Terrible attitude in your local model shop?

[welsh man]

Originally Posted by rocketrob

Not trying to hammer you - but I think the point that has been missing in all of this is that you were going into businesses that rely on actual regular customers that buy things on a regular basis to survive.

1-You didn't buy your car from them.
2-You hadn't bought any of your other cobbled together bits and pieces from them.
3-You were looking to spend an infantesimal amount of money.
4-They were likely never to see you again, as they'd never seen you before.
5-You were looking for something that you had very little idea exactly what it was or how long they were.
6-You were wanting them to spend their time locating an odd item in which you had no idea what a proper stock number for it would be.

And thus, you were wanting to send them on a wild goose chase to look for an item of very little value in which you were only willing to spend a small amount of funds to acquire that they in all likelyhood might not have had in the first place.
And you wanted them to jump through hoops just because you were snazzily dressed?

Sorry, but the business world - literally any business - doesn't operate and/or can't survive pandering to customers under those circumstances.

In the future it would be my advice to: purchase a proper kit from a shop and they'll in most likelyhood have your current and future interests in mind relative to helping you acquire pieces and parts (instead of having a hybrid in which they have no gain from its past or future), know EXACTLY what you're looking for including length and/or stock number of the part (and not some vague desription of some miscellaneous part on some mythical hybrid piece), realize that their time is worth money and is in most cases not worth the time if they spend it attempting to locate an obscure inexpensive bit or piece (because it's not the small bits that keep them in business, but the more expensive ones that have return business tied to them).

i completely agree with you there well said

[Big G]

I went into one shop that will remain nameless and asked if they had any B44 wheels in stock and the assistant didn't even know what a B44 was... I told him it was a 4wd buggy. he then asked if that was off road. Needless to say they didn't have any B44 wheels.

[Cosworth]

My local model shop Penn Models is the most retarded shop around, i'm not going to give any examples of why because my brain cells die a little more everytime I recall a story from inside their wretched place.

It's Penn Models fault I only shop online at Demon Power Products anymore, best online shop for me by miles.

[Col]

1 year bump...

[stox217]

I Must be a few to have great model shops around me!

Kits & Bits coventry (Great guy whos beein in the game for years!)
FTD models (Again great service runs bedworth and also races!)
Concept Racing (Great service run by a guy who races! and could get what you want in stock in 3 days!)

[Si Coe]

I find all this amusing because the nearest shop to me (North West Model Supplies) is practically useless to me, but it doesn't mean they are a bad shop. They are mostly flyers, but do drive too, just bashing really. They have some high end stuff in store (B4, B44 and a Cat SX) but no spares, in fact they barely carry car spares at all even for the Ansmanns and Rascals they sell in quantity.
I go there occasionally for odds and ends, stuff I figure any model shop should have, but they never have it all. However they are polite, search for items they suspect they don't even have and offer to order stuff in, though I tend to decline as JE Spares is only a half hour away.

I don't consider them a bad shop - I just figure they deal with a very different world of RC to the one I'm in.

[sldmodels]

Firstly, yeah, you really should have done a bit of homework on sizes, for example, what type of car is it, touring car or buggy, what scale is it? Then, it makes it easier to get the relevant parts for your car, as you probably wouldn't just have to replace the turnbuckles, but the ball cups, and the ball cup studs, and from my own experience of trying to bodge a Tamiya F201 with FTX Blaze parts, the steering arms screw holes need to be the right size too.

The staff should have still been friendly and curteous, and should treat every customer as a priority, but I have a model shop myself, and there's no other way of putting it, but you do get some twats walking through the door. When I ask people what car they have, the most common answer I get is "it's a subaru", not a tamiya subarau, not a thunder tiger subaru, but a subaru. The number of times I feel like telling them that I don't supply subarau items, and that they should try the main dealer round the corner.

I've had some bad experiences too. Not mentioning names, but it's local to me, but not in the town I live. I went in for a spectrum receiver I needed for another car, it was just easier to buy from them than order from Horizon. The bloke was on the phone ordering stuff, chatting away, and just left me waiting, then barely said two wods. Well stocked, but shitty service.

But the thing is, as a model shop, you will never have everything for everyone. I always say that I can order the items if they want, but they want it now, not in a few days time.

That's one of the reasons I'm not really bothering anymore, and getting into other things for the shop, I've really had enough with the whole thing.

Next big project for me, 4 lane train track for the shop.

[spud31]

I read this with some intrest as this sounds like a normal saturday for us.
Very very few people who use non specialist model shops are racers so normally its people trying to but a part for an item they dont know any info for. ill take you through a normal convo,

C: I need a pullstart for my petrol car
ME : Do u know any info make model etc?
C: its a blue subaru
ME: Ok is it tamiya,thunder tiger do they ring a bell?
C: Dunno just want a pullstart
ME: IS it possible to bring car in so we can sell you correct part?
C: Your useless ( followed by barrage of abuse)

This happens every weekend an gets fustrating as we are here to help, so whilst i agree the customer experence people here have had is not good enough, most shops do try but 4 or 5 hours of the above can take its toll

Also on the discounting by online shops on items, this will kill local model shops eventually as some do absolutly silly prices, not just car stuff but model aircraft and heli mostly so they cannot be making any money on the product. This devalues the product and TBH they normally do not give the back up if theres is a problem which leads to the good old LHS to do it for the importer. We cannot survive as an industry without your custom no matter how big or small.

This is a really big problem with Trains and Scalextric especially since the Xmas rush after the James May programs.
A lady who had bought her son a Scalextric set from Amazon couldnt understand why that when it didnt work that we wouldnt repair or replace it. Its not our responsibility.
We are a Hornby service dealer but we cannot xchange items not sold by us when in reality she only saved 5 to 10 pounds.

Just remember if you have to take something back because its blown up or youve broken it be honest if you think its your fault, were not silly an will normall respect an honest person and help them a lot more.

Serman over lol

[Rebelrc]

Nice serman Rich ( i said serman)
or should i say reverend rc

[Si Coe]

Originally Posted by sldmodels

The staff should have still been friendly and curteous, and should treat every customer as a priority, but I have a model shop myself, and there's no other way of putting it, but you do get some twats walking through the door. When I ask people what car they have, the most common answer I get is "it's a subaru", not a tamiya subarau, not a thunder tiger subaru, but a subaru. The number of times I feel like telling them that I don't supply subarau items, and that they should try the main dealer round the corner.

This I have seen alot myself, and once witnessed the normally calm and polite staff at Bolton Model Mart get quite upset with a customer on the phone about this (to their credit whilst it was obvious they were annoyed at our end, the guy on the phone held his voice well and the customer probably had no idea!), but as I pointed out that problem is more the manufacturers fault than anything else. After all, the box proclaims 'Subaru Impreza' in huge letters all over it, and TT-01 in tiny letters underneath. OK, so the manual says what chassis it is, but if it was RTR they have probably never read the manual!
Thats what happens when you sell RTR's to non-technically minded people. Now I accept that many of them were sold elsewhere, but I bet Spud and SLD have both sold cars to incompetent baboons before as well, so you have to view that as a problem of your own making. Dealing with those idiots is a natural part of the business......

[Team No Idea]

Originally Posted by spud31

I read this with some intrest as this sounds like a normal saturday for us.
Very very few people who use non specialist model shops are racers so normally its people trying to but a part for an item they dont know any info for. ill take you through a normal convo,

C: I need a pullstart for my petrol car
ME : Do u know any info make model etc?
C: its a blue subaru
ME: Ok is it tamiya,thunder tiger do they ring a bell?
C: Dunno just want a pullstart
ME: IS it possible to bring car in so we can sell you correct part?
C: Your useless ( followed by barrage of abuse)

This happens every weekend an gets fustrating as we are here to help, so whilst i agree the customer experence people here have had is not good enough, most shops do try but 4 or 5 hours of the above can take its toll

Also on the discounting by online shops on items, this will kill local model shops eventually as some do absolutly silly prices, not just car stuff but model aircraft and heli mostly so they cannot be making any money on the product. This devalues the product and TBH they normally do not give the back up if theres is a problem which leads to the good old LHS to do it for the importer. We cannot survive as an industry without your custom no matter how big or small.

This is a really big problem with Trains and Scalextric especially since the Xmas rush after the James May programs.
A lady who had bought her son a Scalextric set from Amazon couldnt understand why that when it didnt work that we wouldnt repair or replace it. Its not our responsibility.
We are a Hornby service dealer but we cannot xchange items not sold by us when in reality she only saved 5 to 10 pounds.

Just remember if you have to take something back because its blown up or youve broken it be honest if you think its your fault, were not silly an will normall respect an honest person and help them a lot more.

Serman over lol

Just to throw in my 2 pence worth, that sounds like a day in our shop too!
Firstly we have massive problems with discounted motorcycles on the net. We are only a small Kawasaki dealer but we have been here for 30 years and i'd say a good 80% of our customers are loyal, repeat customers . We have to do our best to offer a spot on after sales service at all times to everyone especially as some bigger dealers sell the bikes cheaper (at a loss sometimes depending on how desperate they are) than we can buy them in from Kawasaki! We get the same customers buying bikes elsewhere and then whinging at us if it develops a fault and we can't squeeze it through the workshop instantly, at the end of the day, our customers come first! That said we do our best to get anyones bike sorted asap. Trying to get new customers through the door is very hard especially as we cannot match the prices and in the currect financial climate.

We also get the same thing of people asking for things like spark plugs for their "red bike", not knowing what make or model they have. Again we do our best to sort it out, we cant afford to turn custom away, but here is a limit to how far we would/can go!

I think what im trying to say here is there needs to be a balance The dealer definately needs a certain amout of information to get the correct part for the job however in this case all the chap wanted was turn buckles, it shouldn't be that hard really, if they couldn't help him they could have at least pointed him in the direction of a shop that could in a polite and friendly way.

[spud31]

TBH you cant turn people away if they want to spend money can you?
The worst kind are 1/5th scale buyers normally as they always seem to be the same kind of person an are attracted to it because it runs on petrol mate lolol
The latest thing is also to buy scalextric sets with the flat xover track against our advice and experence then bring the cars back 2 days later smashed to bits due to being driven head on into each other by there kids.

In the global scheme of things if we could somehow stop buying from HK etc, prices would come down as more units would be sold, shops turnover higher so discounts would be more forthcoming.

Intresting story time, in Germeny big car parts like filters brake pads etc, can only be bought by TUV approved people not joe blogs etc down at Halfrauds. TUV certification is hard to get too.
This has ment that more people take cars to approved dealerships and repair centres for work to be done thus labour and parts prices are reasonable.
This is also the country where you can only by tyres in pairs an they must be same make and tread pattern across the axle whilst this is expensive if you get a puncture its stops people running round on poo tyres that are unsafe.
Everyone benefits and to me this seems sensible.

rev rc lol

[sldmodels]

Funny you say that about buying from HK. After the bloke who was executed this week for drug smuggling who was said to have mental health issues, I was considering setting up facebook page to hit China where it hurts, in their wallets, by not buying anything from them till they do something to rectify the situation, but that would only backfire on us. Maybe trying to get the F1 race there for this year moved somewhere else would be just as good. From what I hear of the Chinese government, they don't like to lose face.

[DCM]

Originally Posted by spud31

In the global scheme of things if we could somehow stop buying from HK etc, prices would come down as more units would be sold, shops turnover higher so discounts would be more forthcoming.

You are having a Giraffe, aren't you?? The amount purchased in the UK, compared to importing from Asia, Asia is insignificant. If you are talking about RC alone, that may be different, but a lot of it, got to be squarely put on the distributor and not the customer.

Why, when I can buy a kit, from HK, with upgrades, and still ship it, and it be cheaper than trade price in the UK? Why the hell would I buy here. I would love to shop in the UK, but the prices the LHS are forced to charge, by the over inflated prices created by an overly complex system, is just daft. And please, don't insult us with the 'well they got to stock spares' argument, as the cost of spares is where they make their money, distributors and some shops.

If larger distributors took a 'Global Pricing Policy' then it would, to an extent, make buying globaly, as a private buyer, pointless. But the cheaper markets would complain that the prices have gone up, or the more expensive companies would complain that their stock values have been reduced.

The extortionate prices we pay, in the UK, have put paid to many a LHS, as we all strive to get as much as we can for our £££, so sorry, if my heart doesn't bleed.

Instead of moaning about how cheap it is overseas, how about moaning how 'expensive' it is here!!

[DaveG28]

Spot on DCM, I get so wound up by people whinging about how cheap iris to buy from abroad, it is ridiculously expensive in the UK.

I tend to buy from abroad, generally I can buy, have it shipped and pay import duty and it still costs less than here, plus if I order on a Sunday night it's nearly always here in time for the next weekends racing! The saddest part is, I am even getting better customer service from shops who have English as a second language often! The only risk (I accept though don't like) is it can be impossible to make warranty claims.

As an example of prices Speed passion V3 motors are @$75 in the US, aren't they more than that in £'s over here?? I'm not blaming the shops as I get the impression they don't make a huge margin, but someone is screwing us here in the UK!

The best/only way of UK shops competing is customer service and/or being at tracks, that's why places like PBM and DMS still get my business when I can!

As an example of good cs though, I asked Stella Models if they could get me the new Tamiya ESC when Tamya first announced it. It's not really a core product for them but they agreed to ask and also then to let me know when it was released. Despite me not chasing them they came back to me this week with a date/price, they had remembered me asking for the product! It's amazing how many UK shops I've never heard back from in similar situations!

Again with Stella, they shopped round various places to try and find a cheap trf801x for me this summer, and remained helpful and polite even after they realised they couldn't get it sorted in time and therefore wouldn't get the order. It's being treated well even when you go elsewhere that makes me then go back to them next time! To be balanced, PBM are very good at this too, totally understanding when you end up going elsewhere!

[ClydeBuilt]

Local LHS and its specifically an RC model shop with cars, planes, boats and helis, so this guy comes in with a query about rc cars and chargers

Told him to fetch it in and we would have a look, shop owner takes one look at this white POS and says he doesnt do stuff like that, he does nitro etc and that the guy would be better of elsewhere, in a pretty offhand manner.

I says to the guy 'let me have a look'....its a Tamiya of some sort but with now way to fit usual 7.v nicad, but plenty of room to fit a decent 7.4 inside that would far outrun the previous battery, albeit in a captive mode.

A quick explanation of what was required and the guy buys two decent amperage nihms and a quality charger, hands over best part of £75.
Door closes and proprietor says...'wanker' never know what they want!

Funny thing was, before the guy came in, we were discussing how bad his turnover was that year and that everyone was buying from Ebay, blah, blah, blah!

A little work and thought might things go a bit easier I thought.

[Catch 22]

Originally Posted by ClydeBuilt

Local LHS and its specifically an RC model shop with cars, planes, boats and helis, so this guy comes in with a query about rc cars and chargers

Told him to fetch it in and we would have a look, shop owner takes one look at this white POS and says he doesnt do stuff like that, he does nitro etc and that the guy would be better of elsewhere, in a pretty offhand manner.

I says to the guy 'let me have a look'....its a Tamiya of some sort but with now way to fit usual 7.v nicad, but plenty of room to fit a decent 7.4 inside that would far outrun the previous battery, albeit in a captive mode.

A quick explanation of what was required and the guy buys two decent amperage nihms and a quality charger, hands over best part of £75.
Door closes and proprietor says...'wanker' never know what they want!

Funny thing was, before the guy came in, we were discussing how bad his turnover was that year and that everyone was buying from Ebay, blah, blah, blah!

A little work and thought might things go a bit easier I thought.

Ive got a good idea which shop this was mate .

[franki]

Originally Posted by Michael.

and like he said, he not only won't be recommending the shop to his friends/relatives, he will be advising them 'to keep away' - which is fair in my opinion. That will surely lose the shop a few potential 'larger spenders'

Plus, I believe he was contemplating buying a kit after building his car anyway. I doubt he will purchase that from the shop in question

fully agree, he may have decided yes I want to get back in to the hobby big time and then spend a fortune!!! but not at those shops!! you have to look at the big picture in business and some times you have 'lost leaders'

[oldschool]

well ive got 3 model shops near me and in one of them i got a load of abuse and was told to go as they were about to shut for dinner? i only poped in to buy some paint.
the other 2 are great one has got loads of plane spares and quite alot of cars and the other dont do alot of car spare's because they only seem to sell cars to the beginners of the hobby but they guys in there really know there stuff and will get you anything you need,the chap even lent me his power supply and charger when mine went bang.
so i really support my local shop because they look after me.

[Welshy40]

If the shops give you gipp just spend your hard earned cash in another. Their loss is anothers gain.

My favourite shop was Craig Harris's mothers, and they not only knew their stuff but were the most professional and customer orientated. Its a shame they had to close.

Anyway nowadays I mainly deal with Apex as they are genuinely top blokes and also have a fantastic reputation which has been going strong for as long as i can remember (early 90's). DMS who as we all know are also just as fantastic only get my business when Apex cannot supply me due to them not being a distributer of that product.

Costs are expensive but thats the sign of the times and the huge debt the labour government has put this country into. Taxes and interest rates can only and will go up no matter who comes to power in the elections, but we would be better off in the long run not voting for labour.