cougartech67

Has anyone else out there been wondering, Whats up with Tower Hobbies??? I used to buy most of my RC trucks, parts and upgrades through them. But, eversince last summer, their prices continue to get more expensive. But, worse than that, they can never keep anything in stock. I had some HPI MT Transmission 2speed kits that were on back order from September 2005 until March 2006, when I "finally" cancelled the back order. Now, for some new items, I can understand, like the HPI Baja, now delayed shipping until May 2006. But, like the new Traxxas T-Maxx 3.3, they have that on back order too, yet, I have found it cheaper, and more available at many other places. I just bought mine for $459 delivered. Man ! You cannot beat that price. And better yet, its gonna be delivered. Not sitting on back order for 6 months. Now, I wanna end on a positive note. Its not my goal to just "bash" on Tower Hobbies. I have been working with RC trucks for about 4 years now. I have purchased probably a few thousand dollars with them over the years. They used to have the best prices in town, prompt shipping, great staff. I just would like to know what happened??? Anyone else out there have some idea's or feedback regarding this topic? Thanks to all who reply back. [&:] CougarTech

ssj2

I actuall noticed the X-Cellerator's price went up, and I think it's just competition with other online hobby retailers. They should take off their "Tower's Low Price Of $X.XX" cuz their prices are the same exact ones as everyone else's is. Company competition, tryin to keep up in the market. That's what I think.

snowbl!nd

Don't compaines usually LOWER prices when there is increased competition - in order to attract the customers. Seems strange that they would raise their prices, unless there was little/no competition.

cougartech67

Thanks for the reply. They used to offer good incentive's. Like if you purchased $500, you would get $50 off, or if you purchased $800 worth, you get $80 off. Now they just offer a standard $25 off on $100 or more, but, that gets eaten up big time in the higher costs. The thing that really discouraged me was the "back order" items on new stuff. Why would someone pay for a new Tmaxx 3.3 and then wait 3 months or more to receive it, when they could buy it somewhere else at the same or similar price, and get it delivered to them. I was gonna buy a Baja 5B around christmas time, but, decided to wait. Originally they had a estimated shipment date of late January, then February, now its Mid-May. You have to pay first, then it gets shipped 6 months later? What's that all about? But, I understand your thoughts, the RC competition is tough. There are lots of great deals out there, especially on Ebay, my personal favorite place to shop. That's where I got my Tmax 3.3. I found a seller that shipped my truck UPS Ground, $459 delivered. And had them in Blue, my favorite color. I wish that Tower Hobbies had a feedback type forum where the customers could give them suggestions or idea's on how to improve or change certain aspects. Or at least provide some good suggestions for them. Hey, thanks again. [8D]

rcmaster123

My Feedback: (3)

Ive never had any problems with tower, and for the t-maxx it said on there website that they only had limited supplies when it first came out

NJ NETS FAN

My Feedback: (2)

I personally don't like dealing with them any more becuase their "specials" aren't that good. I've been looking on ebay and I found a company that gives good deals and they're in the process of redoing thier site. Their site is www.powerhobby.com and will be back up on friday and they are saying that they are gonna have really really low prices for the first three days so if you need anything go check them out starting friday.

Wide Open

ive also noticed that tower is pushing a lot of things back and running out of inventory. plus they seem to be a little bit slower. instead of them shipping the order out the next day it takes several days for us now.

The_Collector

Every now and then things may get slow or errors occur. This stuff happens when you have a business, especially with the bigger operations. Once they had a set of Tamiya wheels on backorder for me for 2 years. I re-ordered that part later on, but never got the one I originally backordered. I let it go to see how long it would stay on the backorder list. Somehow the order for that part must have fell through the cracks. Overall, they do a great job though, considering how many orders they fill per day.

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

I've noticed a price increase on a number of things that I have bought in the past, one of the more recent things was the Reedy Neo motors, which went up like 10 bucks since I bought mine in January.

I haven't really noticed any stock problems, but I do agree that the shipping has gotten slower. Use to my orders would nearly always ship out the day after placing them, now they almost always take 2-3 days.

I still buy a lot of stuff from tower but herelately a lot of my stuff has been coming from various ebay sellers or I special order it at the LHS I work at.

michelob78

The one thing I could never complain about tower hobbies was the amount of detail information they give you about the products.... How many people by a show of hands have looked on tower for part dimesions and bought the part somewhere else? As long as tower remains competitive they will get my business. For an example the #2 on-line retailer Horizon hobby hardly has detailed specs such as size or weight listed, and I always disliked horizon's webdesign hard to find what you want.

Wide Open

youve definatly got a point there, ive always found it harder to find things on their website, and then when i do find it, there isnt enough information to really justify buying it.

Kemo

I cant stand tower, when I call and ask a question, they almost never have the answer. Then they make me wait, as they talk to their "service" peeps. 5-10 minutes later, i hang up because they dont know what they were trying to explain.

They are like the walmart of r/c... they have hardly any top brand products and advertise themselves as the cheapest, when they obviously aren't. I buy from horizon because they are cheaper in the end.

1CE

GOOD POINT, i get the info there but then buy somewhere else...i know thats not very nice but tower can be alot more expensive

-Inverted-

Exactly why I have never bought anything from tower. Everytime I go to, it's out of stock.

Infinite Gundam

Seems like the upgrades on my wishlist usually went out of stock when I finally decided to cart them, and I thought it must have been some kind of luck...

Then again I don't find many online stores offering international shipping, even fewer with various shipping options, and none with special discount codes like tower offers. In other words, tower still offers the best deals for us international customers and will still be my main source of hobby supplies, followed by ebay.

gerwen

/Raises hand

I don't buy anything from tower anymore because with crossing the border it doesn't end up cheaper than my LHS. They are one of my first stops when i am researching a purchase. Their online info is top-notch. I'd probably pay a subscription fee for the info they have online for free.

/loves tower hobbies.

kuhndog599

they sent me the wrong gas on the last order. they said i could keep it and they would send the right stuff. yessss. i dont like the gas they sent me so i'm selling it to a friend.

Combatcm

My Feedback: (1)

Lots of stuff is out of stock and MOST of it is due for late march. I think they have a big shipment coming in then to please everyone.

I feel like walking around a hobby shop when I'm on tower. All the stuff they have, all the details, all the parts. It's more than a price, a part number and a buy it now icon that many sites have.

I wouldn't even think about calling tower for a tech question, not because they are dumb, just because they don't really need to know specific tech questions, they just sell it over the internet. Sure they's try their best, but I remember someone here complaining about some RC18T questions and how they knew nothing......call Associated duhhhh!!!!!

The ONLY thing I hate about them is their selection of tamiya parts. Some tamiya cars have just screws in their parts listing.

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Being a boater now, I haven't bought anything from them in years because they only sold what most of us consider junk boats, mass-produced garbage or boats that haven't changed in 20 years. If you're a car/truck guy, you can see how long you'd last selling antiquated stuff like that.
Now they have to compete against the LHS as they can't discount their prices to less than what you can buy from them plus you have to pay shipping and/or COD charges if you have it shipped to you COD so you end up by paying more that way. The coupons are going to be a thing of the past if Hobbico and Horizon have their way. You will only be able to sell their products for the same price through Tower as you would by buying it locally. Hobbico is even going as far as supplying Hobby Shops before Tower with new products, up to a month or more ahead of Tower. It's good to see that the big distributors are looking out for the little guy otherwise you might be outta luck if something breaks and you'd have to wait days instead of having someone close by. If you live out in the middle of nowhere, then places like Tower may be your only choice.

poolmaster

yes they used to be very good, i guess they want to make more money now since most people know towers names and think they are still cheaper. i used to buy all my stuff from tower but not anymore, my local hobbyshop is cheaper than most online websites i have seen. If you want to check out their price, go to powerhobby.com, their website will be on the 31st and they will have 3 days specials.
since i buy lots of stuff from them he told me the savage 3 speed transmision assambled will be $54, proline 40 bowtie and crime fighter will be $17/ pair . he would tell me any more specials but these are just few of them, i think he will have around 25+ specials. belive me after you see their website and prices you will forget tower and others.