Tower Hobbies ??? The Good, Bad and the Ugly...

| Anyone have any good experiences with these folks??

Yes. Lots of people. *Ooodles* of people.

Tower Hobbies is well known for having *excellent* service.

| I have in the past order a few RC items. Alot of times a few were | backorders.. Ended up cancelling my order.. Got tired of the wait..

The site should tell you right away if something is back ordered or not. Yes, sometimes items are not available in the estimate they give you ...

| Big mistake #1 .. Large order included a few motors. This resulted in | mailing ALL items via USPS..

Huh?

| Needless to say, It got "lost in the mail".

Uh-huh.

| Appears a non-existant shipping address was used.

How did that happen? The site has you verify the address as part of the order ...

| PostMaster bounce package back to Tower who to this day claims they | never recieved it...

So, do you think they're lying?

| That s***ked!!! I'm now out some cash on that order...

You should be able to dispute the charge on your credit card. | Big mistake #2 Even considering ordering ModRoc from these guys...

Oooooh, *model rocket* motors. Perhaps Fed Ex and UPS refuse to ship these ... though I've noticed that Tower seems to ship everything (at least to me) USPS. Of course, I never get next day delivery or anything like that. | I learned my lesson.. Order my motors as a separate order just "incase"...

For model rockets, that seems reasonable. For R/C plane motors (and engines) I'd not worry about it. And I don't buy fuel from Tower -- I always get that locally.

| Hadnt had problems with hobbylinc.com nor a2z hobbies. | Red Arrow Hobbies has been good also.

Never dealt with any of them.

I've always been very happy with Tower Hobbies.

I have had some problems with Tower and I have not ordered from them since. I ordered quite some items and when they arrived after nearly 3 months (I had already mailed several times by that time), half of it was missing and half had been damaged (damage is of course not Tower's fault!), almost nothing was usable...

I mailed with them but his took longer than it should have, in the end they did send the missing items again (this was 6 months after the initial purchase...).

Having said this, I think/hope this is an isolated case (perhaps I got a new person to deal with my case) and I will order again in the future, but this thing left me with a little hangover nonetheless.

I think every shop will have it's horror stories attached, at least they have secure payment options, international shipping and a usable website :)

Greet> Anyone have any good experiences with these folks??

"incase"...

I have used Tower Hobbies many times and all my experiences have been positive. I find their people knowledgeable and their service exemplary.

"incase"...

I've ordered rocket stuff from Tower a few times recently. Of course some might not consider it all rocket stuff. Plastic models, CA, RC connectors, etc. and yes, rocket kits. Yes, I rarely get everything in one shipment. Stuff seems to ship from multiple wareshouses in different states. And Extes ahs been notorious for not meeting promised release dates, resulting in back orders of many months. But I've always got what I ordered, and they bill for it as shipped.

Note: I've NEVER ordered motors from them. And since I live in IL, I get stuck for sales tax on my orders.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

I have had nothing but good experiences with Tower Hobbies. I have purchased several kits from them and numerous other items. I will buy from them again.

I've been ordering from Tower for over 20 years and have had no real problems with them. The only minor glitch was when I lived in Hawaii and the Postal Service treated the package like a football or something. Tower was more than willing to work with me and all was resolved amicably.

"incase"...

tonyf wrote on [Wed, 17 Dec 2003 21:36:32 -0800]:

If you're this incoherent when talking to them, no wonder you have problems

I used to deal with Tower on a regular basis. No problems, great service. A long time RC guy bought out a local hobby shop here. He uses the monthly Tower talk for all of his prices, doesn't charge for shipping and handling. A lot of times, he sells cheaper than Tower. Guy has customers from all over Washington and Oregon. Bill

"incase"...

I've not ordered from them lately, but I had a good experience. I ordered an RC-10T Sport a number of years ago. I suppose it was around

1993. It was right after the first RC-10T model was dropped. The original model included 3-piece narrow front wheels. I called and asked if the RC-10T Sport included the narrow fronts. The rep told me that it did. I placed the order, and about a week later, I had my truck; what I didn't have was the three piece narrow front wheel and tire set. I called Tower, who said they would have them shipped straight from Associated. A couple of days later, I had a letter from Associated explaining that the narrow fronts didn't come with my kit. I called Tower back, and they sent out a set of narrow fronts, free of charge. I was pretty happy with that.

-mike

I have been dealing with Tower for as long as they have been in the mail order business and have not had any problems. There are other sources that have as good or better prices but overall Tower has their act pretty much together as far as I'm concerned.

-- Red Scholefield AMA 951 Fly> > Anyone have any good experiences with these folks??

Been dealing w/ them since they've been there. No problems - great service last year when they shipped a wrong item by mistake . Fixed it FAST.

{soapbox time} -- Tower does a fine job - BUT... There's also a good, STRONG reason to support the local hobbyshop guy when he can get close to Tower's prices... Our local guys give 10% off to club members, and will occasionally deal on selected items. I figger as long as the local guy will come off retail even 'some' it's well worth it to pay him a little more than Tower to keep him in business! My $.02 {end of soapbox} Rick

There was this Jewish owned hobby shop in my area when I was young. All I said to my dad was, "Tower Hobbies has this for...", and the guy copped a fit. He said, "Why should I help you."

Some hobby shops deserve your business and some do not. They know they are compared to the mail order companies and they have to compete on price to a certain degree, or provide service that justifies a higher price.

I've had great online service from Tower, Quantum, and Hobby People.

I've also had great personal service from most of the local hobby shops around Dallas.

Prices around here for kits and ARFs pretty much match online pricing unless the online company is running a special discount. My Astro Hog kit was $95 at the LHS and all of the mail order companies were charging 105-115 at the time. Engines and radios are significantly more at the LHS than via mail order.

If I go to the LHS with questions and use their time and expertise to make a decision, I buy from them. If I know exactly what I want and need no advice, I shop for the best price.

Carrell

You are unusual, a lot of the ones here will use the shops expertise and then go buy mail order.

I have never seen as many cheap people as there are in the R/C hobby. They will complain about $50 year dues for a club with a paved strip and then go buy a $150 servo. Go figure............

Dan Thompson (AMA 32873, EAA 60974, WB4GUK, GROL) remove POST in address for email

You've got my ditto on that!

Well here's one. About a year ago, I ordered a set of 4 1/2" wire wheel wheels from them. When I got them, they were only 4" in diameter. When I contacted their customer service, I was told that the designer always had intended for them to be only 4 inches in diameter. It was an error in the catalog listing. They weren't very apologetic.

To this day, they still advertise 4 1/2" wire wheels but deliver 4" ones. Am I the only one who cares that my wheels are the right size?

Jim - AMA 501383

Red Scholefield wrote: