gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Hey gang,

I recently pulled a nice dork move, and dropped my Futaba 9CAP not once but TWICE. (doh!) The bottom half of the display no longer works, and while range checks appear to be ok, there's some minor question about intermittent range problems.

My question is this:

Hobby Services claims a 3-5 day turnaround time, has slightly cheaper labor rates, and is the Futaba reccomended location to send the radio for repair. Problem is, I know nothing about them, and have not been able to find too many experienced opinions one way or the other.

Tony Stillman at Radio south, on the other hand, has a legendary reputation, but has a slightly higher labor rate, and just told me I'd be looking at a turnaround time of 3-3.5 WEEKS, since this is a busy time for him.

Obviously, I'd RATHER spend a tad less, and get the radio back 3 times faster, but I don't wish to risk poor service or trouble with the shop. Anyone have any insight they can share? Is hobby services reliable in their turnaround time estimate? Is their repair work of high quality? Do they try to inflate repair bills?

TIA,

swk550

My Feedback: (76)

I have always had good service from Tony. I would call him and check on his turnaround times.

Steve

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Already have:

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Hobby Services fixed a gyro with a busted case and broken wire for a very reasonable fee and total time gone from mail out back to my desk was like 8 days.

carrellh

I had to send an OS engine to Hobby Services. I think total time including shipping both ways was 9 or 10 days. Excellent work and reasonably priced.

Silent-AV8R

Hobby Services is THE official authorized Futaba Service Center in the US.

Tony does superb work, but I would not give a second thought to using the OFFICIAL AUTHORIZED US FUTABA SERVICE CENTER, if you catch my drift

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks, guys...exactly the sort of input I was looking for.

Clearly, as the authorized service center, one presumes that good service will be the norm, but I simply had nothing to compare to Tony's superb reputation.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

I find that both give excellent service and that Hobby Services has a quicker turn around time. Radio South seems to do a better calibration to my equipment so I get a better range check, and Radio South seem to stand behind intermittent problems better but they have a LONG turn around time.

I use both and will continue to use both!

hobbyflyer3

My Feedback: (17)

I sent a JR X-10 to Horizon on 3/28/06 after 4 days I inquired of the status, they could not find the radio, I traced same on 4/8/06 and then Horizon found the X-10, and they said that it was repaired and would be sent out, I phoned on 4/14/06 and was informed that it was shipped on 4/13/06 I am still waiting, if I don' receive it soon I will stop the charge, and file a complaint with the appropiate authorities.

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

*smirk*

Thought I'd bump this to vent a bit about Hobby Services.

After taking with them a second time, being told they expected a 3-5 day turnaround time AFTER I DESCRIBED THE PROBLEM, and seeing responses here, decided to send the radio to them.

They received it on Thursday, May 4th. Just got off the phone with them (This being business day SIX) wondering why they haven't even done the estimate yet. It seems they're "behind a little bit", and MIGHT get to my radio today, PROBABLY will get to it tomorrow, if not, then "almost certainly" by Monday.

So, essentially, they will "almost certainly" LOOK AT my radio on business day EIGHT. Of course, it takes "one business day to complete the estimate" and then, once they're notified me, will take "1-2 business days" to "send it through invoicing". So, there's a minimum of 2 more days.

At the EARLIEST, if we deal with "maybe today", they won't even send it back until Tuesday...more likely, we're looking at Friday.

Now, here's the really funny thing...I asked if it could be expidited in any way, and was told that it could, for the additional $35 fee. Ok, fine. What will that get me? I was told, and I quote:

"That would get it sent out on Tuesday at the earliest."

*blink*

Sorry, folks...but in my limited experience thus far, Hobby Services' claims of 3-5 day turnarounds are total garbage, and their business processes are unacceptably slow and disorganized.

Krysta

GBoulton,

Your radio was completed today most likely within minutes of your phone call to our PS support line.

If you would like to contact us at 217-398-0007 to accept the charges on the repair, we will get this shipped out to you.

Our turn around times are at this point over the 3-5 day norm for us as this is one of our heavier times of the year. If a customer does not want to wait on the first come, first served basis, then YES, you can request expedited service at $35.00. This is what is listed on our website, and this garuantees that your repair will be looked at within 2 business days even during our busiest times.


Krysta
Futaba Service Center USA

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

Well,

First of all, Krysta, thanks for the information. It's nice to see that you folks at HS take the time to frequent the RCU forums, and address issues like this one in such an efficient manner.

I was, however, still left with several questions and concerns (the most important one of which being, of course, was I going to be able get the radio back in time). So, placed a phone call to the number Krysta mentioned above.

Short version of the story is this:

After several minutes of conversation (which, despite not resolving my concerns, was at least pleasant and professinal...kudos to the poor PS guy I was giving grief to) I was able to speak with Steve, who I was told was a supervisor.

After several more minutes of conversation, during which Steve did his best to understand my concerns and complaints, I'm pleased to say that we reached a very satisfactory resolution. Steve is going OUT OF HIS WAY to see to it that my radio gets back to me as quickly as humanly possible, and will be here in time for me to get planes prepared for an upcoming event.

I certainly still feel that ANY company should make estimates based on the REALITY of the moment (busy time, short staffed, whatever) rather than what they can "normally" achieve. I further believe that, even if something was only an "estimate", if a company realizes they won't meet a particular target or goal, they should notify their customers.

However, when such events come up, the bottom line is, imo, that the company do WHATEVER they have to do to make things as right a they POSSIBLY can...even if it's uncomfortable or painful for the company. How a company behaves during "normal" times is one thing...but how it responds to "problem times", and how far it will go to make things right speaks to the character and quality of the company and its people.

Since it's obvious the hobby services folks read these forums, I'll say it here...Steve, thanks for your patience and willingness to go the extra mile. if it matters to you guys at all, know that you have EARNED the positive comments in this post, as well as my reccomendations and future business.

carrellh

So you could have sent it to Radio South and been assured of longer turn around time (3 - 3.5 weeks per first post) than you're getting. And 3 - 3.5 weeks is just an estimate. Could easily be 4 weeks if a lot of stuff comes in.

Stuff happens. Turn around time estimates are based on what has happened in the past.

My truck got rear ended a few years ago. Damage looked pretty minor. Body shop looked at it and said I'd get it back in 10 days, maybe 2 weeks. I asked why so long. He told me the work would actually be done over 3 days but it had to flow with the other work. Then he said, "If I tell you 10 days and call you in a week, I'm a hero. If I tell you a week and call you in 10 days I'm an idiot."

Maybe Hobby Services should just double their estimates. Then they'd be heroes most of the time.

Lightfoot

My Feedback: (1)

My son put my truck in the shop 10 weeks ago for a 3 day repair. I don't think it is unreasonable for a company to take a couple of days longer than what is expected. In a similar situation, I would call and accept their statement and just wait for the results.

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

You have to stop and think about this from a more global point of view - what is really going on. It is unfortunate that an oops was done to your Tx - what is more unfortunate is the time of year you did it. What happens year after year is that stuff goes wrong with all of our radio equipment during the flying season - but we always live with it until we are done flying for the year, unless it is a major issue. We plan on sending all our stuff in and having it repaired over the winter so we are ready to hit the new season running. What happens is that the vast majority don't do a thing until flying season comes back at us - then it is a mad rush to get everything fixed. Some don't care and forget about any fixes - it worked last year so lets keep going. But there are enough that send their stuff in this time of year that the repair shops get swamped with work. They could go to 24x7 so the customer is kept happy, but it isn't practical for anyone to do, either economically or from an employee perspective for the long term. So you should just know that at the beginning of the flying season, repairs are going to take longer. If I was running a repair shop, I would think long and hard about telling my customers that there was going to be a long wait right now given this is the peak demand period - the customer would go somewhere else that promised a shorter repair time - even it if wasn't true - that way you would get the business.

Dan