Joel Lagace

iTrader: (4)

Write out a detailed letter explaining exactly what you did. And send the whole thing back to HPI. ITs sucks having to wait, but i know for a fact they stand behind there products. The PRO3 first runs had bad arms, the pro4 had some diff gear issues, and they stand behind there engines as well. You never hear documented issues with other companies because they will hide from the fault. HPI owns up to issues when they come up..

As for the negative comments im sorry, its not really directed at you but at the RTR market in general. Although your bashing of HPI in general set the tone in your very first post so guys that have been around wanted to rip you a new one. The customer is always right is an old saying that is rarely applicable to RC CARS .... Unfortunalty the RTR market sells there stuff as plug and play, when really they are not, they take away the responisiblity of the new guy to learn before driving. Radio shack sells toys that are idiot proof.(your not an idiot) And HPI sells hobby grade remote control cars that require reading manuals and some light hand tool skills..

As for your broken car, your best and most affordable course of action is to just send it back to hpi. Maybe call them first as they may give you a work order number.

Sorry again we need new guys, and want u to get your stuff fixed so you can move on to racing!!

tc3team

I'd be feeling pretty rotten if this was my first car and had just started up the hobby too, theres no need for the topic to get "loud".

The trouble is, as you have found out, it can be harder for a newcomer to the hobby to get in contact with some one when you buy online and something goes wrong

Any good manufacturer will endeavor to help you. As said, write down clearly what happened and get on the phone to HPI.

I work in a call centre and I must admit I feel less willing to be helpful to customers literally ready to bite my head off! Sometimes we forget the guy or woman on the end of the phone is trying to help the end user. (Im not saying you would be unpolite etc on the phone, just explaining how I would be).

On the other hand, (again not pointing the finger of blame at you) but sometimes it is a user error that causes the problem.

Hope things get sorted out for the best!

Whatchamacallit

iTrader: (1)

Alright, I'm actually going to defend XRS.......Honestly, what could this guy have done wrong? The RTR probably comes pre-wired with Tamiya connectors and it's plug it in and go. The only thing you usually have to do is break the motor in and check the diffs. There isn't much he could have screwed up.......He just got a crappy ESC.

I bought an RTR once and had the exact same issue(wires on ESC melting together in 10 minutes). Mine wasn't HPI, mine was Losi. I really don't understand why the RC companies would give a begginer(the type of customer that would buy an RTR) such a finicky, tempermental product. They are the exact people that don't want to have to mess with it much to get it to work.......the whole point of it being an RTR. So, if the RC companies continue to put crap parts in the RTR, they will just drive people away.

And, if you spend $200-300 on an RTR, you shouldn't expect to get a super fast car........but you should get a working car.

XRS, I will say this, too......Maybell is right on the money. There is alot that you learn when you build your own car and it's worth learning. The common misconception is that it takes a long time and that it's difficult to put a car together and neither of those things are true.

Super_Roo

iTrader: (1)

I agree, I dont think that XRS has done anything wrong as far as the use of the Sprint goes.

IMO, I would give the HPI support line a call first as they may be able to help you fix the problem over the phone. We can only speculate on what you have told us and a photo of the damage might have been a lot more helpful.

I suspect from your explanation that it could be as simple as a bad connection on the bullet connectors between the motor and the esc or a worse case senario is the motor is shot. Either of these being the case you could get away with HPI just sending out a new ESC or motor and save you the cost of sending the whole car back to them.

Regardless of what you do you may have to ring HPI to get a authorization number before sending the car back to them.

BlackedOutREVO

iTrader: (67)

one thing i had problems with was those tamiya plugs, i would drive, car get bumped, and then those plugs loose connection... there plain flat out CRAP! if you move the wires around, and plus the esc wires and the batt wires togather (like you are trying to plug in the plugs, but with the wire it self right before it goes into the plug) and it works, or twitches then its plugs, i almost got out of electric on my first electic car because of a few things, but this was one of them, i bought a lrp speedo, and deans, and i have loved it since!

Essnowyt

I love this!!!

Then how would you really know if HPI is "Responsible"? Take the car to your local hobby store are ask for assistance.

Snowy.

CypressMidWest

iTrader: (1)

EVERY SINGLE RTR MANUAL has a checklist of things to go over before you run. We had a kid bring one to our store that he had been running back and forth in his basement. Fullpull for 22 feet, whip it around and fullpull for 22 feet, needless to say he let the magic smoke outta his speedo. He bought the car from us, so we handled the Warranty issues, but he didn't read the precautions, and he ended up with a new speedo.

The manual's trouble shooting guide is indispensible if you're new. Read it study it, hell memorize it. Get on the forums and ask questions, you'll always have folks who'll bash you, but there are those who'll help out as well.

xrs_wtf

iTrader: (1)

Well HPI was responsible i called today with and we went over what happened, we walked it through and its working again, it was a Loose connection on the negative side of the connector, the wire wasnt stripped enough FROM THE FACTORY. HPI APOLOGIZED FOR THE MISSHAP and gave me a online coupon to use for my next purhcase of anything, which i felt was awesome, glad to see that they have GREAT customer support and I thanked them for the service, and now i feel comfortable making more purchases from them again in the future.




You people must think that i have like the IQ of a Potato or something I READ EVERYTHING, and did EXACTLY what was in the instructions, but the guide says nothing about wires melting together, im just gunna replace the wires, and get some new connectors, pretty sure everything will be normal again.

For those who Tried to help me out THANK YOU VERY MUCH
and for those who felt like it was my fault can go eat there own words.

corallyman

iTrader: (101)

What exactly is the IQ of a potato?

If you want to be taken seriously next time, start a thread with a better, more responsible title. Then post what happened in a clear manner and people will not need to post all the crap that sometimes gets posted and instead we can start helping instead.

BTW, most people said HPI will take care of you, if you just give them the chance, so get off your soapbox, you were the one who started bashing them about their product.

CypressMidWest

iTrader: (1)

I wasn't trying to be derogatory. I work in a hobby store and well over 95% of the time, a problem such as yours is user error. You had not made any mention of reading any of the information, and the tone of your original post was exactly like the tone of the guys who start their nitro cars without the radio on, and wonder why they're bringing me a mangled pile of rubble.

At the very least get some deans connectors to replace the crappy Tamiya ones, and hard wire the motor leads, you'll notice an improvement in both run-time and acceleration if you do.......

Elboogie

iTrader: (-1)

With anycar that you get, kit or RTR, you are going to run into some issues. HPI has a great customer support team, and if you can't find your answer there, you can certainly find your answer here. I use to race a HPI pro2 (long time ago) and I have come full circle back to the Worlds edition cyclone and I love the car. The only reason I came back to HPI was because of the parts availability and their cusotmer support. Hell, HPI sent me a full set of WCE CVD's when I couldn't find any in the courty at all so no complaints.

Take a good look at the car with someone from your LHS and if that doesn't work then make sure that you call HPI because they can sure help you.

g_mabry

iTrader: (1)

Damn, I wonder if they would have sent me a Ver. 3 spool when I could not find one in the country?

BlackedOutREVO

iTrader: (67)

well thats kinda harsh....... but glad you got th prob sorted out

Joel Lagace

iTrader: (4)

The tone would have been much nicer had you started the thread asking for help rather then condeming HPI as SUCKING.... In the end even though you trashed there company they fixed you up as I said they would along with others.....

Having been in the hobby for some 20years now i too see this kind of attitude from new RTR owners claiming stuff sucks when 95% of the time its the users fault. In this case it was not your fault so it seems. And perhaps no one would have pointed fingers at you,had you not started off claiming hpi was junk(as a new guy how could u even know that to be correct??)

Anyway no one needs to eat any words here. And guess what the next time you have a problem we will all be here to help you.

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

GREAT post.......

an hpI nitro rs4 was my first touring car in 1997.....I now own 20 HPI's,and over 130 RC cars.....
Except for the vintage kits,I bought all at Cruisin RC's in ramsey,NJ...the hobby shop taught me alot,and the enjoyment from BUILDING a kit is still evident today....(I'm currently working on 2 PTI crawlers)

so let me say this.....

HPI does NOT suck.......Try building a kit,instead of playing video games,and buy your next car at a hobby shop.....

BTW,If price is an issue,ask the guy at the counter(better yet,the owner...)most are agreeable in meeting some sort of middle ground to get you business,and keep you a customer....