houston

iTrader: (96)

this reminds of the commercial where one person helps somebody and then they help somebody and then they help somebody else and so on and so on .

to me racing toy cars is more about comradery and friendships


i love to help somebody out and do so every chance i can without effecting my racing too much but sometimes it does .

i have helped kurt and his son out a few times and have showed them some very important nitro basics to get them going

merry christmas,
monty

dreaux

iTrader: (5)

right on houston, I don't even hate on the haters.

Maximo

iTrader: (11)

Well in a possible defense to the hobby store.... I don't know the entire story, but I can see how sometimes these issues go down....

customer comes buys a new Truck, customer haggles down the price till the point the owner is barely making any profit...Then on a very busy day the new customer needs help to tune and setup the truck... Hobby shop owner and staf are overwhelmed with the Christmas rush and really don't have the time to help..Hobby shop offers to help next week after Christmas rush is over...New customer is impatient and want's to run his truck NOW !!!! So he is not willing to wait till hobby shop owner/staff have time to help..... Profit margins are small on kits, and even tho the customer spent $800.00 how much actually went into the hobby shops pockets ? I hate to say but time is money, in today's market everybody compares prices to online shops...the local hobby shops must slash profits in a huge way just to compete.... So with that price cutting you can't expect a LHS to offer the personalized service they once offered....... We the consumer have chosen we would rather get lower prices and no service as opposed to higher prices and good service....

Now with that being said it may or may not apply to this story.... But I am friends with a few hobby shop owners and I know its no cake walk owning a store, the market is extremely competitive and profit margins are nowhere near where they once were.....

houston

iTrader: (96)

neal is so right!!

profit margins are very very low these days . it goes along with all the industries , china makes prices very low and are really starting to make some interesting waves by offering there products direct to consumers if they are willing to pay there own shipping .

todays retailers are all about volume , it has almlost nothing to do with customer service anymore. there are a few guys out there who have seen this and prefer to offer customer service , the guys that want customer service go to those guys

Jaz240

iTrader: (52)

I guess its been awhile since either of you have been into a Hobbytown lately! there prices are not competitive with the large volume retailers..all they have left is service and the convenience of the Get it now edge. What people pay more for is the fact that can can walk out of the store with the product and not have to wait for UPS or the post office to bring it..There is no excuse for Ignoring someone who just gave you their hard earned money, especially in this economy, no matter how much of it is profit

houston

iTrader: (96)

i am more refering to the local hobby shop , i go to hobbytownusa every so often . i know the guy that owns two out of three in our area i am in tune james

Maximo

iTrader: (11)

I have never to a Hobbytown USA...LOL... I do know the Canadian stores take a beating trying to compete with the internet...which means lower profits, less staff and more hours for the owner... I don't in any way condone a owner ignoring a customer outright, but I can definitely understand the need to schedule a time with the owner that fits everyone's schedule... Some customers expect instant service the minute they buy the truck, in some cases it just may not possible for the owner to help if he has a store full of other customers.....

Krawlin

iTrader: (13)

I also race at the HobbytownUSA in Tucson, and this really surprises me actually. I have been going to that HobbytownUSA in Tucson exclusively since I was 10 years old (Now 17 ) and they know me on a first name basis, and they have helped me out so much there, it really surprises me that they told him they were too busy. But in HobbyTown's defense, if the guy asked someone who is back in the work area where the employees work on other people's cars, and the employees down there were busy and backed up with alot of cars to fix, I can understand why they told him they couldn't help him.

However, I must say that you and your son are good sports and good people for helping him out. One time when I was there early in the day last year to get some practice in for a race, this guy came in with a Savage he had gotten in some kind of dirtbike parts trade and he was completely new nitro, had no clue how to get the thing running, and I helped him out for a few hours instead of practicing and told him the basics he needed to know, helped him get it running, showed him the basics of tuning, etc. But if he payed to have HobbyTown to get it running and fix it up and such, he would probably ended up with a $30 bill (I think they charge like $30 an hour to fix RC's), and it might have taken a week or more before they got to it.

Like the old saying goes, what goes around, comes around. Help out someone at the track, and someone will do the same for you. In my opinion, helping someone enjoy the hobby and helping them get their RC up and running is much more rewarding than just ignoring them and going on about your business practicing and winning a race.

fast11970

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like my first 1/8 scale RTR purchase, I was sold all the EXTRA stuff, and asked if they raced there...went home and read the bok, broke it in, charged up my pack with my POS charger they sold me,drove it in a dirt lot, and went to the shop that sold it to me for some practice, asked if I could, was dissapointed when some dude started yelling at me for running 1/8 scale on their 1/10 scale only track? I was like " Dude..I bought it here, you said you had a track, here, now you say not for 1/8th scale? WTF???"

Anyway, it was years before that shop ever got a dime from me again, it has since turned around an all is good, but I still give the owner of the shop crap from time to time..you (The Seller) should ask the buyer what they (the Buyer) are intending..an yes some help would be nice, Lucky for me I am a Mechanic, I got my lil bro, and Team WTF gave me a hand, otherwise there would be one less monkey in the rc world. Thanks for lending a hand down at hobbytown, thanks to my lil bro, and the team that took me in...

Team WTF Rules!!!

Merry X-Mas all..to all a good night!

dishsoap

iTrader: (8)

My own opinion

I have been burned twice now at local hobby shops (Will not mention names). The first one I will let pass as I didnt know anything about this hobby. I have spent nearly $3,000 between the two stores on initial costs.

If it wasnt for a couple of local racers I would have quit this hobby a long time ago. They are the only reason why I continued.

The second local store I let know that the most important thing to me was support after I bought the product. I stressed the importance of this until I was blue in the face and was guaranteed that it would not happen again.

Sure enough once the money was spent the second time around I got burned again. It was anything from I just dont have time to if you want me to look at it there will be a cost involved.

This hobby relies on new people and if there are no new people then will not have a place to race and hang.

Not calling anyone to carpet on this next statement but if you take offense to this than your a guilty hobby shop owner.

Seems like if you are not part of the in crowd then you don't get the attention and you are made to feel like you are a bother. I have seen so many clicks in this hobby that just trying to hold a basic conversation with people can be difficult.

As sad as it sounds I dont even feel welcomed or appreciated when I spend my money at these hobby stores. I have never once heard a thank you however I am the one always saying thanks. Still to this day they do not know my name however I have introduced myself several times.

At this point I will not buy another large purchase from a local hobby store with the exception of one particular hobby shop that is very close to surprise az.

Zerodefect

I have a rule. RTB. Read the book.

If you've read your radios manual, then I'll help you tune it. Don't waste my time with " How do you set expo?" questions. At least show some effort to figure it out first.

Read the darn instructions so at least your close enough to figure out what I'm trying to tell you.

tc5 man

i can tell you one thing that some hobbytown usa stores they arent very helpful and some of the, employes are pretty rude to newbies .


there small hobby stores where i live at now in pa and they are very helpful
and i seen if somebody has a problem, with tuning there engine i see the. employes showing the consumer how to tune the, engine now yes newbies do need to just read the, instructions or come on rctech and get more info.

do support your hobby store it sucks when u have to drive a hour or hour in a half , if u want something right away i learn the hard way.

aray

iTrader: (8)

I think the situations described in this thread are pretty typical, and representative of what's happening of a lot of industries these days.

Consumers demand lower prices, stores must cut their costs to be competitive, which results in lower levels of service. The high margins that allowed retailers to spend hours with clients no longer exist. One the other side, it's questionable if many consumers really appreciate it, and by appreciate that I mean willing to pay extra for it. Sort of the state of the world I guess.

In no way does this excuse bad behavior, but I realize it's tough on both sides. I just came back into this hobby about 6 months ago (from the RC10 gold pan days), and it's been a tough road.

I've experienced what's been described here and thought a lot about it. I've got bad advice, been sold the wrong stuff, etc. R/C is pretty tough to get into these days, I think the hobby is not growing like it could be for that reason.

One example of a company I think that has "adapted and overcome" is Traxxas (I hate to say it). Someone with no contact to other R/C'ers has a good shot at running and having fun with a Traxxas car. This is because the vendor has gone to extreme lengths (DVD's, how-to's, etc) to cater to new players. You could sell Traxxas at a Walmart. They've adapted their product to work with a lower level of service at the retailer.

One idea for shops to address these issues and make newcomers feel welcome, what about organizing classes? Get's some newbies together to get the social aspect, make new rc buddies at the same level, plus would allow some hands-on experience. All that in addition to building revenue, and increasing loyalty to the shop.

[Could be the egg nog talking, not sure if any of this makes sense, but what the hey! Merry Christmas!]

merdith6

iTrader: (3)

I really don't like hobby shops anymore. I never really did. I love to help new people understand their cars, or even help them find the best deal online. Zero is right, be willing to learn your radio, your car, then go racing and let me help you, but laziness, maybe baseball cards... Hobby shops are tough, new cars every week, keeping parts is tough. Prices are low, and not really worth the trouble. Most tracks don't even have hobby shops anymore, they just have tracks to have fun, forget the profit aspects, it's a hobby, a great one, and toy cars are fun.

dishsoap

iTrader: (8)

If its possible I would recommend local hobby shops adapting the way high end camera stores operate.

If you buy a camera which costs around $1000 they give you free lessons and tutorials at the store from where you purchased.

You buy a buggy ($1,000) you get the same thing. A 2 hour how to do the basics would go a long way. I would have even paid to attend.