Farmer Ted

My Feedback: (5)

I think that the idea of customer service is becoming extinct in many aspects of business these days.

On my last order from Tower Hobbies, I ordered some small parts with their 'super saver' shipping and an estimated delivery date of 1/12-1/14 ( the order was placed on 1/9). Well here it is, the 18th and I still haven't gotten it. When I called them to ask about it I was basically told that its not their fault and I should have upgraded the shipping if I wanted it faster, nevermind what their estimated delivery date said or the fact that they didn't post a 'super saver shipping may take 2 weeks to receive; you could ride a bicycle here faster and pick it up yourself' disclaimer. The last order I made with them took 10 days to get here which is pretty sad considering that I'm only a few states away and I've received orders from mainland China in faster time than this.

I have pretty much quit doing business with Tower because of issues like this and what I feel are their inferior house brands (quality and feature wise) that are woefully behind the times (keep in mind I'm mainly flying electric aircraft).

I had a similar experience with the one and only order that I made with Hobby Partz.

I made an order with Hobby City this fall and they left out 12(!) of the batteries that I ordered and then didn't want to credit me the $200+ dollars that they shorted me. I had to take pictures, and make international phone calls every day for over a week to get anything done about that although I was eventually credited but only because I put up a hell of a fight.

I admire Horizon Hobbies for their products, customer service, and business model and have mainly been doing orders with them. If I have an issue with Horizon's products they usually send out replacement parts no questions asked. With the many issues I've had with Tower brands I've been required to send the mangled mess back to them and fight for a refund.

I won't even go into the Berg receiver that failed on the 4th flight this fall and cost me a $200+ airframe. By the way I can prove it was the receiver and when I asked Berg to refund my money and replace my airframe (the LHS guys were even backing me and told Castle that they could buy the ARF at cost, not retail or even give a merchandise credit) I got a lot of runaround and finally a 'NO'.

My LHS is Hobbytown USA and they are absolutely fantastic as far as customer service goes...surprise, surprise, they mainly carry Horizon brands...I wonder why.

Unfortunately, if I had to pay premium retail prices for electronic components (batteries, motors, escs) I wouldn't be able to fly nearly as much as I do now...I realize that you get what you pay for to some extent and that includes customer service but, come on!

Thanks for listening to my rant, it probably doesn't solve anything but it may make my blood pressure go down a little bit.

joeskeeter

My Feedback: (4)

You're right about customer service. I usually don't bother asking about an item. I go online and do as much research as possible.
You almost have to be an expert in everything,

378

My Feedback: (4)

Odd. I've had nothing but excellent service from Tower.


Maybe their plane stuff and their car stuff is handled by a seperate warehouse and office?

carrellh

I've had good luck with all "RC" mail order companies, but that could change tomorrow.

You placed your order 1/9. When did they say it shipped? Once it hits the post office (or other carrier) it is out of their control.

I usually place orders on weekends. For years, I'd get the shipping notification on Monday. My last few orders have shipped Tuesday or Wednesday. I never mail order anything I need immediately so that 2 day delay, or a slow shipping method, does not bother me. If I need it now I call every LHS and hope one of them has it (which is never a sure thing).

Silent-AV8R

So I am clear, you used the offer of free shipping and now you are upset that your order did not arrive faster?? As they say, you often get what you pay for. Last month I placed an order with Tower on a Monday. I am in SOCAL. A friend of mine in Arizona also placed an order for the same items the next day (Tuesday). He got his on a Saturday in AZ and I did not get mine until Monday in SOCAL. The order shipped via USPS out of Reno, NV. Go figure.

Farmer Ted

My Feedback: (5)

No, I didn't get free shipping. It was their 'parts express' shipping for small parts that was something like $1 cheaper than the next level up which was priority mail.

I understand that it's not Tower's fault once they hand it over to the carrier. My frustration lies in the fact that their 'delivery estimate' system is way off and they are somehow having UPS initialize their shipping and then it's transferred to the USPS. According to my tracking it goes from Illinois to Utah and then comes back to Colorado. That doesn't make any sense seeing that I am on the east side of Colorado and essentially part of the 'Front Range megalopolis' and not somewhere in the sticks.

When I called to ask why this shipping takes so long and why do they transfer from UPS to USPS I was told that's no what they do when that's exactly what it says on my customer account, online receipt, emailed receipt, and tracking information. the person on the other end didn't really know, or appear to care.

After doing some research it appears as though a lot of people are having problems with Tower and their 'new' shipping policies and lack of customer service. I'm basically through with them. If you've had good luck with them then that's great, but I haven't, and it's not just this incident either.

Perhaps if they get out of the 1970's and quit trying to monopolize RC by buying small companies and then putting them out of business only to replace items with their inferior house brands I'll reconsider but until then, I'm done with them and their shoddy merchandise. there's plent of other good vendors out there.

Farmer Ted

My Feedback: (5)

By the way, the thing that really gets me about this that I forgot to mention is that when I ordered this, the reason I chose the shipping I did was because their 'delivery estimate' system said that the delivery date for the shipping method I chose would be the same as if I upgraded the shipping to priority mail. I probably should have just paid the extra couple of dollars. I guess my point is that they need to fix something and get things straight because their 'estimate system' is way off, their phone person's response was also nonsensical. Granted, I may just be whining as this isn't a matter of life and death but there are definitely other places to spend my money who are more on top of things.

DannyT109

Well, I just placed my first order with NitroPlanes and the service was surprisingly good. The only reason I ordered from them is because a friend of mine ordered from HobbyKing and he said the service is almost non existent...so I researched NitroPlanes...didn't see too much good either, but I had talked to them at the AMA Expo 2011, and they seemed really nice and shot me a 10% off coupon. 

rcjetflyer0718-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

I usually try to put together an order large enough to be shipped UPS or Fedex from both Tower and Horizon Hobbies because I usually get them within a couple days or a week if they come out of Champaign. Everytime its they are shipped USPS it takes twice as long. Once Horizon sent a head by ups to Rancho Cucamonga CA and mailed it for the last 15 miles; it took 3 days to go 1500 miles UPS and 8 days 15 miles by US mail.

ira d

I have always had good service from Tower and in most cases pretty fast shiping. However it seems to me that it would make more sense if they Tower would
just mail the package themself instead of having UPS to do it.

bullseye000

I placed a large order with Tower and it took about 2 weeks to get it. The comical part is I only live about 4.5 hours away. I called and found out they have several warehouses and half the items I ordered had to be shipped in from another warehouse before they could finalize and ship my order. I think sometimes the hostile business climate they have to deal with in Illinois force them into situations like this. I've gotten some run around from Horizon as well. These days I've been doing a bulk of my ordering from Advantage Hobby because they carry all the lines that both Tower and Horizon carry as well as all the spare parts.

bullseye000

I placed a large order with Tower and it took about 2 weeks to get it. The comical part is I only live about 4.5 hours away. I called and found out they have several warehouses and half the items I ordered had to be shipped in from another warehouse before they could finalize and ship my order. I think sometimes the hostile business climate they have to deal with in Illinois force them into situations like this. I've gotten some run around from Horizon as well. These days I've been doing a bulk of my ordering from Advantage Hobby because they carry all the lines that both Tower and Horizon carry as well as all the spare parts.

japan3d

I would blame it on the shipper. I have ordered stuff on sunday and had it delievered on friday, and I live in Japan.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

On Wednesday of last week I placed an order from Tower (several rolls of monokote, some props, and a couple of servos) and decided to use the $7.99 parcel post shipping option. Everything shipped out of Champaign on USPS. I was a little frustrated that the items didn't ship from thier warehouse until Friday, but all was well as I had the package in my hands on Monday morning.

Your milage may vary.

Ken

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

Yep. I have made several orders with Tower over the last two weeks and inevery case it took longer to leave Tower than it did to get here.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

In logistics a straight line may be the faster, but not always the cheaper,, companies look to ship the cheapest way possible,, sometimes that's going a round about way to get there depending on availability of cheap (er) transportation

Your story in this case is an odd one for sure,, not the norm for Tower,, they do a acceptable job for what they charge for shipping IMO,,, Try shipping the same size/weight package through your own UPS or USPS account,, it will cost much more in most cases.