dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

Well, I am finally done with Tower. I am sure many of you have reached this conclusion before me.

The problem: I ordered a Hitec Fusion 9 9-channel receiver from them. It shipped 7/10 from Reno. Well, it wasnt "parts express" so the shipping was $7.99. No problem... I get shipments from Reno in one day - two at the max. So I figured I would have my receiver my the middle of last week. Plenty of time for the weekend. Their "estimated shipping arrival date" was between 7/12 and 7/14.

Well, I still dont have the merchandise. They shipped it via USPS First Class Mail. No tracking available.

They cannot do anything about the order until 10 business days after the ship date (thats 2 weeks to you and me). They refuse to refund my $8 for shipping because they did their part by shipping it.

Both the customer service representative "Sally" and her supervisor "Jeannie" said that "if it arrives any time before the 10 business day limit then Tower Hobbies has done a fine job and I should be happy". If I return the item, I will only be refunded the item's price and not any shipping. They both went on to say "if I wanted the item in a timely manner then I should have paid for Second Day Air delivery." Funny - since I usually get the item the next day or two days at the most when it comes from Reno.

Well, they were both sorry that I am feeling this way (how could I not) and they both say that Tower has done a fantastic job of filling my order but they take no responsibility for the fact that I have not received it yet. They also say they want to keep me as a satisfied customer but they will do nothing to satisfy me.

All I asked was to be refunded the $7.99 shipping fee. I am sure that the package only cost $2 to ship via USPS.

By the way, I have been ordering from them since 1993.

Does anyone know of a good Hobby Shop on the west coast? I need a replacement.

Thank you for shopping at Tower Hobbies.

Rob

pettit

My Feedback: (23)

Don't ya think that the blame should have been placed on good ol' USPS rather than Tower Hobbies?

carrellh

www.hobbypeople.net

dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

I can appreciate the post office blame, but it should never have been sent via usps as it was not a Parts Express order.

Oddly enough... When I did finally receive the package there was a bright orange sticker on the side that read: "PLEASE RUSH. This order is for a Tower Hobbies #1 Super Saver Club Member"

So, if I paid full shipping, and they put a "rush" on it, why was it sent usps and not even Priority Mail (for $4)?

Yes, the post office was very slow, but it should never have been given to them in the first place.

Anyway, I returned the receiver. My replacement arrived within a couple days from their competitor. And, it came from further away... Of course, Tower did not refund my shipping of $7.99, only the price of the receiver.

After all, they believe that if you get your order a day shy of 2 weeks (from the ship date, not the order date) then all parties have done a perfectly acceptable job and there is no reason why you would not pay $8 for it.

B.S.

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

I read through both your rather lengthy posts, and have as yet been unable to see how the vendor was to know you expected the part by... what day was it? It shipped July 10th, and you expected it the middle of the week? Wednesday the 12th? And you're discontinuing business with the vendor because it didn't arrive by the 14th?

Just so I know, how was the vendor notified that you expected delivery on the 12th?

Or did you neglect to tell them?

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

Sorry for the confusion... Add a week to that. The 14th was their estimated arrival date, not the actual arrival date.

Ordered Friday. Figured it would ship out Monday. It was coming out of NV so I should have had it by Wed at the latest. Absolute worst case scenario it would arrive by the following weekend. Side note - ALL of my orders that previously came from NV arrived in one or two days. It showed at the end of the following week.

I neglected to tell them that I wanted my order within their average time frame. Heck they could have even doubled their average delivery time and that would have been fine.

Is that something that I really need to tell them?

My issue is more that they could have easily refunded my shipping charge, I would have kept the receiver and they probably would have received the 2 orders I have placed since then. I am giving my LHS all of my business for now (for the items they can get anyway).

So it is a win-win for all parties involved. I get to deal directly with the store manager at the LHS to ensure my parts get ordered correctly, the LHS and local economy get the revenue, Tower got my 8 bucks, and since Tower's parent company has their finger in all things hobby, they will still end up making money off of me somehow.

Its apparent that I expect too much. I can easily deal with the occasional error or oversight, but it has really become a pattern with Tower.

I see Tower is a sponsor of this board. I am surprised the mod hasn't canned my thread yet.

Stew99

The Tower website is pretty clear that standard shipping can take up to ten days. You paid for standard shipping but expected express service, I don't see how you can hold Tower at fault. Looks like you pitched an $8 fit for no good reason.

dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

I didnt expect express service. I expected normal service. Read the above posts.

You guys may be satisfied with that B.S. but I am not. Nor would I expect ANY of my customers to be happy with that. There are vendors that make up for inconveniences like that and there are those who dont give a hoot. I won't do business with the latter.

My $8 fit is done at this point. I would not say it was for no good reason. Whether anyone sways from Tower or not doesn't really matter. The fact that they have already lost much more than $8 on me is good enough. At some point you have to do what you believe in

You seem to think that it is acceptable to wait 10 business days for that, but I do not.

Regurgitatig fine print seems like a good idea to pass the time, until something like that happens to you.

Somehow I don't think that if I was shipping something to you and told you it would be there in 3 days but it really took 2 weeks that you would be happy with the transaction. Regardless of my fine print or what is buried in my Shipping FAQ.

I suppose I should just be happy to have received all of my other orders so fast.

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

Y'think?

dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

(that was meant to be sarcastic)

Well Scar, lets assume you don't work for Tower....

If YOU ordered something that normally took one day (since you live in IL) and it actually took 2 weeks would you be satisfied?

Doubt it.

Metrocat

I'm a newbie here but know all about the issue being discussed, the bottom line is nothing in this country should take ten business days to ship. If a product is ready to leave the vendors location, 5 business days is tops in North America, they may say 10 business days to cover their azzez but thats the fine print that is meant to hold up in court.

A good business would have realized that this was a once in a hundred or so incident, smile and take the customer is always right attidude, appologize, suck up the 8 bucks, thank you for your business and say "Talk to ya in a few weeks on your next order" and they would have. Instead, they chose the "it's the principle, we're right" path and lost a good customer and got some bad press to boot, I know I'll think twice about ordering from them now.

Oh well, theres a few more online vendors out there and theres still nothing lke spending a few hours down at the hobby shop.

dirtypool

My Feedback: (6)

I am glad that I am not the only one with that opinion...

sslayman

My Feedback: (14)

dirtypool,
I can't say that I've had the same problem as you have, as I've always gotten the stuff I've ordered from Towers in 2 days, max. I'm in Virginia and it's not that far from Ill.. I however have started using Advantage Hobby and have had great success with them. They always e-mail me with any problems they have with an order. Their shipping is free on any order, no matter how small. Just a though for you.

Later...

Scott!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I think that this thread has served it's purpose in the fact that original member aired his problem. Since this thread went inactive for 2 and a half months I don't think we need to let it resurface. I'm going to go ahead and lock the thread, but leave it in the forums so that others may still read it.

Ken