Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

<div>I had problems with Advantage Hobby. The homepage say "Free fast same day shipping! First time customer discount! Ongoing club discounts! It's time to shop with ADVANTAGE!" There are no click here for details or liar asterisks anywhere. I ordered on a Monday at noon. I called on Tuesday at 1:00 and was told it had not shipped yet. The free shipping is on orders over $50 but they dont tell you that till checkout time so I got stuck paying a 4.99 handling fee on some small plastic Blade CP parts that weighed 2 oz tops and cost about $1.50 or less to ship. Seems more like inflated shipping to me. Finally, everytime I tried to finalize the transaction with the new customer discount I got a white screen with a server error message. First time I tried it without the discount code it goes right through. I ordered from advantage because they are in Champaign, IL and I am right down the road in Indiana and I wanted the parts fast. Turned out I got no discount, overpriced shipping, and not fast at all. This will be my last order from Advantage. UPDATE: I called Advantage back late Tuesday afternoon and my order still hadn't shipped. I just cancelled it. The website makes them sound great with fast free shipping and discounts but what I got was very slow and overpriced shipping and no discount. Eflite parts were full retail. My advice is to steer clear of Advantage Hobby.</div>

RE: Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

It's a shame you had problems with them......I live in Champaign and have ordered through them often as well as come to know the owners personally by way of picking up my orders directly in their shop. I can't explain or comment on your web issues, but my experience is that this family run business cares about their customers and would certainly try to make things right if there were screw-ups or misunderstandings. For what it's worth - I think they're Great!;)

RE: Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

I have to say something in their defense. One of the guys at a club I visited mentioned getting something from Advantage Hobby and told us about the discounts and shipping. I ordered a Futaba 6EX on 10/14. The only reason they didn't ship it out on the same day is because they had to contact me for a physical address as Iuse a POBox for my mailing addy. Anyway, they shipped it out and I received it today, 10/19. With their discount, $11.00, and free shipping I figured I saved at least $20.00 I wouldn't hesitate to give them a good recommendation.

RE: Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

i 'v ordered several times from advantage,always went ok. the first placed orde was a sig hog bipewith shipping and 1st time buyer disscounts...noone could beat there price.

i just order the sig kobra at christmas and it's arriving on jan 5th........there cost to ship is about $3 less than if i ordered it from sig manufactures direct.

i wouldn't be so quick to write them off,but that just me.

RE: Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

That is one reason why I never order online.
Just pick up the phone and call it in.
If you have ??? you can ask before you order.

Tim

RE: Problems with Advantage Hobby
 

This thread is six months old. The person who started is has not logged in since June

With sales suffering across the board in our hobby, I thought I'd once again, place a large stock up order for some UltraCote......20 rolls in total for future build projects. Advantage Hobby advertises "Free Shipping on $59 order".
With $349.86 in my cart, I check out, and the shipping charges were $9.99........(what happened to my free shipping?) I find an exclusion clause that says "Orders over 5 lbs subject to shipping charges".......so I delete items until the shipping charges go away, but still qualify for free shipping by exceeding the $59.00 minimum.
I place (4) orders, each consisting of (5) rolls of Ultracote. (Total $349.86)

This morning, I receive an email from Advantage Hobby:
"We will notify you when your order is ready to ship. And at that time what the Shipping & Handling charges will be.
Have a good day."

My reply:
"These orders qualify for free shipping......otherwise, please cancel all 4 orders. Thank you."

From Advantage Hobby:
"Your orders will be cancelled and your form of payment refunded as soon as possible.
Have a great day!
Sandy"

My Reply:
"Sandy, so, you would rather lose a $300+ sale, than honor your advertised service?
Wow."

Advantage Hobby:
"You speak of honor, you know as well as I do that you placed 4 consecutive orders to avoid Shipping & Handling charges.
Sandy"

My Reply:
"Yes, and there is NOTHING wrong with doing so.
I will let the RC community know about this transaction.
If you want to honor these orders, group them into one shipment so YOU save on shipping 4 separate orders, I am ok with that. Otherwise, this will not reflect well on your end."

11 minutes later, all (4) of my orders were canceled, payment refunded, and no further messages from Advantage Hobby.

What a complete waste of my time. I will take my business elsewhere, where the advertised are honored.

Live only ordered a few things from Advantage Hobby but I can say I didnt have any problems.

I get what you're saying, but you also have to realize, that is a bit like the person that gets in the 10 items or less line with a cart full of groceries then scans them 10 at a time.

But if they advertise it that way they should probably honor it.

What a shifty underhanded company.

I've had no problems with Advantage Hobby.
What I read is that all online dealers who offer free shipping on orders over such and such but they also provide some sort of disclaimer to the fact that there are size and weight limitations to the offer.
As always, read the shipping notes whenever you are planning to place an order.
I agree with the poster who said it's like the person who gets in line with the 10 items or less with a cart full of groceries.

On that notion, what is wrong with going though the checkout line 3 or 4 times?
You missed the point......4 separate orders, would have been shipped out 4 times, on their dime.
Or, shipped together, in one box.

There is no mention of the sort, "only one free shipping offer, per person, per day, per household". There were no limit imposed.
I find it a case of, cut your nose, to spite your face.
In today's age of dying hobby shops, and bankrupt businesses, it is FOOLISH to walk a $400.00 order.
But, whatever, stupid can't be fixed.