bbmass

My Feedback: (2)

The bad side I think they are dominating the industry, but I received some items and the glue leaked and glued them together. They are just going to replace them. First time a mail order company has done that without me shipping them back. Great service, thanks Tower.

siclick33

The reason they are dominating the industry is because they are good. I frequently mail order stuff from the UK and, apart from saving a fortune, have been fully satisfied with their service.

I wish other companies would set up websites that are as comprehensive as Tower's. If only we had something similar in the UK!

BobPhx

Gotta agree here.
Their website is by far the easiest to navigate and most comprehensive.
I've had two occasions to ask for replacement parts (leaky glue and a suspect battery pack). Both were replaced right away at no cost to me and without me having to return the bad parts. What more could I ask for? (OK, maybe they could stock more Giant Scale stuff )
Bob

Chris-_-Memphis

My Feedback: (3)

i shop tower alot also.. i had a tip broken off a prop (prolly ups's fault) called them.. had a new one in 3 days..tech guy on the phone told me to throw it away or use it as an epoxy stick[X(]

FlyingPilgrim

My Feedback: (26)

One of the few companies I cannot complain about customer service. They have always treated me right. Polite, professional, do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. Where else can you get that kind of service in any business? Kudos to Tower in their customer service.

Pilgrim

MarkNovack

My Feedback: (3)

The best will almost always dominate. I never understood the complaints about their size. Modern America was built by big industry and I never heard anyone complaining about it.

I have been a Tower customer for twenty-five years and they have always given me the best service.

Mark

Patriot

Seems like it has always been natural for the average Joe to complain about the big guy. I always figured it was sort of an ego issue. Even if the big online markets dominate the hobby, the LHS will always seem to be around. I have always had no problem with Tower, and still buy lots of stuff from them when the LHS doesn't have it.

For example, we have a nice privately owned craft store, that has expanded to include a very small hobby section, mainly electric cars and trucks. Basically, the owner added it to more or less satisfy his own hobby interest, and the family store seemed like a good place to do it.
In the beginning he had very little items on the shelf. The airplanes he sold were the small park flyers, and a few nitro accessories. He basically spread the word to the local club that he would match or beat Towers prices on anything they want. Not because he needed to make a TON of money, but enough to sustain his little corner of the store.
Well, he has started growing, and growing, and now he is taking up almost a third of this fairly large craft store. His wife, who runs the craft section, has started to complain that ol'hubby is movin' in on her territory. But, the fact is, the little corner is getting bigger and is bringing in a pretty good profit now. Not yet enough to self-sustain, but the rest of the store makes it happen.
Now he has several trainers on the shelf, a couple of sport kits, and has volunteered to hang used planes from the local club from the ceiling to sell in his store. He charges just a few bucks when they sell. So, now there is about a dozen planes hanging in the store, ready to fly, ranging from $100-$700.
All, I can say is, when I need something, I go there now. And if he doesn't have it, I may buy it elsewhere, but I tell him he might want to stock certain items that I know guys use. A week or so later, I have a tendency to start finding items on the shelf that I recommended, and they are selling, so I buy them there from that point on. He says it is almost taking off too fast, and some of the orders he has trouble keeping up with. But, he is doing his best, and now he has a nice little LHS to be proud of.
He also set up a nice indoor slot car racing track that the kids can come in (with their own cars) and use for FREE. Pretty cool.

Patriot

coomarlin

My Feedback: (1)

I've bought a ton of stuff from Tower over the years and they hands down have the best service and policies for exchange. There website is superb and is easy to navigate. There only drawback in my opinion is that they have several vendor exclusions. But considering the whole great planes/Futaba thing thats to be expected.

I mentioned this in another thread and it is my opinion that Horizon Hobby needs to seriously look at the design of their website and take a page out of Towers book when it comes to creating a website thats easy to navigate. The reason I bring up Horizon is because they are also a hugely popular site that gets a lot of business from the people that hate Tower. Finding something on Horizon's site is like finding a needle in a haystack. I only shop there when I need a product that Tower doesn't sell.

bbmass

My Feedback: (2)

I do not complain about Tower because I am the average joe, it is quite the opposite. I appreciate individualism and unique things. Tower does focus on a few vendors and it seems that all the planes look the same. I have started buying old kits off ebay to get around this. The big guys squash individuality, but make up for it in consistent service and low prices. I want both.

Whirley68

My hat's off to Tower Hobbies!!
placed an order the other week for alot of small stuff to finish a plane that
Im building. Well when the box arrived, I picked it up to notice that it was
very light to what I had ordered. someone at FED EX had helped there self
to what was inside and re taped the box shut!
I called tower and told them what had happend. They ship out the missing items
the next day!!! No Charge As I see it they went far beyond the call of duty!!!!!
and they ship it UPS per my request!

Tanks! Tower Hobbies!!!!!!

as far as FED EX, THEY SUCK!!!!!!!!!

Johnny

singinrock

I haven't purchased from Tower yet, but I do wear out their website. They give details about kits and parts that I haven't found somewhere else. My closest hobby store is Lexington ky, 35 miles away. Quantum is only 70 so I made a trip to see their stock and I was impressed with the selection they had for a small business. I made my purchases from them and have been doing so since. My flying partner got his stuff from Tower and was satisfied with them so eventually I will give them a try. My next purchase will be a kit, and I am looking at a 540 or something similar. Tower has a really good selection and I have heard good things about them. Isn't the grass always greener on the other side?
rick
mt sterling ky

TimeFLYING

My Feedback: (3)

The only problem Ive had with Tower was when i was first getting into the hobby i ordered everything from tower. a huge plus was the "guarantee" that if anything happen they would replace it all!! ( well thats what the guy on the phone said) and had a battery failure(tower product) called and told them what happen etc. and asked when i could expect my new stuff to arrive and the lady at the other end started laughing [:@][:@] needless to say I was not laughing along and told her that the CS person that i bought all my stuff from told me that all that was ruined would be replaced and she said that he had been fired due to making those types of claims and that if they did that they would go broke. and that she was willing to sell me all NEW stuff [:@][:@][:@] I was pissed told her that they would be receiving a hand written letter to their super and hung up.

I have ordered other stuff from tower and had very good service. but they lost all my business for a little over 2 yrs. and now that Ive been around the hobby block for awhile I always question the "guarantee" any product claims to have.. read the small print

DrFun

My Feedback: (4)

I love shopping from Tower, their web site is well organized much better than Horizon. I hate to search for an engine in Horizon web site. It is stupid.

Tower's prices are good, Membership paid itself very well and those $15 off $150 and free s/h for $150+ is what I like most. Also those free items that you get with membreship, I got hand drills, mini powerpanel for free, plus they have $1- $2 off several items with coupons, sometimes they work for me.

Also I had once CA accelarotor spilled, it did not cause any damage to other stuff and Tower send the replacement no questions asked, was very pleased with them.

Hope other retailers learn from it, not just the R/C hobby companies.

glowflier

I've been buying from Tower since 1986. I've always been satisified with their service and their products.

Mike in DC

The bad side is that because they are part of the Hobbico conglomerate that includes Great Planes, they are in both the distributer and retail businesses at the same time. In other words, they compete with the folks (LHS) who should be their partners, not competitors. As a result, most LHS (at least where I live) sell as little Hobbico products as they can. That's bad for hobby shops, but it's also bad for consumers because it limits choice.

The part that I don't like is that Tower is very coy about the relationship, although it's obvious from their catalogs which products they push. If you didn't know, you'd think the products with big pictures and color photos are either best sellers or superior products. In fact, they are just the products that Hobbico distributes, so Tower would prefer to sell them (they get both the retail and wholesale markup.) Can you really believe their sales representatives if they say a Great Planes product is better than a SIG product?

Still, Tower is a great retail company, and one of the best web vendors, and I buy from them a lot. Personally, I think they are hurting themselves more than they hurt consumers. A while back, Pepsi owned Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, and was in a similar situation. Then they found that other fast food restaurants would not buy Pepsi products. Why should they help a competitor when there was an alternative? As a result, eventually, Pepsi got out of the fast food business.

DeafOldRocker

TowerHobbies is a good vendorand I have ordered several Thousand dollars of stuff from them(God I hope the wife never sees this), my only problem is they dont have a great selections of Electric motors and such.

I find that I am really beginning to like Hobby-Lobby. Quick answers to questions from their Tech dept. Never take more than 2 days to get my stuff from them. They price match plus 10% off any advertised price from another vendor. Once when ordering a present for a family member birthday which I needed by Sat (I ordered on a Wed), I didnt receive confirmation it was shipped as I usually would. I contacted them and they shipped it FEDEX next day at their expense!!!

Their prices on Lipos are actually lower then FMA's. It may be only be 5-10 cents but every penny helps!

Matt

singinrock

Matt
Where is the HobbyLobby you are buying from? I am from nashville tn and spent years ( and also thousands of dollars) with them. They have a really good store and I could spend hours in there just looking at stuff. Better than Wal-Mart to me. I live in KY now but still buy from them occasionally. I went to QUANTUM MODELS a fewe months ago and liked them very well. Spent two hours in their store and bought a plane from them.
rick
mt sterling ky

DeafOldRocker

Hi
I order from the via the net. I live in PA. This is where they are according to their website www.hobby-lobby.com
Hobby Lobby International
5614 Franklin Pike Cr.
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-373-1444