locate those difficult replacement parts. Suzy has a lot experience but is not a flier herself and will admit this immediately. She will redirect questions to one of the other sales persons in her hire or one of the loyal shoppers. Interestly enough, the other sales people in her store, while very knowedgable and experienced, are the last ones I go to when I visit as they do not have he communications skills or positive personality of the owner.

Regards,
Randy

da Rock, you can try High Speed Hobbies in Concord. They're pretty good. All the shops you mentioned are excellent!

Dr.1

One of the many things that bothers me about some LHS staff is there lack of enthusiasm.
If I walk in and I am the only customer I expect a greeting of some sort, not just a look.
I also expect when asking a question, to recieve an answer that doesn't start with well uum.

When the salesman says "well umm we don't have that, but this is a pretty good product so I've heard"
it's time to leave that store or only buy what you know you need. If they don't offer to order a product
they deserve to lose the business.

The LHS game can only be profitable if the products are reasonably priced and the customer gets his arse
kissed. I have run and worked at many LHS and kissed alot of customer arse, resulting in a large amount
of return business and alot of customer reccomendation. Next time you walk into a new shop don't tell them
what you are looking for, tell them what you need and see if they are willing to go the extra mile and get it
for you, also if the price seems alot more than online tell them how much horizon or tower has it for and
see if they will match it. With the markup on the bulk of the products the prices should already be at internet
pricing or below.