The Civil War continues...

We are pretty lucky in the Dallas area. The hobby shops are top notch. There are three that I go to and one in particular that is my favorite. They are very different from each other but all are very much worth having around. I buy stuff from the local shops and I mail order stuff. Sometimes my brother and I will just go to one of them on a recreational visit. For the most part if I go to the hobby shop and rummage through their stuff trying to make a purchase decision I buy the item from them, sometimes it does cost more than going back home and mail ordering it and sometimes they will price match Tower's price. They have also on rare occasion had the best price. Since they have all been great to me in the past I would cut them some slack if I had one poor experience on the phone, but they have earned their one free pass by being great in the past. Actually thinking about it I would be shocked if I got poor service on the phone or in person. If the local shops are not helpful there are alternatives. CH

This is funny stuff. It's so dumb that it can't possibly be meant to be taken seriously.

Texas Pete

Up here in the GTA (grinding trolls' anuses.....), there's about a half-dozen shops that I'd put on the friendly side of customer service, almost all owned by modellers. Average age of the shops is somewhere in the multi-decades rage for most of them, and owners and managers (even the car guys) have the product knowledge

"Know what you sell, and sell what you know"

Mr A. ("Moto-mouth" as in motor-mouth) just doesn't get it. The local shops try their best and sometimes they can't compete with the "Big Boys" like Towers due to volume pricing. If they're within 25% of the price, I'm happy becauaswe they also have the rest of what I need, sometimes to opening the shop for Saturday evening or Sunday morning emergencies or "meet you at the field". Time payment plans, magazines, tools and gadgets. No waiting for the blue, red or brown vans -- walk in, walk out, start building.

Places like Towers are like the big-box bookstores -- great breadth/range of items but totally suck on the depth, especially of the little-known or old-stock items that don't move very much.

I will also readily admit that I've done mail-order as well, but for items that I don't need immediately or the local hobby shop cannot get at a reasonable price.

Mr. A buys based upon the $-now basis, and not the total experience. I wonder if Towers is publicly owned and he's got a chunk of shares?

I have a couple of LHS's that I frequent frequently. I do a fair amount of online business but if I can get it at my fave LHS, then by all means, he gets my money. Usually he will beat the online price for me, probably knowing I will be back buying glues, covering, screws, switches, etc. If he were to go out of business it would be a real shame. Online, you dont get a nice, "Hey, Dan, how's it going?" when you enter. Aside from the convenience of being able to pick up those misc items at a moments notice there is also the social aspect of being able to BS a while with other hobbyists. I support my LHS, Robin's Hobby, whenever possible. I spend money at T&A's Hobby Lobby also. Hobby People gets biz only when I need something in a hurry because they are the closest to me. Unlike at Robin's, I dont wander around checking out the latest arrivals. They are all ARF's now anyway. Gimme my glue and let me get outta here.

Hey Pete --

This phony is probably the resurrection of the classic Troll we had a few years ago.

Lyman in Gainesville