samguan

First of all, I love my LHS...

Everybody is so nice there, although they focus more on airplanes/helis, they do have parts for cars.

Everytime I ask them "Do I need this or that"... usually their answers are no. I was there last week looking at Savage shocks because I want to upgrade my plastic ones to aluminum. They told me I don't need it, bashing is fine with those. They never sell me something that I don't need. They didn't recommend brushless to me either, they told me they're really expensive.

I get at least 10-15% on all the items in the store..

Yesterday, I went there again looking for a Savage part because the screw head came off leaving the screw in the part..it was impossible to take the screw out. They didn't have the part but I told them I need the part tonight. Then they took the part and drilled the old screw out. Took about 15 minutes. At the end, I gave them $5, he didn't accept the money and gave me 3 new screws to take home. That was nice.

I really appreciate what they do for all the hobby people!

by the way, it's at Hwy 7 & Woodbine, Advance RC & Hobby.

evader8

its always nice to hear about hobby shops like tht. i wish i had one.[] just hobbytown usa about 40min away.

usa98030

I had the same experiance with a servo skrew but i go to a different Hobby store! And i live in the US

samguan

I had a talk with the boss the other day...

They told me internet hobby shops are killing... business was good 5,6 years ago.. it has been dropping due to online hobby shops..

He said the internet price is way too low to support the store.

evader8

yeah i gotta say i buy everything online because it is just easier. and lower prices is always a pirk to it.

mazpr

My local hobby shop does not carry any parts for my buggy, I even mentioned the name and they were, Can you spell it again? Sport.. what?

I was like, never mind, have a good one.

sheograth

I love stores like that, the owner of my LHS refuses to even charge me for single connectors and small pieces of hardware. I always return the favor though, if I have some spares I'll give them to him and he often gives them to other customers who need them - works well that way.

Plus I pay wholesale on most special order items, which is where the real savings start.

SAVAGEJIM

I have a Hobbytown USA around my place too, but just like you, it is at least a 30min drive for me (traffic and all).

I therefore resort to all the closer to me. Though they might not stock ALL the parts I need, they can order the part for me and have it in within a few days.
Frankly, I go in there not really for specific parts for my RCs, I go in to get universal nuts, screws, bolts, fuel, paints, tools, batts, etc. And when I get into a fabricating mood, I improvise and buy up parts from all brands (Mugen, HPI, Traxxas, Losi, XRay) and cobble together what I want to make. Whatever is on the shelves, I think how I can mod the part to adapt it to what I wnat to make.

Chris_RC

My LHS is about 10-15 minutes from me. Mom and pop shop, has alot of planes and alot of traxxas, sells losi mini's and rtr'sbut dont carry losi parts. So I just order online instead. As an example, there was no one here one day and I came in. On my Novak GTX esc, I needed them to solder a Yharness thing. Thats when i didnt have a good soldering iron. Really would of only taken me 5 minutes of good work, but he got a call and was talking to a person while pretending to work on the soldering job. Got off the phone 5 minutes later, and he is a horrible soldered! He didnt connect it right for like 5 times, and eneded up taking him 10 minutes. Got by the register because I needed a small part, he charged me $20 for flimsly 5 minutes of good work!!!! He put it as "work, 1/2 hour" or something like that, and since they charge $40 an hour...it adds up!! I havent been there again! [sm=punching.gif]

dacaur

That sucks Chris_RC... There is a fairly new hobby shop near me, South Valley Hobbies.... The first time I went in there they had just opened a few weeks before and were really nice... I told them I would be buying a wheely king in the next month, an the guys said "oh well come back when you are ready and we will give you the best deal" He even offered to solder on mt TRX connector since I told him That's what I use. Well, I came back a month later, and I guess business was up, because I didn't get ANY kind of deal other than $10 off the battery (which was still $30 after the discount, venom 3600mah), since they had it installed in the wheely king for customers to try, yea it was an open box, but still full price... I asked about soldering the connectors on, and he told me it would be $5...... Well, I bought it, but they have lost a LOT of business from me since then.... I tried a couple other times... I ordered some gears, and they were to call me when they came in, After 2 weeks and no call I went in.... "oh they are here".... But they were the wrong gears.. Ill have to re-reorder. I said OK do that and call me when they come in, then I went to another shop and got them (they never called me the second time either) Another time I went in and asked if they had a part, he said "no but we can order it". I said no that's OK, and he game me the blank "you a-hole" stare and said "thats ok?" in a severely sarcastic tone... That was the last time I went there... I went to another hobby shop for my traxxas slash, mini LST2, and LST XXL..... Customer service pays off....

yoster

I have no problems giving almost all my business to my local LHS. Of course due to convenience it doesn't always happen that way, but they've always been great. It's a local HobbyTown USA, about 20 minutes away, but that doesn't bother me. I'm a HUGE supporter of brick and mortor shops. They also will match any price on towerhobbies, so there's nothing that site can throw at me that I can't get here locally, without paying any shipping! They don't support the coupon deals that towerhobbies has, but I really don't care. I would be sad to see the place go, so I try and push as much business as I can to them.

maverick136

My LHS is at least 15 miles away so I will usually order over the internet, how ever You have to be very careful of who you do business with like Banana Hobby. They have a surprise coming for keeping my money after sending me a jet with faulty parts. And the way they treat their customers is disgusting. I have reported them to the BBB but I also went one more than that, for all the people they have ripped off and for all the customers still waiting for a refund. Like I said they have a surprise coming. It will not surprise me if they got shut down and someone went to jail from that company. They messed with the wrong person this time.[8D]

HomeDawwg

My favourite LHS (not closest) has a terrible website. I like the store and the people there, always helpful and great prices. However due to the distance, i dont go there too often. If they had a well set-out online store i would use it for sure, but i use other online stores instead due to the convenience.

maverick136

I would use my LHS more often that's for sure. I like it that when I buy something and a part or parts are faulty I can go there and face the person that sold it to me and see just what he plans to do about it. When you are face to face with most merchants they will do their very best to satisfy you because they count on you to keep them in business. Its not like Banana Hobby that when they send you something and the parts are faulty you actually take the chance of never seeing the replacement parts and they can get very nasty over the phone and they can lie as much as they want. Why? Because they don't have to face you. I like small shops the best because the owner usually will go the extra mile to get to know you, and will help you with what you need . Its a crap shoot using an MO, but the one thing they have over the LHS is inventory. I usually don't pay attention to the price difference because it usually negligible . I used to be a customer service consultant. My job was to teach employees excellent customer service in order to keep the customer coming back and hopefully he or she will bring a friend or two or some family members. You can actually up that all elusive bottom line with excellent customer service. I have noticed a new trend here in America and its mostly with foreign store owners. How they fix a complaint is to tell the customer if you don't like you go somewhere else. Even if he sold you something that was broken, he or she will say it wasn't broken in my store you must have done it. You go away or I call the cops. Go away and don't come back I don't want your business. Now I am not saying this happens with all foreign store owners, however the majority have that attitude. I figure they don't have customer service in their country. This happens especially with the Chinese owners. There are many foreign store owners out there that will treat you well and do their best to help you, just don't ask for a refund because suddenly your new friend turns into someone else and things get ugly.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I had been going to a hobbytownUSA about 30 miles from here. Well, when i got back into nitro, i found out there was a small shop about 12 miles from here. I have been out there 4 or 5 times now, and the guy running it is a real nice guy. They dont stock a lot of parts, but he can usually get them, and he does his best to make ya happy. He talks to ya like your his neighbor every time you come in.

Last time i was at hobbytown USA, there was a woman working the parts counter for the r/c cars.... All i needed was a spur for my savage. Well she had no idea where to look and told me to ask the woman up front to find it on the computer and tell her the number. Well, i did, and she finally found it, but it was for a savage x. I made it work anyways.
I came to find out by the woman up front that the other woman was the cleaning lady and she was filling in for the guy who normally works back there[&:] The time before that i was in there though, he was trying to sell a 40yr old man a truck. This guy had no idea what he was buying, he just knew he wanted one. He had it between the Traxxas Sportmaxx, and the Nitro Stampede. The guy behind the counter was telling him the nitro stampede was 4wd, and that the sportmaxx was 2wd. I told the guy id get the sportmaxx, and his wife said "you mean the 2wd". I said they are both 2wd... She said, "they are?", i said yeah. The guy behind the counter started frantically looking on the stampedes box, and found out it was in fact 2wd. He said "well, uh, I guess it is 2wd too".

Whats funny is they were both almost the same price, which is why i told them to get the sportmaxx. It comes with the 2.5r and the 2 speed transmission where the stampede is smaller with a single speed and the pro .15. And 4wd according to the guy behind the counter

Anyways, usually the smaller shops dont stock as much, but they are a lot more friendly and knowledgeable in my experience.

Eric

xt2nitro

I first got into models when I purchased a Firebird XL airplane from my LHS which is about 5 minutes away. I loved the thing, however I crashed it loads. Each time I crashed it they patched it for free up and it was ready to fly again. I got loads of use from it until one day I crashed it into an Guesthouse roof, and that was the end of it. Since then I have been in Nitro Cars.

Last week I was in my LHS buying loads of universal parts like screws, fuel etc... It always seems to be very busy doing business! Too be honest I have been going in 3 - 5 times a week the past few weeks buying mainly screws and fuel while getting some good adive too! All the staff are really good and now they give me 10% discount on spares which is also good.

I also have another hobby shop 30 minutes away which I ocassionly use for various things.

I seem to have loads of LHS round here about 5 in total, but one closed a few months ago due to no business. I suppose I am quite lucky!!

Sugafree

Glad they gave you Good Service .............. As Advance hobbies has the Highest Prices in the GTA

Flux Driver

I live in southern Orange County, California. There are two stores in the city of Lake Forest. Hobby People and Gyro Hobbies. Gyro redid their store and it looks great. They have a snazzy website they're developing. And their staff is so helpful and enthusiastic. They definitely raised the bar. Their prices are fair but when buying a vehicle kit, they'll match prices with Ultimate Hobbies(more on this store later). I still suck at soldering and the solder guy in there put Deans on my VXL and three battery packs as I watched and learned. Charged only $5 which I was happy to pay for the perfect soldering he did. They make some fine suggestions on upgrades too.

At the Hobby People location in Lake Forest, same thing. Lots of great suggestions. One guy there told me how I can use differential oil on my Savage Flux and Stampede VXL. That way it helps avoid spin outs when I don't want them, as in one wheel going faster than the one on the other side. Something like that. They're willing to help you figure out repairs and will even assist you. You should still show an effort as a hobbyist which hobbyists do anyways. They did have one guy who used to come in with lots and lots of RC vehicles and dump them there for them to repair, figuring it's okay since he bought them there. Rich guy, car salesman I was told, and I saw him once. May be an arrogant alpha male type but didn't appear to be so much that but then again he was in the store having fun. Well the staff at this store may be a little worn out because of their experiences with him but that was a while ago.

At these two stores, they do try to sell things when making suggestions but they don't overdo it. They are stores so I understand that and I actually like that enthusiasm. If you politely decline, they won't be rude at all.

Okay, Ultimate Hobbies in the city of Orange, CA. Great place usually for customers. Not so great for staff members, as I heard from one of them. And I have witnessed their manager mistreat one of their staff members once. You may see ex-Ultimate Hobbies employees at other hobby stores. Quitting or being fired from Ultimate may even be seen as a badge of honor around here. However, they are just about fully stocked and have better prices than any other stores and just about all the time even better than Tower Hobbies the website. And yes I still go there when I'm in the area. I've seen what I've seen and heard what I was told by an ex-employee(who now works at Gyro, a great addition to that store) but it's still some and not a lot and I don't know the whole story. So I'll still shop there.

A customer there told me he was kind of tricked by Hobby People in Orange, on the same road as Ultimate Hobbies. This is a different location of Hobby People, not the one in Lake Forest. He stated that he was told he'd get similar coverage on an XTM RC that he'd get on a Traxxas. He purchased, came across a problem, and wasn't helped by them and ended up arguing and yelling with them. I notice that Hobby People does try to push XTM products. But just kindly say no thanks to that unless there's an XTM RC you actually wanted in the first place.

I've been to this Hobby People location. One guy there knew how to run the register and that was about it. But on another visit another guy knew about the Savage line. I guess they may find it hard to find hobbyists to work there.

Chris_RC

Flux Driver, I like Gyro Hobbies. ive only been to the one in OCRC, but they are helpful, have a good selection of parts, and knoledgeable. Also check out Pacific Coast Hobbies, they are STOCKED.

arcarle

Most of the people that work at the Hobby Town USA here in Glen Burnie Maryland are kinda grouchy and in a hurry to get you in and out. There is one guy that works there though that is pretty cool. He takes time to hang out and talk about different things with ya and throws in extra small stuff here and there for free.

As for the internet stores: I use them for alot of the more expensive items or orders that are more than one part that way the shipping is worth it. The only time I use the hobby shop is when I'm out bashing and break something and want it fixed like YESTERDAY.

werks21

i wanted to get into 1/10 onroad and my lhs advised me on what models = bang for the buck and then told me to check ebay for those models since Im on a budget. well, i will be ordering my 1/10 racer through him instead of online. customer service goes a long way.

01s0uljah

Advanced Hobbies up on Woodbine and Highway 7 are really good.. They also do have one of Midland and Sheppard which focuses mainly on Surface RC.. So cars and boats and stuff.. They are both owned by 3 brothers.. Even though I'm closer to the one on Midland and Sheppard.. I always try to bring my business to the Woodbine and Highway 7 one cause they always give me good service.. The one on Midland and Sheppard have a bunch of *******s working for them.. They always look at you like your an idiot and you don't know what you're talking about..

So definately the one you're talking about over the one on Midland and Sheppard

01s0uljah

Definately customer service goes along way.. Going back to the original poster. I'm in Toronto as well and have shopped at Advanced Hobbies.. they have 2 locations.,. One in Scarborough and the other in Markham.. The Scarborough location focuses more on the surface.. but they have poor customer service skills.. they look att u like you're an idiot.. I remember I went in to buy a part and the guy was eating and talking at the same time.. not even once didnt he put his food down to help me..

Anyways.. i always try to push my business to the other location or online..