I think it is just wrong to close a thread just because you say something bad about a company that you got screwed by..Im not trying to start a war but it nice to know the bad side of some of the company`s out there ....

Problem is that people posting bad things rarely have ACTUAL evidence to back up their story. They just say stuff like "I got a TON of PM's from other people that say they had the same problem", or something like that, yet they never copy and paste such PM's. Others say their plane fell apart in the sky and they know it was not their fault. How do we know that for sure without pics or a description of the assembly techniques/glue used to assemble said plane?
Let me give you an example. I have a friend that has a 40% plane from a relatively new manufacturer. I watched him take off and roll and the stab lagged behind like a foamie! He landed and twisted the fuse and it flailed around all over the place! We took the hatch off and nearly every truss joint had come loose...
Now, if that was all that I told you, you would likely, and logically, assess that there was a manufaturer defect in the kit and that they used insufficient glue or whatever and that the fuse should be replaced at no charge, right?
Well, what if I told you that the fuselage had a sheeted foam underbelly and my friend didn't properly connect one of his fuel lines and ended up filling half the fuse with gasoline, completely dissolving the foam? That alone weakened the structure, but it is also likely that the fumes attacked the glue joints on the trusses and weakened them, or the loss of strength from the foam increased the load on the trusses and caused them to break free. Now, the fault might just lie with the end user, you see?
I'm not saying that everyone with complaints are wrong, but they are not credible without actual, documented evidence.

I agree with bodywerks. I know it seems one sided ... but it's not really.

Even with the restictions of RCU, it is still very easy to see which companies are generally trustworthy. I can promise you one thing - there is not a single manufacterer, distributor, reseller, service center or crazy guy selling arfs on the corner that has a 100% customer satisfaction rating. I regularly fly with the owner of one of the most popular and prolific 50cc+ ARF companies on RCU. I have never purchased anything from him ... only because I fly crazy biplanes and he has only sold one biplane arf ... and I had a full hanger at that time. BUT - I can tell you he has the absolute best customer service I have ever seen .. and he still has people that don't like him. People will post all kinds of stuff about his arfs or his service .... and unless you know the "entire story" ... it is very easy to think he is a jerk.

Maybe I have just been lucky. But I have done business with all of the major shops (Horizon, Tower, etc.) and directly with quite a few of the ARF companies (Kyosho, GreatPlanes/TF, BME/PAU, Skyshark RC, Aerotech, etc.) and a few of the service centers/resellers/accessory dealers (TBM, Cactus, Chief, TOC, etc.) and I have been treated good by all. Better by some ... and those are the ones I go to first. I have had a few problems (warped wing, cracked canopy, bad battery, etc) and every company has dealt with it in a friendly and professional way. Some do not reply to emails as well as they deal with phone calls. Others are better through email.

There are some companies I won't deal with again (none that I listed) ... but that decision is based solely on my personal experience.

If you carefully read these threads, it is very easy to see which companies are really in it for more than a quick buck.

Bodyworks nailed it exactly. I'm gonna use it as a canned answer from now on [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

If you post PM's emails, anyting that shows proof and the post is within the rules it will remain, post hearsay and conjecture and refuse to post the proof the thread will be locked, not removed, at least by me. That way I cannot be accused of trying to do a cover up, which I have been in both cases. What was not being realized is that the thread still existed, it was not deleted but was quickly getting out of hand and way beyond the liberties I am allowed for "letting things slide a bit".

I'm usually pretty fair and am always willing to apologize publically for locking/deleting something when I screw up in my mod duties. I have told this to the member in question that if he provides the proof, I'll reopen the thread and publically apologize.

Bubba
my hat is off to you for getting the ball rolling with the guy that sent his engines to be repaired and they still had them for almost a year and could not get them back.and after you called his repair man you at lease got them on a talking bases now.very good of you to do that!
you sure are getting to use that lock button a lot now days.
ENJOY!

Thanks,

Actually, the forums I mod (Giant Scale, Engines, AFR-RTF) are usually pretty decent about 95% of the time and in most cases questionable posts usually take a PM to the person involved and we get it worked out.

Now if you really want to see a bunch of busy moderators, head over to the car forums. Pick just about any thread and just watch it. It usually does not take very long for one to be either edited or outright deleted. I've got a pretty thick skin but those mods have their work cut out for them.

As far as getting the ball rolling, that was more the original poster. I just made the person it was directed to aware of it as I am going to do today with the other thread.

Bubba,

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR EXCELLENT WORK!!!

Pedro

I only just noticed this line, so lets see how smart I am this morning , you live in TX, I know of one ARF manufacturer in TX and I have 2 of his so far, based on the name and the animal that name can be based on, those ARF's tend to multiply quite quickly once you buy just one.

I've talked to him several times and even had one pre-ordered that is do in at any time, I had to call and cancel the order and felt really bad about it but as usual, he was really nice and always has been. I've seen him "go off the deep end at times" and in one call he got me but it was not directed at me and I understood that so it was not taken personally and that is where the difference really is

Now without naming the name, just look at my avatar and if you know what that plane is, well there ya go

P.S., it's also listed in "My Models"

Yep. You nailed it.

I spent a weekend at that manufacturers home alomost two years ago and have been hard pressed to meet people as nice as them since. I was lucky to be able to see how they run the business and the number of hours they spend each day AND night working with customers. It gave me a much better understanding of the way the business and the customers relate with each other. Ain't easy for sure.

The planes DO seem to multiply. Must be something specific to the species

And just as fast as the species that they relate to. I'm itchin' to get the Sukhoi (love Sukhoi planes) but due to an unexpected redirection of funds I had to cancel and will have to wait for the next shipment, (not the current one) [&o]

RCU did it again.
To me it looks as if some manufactures are protected more than others. I have had some problems with a profile arf company and the thread got pretty heated, but never pulled or locked down. On the other hand some other companies you say one negative comment and it's pulled. I personally think if you have first hand problem with a company you should have the right to say it on this site without some moderator pulling it off the site. It must help to have you own forum on this site.

The new Sukhoi is a beautiful flier as well as a beautiful plane in general. One of my friends bought the prototype from T and LOVES it. I may have to break down and buy one of his arf+3mm combos ... but that would mean I would have to fly a monoplane [:@]

But ... I just remembered. He has one of the old composite Sukhois that he did some testing with that I promised to buy. I guess I should go get it soon. Dang! Another plane!! [:@]

It addition to the efforts he puts into his business ... I see the effort he puts into testing his products. Whether it is a new airframe, a redesign, or a new engine ... he does put the time in to test them. There have been very few times over the past few years that he showed up at the field to "just fly". He always has something new that he is testing. We were discussing with him last weekend about the way he stands behind his products ... and he walked over to the tail of the Sukhoi and just smiled. It took us a few seconds to understand what he was doing ... but he was standing "behind" his product ... ok ... I guess you had to be there.

Anyway .. I hope he doesn't read this. I have done real good about not discussing stuff he brings out to test .. in case he decides not to offer whatever it is. Plus, with all of this "he is a great guy" stuff ... he will get a big head

If I understand things ... the "support forums" are primarily moderated by the supporting companies.

Exactly....

Bonedaddy41,

Unless that old composite Sukhoi is the original prototype I'd let it pass. The production planes that were sent in the first and only shipment did not come even close to the quality of what they provided for prototypes. That was one of the reasons for discontinuing the composite Sukhoi, issues with production quality and accuracy compared to prototype quality and later large wholesale price increases.

Now if you had a shot at the 35% version, and it appears you do since Bubba is out for the moment, I'd jump on it.

Truthfully, if someone has issues with any manufacturer's kit quality or service proof of communications with the manufacturers and high resolution, close up pictures of the proplems goes a long way to proving your veracity. Someone simply stating that they have or had a problem with so and so is a tough sell. Who knows if the person with the complaint has even put a plane together before? Did they jump into the hobby this morning with a brand new 40% whatever and have no prior experience with the stuff? Too many factors involved with a complaint to simply believe everything you read at first glance.

Everyone knows that.

What I’m talking about are the general threads.
We all know what has happen over the last few days over a certain company, that will remain nameless, and RCU couldn’t close the thread fast enough. All of the comments on this thread were made from members with first hand experiences with this company, they didn’t use fowl language, lie or exaggerated. They just told the truth and it still was not acceptable to the moderators.
RCU should not be so concerned about being “pc" or kissing the fannies of manufactures and let people speak their minds.

I don't think this comp sukhoi is one of the original prototypes ... but he wants to get it out of his garage ... with a spare set of wings ... and I have an Evolution 45GX laying around that I want to play with on a canister

T.Bob,

On the surface ... I totally agree with you. In a perfect world, we should be able to state our opinion without having to prove ourselves. However, the true bottom line on RCU is probably ... the bottom line. You .. as an individual member ... are getting exactly what you paid for. Every single penny that RCU makes in profit comes from the advertisers. RCU is in business to make money. Their advertisers are in business to make money. We ... as members ... use this service for free. So we are getting exactly what we paid for. I honestly feel like the general area moderators do a pretty good job. As you mentioned, there are some threads that are full of complaints that stay active. I bet all of us can name the same company that gets beat up all of the tim ein the ARF forum. The threads that I have seen locked recently really were questionable. Honestly, one was talking about stuff that happened over a year ago. One sounded more like a disagreement .. or misunderstanding between 2 companies.

I have a website ... with a forum ... and no advertisers. You are more than welcome to join that forum and post whatver you want. But again, I have to answer for anything posted on my site so I hold th eright to delete anything I want However, my forum does not have the traffic RCU does ... so it might be just as well to stand in your closet and yell. You might get more people to hear you that way.

[link removed] Ooops .... sorry about that. It was not intended in that fashion.

I can't belive I'm saying this, but I agree with TBob. There is a first time for everything. Scott

LOL, Scott.....couldn't agree more! I almost feel ashamed for agreeing with tbob!

Im not saying it should be a war everytime something is wrong but you should have the right to speck your mind and tell about your trouble you have with with a company.The way i see it it only helps all of us get better service ..
If i want a plane i do some reading on it and i like to know up front the good or bad ,but if i want it im going to but it no matter what .

Tbob keep it up you know what im talking about ....

Terry

So, asking in a completely unbiased sort of way, Bubba, would you please explain to me why the supporting companies get to moderate their own forums? Could that not be perceived as a little bit of pull there?

I could not agree with you more Mr. bonedaddy41

But not at the expense of me or our friends on this site.
If the company and the guy that runs it is a deadbeat, we all need to know about this so we can spend our hard earned money somewhere else.


jsm77777
jmiracle

I know it hurts but thanks for the complement.

Hey Terry are you back in town?

i have had better luck here on rcu talking about problems with a servo company than on one of the other sites. i read a lot of threads here and on the other big forums to gain info about products and the companys that build and sell them. i do know that i need to read between the lines and can't beleive everthing i read. i don't mind sifting through some of the bad info but i do hate it when people stoop to name calling to defend there favorite companys. it seems that more of the guys flying rc planes are grown ups so why can't we act that way on the forums?

i too have had very good service from that wild furry animal airplane company by the way.

also i must have missed the thread that started all of this so would one of you guys pm me with the info please.

randy racer