Nuzzijr

I purchased a 7.7 gst cen truck along with 2 of my buddies. This truck and the company is the worst company out there. I sent my truck 2 times to be repaired and they never fixed it. My 2 friends sold theres and i will do the same.. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DON'T EVER BUY CEN TRUCKS OR YOU WILL REGRET IT......

nitro-rob

I think the mistake was relying on customer service, period. You are better off doing repairs yourself and assuming no warranty. What was wrong with it?

The Real Dogman

Well, if its that bad then I might be interested in this Junk..

PM me with how much you want..

Terra Nova R/C

CEN Trucks are great quality. They are definatly not beginner trucks. I have a GST and the truck is great. I would never think of sending in a truck for repair. Too many people buy Nitro trucks and think they are toys. It is a hobby and you have to learn how to maintain and fix the Trucks. My experience with CEN Warranty has been great. If you can fix it yourself, they will often send you the parts.
I have some customers that think the trucks are toys. They bring them to me every time they have a problem. They don't even know how to use a screwdriver. I guess it's great for me, I get an hourly rate for doing something as simple as changing a suspension arm.

alvinl

Exactly, that about sums it up. I still have the first CEN truck I bought and have no plans of getting rid of it. I just hope they still keep making parts for it.

wolfie1

when i first got my gst it wouldnt even run a whole tank without seriosly overheating so pinned it down to a crack in the carb so cen sent me a new 1 it was a bit better but not good enough for my liking so i had a carb of an lrp 30 lying around so i modified it to fit in and it would run tank after tank until the hump pack would go flat with only occasionally cutting out coming off the throttle being flat out so i fitted a fastrax primer/filter bubble and i reckon its cured now, goes like a total dream now. So if ur willing to put the work in its really pretty good and you get the satisfaction of sorting it too

SAVAGEJIM

I agree, everyone in the RC hobby needs to learn how to fix their own RCs.

However, Cenchan in USA has a horrible history of being arrogant and unhelpful. They try to convince you that everything is your fault, even factory defects. And they summarily will not make it right if you are angry, even if the product is defective and not form operator error.

CS is not supposed to be like this. CS reps in all other companies, not just in RCs, but also for washing machines, vacuum cleaners, etc. are ALL trained to calm the angry customer down and then work through the problem to make it right.
From attitude I get from the CS rep I spoke with last year or the year before, he had an attitude and in his voice, I knew he was annoyed that I even dared to call him.
This put me off, I was just trying to call to get info on how I can order replacement parts for my GST.
It got to the point that I just said "never mind" and wound up buying the piece on Tower or Amain (I cannot remember which).

You go to HPI of Traxxas CS (two other CS which I dealt with personally also) and they are much more friendly. HPI even replaced an engine for me even though it was my fault!

Overall, my, and also from several other RC fan's experiences (mine was not an isolate incidence) experience with Cenchain USA CS was not up to par.
And seeing more people express bad experience with Cenchain USA CS, I want to write Genka Trading Corp (owner of Cenchain(CEN))headquarters in Taiwan. I will not write the USA headquarters in California; I really hate to say that they might just sweep it under the rug and allow these reps to be bad to us, the customers.

It is sad that Cenchain/Genka USA does not step up. Cenchain RCs are not that bad of a product. I have only had hands-on experience with one CEN RC, a GST, and it is a great truck, even better than my Savages. And I see CEn Matrix fans race their buggies at the track every weekend, and they hang in there with race grade and upgraded Ofnas, Losis, Associateds, etc.

Genka/Cenchain, this is my written appeal to you: Fix you USA CS; fire those CS guys, they are doing nothing to further your company in the US.
You can become much more popular if you do two key things:

1) Take care of your CS and get rid of your jerk employees. RC fans spread news, even good news, like wildfire. If MORE people post positive word about your CS and services, that will improve your position as sellers to the US market.

2) Make your parts much more available to the US market; get your parts in the hands of the big RC distributors and get you RCs in the hobby shops. I know you can, I see CEN Matrix parts ON THE SHELVES at my local RC store.

Malmuerte

I'm beginning to think that Cen has dug a hole that is to deep to fill.  They have announced new lines of 1/5th scales that have gotten good reviews and are putting out new lighter 1/8th trubbies and buggies.  But I have not seen any of them in stores.  The hobby shop I go to used to carry them but can't get parts, so it will take quite a sales job to get him to carry them again.  If too many other hobby shops feel the same way, the only place you will be able to get them is from Cen direct. 

Maybe that's their plan.  Who knows?  I have seen a lot of promises and very little substance.

nitro-rob

CEN definitely has a different business model than most other RC companies. I've had two and didn't mind the trucks but they didn't have enough staying power for me to keep them.

Terra Nova R/C

Yeah it is too bad when you have products like the CEN GST, Matrix Arena, C-1 and many other great R/C's but the CS is less than perfect. I have a few myself, but I usually do my best to take care of my customers. I deal with the CS in the US so they don't have to. Yeah parts can sometimes be a problem, even for me.

I have decided to carry SH / Z-CAR myself for the Buggy and Truggy. The Z-Car parts are reasonable enough that I can stock many of them and take care of my customers.

I am still a big fan of the CEN Products and I keep trying to deal with them, but it is definatly hard at times. My sales Rep at CEN is excellent and tries hard, but he is not the boss.

Malmuerte

Yeah, I bough a C-1 buggy because of how durable it looked. And I was right. I think that other than a servo I've only had to replace one other part. And that's after a lot of bashing and racing.

However, the lack of new products or more accurately the lack of products promised has eroded my confidence in this company.

I was really happy to see the 1/5th scale trucks in RC Car action but I am dismayed that I've not seen the new buggy or truggy from them. And you'd think that would be their bread and butter vehicles.

I'm thinking of getting a new buggy but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to change allegiences.

Steve.

Stay away from CEN, they are crap. My LHS dropped them... after I bought a MG16 for my son. Not their fault they did the stand up thing and stopped selling them due to parts availabilty ,etc. When an 11 year old tells you that a RC car sucks that's a sure sign it's a turd. It's too bad because it was a lot of fun when something wasn't breaking off of it. They need to hire someone specializing in material science, parts that should have had some flex were brittle and parts that should be rigid were pliable. Cheap metals used throughout also. Crap.

nitro-rob

They definitely have a different business model than most RC companies. I just sold my GST. It was a neat truck and a novelty but more work to maintain than my other RCs.

FUS

I get a mg16 a couple of weeks ago, all was going ok but then i got a small problem with the engine... well i send a email to CS and a PM to one of the users of rcuniverse who i know have experience owning a MG16.

I get a PM back the same day and on two days my truck was running back on and better... CEN email come back like 3 days later, one line response and not helpful at all.

the truck is fine, the product is not bad at all and a good plataform to test and learn... but as they say here forget of CS from CEN, if something happend get your tools out and research on the web to see if some other have the same problem or ask some one here... you will find the solution faster and will be more helpful.

update> I order the roto starter from the CEN direct website, the item was label as in stock and after 24 hours I get a email from CENdirect to let me know the order was complete and shiped... nine days later I have not get my item, I call them and result the item is backorder for at least 2 weeks, why i get a email that say order complete and not one that say we sorry the item is back order until the 15th? puff... [&o]

gtr

I would say the CENCHAIN Taiwan CS also worst. ALWAYS NO REPLY !

FUS

Man... I'm starting to get mad with this clowns that run CEN. A email every day and no answer, phone call and they put me on hold for half of the call and then come with bogus answers.

I'm going to go to the bank on monday to see what I need to do to file a claim with them to see if I can get my money back, its unfortunate that this people can not or are not willing to step up and provide the service that the customers deserve, not only they lack real CS but they are acting on a fraudulent way when they get the payment in full, generate a email containing fake details (claiming the order is complete and has shiped), never send the item and don't respond to any attempt of comunication.

The Real Dogman

CENCHAIN IS CEN!! That is CEN's parent company!!


So no real suprise there!!

FUS

almost a month after place the freaking order for the roto starter with CEN and nothing... no item, no email and no money! hahahaha, I do not know if I should order one from other site, wait to see if CEN send something or what?

I like my mg16 but CEN as company sucks, I hope other people read this before they try to deal with them for parts or customer service and stay away.

The Real Dogman

FUS,

I say call them! They are three hours behind us since they are in Cali. Do you have their number?

FUS

I already call CEN, the guy who pick the phone on the shipping area was like "...what part you order? oohh yeah we are out until the midle of december, ok?"

I am going to call them tomorrow again, let see what the say and maybe they have a more formal answer or some.

FUS

UPDATE
I just finish to talk on the phone to the CS on CEN and they informe that the item is on back order until the end of Decenber (28) and the item will be send automatically as soon as they get them on the warehouse... That was a lot better than the previous answer that I get.

I'm still mad because I order the item on Nov 24 and its going to take more than 30 days to get it, but I have now idea of what is happening and when I should see the roto starter get here.

wormburner62

My Feedback: (10)

fus - When i first got my gst i installed an ofna roto start on the engine so if you don't get your item soon then go to your local hobby shop and fit an ofna roto start on there. not sure what engine you have on your truck but i'm sure there's one that will fit.  They're probably cheaper anyways and most hobby shops carry ofna parts.  Ofna is the one company that has parts that match up with cen vehicles.     Just an FYI!!!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Hrm...Interesting. I've had quite good luck with CEN all around. It took six years of pretty hard abuse to get my MT2 to the point it's undriveable, and even then I can still get every part I'd need from their website. I've also never had any issues with them saying something's in stock, claiming it shipped, then saying "lol backordered". The parts availability is the main reason I decided to retire my MT2 as opposed to keeping it fixed up. Every time I need parts I have to order them online.

FUS

The Roto Starter get here finally the 29... over a month after the order was placed but well its here now.

I dont have any problem with the product, I love my MG16! I even use it more than my Redcat... As far as I see the MG16 is super strong and runs fine! The Roto Starter feels good too, and the back plate fits perfect on the engine.

I will order again from CEN on one moment or other parts just to keep on hand for posible future repairs on the truck, but if I can get parts from a diferent source that will fit on and work fine then I will get that parts from that store instead to order from CEN...

Its not unfair to pay for some items and then have to wait until they get the part if THEY let you know that its going to be like that, but I if you pay and they send you a confirmation that your order is complete but really its backorder and don't have the courtesy and attention to send a email and let you know what is happening and ask if you want to wait or cancel the order then its a different show!

378

My Feedback: (4)

Tower Hobbies stocks a fair bit of CEN stuff. that's usually where I go to get parts. Check them out.