HobbyTown customer service
#16
Tech Adept
iTrader: (3)
Well...my lhs is a Hobbytown and they have a very knowledgeable staff (all of them are into the hobby) and they stock most all of the parts that I need. They will order anything I ask them to and even offer to ship it to my house if I want. Must be the employees that make the store. In my case, I'm satisfied with them and go there whenever I can. However, they can't make any money and try to match some of the online prices, especially TOWER's. But they DO TRY for me, and that (I think) makes all the difference.
Good customer service makes all the difference!
Good customer service makes all the difference!
#17
Wow , sucks for you guys ! The Hobby Town that I go to in Crystal Lake IL is a kick ass store with good people and the biggest selection of parts in the area . They rarely have to order stuff for me and if they do it usually comes in very quickly .
#18
I know my local hobbytown usa of hickory sucks.. They don't stock anything for tc3/tc4, and have a track set up outside. Its also a shame when you go to order a part from them and the guy behind the counter doesn't even know what you are talking about.. People who work in hobby shops should be knowledgable in the hobby itself..
#19
Tech Master
iTrader: (11)
In the Twin Cities (MN) area, if you are looking for Traxxas Stuff then HobbyTown is the place to go. Outside of that, mail order is best.
Called one in Brooklyn Park, MN and asked if they had Byrons 30% Car Fuel, they said yes. Drove there and it was so old that it was seeping THRU the bottle and had stained the bottle and had all the old labels on it yet. And was $50 a gallon.
Hobby Shops bitch that the racers don't buy nothing there and buy everything online, racers bitch the hobby shops dont have what we need to buy. Connection?
But they have EVERY version of wheel that will fit every Traxxas ever made. (sorry for the vent)
Called one in Brooklyn Park, MN and asked if they had Byrons 30% Car Fuel, they said yes. Drove there and it was so old that it was seeping THRU the bottle and had stained the bottle and had all the old labels on it yet. And was $50 a gallon.
Hobby Shops bitch that the racers don't buy nothing there and buy everything online, racers bitch the hobby shops dont have what we need to buy. Connection?
But they have EVERY version of wheel that will fit every Traxxas ever made. (sorry for the vent)
#20
S. Lamar. Hey, this was the one and only Hobbytown I have ever been in and was impressed by the service the two folks working there were giving people while I was there. Thats all... Maybe its the fact that I am used to being ignored and bad attitude and I am making it out to be more than it really is? dunno..
#21
Ill stop in here and give my two cents on Hobbytown USA.
First of all I am glad to hear that some of you have had good experiences, I always like it when a company wants to help our industry. Too many places these days don't care about the hobby, they are greedy and want money, nothing else.
I first found a Hobbytown in my old hometown of Tallahassee, FL. When it first opened I visited and made a purchase the same day. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and fair. I made frequent purchases. Then the original owner sold out.
New ownership came in and the place went downhill very fast. It got so bad I would not step foot in the door.
I have since moved away, and I noticed that the old Hobbytown is closed, and a new one has opened across town. I plan to stop in on one of my frequent visits back up to Tally.
First of all I am glad to hear that some of you have had good experiences, I always like it when a company wants to help our industry. Too many places these days don't care about the hobby, they are greedy and want money, nothing else.
I first found a Hobbytown in my old hometown of Tallahassee, FL. When it first opened I visited and made a purchase the same day. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and fair. I made frequent purchases. Then the original owner sold out.
New ownership came in and the place went downhill very fast. It got so bad I would not step foot in the door.
I have since moved away, and I noticed that the old Hobbytown is closed, and a new one has opened across town. I plan to stop in on one of my frequent visits back up to Tally.
#22
In the Twin Cities (MN) area, if you are looking for Traxxas Stuff then HobbyTown is the place to go. Outside of that, mail order is best.
Called one in Brooklyn Park, MN and asked if they had Byrons 30% Car Fuel, they said yes. Drove there and it was so old that it was seeping THRU the bottle and had stained the bottle and had all the old labels on it yet. And was $50 a gallon.
Hobby Shops bitch that the racers don't buy nothing there and buy everything online, racers bitch the hobby shops dont have what we need to buy. Connection?
But they have EVERY version of wheel that will fit every Traxxas ever made. (sorry for the vent)
Called one in Brooklyn Park, MN and asked if they had Byrons 30% Car Fuel, they said yes. Drove there and it was so old that it was seeping THRU the bottle and had stained the bottle and had all the old labels on it yet. And was $50 a gallon.
Hobby Shops bitch that the racers don't buy nothing there and buy everything online, racers bitch the hobby shops dont have what we need to buy. Connection?
But they have EVERY version of wheel that will fit every Traxxas ever made. (sorry for the vent)
$50 ! that must me fuel from 2008 lol.
#24
a r40 lol thats new in the box , yea i guess that is a collectors item .
it wasnt a bad nitro car though.
#25
Tech Master
iTrader: (10)
Most around here are going out of busines or just plain suck, the only reason I stop at theme is sometimes they have clearence,
Now with that there is the acception of the Hobbytown in oshkosh, if you are ever out that way make sure you stop in, they are owned by a racer, and have parts for everything, they are knowladgable about cars. and also have two tracks on site and one off site. just check out the wisconsin thread for it, sometimes there are exceotions to the rule.
Now with that there is the acception of the Hobbytown in oshkosh, if you are ever out that way make sure you stop in, they are owned by a racer, and have parts for everything, they are knowladgable about cars. and also have two tracks on site and one off site. just check out the wisconsin thread for it, sometimes there are exceotions to the rule.
#26
Tech Elite
iTrader: (19)
Yeah, I had bad experiences with Hobby Town as well. The biggest problem is that they really aren't catering to racers, so if you race you are SOL. I just got p'oed with customer service. I wanted to buy a Flight Power battery that was $250 bucks at the time. Instead of ordering it online, I figured I would give my business to the hobbytown which is freaking 40 miles away.
I call them and verify that they can get the battery and they can, but they want me to put a deposit on it. no problem, I proceed to tell the guy my credit card number over the phone. He stops me and then says I have to personally come in to put deposit. I explain that I am 40 miles away and it would take me an hour to get to the store and no way in hell that I am driving one hour to put a deposit on a $250 item only to have then turn around drive back three or four days later to pick it up. I was more than happy to prepay it over the phone and then pick it up when it was delivered to the store. This simple request of course was no go for them.
I hung up and ordered it from Tower and it was delivered to my house the very next day...
I haven't been in a hobby town since... that was four years ago.
I call them and verify that they can get the battery and they can, but they want me to put a deposit on it. no problem, I proceed to tell the guy my credit card number over the phone. He stops me and then says I have to personally come in to put deposit. I explain that I am 40 miles away and it would take me an hour to get to the store and no way in hell that I am driving one hour to put a deposit on a $250 item only to have then turn around drive back three or four days later to pick it up. I was more than happy to prepay it over the phone and then pick it up when it was delivered to the store. This simple request of course was no go for them.
I hung up and ordered it from Tower and it was delivered to my house the very next day...
I haven't been in a hobby town since... that was four years ago.
#27
Tech Elite
iTrader: (211)
Personally I think HobbyTown and RC hobbies are in the same field for different reasons and I refuse to step foot in either one unless it's an emergency.
The couple of hobbytowns I've been in around here are absolute garbage especially the one a little south of Seattle. One moron in the entire store knows how to solder and he charged me $5 to do it!
RC Hobbies has a 250% markup on virtually everything they sell and the people at the local one are just assholes. (except you Chris, most of the time!)
I fully understand the mentality of wanting to shop online and would never hate on someone for doing so. If they need to order the part why not order it yourself and save the tax, trip back to the LHS, and generally a few bucks on price too!
The couple of hobbytowns I've been in around here are absolute garbage especially the one a little south of Seattle. One moron in the entire store knows how to solder and he charged me $5 to do it!
RC Hobbies has a 250% markup on virtually everything they sell and the people at the local one are just assholes. (except you Chris, most of the time!)
I fully understand the mentality of wanting to shop online and would never hate on someone for doing so. If they need to order the part why not order it yourself and save the tax, trip back to the LHS, and generally a few bucks on price too!
#28
Tech Adept
iTrader: (7)
The HobbyTown in Colleyville, Texas is one of the best shops I've ever visited. They have a very polite, professional and knowledgeable staff. If they don't have the part you need they will order it and have it in a few days. The prices are even pretty good and they will work with you if you can find it cheaper somewhere else. The Dallas area is pretty rich with hobby shops and I've been to all of them but the Colleyville store is the only one I choose to deal with on a regular basis.
#29
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (114)
LHS's in socal are a mixed bag. Sometimes you get good service and sometimes you don't. There was a HobbyTown in my area, but it went out of business a few years ago. They were very nice there. There was a Hobby People in my area for years, until it went under recently. They had some immature kids working behind the counters and few crusty older guys that were just plain jerks. I stopped going there after a manager got rude with me once. I was checking out and I said hello to him while he was behind the register. He looked at me with a scowl, for no reason at all, and said nothing. He did this right in front of my daughter. Great way to treat a customer. I never went back.
Last edited by blade329; 06-16-2010 at 02:41 PM. Reason: spelling corrections