Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Not sure if this the correct place to post. Please mover to the appropriate forum if needed. I placed an order for a bunch of items the other day. One of which is was Hitech Quad 4 plus AC/DC charger. I desperately needed to upgrade my current charger. Anyhow, when Iopened the Hitech box the only thing it contained was the charger and an AC power cord. There was no manual and list other items were missing with the charger such as the following from Tower Hobbies website:

<pre>INCLUDES: Hitec X4 Plus AC/DC Powered Multi Charger with AC and DC Input CablesBattery Clamps, Tamiya Charge Connector, RX Battery Charge, Connector, TP/FP, HP/PQ, and XH type LiPo Balancer Boards two Bare Wire Connectors, Alligator Clip Charging Connector and ManualI am disappointed, but not mad yet. Icalled Tower Hobbies, but the woman who answered the phone said Ineeded to call back and speak with someonein customer service tomorrow. I hope this can be resolved with little effort on my part. Has anyone ever had an experience like that with Tower Hobbies?How did they resolve your issue. </pre>

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Tower is EXCELLENT at taking care of these types of things.

Don't worry.

Just call them back with your order number in hand.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Will do. Another thing I noticed is that sent one of my servos in just a plain bubble wrapped envelope. No manufacturer box or anything for the servo. Real weird. Oh well. Will call tomorrow with order number.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

I've never had a problem with them on missed items or broken items.  Always took care of it ASAP

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Recentluy I ordered a ProZinger 18 x 6 wood prop.  They sent a Zinger 18 x 10.  I let them know and they said keep the Zinger and expedited a ProZinger as ordered. 

I have always had goor luck with Tower and have had a very good history with them. 

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

My experience with Tower has always been good. They don't screw up your order often but when they do they always make it right. It's a good honest outfit to deal with. Been buying from them for 12 yrs and will continue to do so.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

More than I can say about WoW Hobbies.  I recently ordered a 250 heli that came in with a defective swash bearing.  They really expect me to ship them back the swash so they can inspect it before sending out a new one.

I told them to just forget it...Id buy a new swash elsewhere.  I mean its a 12 dollar part that they probably have 2 or 3 dollars in and they cant take my word for it?  I even supplied pictures of the part.

While I havent ordered much from Tower Hobbies, I can definitely say I am satisfied with their customer service...and Im sure they will take care of you too!

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

They have more than 3 dollars in a $12 part, but still you'd think they would take your word for it. It's not like someone with a properly working heli would want to scam them for an extra swashplate. Batteries, blades, or servos yes, but not that.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

what did Tower say Before you posted on the internet?

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

You are probably right...they may have 6-8 dollars in it. I assumed the low price because its a clone heli and while WoW Hobbies does sell lower priced stuff...they are a bit higher than say hobbyking or xheli on their clone/cheap stuff. Can buy the same swash from xheli for 11something...and Im sure probably close to half that at HK.

Regardless...makes me upset that they wouldnt take a gamble on me telling the truth and just sending me a new swash out. My spending trend the past 3 years of being in this hobby is probably right around 3 grand a year. Half or moreof that being spent with the likes of vendors I already mentioned here. I cant see why they would jeapordize losing a good customer that spends a decent amount of money on RC over a swash. Makes no sense.

Anyway...I didnt want to hijack this thread with my poor customer service experience with WoW Hobbies. I just wanted to state that I have never had an issue with Tower (other than I cant afford to buy everything from them...LOL) and that their customer service is top notch, unlike OTHERs out there. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../sad_smile.gif

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

If this was directed at me...I wasnt talking about Tower, rather WoWHobbies. Tower has always been great as far as my experiences go with them.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Having worked for an (unrelated) manufacturer we always asked for the damaged part back so we could determine if it was damaged during manufacture, later at the plant (warehousing, packaging), in transit, or through design or material failings in service.  But that was independant of making the customer whole.  That we did regardless.

You can't fix what you don't know about.</p>

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

I totally understand your point...and agree. It just didnt make sense for them, to me at least, request me to send the swash back in this particular case. It would cost me almost as much to send it back to them as it would for me to just order a new one. While I havent checked postage....Im sure it would be at least 5 or 6 dollars to send it if you count the cost of postage plus a little fuel for my vehicle to go to the shipper...and of course my time.

Then I would have to wait for them to get it...then for someone to look at it and "judge" whether they will replace it or not...then maybe a week or two later I MIGHT or MIGHTNOT get a new swash...dependant upon who actaully inspected the swash I sent back.

It would have been much better customer service for them to just put a 12 dollar swash replacement in an envelope and sent it to me...they are out 6 or so dollars (Im sure that person that would be inspecting the swash would spend a few minutes on this RMA, which would result in a loss of 6 or so dollars by them having to pay them). Its just a wash is the way I see it. Plus they would have made me a SUPER happy customer of which I would be telling it to the world of what a great experience I have had with WoWhobbies. But, that isnt the case.

Ive spent time here telling others about my issue. So perhaps a few people will read this and decide to not take the chance on buying from them...which in result will cost them again more than the 6 or so dollars to send me out a new swash.

Anyway....I really hate that I have hijacked this thread with multiple discussions about WoW Hobbies and my latest experience. In reality I was just wanting to point out that Tower Hobbies Customer Service (in my experience) has been nothing like what I am currently dealing with at WoW. And that the original poster should have no issues getting Tower to send him directly out the missing pieces/parts for his charger. I feel confident in saying that. If it had been WoW that was the vendor, I cant say for sure that they wouldnt have a mountain of red tape/hoops for him to jump through just for THEM to do the right thing.

Again, sorry for the thread hijack. I didnt intend that with my posts.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">I&rsquo;ve purchased from Tower for more than ten years and NEVER had a problem.I purchased a 7C transmitter a few months ago and the antenna bushing was missing. First I contacted Futaba and they informed me they recently modified the 7C antenna (now shorter) and forgot to install the bushing in my transmitter.I contacted Tower and they paid for the return shipping to Futaba Repair department.I received updates almost daily regarding the progress of the repair.</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">A few weeks ago I ordered 3, 3s 2500 FlightPower Lipos and one of them had a bad cell upon delivery.I called tower and they rushed a new battery to me at no cost.Also, I didn&rsquo;t need to send the bad battery back&hellip;how convenient!</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Tower = Great!</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">No worries, you will be taken care of!</span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Clear skies to all, enjoy the weekend </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">-PD</span></div>

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Tower Hobbies has been my primary source of RC stuff for a while now. Their customer service is great. I have ordered thousands of dollars worth of stuff from them with not one issue to date. I am sure they will make it right for you.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

tower hobbies , troybuilt models  all very credible companies i order from them get great service , but mostly  i buy all my stuff from my LHS

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Does not matter who the retailer is. Sometimes it works out well and other times it doesn't.

Bought a GP 1/3 Christen Eagle ARF through my LHS a few years ago., Virtually every part was damaged when it arrived. I called Tower and they acted as though I was the biggest scammer in the universe. Took over a full year to get that sorted out. With the replacement parts (all old stuff returned), came another defective cowl. Took a couple more months to get that sorted out.

Got a Giant Aeromaster ARF a couple of years ago. There were a few minor defects which I was not about to question since it was not worth the effort. However, there were many damaged wing ribs. Pieces fell out of the wings when I took them out of the box. Called them about it and they could not have cared less. Basically, hung me out to dry.

Had a hinge sloting machine. It went up in smoke with a giant flash when plugged in while still quite new. Hung out to dry on that one too. Tossed it, switched to Robart hinge points and haven't looked back.

They once shipped a couple of boat prop shafts - value about 5 bucks - in error. Called them up and they wondered what I was talking about. They had put the correct item on my invoice and picked the wrong part. They shipped out the right stuff. When I asked if they wanted the wrong stuff back, they said to just trash them.

On balance, whenever there has been an issue, they have failed. With that track record, I prefer instances where there are no snags.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Tower does have a better customer service an quality then others. You also pay a little more.
But they are not perfect and make mistakes, like all of us.
I would not get too excited about a missing manual, I'd send an e-mail, asking for it.
Otherwise you might just find it online, try this:

http://www.hitecrcd.com/support/manuals/chargers.html

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

I ordered a replacement U-Can-Do 60 wing.s. When it showed up a wing tip was smashed. The box they shipped it in had no room for padding around the ends.
I called, they apologized, and sent a new one and let me keep the broken one.
There shipping department may be staffed by knuckel heads but the costumer service department is awesome.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Why??

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

As the OP, here is my latest update. I spoke with a Tower rep on Friday afternoon about the issue of missing components with my charger that was received on Thursday.  I was given two options. To return the charger with a prepaid shipping label provided my Tower and state the reason for the return. Tower, per my request said that they would inspect the next charger for all components prior to shipping. My second option per Tower, was to contact Hitec and let Hitec know that my recently ordered Hitech charger from Tower did not contain a manual, warranty card, DC cord, etc.,  I opted to contact Hitec unfortunately, they were closed at 1pm Pacific time although there hours according to their business recording says their open Mon-Fri 7am-430pm Pacific time.

I am going to send charger back to Tower with a note about the missing components. My local hobby shop has the same charger for the same price in stock. I will get it from them. I will continue to order form Tower because I understand it would be unreasonable for them to inspect every outgoing item. However, I think that Tower would be able to better communicate with Hitec about receiving products with missing items.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Tower has been good, but my last two orders have been slow boat to china shipped. My first two orders from them, I ordered on a Thursday, received it the next Tuesday.  My last order took nearly a week, and this last order, I ordered on Thursday, they are shipping it Monday.   Although, it is free shipping, so can't complain too much.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

It is frustrating to recieve the wrong (or a defective) part. I have a couple issues with Tower. One was warranty parts for a Nitro Terror truck. Parts were back ordered for almost 3 months. Called and complained about having waited over twice as long for parts as I had owned the truck and could I return it for a refund. Long story short they found used parts to get me going and still sent the new parts. The other one was a Vista fuselage. Waited 1 1/2 months on back order and the expected restock time was extended another month. Called and long story short they pulled a fuse out of a new kit and sent it. I will not order another Tower brand product that I may need support on, but I will order from Tower again. In both cases they came through and made it right.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

Recently I purchased props and glo plugs from tower. They sent exactly what I needed, from BOTH warehouses. They basically doubled my order for the price of one. I called them and once we understood each other "No, I'm staring at twice as much merchandise than I ordered", she simply said, enjoy the bonus, happy flying. Tower has always taken great care of me.

RE: Interesting experience with Tower Hobbies
 

I can understand why you had such problems with that.

It is normally the LHS's responsibility to make this right, not Tower's. Tower supports what they provide and leaves after sale LHS support to the LHS itself.


I almost can't believe they treated you that way.

Once when I called CS I got someone who seemed to be very indifferent to my problem(s) with an order. Even before we finished talking I merely hung up.

I called back about three hours later and got a very pleasant CS agent who took care of everthing brilliantly.

On the whole I've only had one mediocre experience out of hundreds of purchases and a half dozen CS calls.

It's always important to cite your order number. They DO look things up and respond well particularly to recently shipped order problems. With these they've always given me the benefit of the doubt.