Terrible attitude in your local model shop?

[ashleyb4]

Have to disagree Microtech is the best service in the uk

DMS and MK are both also very very good.

A

[Scouser]

You see, here's what I think. If that shop had been helpful and courteous to the customer, not only would he have bought the small item from them that day, he would have returned in the future and bought more from them. He would also have recommended them to his mates who, in turn, would come in and spend their money at the store.
A few years ago I worked in a moderately busy photographic store. Every customer through that door was treated exactly the same whether they wanted a roll of film or a complete Hasselblad kit. The staff were all keen photographers and understanding to those in need of help or advise. That shop went from a so-so performing turnover to one of the busiest stores in the country and it was purely down to quality of service.
And DMS are the best by the way.

[Zedman]

I must put in a plug for MB Models in leeds

http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/catalog/i...p?cPath=32_337

I went in to buy a B44 kit but I also did what our original thread starter did "do you have and pillers/spacers with an internal 3mm thread about 22mm long"

Looking back I should have browsed the net and and asked on the forums to find a part number for a likley part, BUT.. Even on a busy Saturday morning the guy serving me started rumaging thro boxs and asking the other staff members for ideas, finaly he comes up with one and I reply do you have 2 of those please, he laughed and went and found me 2 more.

Then to cap it all off they were out of stock of 0.05" allen drivers so he says borrow mine and drop it back when you have finished the kit off.

Now thats what I call service, I apperciate I was spending a couple of hundred quid but I would recomend them to anyone.

[MarkWesterfield]

At our shop I was giving away unneeded titanium tie-rods from my personal pit box for free to my customers to make sure they could finish their race program. We also have rental cars to use so people can try rc car racing before they commit to spending a bunch of money on a full setup. Not all hobby shops are bad!

[mole2k]

my local shop is great. They stock a fair bit and will order anything in that you want and go out of their way to source items for people no matter what the value. He even stocks a near complete set of tamiya 501x spares for the club.

I think it helps that they are themselves heavily interested in various types of models. One is heavily involved in my local club and the other runs a model train club from his house.

[Jez]

what annoys me is when people ask how much is it to me when buying trackside items,tyres etc.i will do all i can to help people at meetings and discount where possible,but surely someone who spends over a grand on a set up from another shop cant expect discount on a set of tyres at 16 quid,can they?i dont expect total loyalty just a bit of fair play.if the internet is so great why did josh smaxx get his grp tyres from me last weekend?delivered by me personally[200 mile round trip].see you northern boys soon.ta jeremy.

[ashleyb4]

Most small shops are really good my local model shop is really good I ordered a few losi parts from them they dont stock off road parts on tc parts they where on the phone straight away to horrizon and ordered them for me i also ordered a sensor lead that was out of stock at horrizon. I was expsecting it to be a week or so i wasnt in a rush for the parts just keep stock of spares. Two days later i got a phone call hi your items are now in stock ready to pick up shocked but they said the sensor wire wasnt in stock then the following week the sesor lead turned up. All i can say is awsome service. Also bought a transmitter from there and one of the pots came loose a few months after i bought it i took it in and they tightened it up super job top service proberly one fo the best model shops in the uk they have some relaly nice planes haging on there roof to top job hobby corner (wrexham)

A

[AmiSMB]

I have found a lot of the same issues with model shops over the years. I find that even if I have the correct manufacturer and part number the worst shops still do not understand. I remember going to one particular shop which mainly does flying models but do sell some boats and cars asking for a motor coupling for a MFA Spear boat with a 10cc Irvine marine engine and the response was that that engine was very big for a boat!!! They have not seen my others then as one has a 15cc glow engine and the other runs a 23cc petrol engine. It really does make a difference if the person behind the counter is a modeller and is enthusiastic about it and not one of the latest ready to run bregade. As soon as I get the comment "what is it for" I know that I may not get anywhere. I like going into different shops asking for items that they would never even think of using for models and the look that they give is so funny. The last one I remember was when I purchased some Shoe Goo! I have to say that I have had fantastic service from MK, DMS, Microtech, DC Racing and Modelsport.

[B44&501xRacerEX]

Me 2. Sometimes you meet people there who know nothing about R/C.
At my other shop it's alot different because some of the best drivers in my
hometown work there.

Like "WHAT IS A BRUSHLESS SYSTEM, I HAVE NO CLUE."
oR "What is a 501x, is it a T4?"

Just plain dumb things like that.

[b4rs]

tell me about it mate, been there done that but for a plane, a full working transmitter, recievers, servos etc, and the assistant Couldnt be A**ed either and was also rude.

looks like too many grumpy people have taken over these small rc businesses. and to go to a previous point. Every customer, is a valuable customer, none should be treated liek that.

[bigred5765]

Originally Posted by B44&501xRacerEX

At my other shop it's alot different because some of the best drivers in my
hometown work there.

.

how many shops do you own

[Tim Ward]

I think it depends which side of the counter you are on!

I have stood both sides - and neither is perfect!

RocketRob makes some good points - I lost count of the number of times a car arrived, from eBay (other auction sites are available!) or somewhere, and a customer needed a bit. A hour or so later it was sourced and often fitted FOC in an effort to win a long standing customer. Rarely worked! More often than not, as Rob puts it, I was 'nickle and dimed' to death by said customers.

Worse than that - when busy the people who kept the shop open by buying all their gear from me had to wait for service. Not good - they would have a case to complain as well, perhaps they may have thought we should have more staff as we were snowed under. However those hour long 'dimes' made no real profit to pay for more staff!

Adding to this is the incredibly low margins for shops. Competition is good for consumers - drives down prices. Bad for shops - drives down proft!

I advise you support a local shop wherever you can - buy everything you can from them and build a relationship. Even if you move away they will remember you and still go out of their way for you.

Take pity on the shopkeeper - he/she works hard for little profit. Trust me, although you spend lots on a kit, he/she takes little from it except to hope that they have a long standing customer.

A friend of mine, a successful business man, says 'In this country profit is a dirty word' - he is right. People begrudge a shop keeper when they focus on profit. But they have to eat! Without a focus on profit, they close - and we all start to loose our local shops.

From a customers' point of view - you have the right to be met with politeness and helpfulness everytime you visit. We always tried to do this. People enjoyed coming to our shop - it was a social meeting place for racers and hobbyists alike.

Just remember - support your favoured shop with all your purchases - it is a lot easier to smile as a shopkeeper when you are making a living rather than working for free!

[Benh]

I have two past times, both of them I am very enthusiastic over. One RC and the second golf. This service from shops you mention is not limited to RC shops. If your a noob or a new customer you are treated with what appears to be contempt, in many cases.

However - there are some absolute gems. Unfortunately our local gem closed just after xmas 2007. A shop owner that would talk you out of a bad purchase, save you money on compatible but better priced items, would discount and match prices - from wherever. (Although I never asked for a price match because of the friendly and helpful service).

It's a general British trait for shop keepers to be funny old bunch. I too am in business and if I treated my customer base like many shopkeepers do, I would have gone bust a long time ago.

A shop cannot hold all of the stock to suit all of the people all of the time. Our local gem was the same but we knew when his orders were placed, the lead times and when the deliveries were coming. I am sure if these shops, as above, make the effort to keep you informed, let you know the lead times and is friendly in their approach, you will order from them.

It takes a pretty thick skin to continually walk into a store ask for advice without purchase and really, how many do?

Treat every customer like they're your best client. If they need advice and your shops busy, they will wait - they are after free advice! If your friendly no one will mind while you run a couple of things through the till for another who knows what they want and are waving those 20's.

And finally, car kits will help turnover, but they are tiny margins. If someone brings a car to you they bought off flea bay - Be grateful. It's used, worn and most likely going to need all sorts of higher margin spares.

Recent stores I have dealt with and have nothing but praise for.
Microtech
DMS
Selections-Web

[josh_smaxx]

DMS are great rang them today to order an X6, very nice on the phone, order went through perfectly and very efficiently from me.

[PaulC2K]

I happen to agree with Rob, before he was required to defend his comments.
Theres always 2 sides to everything, and you have to consider their side as much as your own, im sure if you told them what you wanted and they knew where to find them you'd be in and out in a flash, and a happy customer. But when you consider how they operate, its not ideal for what you were asking.

Shops tend to put all Losi bits in a Losi bin, Associated bits in an associated bin, and so on, and they've got tons of collections of bits, usually grouped together for a specific kit.
So if you go onto a website, pop to the turnbuckles section or whatever, and up comes a list usually with pictures or basic details so you can pick what you want. You want part ABC-12345 they'll go straight off and get you that part from the ABC bin and stick it in the post for you.
But if you walked into the exact same shop and described the exact same thing, a turnbuckle of Xmm they'd have to go through dozens of boxes of spare parts, they dont have a turnbuckle box, they have an AE, Losi, Schumacher etc box though, so when a customer comes in asking for a specific part, they can find it easy enough.

Its just the situation you were in, and the organisation of it not being set up with clueless (i dont mean that in a mean way) customers in mind, so they can bring out a box of similar items and have dig, they do it by kit, so when a customer with a B4 goes in asking for X, Y & Z they go to 1 box and pull them all out, rather than go from arms, to C-hubs to 'others' etc. Tell them what you want, and they'll get it, but if your not sure what your looking for with something that vague i guess its not too suprising thats how they responded. Not saying its right, but not much of a suprise.


In saying that, there is a local shop to me who are great if you get the right lads, but get the owner and sometimes he's particularly grumpy and you feel like he'd rather have an empty shop than one full of people asking for something.

[purpletimbo]

Just wanted to add a thank you, got a rare TC from Kyosho the other day, needed a spur gear, only place that listed the kit was Alan's models in Whitley Bay.
Rang the shop, explained what I wanted, he emailed me an exploded view, and found the right gear in a bag on the rack, posted straight out.
Can't fault the service or friendliness, I always check his site first for bits I need now.

[smokes]

bad customer service: with racers buying from ebay or the internet for less. these shop must sell as much stock as they can to bashers rather than racers that is where they make there money. They don't have time for racers as they always need the latest and greatest which cause them to lose money.

for the racer the internet is your friend

[Dreadstar]

I have to agree with you there,the internet is very useful.I race 1/8th nitro buggy,and with it being a Kyosho,very few shops have a stock of the parts that you usually require.However there is a great ebay shop that does carry quite a few parts that have helped me out more times than I care to remember,Greetwell Models.Their turnround is terrific,usually within 2 days,and their prices are extremely competative,a lot less than if you had to buy from Kyosho themselves.Highly recommended.

[toooldskool]

I went in to my Local shop for some shock oil- I would have taken 45, 50 , 55 or possibly 60.BUT they did not have 1 bottle of any grade "There's been a bit of a run on it lately" I was told. Another (possibly the Last) wasted trip into town!

[charles08]

Hello,this post is cool.I came back to rc car after stoped for 15 years.
In my memories back in the days every thing was much more expensive, at this time i quited 'cause i had broke the tranny on my rc10, the price at this time was 750 francs what would be more than 100€ so 80 pounds...
So when i got back into rc cars i was at first astonished how the prices got down.I bought on Ebay a B4 and every thing i needed else, then i discover there's a shop nearby where i live.After a few days i raced my car i've broke a part due to my very poor driver skills.

So i go to the shop, enter, the guy is on the phone and stay on it for like...a long time...but i'm a nice guy so i say nothing he barrelly says hello and ask what i need.Of course he doesn't have the part so he order it...
It was 3 months ago.During this time i ordered tons of stuff in the Us, Uk and China most of the time i got my things in 10 days with super online services and when i call the shops they're always friendly and give good advices.

I go back to that shop sometimes to buy tires or whatever he has in stock that i need.But i have to admit that i'm not mother theresa so why would i buy a new servo 90 pounds when i can buy it online for 48 pounds...
So my point here is to say that if the shops want to survive they really should rise a lot their customer services like help tuning the car, give kick ass advices and at least try to be friendly etc...It's there and only there that they have a chance that some customers find it is worth the price.Sad but true to me.
Cheers.