Sharkonwheels

This is just an FYI - I don't know if others have experienced problems, you mileage may vary.

Be careful in dealing with warrick Custom Hobbies, aka, hobbysuperstore.com, inPlantation, Florida.
After purchasing almost $1000 in cars/parts/fuel, etc... inless than 3 weeks, I went in to buy a $300 Ofna buggy.

First off, I'm a newbie at this, and noone warned me that I had to disassemble a brand-new RTR, and grease the diffs
to avoid failure!!! On top of that, same day, took it to more experienced guys to help break it in, and after 2-3 pulls,
the pull-starter stopped working. Now I'm not talking stupidity, like yanking too far - it's still there, and retracts
ust fine. It just doesn't catch the engine and turn it over - it basically "freewheels". When that started, we put it away
at the place we were at. Bought on a saturday, I called the store Monday morning to tell them what happened, and
the owner (Wally) said I can buy the part (***? You kidding me? a less-than-48hr-old car?!?!?) or 15% re-stocking fee.
And this is with wanting to pgrade (about $200 more!!!) to an HPI MT2 18SS ?!?!?

Hello? McFly?

I went in there on Wednesday, to show them, and discuss the problem, same thing. Actually, since Wally wasn't there, the
only option was to order the part and pay for it!!!

So, after disputing it with my C/C company (who has credited me back) I just got paperwork back from m C/C company
with his response, which is so full of lies, it ridiculous. He claims he offered for me to bring it in, and they would warranty-repair
it. Uh, I don't think so WALLY! He claims there's no refunds because the receipt says so. Uh Hello? Receipt? That's after I already paid!
Plus, the receipt shows a refund right on it, 1 inch above the "no refunds" disclaimer?

To begin with, I didn't even WANT a refund! I wanted to get rid of that broke-from-the-gitgo crap, and go to an MT2 18SS, which woulda'
set me back another $200! f course, he forgot to mention that, and claims I changed my mind and wanted my money back.

Agan, YMMV. All documents available for inspection, including receipt, and full docs on C/C conversation.

I'd just say, be careful If you're in S. Florida, I can recommend reputable places, like Felix or Alf's.
Stay way from Warrick's - stay far, far away.


Tony
Florida
[email protected]

J_D

open up ur diffs.. and grease them, if they're already screwed, buy some new diff gears.. would cost like $30...

Then take off ur pull starter from ur engine... have a look, maybe its fixable... if not.. buy a new pull start, costs not much either.. but chances are, its fixable by any newcomer to the hobby. so all in all, u would have spent $30.. for some new diff gears.. better than going thru all that ***** and wasting ur time

46u

My Feedback: (3)

If you are serious to your convictions you need to file a complaint with the BBB as wheel with your states attorney general or governors office of consumer affairs. And file as many complaints wherever you can. I have done so when I have had problems with places and most of the time Most of it can be done right from your computer.

Sharkonwheels

Gonna call the BBB in the morning.

<vent>
It's really frustrating, because I spent almost $900-1300 there from 4/2 - 4/23 , and this is how they treated me.
That's what really burns my tail. I didn't even want a refund - I wanted to apply the purchase price towards an
HPI MT2 18SS + radio, which woulda' cost like $200 or so more than the $300 for the Ofna!!!

sad, really... I've been to other places, even small mom -n- pop shops, and get the complete opposite.

Sample: really small place, extreme hobbies, in Miami. The guy sold me like a $9 steering servo for my Nitro Evader,
*GAVE* me a set-screw for the pipe on my Nitro Fusion, and then let me borrow the tools and sales counter to install
the servo, and the set-screw!!! Another, Alf's hobbies, hooked me up when I arrived when they were outside,locking
the dang door going home. Of course, that was the day I bought the Nitro Evader, so mebbe it was worth it. i also
bought a couple more thingies too.

How these small shops compete with the likes of Tower, I don't know, but I like the small shops.
I pay a ittle more, but the service is what I like. Not to say that Tower is bad, as they aren't, IMO, but I like the face-to-face,
meeting other hobbyists, etc...

</vent>

thanks for listening!


Tony
[email protected]

redheat8

You come across as a Hobby Stores worst nightmare. RED

Sharkonwheels

Worse nightmare?

Quite the opposite - I've happily dumped another 2-3 grand between 3-4 other hobby shops.


Get real.

redheat8

Well if I was the shop owner I would rather you take your money and spend it somewhere else then have to listen to you complain about something that you broke . RED

Sharkonwheels

With 3 pulls? And the rip-cord still attached perfectly and retracting back in just fine? It wasn't yanked off - it stopped turning the motor over, and just
freewheels.

<Pfft!>

That's probably why you're *NOT* a shop owner, and don't take ANYONE'S money, and will probably remain that way.

Customer Service - 2 VERY important words.

46u

My Feedback: (3)

You can file a complaint with the BBB on line as well as most other complaints. Long story but I had trouble with Bell South and after filing numerous complaints at numerous places I go over $150 worth of credits. Had one guy on ebay that owns a shop miss represent a coin really bad! When that deal was said and done I got my money back including shipping and got to keep the coin. Stayed at a Days Inn in SC that was down out right nasty when I got done with them I got my money back plus $25. Had a lawyer that was working for me I fired her well they call it with drawing and before it was all over she sent me a refund check and told me to forget about the rest of the bill. If ever one that was done wrong stood up for there right things would change! But most people are too lazy. Enough said.

Feel lucky as there is only one hobby shop with in about 70 or 80 miles of me Hobby Town USA and they are the PITS!!!!!!! If I had to count on them I would get out of the hobby. If it where not for places like Towers I could not stay in the hobby. If the LHS were worth a tot I would do most of my business with them.

Sharkonwheels

Don't I know it - I got ripped for $250 by a guy getting out of eBay, and ripped off a bunch of people on his way out.
I even called the cops there, but because the account was under a business, and they closed it, we were pretty much screwed.

they went from like 4 or 5000 positive and no neg, to having like 113 negatives within 15 days.
This is the famous jkhh that is listed on a few bad-trader forums, like anandtech, etc... Jason something-or-other. Knight-tech on ebay
at the time, I believe.

Glad you got your stuff resolved.

After 46u's posting, I filed a complaint at the SouthEastFlorida BBB online, as well as the Florida Attorney General's office.

Craziest thing, is I wanted to upgrade out of that crap defective Ofna hey recommended, up to an MT218SS, which woulda'
cost me a LEAST a couple hundred bucks more!!! Kit is like $300 alone, radio (decent) at least $150 or so?

Iknow about HobbyTown - they all closed in Miami. I got jerked by a guy at the Kendall store YEARS ago.

I now frequent Extreme Hobies, Felix Hobbies, Superior Hobbies, and Alf's hobbies.

Shame, though - Warrick's is huge, and has a good inventory, nice looking LHS, generally nice people.

Felix Hobbies is a Schumacher monster - he stocks almost EVERY spare part for the Nitro Fusion .21!
Stocks alot of HPI as well, and alot of the Wolf custom products are also in stock, like the engine mount adapters,
and whel adapters. Right now, I have a Niro Racer 2 kit brand-new sealed in the box, on layaway with him.
Hard to find THOSE puppies NIB nowadays!

Alf's is smallish, but a nice father & son store. They gave me the Nitro Evader ST for like $175 or something in May, which was
way better than Tower even! He's go a on of parts from other hobby stores he's bought out, and sells the stuff cheap on eBay.

Superior and Extreme are smallish also. Extreme is dirt-oriented, and they even own a dirt track WAAAY down south.

I grew up around this stuff - my dad raced control-line planes - Goodyear, slow rat, fast rat, and speed. Even a pulse-jet
CL plane, which was incredible - still have that origina Dyna-Jet engine in the garage (somewhere!)! He did most of his buying at the time
(here in FL) at Orange Blossom Hobbies, who closed a few years back.

When we lived in Denver, he bought from BK Hobbies in Englewood, owned by a gent named Bill Kessler - class act.
Donuts and coffee every Sunday.

I always wondered what happened to him.


Tony
[email protected]

redheat8

Man I've got to agree with you , Customer Service is not for me , Hope you get everthing worked out , RED

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

I think shark forgets that the person who sold him this car DID NOT MANUFACTURE IT and is under NO obligation to repair anything under factory warranty.

Phillip04

My Feedback: (1)

Oh cmon Thunderbirdjunkie, What happend to people with some compassion? By the sounds of it my Local hobby shop is awsome, they help me out anyway possible, probly cause i spend lots of money there. They even helped me out on repairing my Truggy during a race day.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

phillip, i'm not saying a shop SHOULDNT go the extra mile...

but the fact of the matter IS that they dont HAVE to. we've gotten so used to people bending over backwards and wiping our arses for us that we've totally forgotten THAT IT ISN'T THEIR JOB!

i'm fortunate enough to have TWO GREAT LHS's, and I'm very grateful for that, but this guy acts like it's the SHOP'S job to fix a defective product
which it ISNT

J_D

kinda like going to your general store and asking them to fix the stapler you bought from there :P

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

EXACTLY!!!!

Sharkonwheels

Not quite.
If I went to office depot, bought a stapler, and it was defective, I'd go back, and they'd replace it
with another one.

If I went to best buy, bought a stereo receiver, and it was bad, I'd take it back, and they'd replace it.

That's what stores are SUPPOSED to do - noone's asking for anything special!

T

J_D

lol... key word;

supposed

Sharkonwheels

that's right, it IS the key word.
The sales receipt plainly says Exchanges allowed within 14 days, with receipt.
I called the LHS 36 hours after purchase, and stopped in 5 days after purchase, and of course I have a valid receipt.

T

cenracer1

Shark.. I have two friends who own hobby stores and I know what they would do... You ran into a shop that has bad customer service... Personally, I would just fix the pull start.. The one-way bearing is slipping and grease the diffs... I understand you are new and that the shop should have taken the time to explain things, but it happens..
As far as the shop goes, its not a simple matter of returning the defective car to them... and the shop can't fix it and resell as new... So I understand the shops point as well... I'm glad you resolved the problem and won't deal with that shop anymore, I wouldn't either... This hobby has come a long way, but there still is alot of hands on work that has to be done every time you run a car or truck.. Hope you have better luck with the hpi....... Good Luck

Sharkonwheels

Yeah...I originally spent almost $1000 in 2 weeks at that LHS, before the problem with the Ofna.
Since then, I've spent tons more elsewhere. saddest part, is that the Ofna was for my 12yr old son, as a gift
for raising his grades to all A's in the last 2 semesters of last year. Sucks.
Since then, I've gotten (2) Duratrax Evaders (1BX, and 1ST) which are suprisingly durable for
the price, and are nice "beaters," a couple Super Nitro's, a Racer 2 (and another one currently on layaway),
and I'm looking a nice truck!

I just have trouble understanding how a LHS would do that to a customer who has spent $1400 in his shop in 2-3 weeks,
and this is disposable income - obviously, R/C cars are not a necessity! Man! You don't want to push a customer away
like that, especially with the way the economy is!

T

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

SHARK...
with best buy and staples or office depot or whatever, the store deals directly with the manufacturer.

hobby shops RARELY, and i mean VERY rarely EVER deal with the manufacturer. that's up to you. you bought a $400 toy, you call customer support. deal with it.

and talking about spending 2-3 grand at a shop isn't much...i've spent more than that in the last 6 months, and after spending all that money, you'd think that you'd be past the n00b point of buying an effing RTR, or AT LEAST know you SHOULD tear the car down.

good lord, please help me, and thank god i dont work in a hobby shop anymore.

cenracer1

I got into the r/c cars because of my son and unfortunately, Spent many thousands on various trucks... I'm lucky with my hobby shops, but I also know what to expect.... My son is 11 and is racing his trucks on the weekends.... Like I said before, thankfully you found a few good shops... stick with them.. you'll be fine.............. As for the shop that took your money.. shame on them for not going the extra step and at least helping you out to fix the problem..

Sharkonwheels

Really, that's the ONLY LHS I've had any bad experience with.
And, when I got the Ofna, I *WAS* still a n00b - less than 3 weeks in.

TJ - I'll disagree with ya on the BB/Office depot thing...

probably half of BB's computer crap still has Tech Data past numbers on it, which is distribution channel.
You would be surprised how much of their stuff actually DOES go through distribution channels.

I'll go another - I know guys with car stereo shops (another hobby) - they buy through distribution.
Guess what? They've never stuck me, or anyone I know of. They're not manuf direct either.

Another - about 6 months backI got a $50 piece of luggage at a small no-name store at a mall. Got home, found a broken
part. Went back the next day, guy immediately exchanged it no questions asked. Of course, early September I needed
luggage because mine broke coming back from Amsterdam in August, and where do you think I went to get $350 worth of
luggage? Yup same place. Close by? No - 40 minutes drive. But, the service is worth it.

Distribution channels provide support for those situations, as do manufacturers. That's why you become a DEALER
for a manufacturer. If the manuf is that bad, drop 'em, or be prepared for the fallout.

I'll say it again - You CANNOT sell a defective item to a customer, and then tell him to screw off - there is NO
way I will accept that, and apparently I'm not the only one here.

If you ARE accustomed to that, my sympathies, you are doing business with the wrong people, and should search
elsewhere. You need to set the bar a little bit higher than ground level. That is not acceptable business practice.

All the local LHS' that I go to, save that one, have been absolutely wonderful.

cjennings

I have never heard of somthing like this happening there and im sorry about what happened but i know pleanty of people who have been going there for a preatty long time and I asked them if they like it and they say it's great.

I personally dont go there (I go to Crown Hobbies), but ive heard great things about the work they do, so im sorry for what happened.

Also unless it is to out of your way try Crown Hobbies.
They are great and have been around for like 50 years and have the best service around. The adress is down below.

7439 CORAL WAY
MIAMI, FL 33155
(305) 264-3964