Tower Hobbies [Anti-RANT][Short]

I've never had any problem with Tower. However, if my LHS can come close to their prices, I'll buy from him. At the NC tax rate, the taxes exactly offset shipping at a $100 purchase. Tower isn't always the cheapest online store, either. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

I REALLY like my LHS guy. When you ask him what something costs, he picks up the latest Tower Talk. Usually, he sells it at the same price, sometimes a lot less. If he has to order it, you never pay for freight. This is not to say that he is not adverse to making a tidy profit, especially if you haven't shopped around or just tell him to order it without discussing price first. (Made that mistake, once) He seems to be doing alright, we are located in just about the center of the state, (140 miles from Seattle), and on Saturdays, there is a steady stream of traffic from all over into his little shop.

It's common knowledge Hobbico owns Tower Hobbies AND Omni Models... They even use the same stock numbers... Prices are about the same... Omni gives free shipping on $100+ orders; Tower does not....

Go figure......

Bill

| It's common knowledge Hobbico owns Tower Hobbies AND Omni Models...

I wouldn't say it's that common of knowledge -- I'd never even heard of Omni models until your post. But yeah, things do look a lot like Tower Hobbies ...

And you forgot to mention Futaba and Great Planes -- I don't know who owns who, but GP, Hobbico, TH and Futaba are all in bed together.

| They even use the same stock numbers... Prices are about the | same... Omni gives free shipping on $100+ orders; Tower does | not....

Well, I never pay shipping on any Tower Hobbies order over $150 -- instead I give them $15/year or so.

Tower doesn't always have the best prices. But their customer service IS extremely good overall. They're #1 for several reasons -- generally good prices, great service, great selection.

I *wish* our local hobby shop's prices compared to Tower's. Alas, he seems to take Tower's price, and the `suggested retail price' (which nobody pays) and pick a price about midway between the two. Of course, he lists the MSRP and his price on each sticker, letting us know how great a deal we're getting. And every once in a while he deviates from even this plan -- like with his $45 HS-81MG servos (MSRP of $60, apparantly. But it's only $23 at TH or Servo City.)

Hobbico/Tower/Great Planes/Top Flight/Supertigre are all one in the same. They do not own Futaba or OS but have exclusive distribution rights in the US. This is true for many other products in their catalog.

phaser!

If you don't like TH, don't order from them. If you have a problem with their service, call them, that's what the customer service number is for. We in this newsgroup really can't help you with a customer service issue and all the anti TH or ServoCity, etc rants are really counter productive. Personally, I haven't had any problems with TH. My orders, though few and far between arrive in a timely manner and in good shape. Any large corporation is going to have glitches once in a while and no, they don't always have the best price. Welcome to the business world. Ain't free enterprise great?? All in all they have treated me a whole lot better than the company I ordered my last computer from.

Just my .02