I was just wondering if this is how most hobby shops are. I bought 2 r/c cars a T-Maxx and a nitro 4tec. Well i was having a few tuning problems with my 4tec and i took it back to were i bought it and they had like a big attitude all of a sudden. I was told that i wa supposed to know everything about nitro cars before i bought one and that any help will cost me $15 a half hour. I told them i spent almost 1000.00 dollars in there store and it seemed like they didnt care. i am begining to think that if most hobby shops are like this that is why this hobby is not more popular. i def would like to hear if there are any good shops out there that actualy do help.

My hobby shop is a Hobby Town USA! Very good people, mechanics are awesome, and they love helping you with what ever you have!

Tasing32, I agree with you. I have had similar problems with my hobby shop. With my first nitro, I had some tuning problems and I brought it to the store. They fixed it for free but yelled at me for touching the needles. The employees there get big heads because they usually deal with people who don't know a lot about R/C. I buy almost all parts off the internet so I dont have to deal with them.

i have my own hobby shop down the road!! my neighbor is my hobby shop. but i do occasionally do troll in to there to get some fuel!!

First off...Not all hobby shops are like that. In fact I really hope most are very friendly and helpful.

Not in a million years do you deserve to be treated like that. You are a customer...in fact you are a paying customer. I spent over a 1/2 hr at my LHS the other because the very friendly owner was helping a person new to the hobby that had made some build mistakes. I just waited and listened and was amazed at the owners patience.

I/M/O....dont let this slide. Let the owner know you are unhappy and see if they make good on there mistake. If they dont then let people know about your dissatisfaction. Some may not agree but I would even post it here. You may save another RCU'er some future trouble. I know I would really appreciate it.

Good service should be rewarded with good publicity...bad with bad publicity. They earned it themselves..right?

Couldnt have said it better myself Fyredup...

sometime hobbies shop people just want to be a, but not all of them its like that. If i were you i would go let them have it, tell everyone else what happen, and never go back to that shop again.

should stick a big poster on their front door:

"Under New Management; their all !"

if they take it down make smaller ones and post them on all the telephone poles around their shop. that's public domain and you're allowed free speech

then don't go back unless they give you some free stuff. even if it is just their time helping you understand your car/truck.

This has to be the stupidest post I've ever read in 4 year I've been on this board
Complain to the owner? Yes,
Post stupid bills around the store? Grow up

The only hobby shop with in 70 miles of me is Hobby Town USA in Macon GA and if I had to depend on them I would get out of the hobby. I only buy fuel and paint from them, as there service is terrible. I would not let them touch any of my vehicles. I am from the old school and I am sorry to say this day and age customer service is few and far in between. That is why so many shops are losing business to Internet shops. If my local shop gave good service I would do most of my business with them even if it cost me more. You just about have to beg them just to get waited on! They have lost over $7,000 of business just from me in the past 3 years!

i wasn't actually serious. i wouldn't actually think anyone would do this.

tell me to grow up. pull the stick outta of your.........

LOL,,I guess I've been told

Of course there are alot of good hobby shops out there. That hobby shop was just one of the bad ones. I just don't go back there.

Sounds like the owner of that shop is real jerk, I would take my business elsewhere and tell everybody how they were.

i work at hobbytown usa and im are tech guy, we do most repairs for free suck though, i would help ya if you live around here

Hi Guys

I moved to Vancouver BC about 15 years ago i was fifteen years old and i was looking for a hobby store . I found a hobby store through the yellow pages and i decided to go take a look at it.So i got on the bus and found myway there. Today after fifteen years i still buy all my stuff from him and it is all because of Phill the owner i am in this hobby. Not only did he help me out in every thing i needed he took me to his flying field and made me get on the list he also helped me learn how to Fly. Today we are great friends and all i can say is thanks to my LHS i am such a RC enthusiastic.

Phil has customers who have been coming there even longer than i have. He is extremely helpful and always goes out of his way to help people specially the beginners. Weather it being planes, cars or helicopters.

Also he matches all internet prices so i never feel like being getting ripped off so all i can say is go and support your hobby store because once they are gone all modelers are going to be in little trouble. Just imagine you are in the middle of a project and you realise you need a part now what do you do wait till is arrives in the mail or even better imagine you are flying competition the next day and while putting your plane in the car you damage something and realise you dont have any spare left then what do you.

I have seen several members at my club who buy off internet but when they need the stuff ASAP they are at the store. But these stores cant survive on small tid bid sales so in my humble opinion go and support them in some way or the other.

zain

The hobby shop whos races we run on occasion is totally different. He is the nicest hobby shop owner I know. The other guy I go to is a haggling machine. I got a $150 car for $125, and a $15 skidplate for $7! "Can't do any better on that nitro car? Well, how about a free quart of nitro! That's what I'm after!" The Hobby Town I went to sucked. The people were burnt out losers who didn't know a dogbone from a dog collar, and could barely spell the letters on their nametags out loud! I get so many privelages from my LHS's, it comes with years of loyalty and a lot of money. $1000 isn't an ordinary purchase, so I don't know why those guys aren't all over your ankles begging forgiveness!

Find another one, they sound like they don't want your buisness anyway. With an attitude like that I guess they must not need it either! Oh well...good riddens!

I see i am not the only one who has problems. Well i did try and talk to the owner but just got the brush off so i havent been back since. The thing about this hobby shop is that he has a sign up that says if you bought parts or even complete r/c cars from online to not even ask for advise or anything as that is for his loyal PAYING customers( yes paying is in caps on his sign). I dont understand why he even put that sign up when he sells online as well. i can understand he needs to make money to stay in buisness but to me that seems a bit hypocritical to me. Unfortuanatly as i live in delaware there are not to much choices around here as far as hobby shops go. Guess i will just have to buy online for now until i can find a new shop

It's real simple--it's called customer support. If you purchase online in an attempt to save money, you are not "his" customer unless you actually purchased the product from him. The owner is in the business of making money and has to pay his overhead. Spending time working on a person's RC purchased elsewhere makes no money and takes up time used by an employee who could be doing something like selling RCs or cleaning the counter. An alternative, would simply be to charge those who bring their RCs in for service. Around here, some of the LHS will provide free support for a while but after a few visits, the person usually gets charged a few bucks based on the job. A real automobile is no different--if it breaks down or the owner can't keep it in tune, the mechanic or garage is usually going to charge a fee unless it is on warranty. Ever read the warranty on an RC Car? How long is it? Some RCs do have them, but it is usually not honored by the LHS.

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I understand that he has to make money i was not disputing that all i was saying about his sign is that he says his advise is for loyal paying customers well i was a loyal paying customer and spent over $1000 in his store then they have the nerve to say that if i need any help that they are going to charge $15 dollars every half hour. I can understand if i came in every day and asked for help but this was the first time i asked for help. They even make new customers sign a paper saying that they know all about nitro vehicles and that any help will cost 15 dollars a half hour. To me that is not even right that is poor customer service and honestly just plain greed. As for warranty i know there are warranties on them but i wasnt asking him to fix my vehicle just for advise in tuning it. I remeber when a hobby shop took the time to help people out even if u didnt buy from them now it seems all they are in it for is the money. Maybe i am wrong and i will be the first to step up and admit i am wrong but i dont think i am.

One more thing i never said i didnt agree with him about the sign the thing i dont like about the sign and what i think is hypocritical about it and i forogt to mention is that it says to support your local hobby shop but yet he sells online taking buisness away from other lhs's at least from my view and i guarentee he doesnt support people he sells to online without trying to charge them also. i try and support my local hobby shops and have never bought from online but i guess i am going to start and if i have problems that are not a warranty issue i will try and get help online

The problem is that some people do come in every day asking for help or so it seems and LHS get tired of handing out free advice or working on someone else's product, especially if it was purchase elsewhere. Quite frankly, I've seen people bring nitro RCs into their LHS and pay to get it tuned--then come back in later and complain about how it isn't tuned simply because they don't realize how the ambient temps effect nitro tuning.

It also appears that the particular hobby shop which you made your purchase must have had problems with past customers at least once--or they wouldn't be asking their customers to sign a piece of paper acknowledging their service policies. However, the choice is up to you and the customers whether to purchase from him or not. Myself, I would have second thoughts about making a purchase from anyone if they would have asked me to sign such a document.

I know many people who seldom purchase from their LHS simply because high volume stores can purchase enough volume to sell online at a cheaper price--basically, if they are racing and need a part right now because they don't have a spare, that is when they visit the LHS. Believe me, I've had a few bad experiences in my LHS, especially when they are listed as US distributors yet won't carry or order parts or certain brands. Some have also realized how much I spend on RC products and have called me to let me know when new products arrive.

When I was recently at iHobbyExpo, I made purchases from three different stores there and still purchased additional products from a LHS after the show. One of the stores at iHobbyExpo remembered me from RCX and the owner of the LHS I visited after the show remembered me from prior purchases and racing--that particular store is also a major online player in the RC world. The thing is that none of those are actually any of my LHS.

I guess my point is that like anything else, customer service is not the same everywhere and as a consumer, the consumer's interest will also be opposite the retailer. The thing is to meet half way. Of course, a good retailer will try to keep a customer happy so that the customer will become a repeat customer. Other retailers may just prey on the new customer. Online sales just provide another option and sometimes a better option for the consumer.

Good points Tigger,

I had an aftermarket part break on my motorcycle,, I bought this part about 3 years ago, I couldn't find the receipt, but I tracked down the vendor and sent them a friendly email,,the replacement part is on the way. I'll recommend the Company to my friends.

That's how Customer Service is supposed to work.

I've been into cars for about 4 years now, but I've being into rc airplanes for about 30 years.
It used to be, the hobby shop owner met you at the counter, remembered your face, maybe even your name. And would help you and answer any stupid question you may have had.

It seams nowadays, the owners are out to lunch and they have hired high school kids with maybe 1-2 years into the hobby or less. A couple years ago I went into Hobby People in Encino (the original hobby shack store) and they had hired a young lady (17-18 maybe). She had absolutely NO knowledge of RC cars, planes or boats. How do you go about hiring some one like that? Then you have to deal with the kids that have a couple years under their belts, thinking they know it all.

What I've seen over the last 10 years or so. Too many people with very little or almost no experience are working in the hobby stores. It is really unfortunate for the guys/gals new to the hobby. They get no or bad information for the store. I've seen some of the worse advice come out of the mouths of kids working behind the counter. I went into the hobby people in Lakewood once and the guy almost wouldn't sell me the plug I wanted, because he thought it wasn't the right plug for my application. He actually had the nerve to tell me the plug I'd been using for 3 years in my airplane engine "won't work"
It makes me shake my head. It's really is no wonder you see so many shops struggle and so many people come in and drop out of the hobby.

A Local hobby shop near me is bad. They think that i know nothing, when ever i need anything its not in. They didn't even have a purple exhaust connecting tubing. And i have to wait like 20mins before i get served - even if there not busy.

so everyone that lives in or near Sheffield do not go to tags!!!

Big ups to my LHS. Boss Robot Hobbies in Berkeley CA. Johnnie, the owner, is super helpful and is always hooking me up with discount pricing on stuff or throwing in extras with my purchases. Plus he actively encourages people to call him with support questions and on many occasions I've heard him tell kids that if they have trouble building their kits that they can bring the kits in and he will help them out.

Best customer service ever!!!!