AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Because they copied their business model after Quick Tech Hobby. http://www.quicktechhobby.com/

They have been ripping people off since 1977.

Just for fun try to find a contact phone number on their web site.

Quick Tech goes further by offering great prices on long discontinued RC products. Though you will never receive it in the mail.

When you use their check out your credit card is billed for a "Contribution".

firestang

Banana are just a company that seems to buy in bulk from one of the many production lines in china or taiwan.
Basically most of these "toys" are cheap rubbish, Sure it can be covered up by an enthusiastic fast talking person with wonderful movies and flying skills that would make a potatoe look stable but gee, you do get what you pay for.

kentuckyboy428

i have recently received the mx2 from banana hobby. nothing was broken in the box. everything fit very well. the only problem i had was that the instructions left out some key information, but i figured it out with common sense. waiting for good weather to maiden!

ronblum70

Should have read this post before ordering my Mig 29. However , I ordered my new plane I wasnt expecting the greatest quality and I got what I expected but its a cool looking plane, went together easy ,worked ok . Heres where the story goes bad I was adjusting and tinkering when I ran the motors up to check the operation one of the fan units exploded. I contacted customer support via thier online live chat , I was told in a snotty way that bench testing the airplane was not warrantable and they could direct me to the parts department to buy replacement parts. I responded that I dont know of any RC pilots that dont bench test thier equipment and that thier part was not in stock anyway. Moral of the story is the planes they have are junk most people know that when they buy them but the customer support is the worst . It is worth the money to buy from reputable dealers like tower or horizon for the great customer support

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

"I was told in a snotty way that bench testing the airplane was not warrantable "

Because bench testing doesn’t result in a crash that they can later claim to be "Crash Damage".

LOL

Monkeyeatbanana

My friend just got ripped off by these crooks, so, I live near them, I'm going to order some stuff online from their website and if it arrives (or at all) late or is broken or the wrong product, I'm going to go over to their office and play a little game called "putting little people through walls" it's a totally fun and rewarding hobby and seeing that I'm 6' 5" 278lbs and on leave before my second Afghan tour (1st INF DIV 101 MI LRS Airborne Ranger), I feel the necessity to teach these little *******s a lesson. Better hope it's all shipped, delivered and in the correct condition that I ordered it boys.

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Say "HI" to Pete for the rest of us [sm=wink_smile.gif]

Admiral052

Wow am I glad I read this thread before ordering from these people. I do not want to deal with that crap and I can see this on other forums too.

So the question I have is does anyone know a good place (reputable) to order the A1 Skyraider that they offer? I really want to try that plane but don't want to get ripped off. Seems the only place I could find was in australia. Any help would be appreciated. Just looking for an electric warbird in this plane model that is a lower cost.

Hill202

My Feedback: (24)

and they will put your butt under the jail. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your service to our country but posting threats of violence as a response to poor customer service is probably not a wise decision.

topspin

Yeah, Hobby King does exactly the same thing with Josh and Josh and has nearly identical service, which is none. Come to think of it Banana and Hobby King are nearly identical in every way except that Banana Hobby actually has a store in the US with a published address. Hobby Kings US warehouse is a UPS store.

xviper-1

You have a really good point here. I have many purchases from HobbyKing under my belt and so far, all have been without incident. However, had one of those purchases been a problem, getting service from them may have been just as troublesome as my one and only purchase from Banana Hobby. On that one, the heli was "dead on arrival". Only after threatening to nullify the payment did BH finally respond to me and even then the resolution was not satisfactory. The product was still garbage and never did work properly. It cost me shipping twice for basically nothing.
I've come across people who have had good luck with BH and they were satisfied. I believe that if you end up with a bad item from either company, heaven help you because neither of them will. I will continue to buy from HK till they goon me. BH? Not so sure if they'll get a second chance from me.

Pere

I have had mixed results from Banana Hobby and have mixed feelings about buying from them. . Biggest problem that I have hadis not the quality of the merchandise but the lack of any kind of customer service support. They claim to have all their items in stock and say that this separates them from the competition but that is far from true. They frequently back order items and the only way you can find out is to go to their "live online" service and wait the typical 30 minutes to find out that your entire order is on hold (typically parts) until the one missing item arrives. This can take weeks and often the part holding up the rest of the order isn't even critical but rather just for my own stock. Don't bother emailing them because they never respond although they list their email address on their website. Technical support- forget it.

On the positive side, I have always received (eventually) what I ordered but it is frustrating to deal with a company with no real sense of what customer service is about. I now go to helipal who ships from China now for most of my non-urgent parts orders and frequently receive my order faster than from Banana Hobby. BH could really expand their US business if they just got serious abut service because in many cases their prices are very competitive.

rc2at

You are a wise man. Before you make any purchase, do some research and don't make blind purchase. Then you will see the true dealer and shabby service providers as well.

Good luck, unlucky badly experienced users.

Firepower R/C

My Feedback: (10)

I normally don't post about businesses, but I reall don't think they qualify anymore for that title. My brother was also ripped off by these people. He gave them several tries- every one a failure. He has since moved on to better suppliers and couldn't be more happy to be done with BANANA HOBBIES. Their constant lying, deception, poor customer service, and poor quality products all add up to one thing: SCAM. The only thing that carries them forward is their marketing... the have NO other redeeming qualities. A 10 year old child could run a business better. You listening, Banana Hobbies?

Sure they have had some successful stories, every bad business does. I am glad there have been individuals that have got what they wanted form BH. Lucky them. However, it is how a business takes care of their shorcomings and problems when they arise that defines them to customers. If they would have realized that sooner, they would be HUGE today... but they chose to jump over a dollar to pick up a nickel.

macshean

Hi all, I'm new here.
I'm a very unhappy Banana Hobby Customer!
I've spent hundreds of Dollars with BH since Sept 2011.
I bought my first electric jet last Sept (2011) An A6 Intruder, when it arrived in good packaging I discovered a twisted wing and a faulty TX/RX. I repaired the wing and after two weeks I got a replacement TX/RX and the replacement was missing a receiver, I did not bother looking for another from them,waste of time, so I bought my own.

Last month ( April 2012)I purchased two more aircraft.
An OSPRAY twin rotor and a 3 channel Helicopter all at sale price!

The OSPRAY arrived in good packaging and after charging the batteries and setting it up for flight I discover a faulty servo, have not flown it since!

The 3 channel Helicopter arrived a few day's later and in good packaging, and to my disgust, this aircraft has a damaged fuselage!!! I will not even bother to try and contact them for replacment parts.

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ITEM FROM BANANA HOBBY AGAIN!!!!
EVERY AIRCRAT BOUGHT FROM THEM SINCE SEPT 2011 TO APRIL 2012 HAS ARRIVE FAULTY OR DAMAGED AND IT WAS NOT THE TRANIT THAT CAUSED THIS DAMAGE. 100'S OF DOLLAR'S WASTED ON POOR QUALITY AND SHABBY QUALITY CONTROL!!

It just means I have to start all over again!

Thanks Macshan

jayjay283

funny this thread popped up. For my birthday a good friend in AZ (girl) bought me a plane from Banana Hobbies, It came with the fuselage cracked right in 1/2 and 1 wing servo not working. I didn't want to upset her so I just glued it back together and put in another servo. She asked about the plane last night and I told her about the damage, she was livid and going to call them today and explain "shes not rich and bought this for a dear friend for his birthday and wants a new one sent out" I told her good friggin luck, but if i were banana hobbies I would spend today avoiding customer calls as you are about to have a poop storm hit your day. Good luck sirs

xviper-1

They've got it covered. By my experience, they've never answered a phone call of mine. And to the best of my knowledge, they have never answered anyone else's either. However, she can cuss at their answering machine till the time runs out.

Karp050555

I have tried to write reviews on Banana Hobbies products but RCV doesn't seem to want to add the new planes to their list so I'll do it here. I have purchased the 79" B-17 in the 909 scheme and the 79" P-40N in the green scheme (didn't know camo was available).

The B-17 went together well but as usual had no explanation as how to wire up the electronics. The servos are easy enough as you're just plugging them in but keep in mind you're talking about 4 motors, 4 esc's, and two batteries. Thankfully everything is numbered so it went together ok. I'm using two 4s 4400 ma lipos which provide plenty of power. The retracts are of the servoless type and work well except my friend activated the retracts while the plane was on a table which jammed and broke the tail wheel assembly. It took a while to get a new assembly as Banana Hobbies doesn't stock parts for the B-17 so they took one from a display model and sold it to me. Now all three wheels go up and down. The wing and vertical stab are removable but in order to remove the wing you have to disconnect the ailerons, flaps, retracts, and 4 motor wires. As the model fits into my mini van when you remove the removable tail cone, that wing is staying on. It does make life easier if you remove the vertical stab before loading the plane. It took a little doing to stop the flap servos from buzzing but I finally did. Caution: The CG as per the instructions says the balance point is at the leading edge by the fuselage? I couldn't buy that so I placed the CG 1/3rd of the way back from the leading edge next to the fuselage. Finally, the pilots who Blitz RC doesn't supply. I bought some Lego Star Wars figures and installed them as the pilot, so-pilot, bombardier, and tail gunner. Problem solved. As a crowning touch I added a servo to the top gun and wired it in so it turns back and forth when the rudder turns. It is now time to fly the beast. I took it out to my local field on an average day with about a 10 mph wind. I taxied out pointed her into the wind and prayed. She took off in a scale manner and after trimming (mostly down) the B-17 was flying more like a P-51. I landed with full flaps and she settled in like a feather. And, the crowd went wild! Conclusion: I really have nothing bad to say about the B-17 except why couldn't they have made the wingspan 80" so it would be IMAA legal? I tell everyone I tickle it behind the ball turret and it grows an inch or two. Also, things break so it's important that Banana Hobbies stock spare parts. You're not selling disposable items are you Pete?

Now, let's talk about the "79" P-40N. Again, what's the problem with that last inch? We want to fly these planes at IMAA events so tell your manufacturers to make the wingspans on the giants at least 80" or they're not giants! Nuff said. The fuselage of the P-40 is two piece and the instructions say to add the tail feathers after the fuselage halves are joined. This caused a hardship when wiring up the tail surfaces. I'd suggest the builder install the tail feathers before joining the fuselage. It'll be much easier. Everything went together as per the instructions and then I found out I had a dead ESC. I tried to explain this to Banana Hobbies tech support but got nowhere so I bought an ESC with BEC from Hobby King and the problem is solved. With the receiver installed and the battery hooked up, it's time to test everything. Naturally the pushrods had to be adjusted but that's to be expected. I operated the retracts and it's really neat to see the mains rotate while the go up. I like it. Last but not least, the 18" 3 blade prop and red spinner finish her off real nice. As the wings are plug in, it's easy to transport this plane with the wheels down. I balanced the P-40 with the 6s 5000ma battery in place at 33% of the chord by the fuselage. On the Memorial Day weekend I had test pilot supreme, Adam Lilly, take her up for the first time. She flew well and took very little trim but had to maintain full throttle to keep flying.
We're either under powered or over propped. Two flights were made that day without incident. The next day I flew the plane at my field with the same results. On June 2, 2012 I flew the P-40 at my field in a 15mph + wind. She stalled on landing approach and went into the high grass with minimal damage. I just didn't have enough power. She's back together and waiting for a more powerful motor (plane weighs 10lbs so I ordered the equivilent of a .90 engine) I'll also try her with a 15 or 16" 3 blade prop. I'll let you know how i make out. Lastly, I added a GI Joe doll as a pilot. I had to do some creative work on the cockpit but it looks good. Again, parts are not available for this plane so Banana Hobbies has to get on the stick and make it so. I'll still give the P_40N a thumbs up.

macshean

As stated in another post above by me, I bought a Osprey v-22 and from the first day I received I had nothing but problems, it arrived with faulty servos and after buying to new servos elsewhere and thought the problem was solved, but to me disappointment, no such luck. I have tried to fly it in straight and level flight but it just wants to spin even after many hours of flight and adjustments of the rotor speeds at different settings I have not managed to to get the dame thing to flight straight, and finally it crashed badly, so I will not be buying anymore parts they and a badly designed model and not worth the time or money, avoid! I see that they are trying to sell them on Ebay under another name, not Banana hobby, wonder why???????????

macshean

As stated in another post above by me, I bought a Osprey v-22 and from the first day I received I had nothing but problems, it arrived with faulty servos and after buying to new servos elsewhere and thought the problem was solved, but to me disappointment, no such luck. I have tried to fly it in straight and level flight but it just wants to spin even after many hours of flight and adjustments of the rotor speeds at different settings I have not managed to to get the dame thing to flight straight, and finally it crashed badly, so I will not be buying anymore parts they and a badly designed model and not worth the time or money, avoid! I see that they are trying to sell them on Ebay under another name, not Banana hobby, wonder why???????????

2PUPS

Alls I have to say about Banana Hobby is , STAY FAR FAR FAAAAAAAAR AWAY , They will take your money with no problems , but when they ship you your order with missing parts you either get no response or the run around . I ordered two planes from them just started to put one together the other day and have 3 parts missing , I have been ignored in my emails , no response . There phone service is non existence , customer service in any company should be a priority . I deal with other companys on a regular basis due to their "QUALITY" CUSTOMER SERVICE . I have one company that I deal with , if I need to place an emergency order , they will ship said order without prior payment ,and stand behind their product 110% now THATS customer service . So for all you future Banana peel customers I suggest you place your order with a respectible company . Iv`e learned my lesson the hard way 700 bucks worth .

kentishnomad

Man, that is unbelievable.

kentishnomad

Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound? Nobody cares if you're dumb enough to join the military... jeez.

www.youtube.com/watch

macshean

I understand your stand your anger, but it not worth the jail time or army career! I bought a few hundered worth of planes off them and all faulty or missing parts, but I live in Ireland, so nothing I can do but warn people to stay clear of Banna hobby..........
Thanks.

larrysogla

My question is............why so many broken parts in protected shipping boxes????? I don't think the Chinese factories are stuffing broken parts from the factory into the ARF boxes. I smell something like the smell of socks worn for so many days without washing.........................Are the returns from previous customers being sent back to HongKong????????? Smells really like dirty socks to me.............weird that the ARF boxes are inexplicably containing broken parts when the boxes themselves are NOT damaged............what gives???? Larry.