Tower Return!
05-23-2002, 07:55 PM
#27
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I had the same problem
The problem is that the 91FX has a different exhaust port than otehr models, I had the same problem only that I live in HOnduras so it takes 3 weeks for any order to com and is a problem to return, one of the fellows inthe club is an airline pilot so he took the mufler back and mailed in the US.
What I did is grab the phone and explain to the custome service what was going on, i don't rememeber if they charged shipping or not but they had no problem replacing the part.
Calling cust. service is a good way to fix thing with tower.
Regards,
Patrick
What I did is grab the phone and explain to the custome service what was going on, i don't rememeber if they charged shipping or not but they had no problem replacing the part.
Calling cust. service is a good way to fix thing with tower.
Regards,
Patrick
05-23-2002, 08:04 PM
#28
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Don't let Dug' get you all worked up. Some of his other posts have this same tone to them. Not sure why, but it seems he likes to stir up the pot.
As far as the muffler deal... I don't think "blame" should be the focus. In my business, I try and teach our customer service people that it is futile to try and place blame. When it comes to the customer, (and I'm not a firm believer in the customer is always right), it doesn't matter who is at fault. If you can make them happy by taking back, refunding, replacing a certain item, then do it. It costs much less to do that than it does to argue with them and try to prove that it was their mistake and then have them order from someone else.
In fact, Tower, from many posts, seems to make quite a few "double shipping" type errors where they say to "just keep it". I'm not sure why it's so easy for them to give away product for free, but not pay for someone's return shipping on something they could resell.
Oh, by the way, and this is the truth, Tower just double shipped me a Futaba Trainer Cord.
Mike
As far as the muffler deal... I don't think "blame" should be the focus. In my business, I try and teach our customer service people that it is futile to try and place blame. When it comes to the customer, (and I'm not a firm believer in the customer is always right), it doesn't matter who is at fault. If you can make them happy by taking back, refunding, replacing a certain item, then do it. It costs much less to do that than it does to argue with them and try to prove that it was their mistake and then have them order from someone else.
In fact, Tower, from many posts, seems to make quite a few "double shipping" type errors where they say to "just keep it". I'm not sure why it's so easy for them to give away product for free, but not pay for someone's return shipping on something they could resell.
Oh, by the way, and this is the truth, Tower just double shipped me a Futaba Trainer Cord.
Mike
05-23-2002, 08:41 PM
#29
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Originally posted by MHawker
Don't let Dug' get you all worked up. Some of his other posts have this same tone to them. Not sure why, but it seems he likes to stir up the pot.
Mike
Don't let Dug' get you all worked up. Some of his other posts have this same tone to them. Not sure why, but it seems he likes to stir up the pot.
Mike
I was able to order the same part correctly the first time and can't see why others don't take the time to be sure they've got it right. I've ordered dozens of times from Tower, Hobby People, Omni, Quantum and others and I've never had an incorrect, missing or lost item yet. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe I'm careful, you tell me.
05-23-2002, 10:01 PM
#30
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Dugster and others, I'm not trying to not take responsibility. The reason that I didn't call to check if the muffler fit was that I didn't think that I needed to. The Tower Talk magazine said "OS .91 - 1.08" so I took that number and entered it on the web. The part on the web had the same description and so I ordered it. I do admit that I should have taken more time and I should have read through the product description. I did not realize that OS had made engines with different ports. In my limited experience with r/c engines, they have been pretty much the same (long slit style, at least with two strokes). If it had said "FSR" I would have noted that this is not "FX" and so I would have researched it more. I'm not trying to "beat up the vendor" but think that if they pride themselves so highly on customer service, they could extend that to me. I shipped the part to them at my cost. That was fine since it was only a little over a dollar. However, I was frustrated that they tried to charge me $8 (later reduced to $5) for shipping me my new part. I have learned that I will take more time in research before I order next time. However, the item was advertised as "OS .90 - 1.08" and so I saw no need to do so.
I have had multiple orders from Tower that have been messed up. Most of the time they are very good about returning the parts, but for me there has been a high number of incorrect orders. For one order, I ordered an 8 oz. fuel tank. When I got the order, it was a 16 oz. tank. They did exchange the part with no problem but it was frustrating because I couldn't fly for awhile. (there is not decent LHS) On another order I was missing a part (can't remember what it was at the moment) and in its place was a "Gecko Keeper." It was something for r/c car batteries. It wasn't even close to the item that I had ordered and I never order anything for cars. However, to Tower's credit, they did replace it without any problem. In both cases the items that I had ordered were on the invoice but the part in the box was different. I have had similar issues with quite a few of my orders from them but I can't remember the details at this point. While these mistakes don't cost me any money, they do cost me some time. I also understand that people make mistakes, but it seems to be semi frequent.
This story is one of my greatest frustrations with them. Their attitude was not friendly. Shortly before Christmas I ordered a transmitter as a gift for my father-in-law. Since I had a coupon (Futaba rebate), I had to send in the order through the mail. I read in the catalog that if I specified a channel for the transmitter and they did not have it in, then the transmitter would be backordered (I did my research this time!!). I decided that I would take any channel except 58 since that it what my current transmitter had and I eventually wanted to be able to fly at the same time with him. I put the part number in with the ** to indicate any channel. In the comment line on the order form I wrote “Any channel except 58.” I tried to be as clear as I could. When I received the transmitter, it was channel 58. I called Tower and explained to them the situation. I was told that the people putting together the orders have many orders to do and that they do not look at the comment lines. I was told that since “**” was present the people putting together the order just picked up any channel. They tried to tell me that it was my fault and they did not offer to pay for return shipping. I had to pay $10 for shipping and insuring it. Since they don’t cover insurance on returns, I only got $6 back only after I called and e-mailed several times. While the four dollars is not a big deal, I was very frustrated by how I was treated and the time I had to take to repackage the transmitter and send it back. I also don't understand why they have a comment line if they don't read it. I thought it was clearly printed. On that order sheet I also checked that I wanted a catalog. I didn't get that either. I wasn't charged for it, but they did miss it. When I called them with this problem with the radio, I asked if I could order the catalog too, and then they charged me $3. I'm not saying that I should have gotten it for free, but I would think that they would want to give those things out especially when I made a >$300 order.
I must make it clear that I am not a confrontational person and that I was very cordial through my conversations. However, I was never treated very well.
And so, that is my history with them. I have been surprised to find that so many others have never had a problem and I think thats great. This last issue was just one of many. Unfortunately, I don't have a LHS and so I rely on mail order. Tower has nearly everything. They also have a very nice, fast, easy to use website and so, I will probably still use them although I have started to use others where possible. I just don't like to pay S&H several times when ordering from several places.
I did write a letter to Tower explaining all of this just so that they could know that there may be potential issues in their company. (I wasn't asking for anything or expecting anything.)
Anyway, that is my response to all of this,
Herb
I have had multiple orders from Tower that have been messed up. Most of the time they are very good about returning the parts, but for me there has been a high number of incorrect orders. For one order, I ordered an 8 oz. fuel tank. When I got the order, it was a 16 oz. tank. They did exchange the part with no problem but it was frustrating because I couldn't fly for awhile. (there is not decent LHS) On another order I was missing a part (can't remember what it was at the moment) and in its place was a "Gecko Keeper." It was something for r/c car batteries. It wasn't even close to the item that I had ordered and I never order anything for cars. However, to Tower's credit, they did replace it without any problem. In both cases the items that I had ordered were on the invoice but the part in the box was different. I have had similar issues with quite a few of my orders from them but I can't remember the details at this point. While these mistakes don't cost me any money, they do cost me some time. I also understand that people make mistakes, but it seems to be semi frequent.
This story is one of my greatest frustrations with them. Their attitude was not friendly. Shortly before Christmas I ordered a transmitter as a gift for my father-in-law. Since I had a coupon (Futaba rebate), I had to send in the order through the mail. I read in the catalog that if I specified a channel for the transmitter and they did not have it in, then the transmitter would be backordered (I did my research this time!!). I decided that I would take any channel except 58 since that it what my current transmitter had and I eventually wanted to be able to fly at the same time with him. I put the part number in with the ** to indicate any channel. In the comment line on the order form I wrote “Any channel except 58.” I tried to be as clear as I could. When I received the transmitter, it was channel 58. I called Tower and explained to them the situation. I was told that the people putting together the orders have many orders to do and that they do not look at the comment lines. I was told that since “**” was present the people putting together the order just picked up any channel. They tried to tell me that it was my fault and they did not offer to pay for return shipping. I had to pay $10 for shipping and insuring it. Since they don’t cover insurance on returns, I only got $6 back only after I called and e-mailed several times. While the four dollars is not a big deal, I was very frustrated by how I was treated and the time I had to take to repackage the transmitter and send it back. I also don't understand why they have a comment line if they don't read it. I thought it was clearly printed. On that order sheet I also checked that I wanted a catalog. I didn't get that either. I wasn't charged for it, but they did miss it. When I called them with this problem with the radio, I asked if I could order the catalog too, and then they charged me $3. I'm not saying that I should have gotten it for free, but I would think that they would want to give those things out especially when I made a >$300 order.
I must make it clear that I am not a confrontational person and that I was very cordial through my conversations. However, I was never treated very well.
And so, that is my history with them. I have been surprised to find that so many others have never had a problem and I think thats great. This last issue was just one of many. Unfortunately, I don't have a LHS and so I rely on mail order. Tower has nearly everything. They also have a very nice, fast, easy to use website and so, I will probably still use them although I have started to use others where possible. I just don't like to pay S&H several times when ordering from several places.
I did write a letter to Tower explaining all of this just so that they could know that there may be potential issues in their company. (I wasn't asking for anything or expecting anything.)
Anyway, that is my response to all of this,
Herb
05-23-2002, 11:02 PM
#31
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It is amazing to me that thousands of customers order from Tower each day with great results, and it seems to me the same few have problems weather ordering from Tower or another suppler.
05-24-2002, 01:19 AM
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It seems as if we all follow Dug's procedure then why even bother ordering out of the web site or catalog or even have a web site / catalog for that matter. Everyone would do better by just calling a rep and ordering straight from the source so as not to get anything wrong. *shrugs*
Randy
Randy
05-24-2002, 02:09 PM
#33
Tower Return!
I have ordered from Tower many times. I almost always receive great service. I would say ALWAYS, but there was one time, several years ago when I ordered a $25 glider kit from them, and received a $45 Dura Plane. It was returned, and the glider was shipped.
Several years ago I moved to a rural area. Living in the country is great for finding flying fields, but it's a 2 hr drive to my LHS, so I still use Tower. And I will continue to use them when I can't get to the cities. They are a great company. I just think that in this case, they screwed the pooch.
Several years ago I moved to a rural area. Living in the country is great for finding flying fields, but it's a 2 hr drive to my LHS, so I still use Tower. And I will continue to use them when I can't get to the cities. They are a great company. I just think that in this case, they screwed the pooch.
05-24-2002, 08:19 PM
#34
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Herb: I did the same thing. Ordered the slimline muffler to fit my OS 91 FX thinking the 90-108 muffler would fit. Is the information mis-leading, probably. Why don't they have the slimline muffler for the .91 FX listed in their monthly sales cataloges ? I too had to send the wrong one back-paid full shipping and additional money to get the right one. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here-Check before ordering. One of those lessons of life.
Cary
Cary
05-26-2002, 01:31 PM
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Originally posted by Dugster
I'm not trying to "stir", just providing an opposing point of view. I take issue when people won't take responsibilty for their mistakes and others jump on the "let's beat up on the vendor" band wagon. It seems to me that the original poster could have got his original order right with just a little more effort on his part. I've also tried very hard to keep to the issue and not resort to insults and/or name calling.
I was able to order the same part correctly the first time and can't see why others don't take the time to be sure they've got it right. I've ordered dozens of times from Tower, Hobby People, Omni, Quantum and others and I've never had an incorrect, missing or lost item yet. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe I'm careful, you tell me.
I'm not trying to "stir", just providing an opposing point of view. I take issue when people won't take responsibilty for their mistakes and others jump on the "let's beat up on the vendor" band wagon. It seems to me that the original poster could have got his original order right with just a little more effort on his part. I've also tried very hard to keep to the issue and not resort to insults and/or name calling.
I was able to order the same part correctly the first time and can't see why others don't take the time to be sure they've got it right. I've ordered dozens of times from Tower, Hobby People, Omni, Quantum and others and I've never had an incorrect, missing or lost item yet. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe I'm careful, you tell me.
