Do you have any cheese?

[TWINSET]

Ever had one of those conversations?

I was in a LHS getting a motor and a speedo - simple enough I thought.

You got a 27T motor?

Yes Sir

And a speedo for it?

Ah, you don't want a 27T speedo

Why

You want a better one, never go for the turn rating to match the speedo, this one will do 23T

Oh - you got any 23T motors to go with it?

No, this is for 27T down to 23T

But it won't do 23T?

No

You got one suitable for a 23T then?

Yes

Right, one of them and a 23T motor then my good man

Nobody does 23T motors

Yes they do, I got one last week

Ah, we don't stock them

But you stock suitable speedos?

Yes

This went on for ages, then one of their favourite customers came in, who only last week had bought a 1/5 scale bike, and they made a nerd filled bee-line for him and had conversations about sticky tires and wheelies, , leaving me with 'spotty Saturday boy with B.O.' - I got fed up and went to my other LHS and got a 27T motor and a speedo for it.

[minijosh]

I shouldn't tell you this but customer service over here stinks. I used to work at a grocery store and the customer comes first. That is how you make the sale. What the other person should have done is invited the "cool guy" to come over and engage into the converstion and give input. Must have input!!! I bet you bought a Kyosho 23 turn motor right? Or was it a Team Orion Rush?

[nismospeed]

yeah that happened to me..

i went in to my lhs and asked for a swing shaft for my TA02 and the guy had no idea what i was talking about...the conversation went on for a while and finally he came across a pair for it....talk about not nowing there stuff[xx(]

dan

[minijosh]

now should that guy be working in a store that has sharp knives and sensitive equipment?[?]

[minijosh]

sounds like you were at model junction and were speaking to Mr pushrod himself. go alan go alan!!

[TWINSET]

In this particular store, it doesn't matter what you ask for, the answer is always 'whaddya want that for?'

Even a set of body clips is open to a ten minute discussion on the merits of orange instead of black.

I can understand these guys being helpful (if they actually were), but you get the impression they REALLY don't want you to buy from them, as they're into 1/12 stock cars and helicopters, and only sell other R/C stuff for when it's too windy to fly a chopper and the track is waterlogged[!]

That's why you poor sods get all my slightly more stoopid questions, noone in the real world wants to help[]

[nismospeed]

and what gets me is how much a lhs charges for fine threded skrew with a nut, when you can go to the hardware store and get the same thing for the same price but you get a whole pack of them...

i went in and asked for and they said it will $1.50 for 2...

went to a different store and got a pack of 10 for $2....go to show to shop around for skrews and stuff like that[]

[minijosh]

pity that you cannot find a 1/10 scale touring car only hobby store but you sure can find a boat store with car stuff or an airplane/heli store with some car stuff. Where are all the touring/off road store at? Please give a detailed map. I know there are some good shops out there but if you own a Tamiya and don't live in Japan, make sure you pray to the Tamiya Gods that a freak shipment of bits will arrive the day before you go.[]

[nismospeed]

pretty funny coming across stores that speacialize in one thing..but always have other products not even related[xx(]

[minijosh]

it's like going to a car spares shop and buying a bike along with a coke and fries.

[nismospeed]

even better, it's funny when you walk into a telsta shop and walk out with an optus pre paid pack....ive seen before...a telstra shop holding optus pre paid starter packer and top ups[xx(]

[TWINSET]

I don't even know what a Telsta or Optus is, so I'm OK.

There's a good HS just outside Oxford, and all the hobbies are in seperate rooms - boats, planes, cars, statics the lot.

[sosidge]

I know your complaint was about customer service, but they were actually giving you some good advice - it's best to get a speed controller rated a few turns below your motor (especially if you were looking at M-troniks).

And there are specialist RC car shops out there, just look through the magazines and you'll find their adverts. I bet flyers complain as well... "How come there's no specialist electric biplane shops, they keep trying to sell me nitro fighters! That lot know nothing!".

[TWINSET]

You got it in one chap.

I've dealt with some great shops in the past who sell you exactly what you ask for but will advise on errors you're making, then others that really can't be bothered either way.

My main problem with this one store is they will never tell you something straight, but act like a shrink - "what speedo do you think will work" and stuff like that

[mr_pushrod]

quote:Originally posted by J05Hua

sounds like you were at model junction and were speaking to Mr pushrod himself. go alan go alan!!

---

id="quote">id="quote">

***! I don't have BO or spots, just useless advice

[ideal2k]

quote:Originally posted by TWINSET

In this particular store, it doesn't matter what you ask for, the answer is always 'whaddya want that for?'

---

id="quote">id="quote">

I experience this often here in Norway.

Where I live, Oslo, there are two shops, which I shall not name.

Anyway, these guys are always trying to tell me "whaddya want that for?" because they seem to think that if they can somehow convince you that you know nothing, and they know everything, then they will be able to tell you that you need the product they have in stock, and not the product you really want.

Luckily there is such a thing as the internet, and I pretty much order whatever I need from the US or the UK.

THANK GOD!

[Cavscout]

You guys think you have gripes, when I walk into one of my not so local hobby shops, you are either watched and scrutinized like some punk kid waiting to lift something, or every time you turn a corner, there is a "helpful" employee standing there asking if he can help you find something. Even the stupid geeky guy from the Dungeons and Dragons section, what the badword is he going to help me with?

Scott

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by TWINSET

I don't even know what a Telsta or Optus is, so I'm OK.

---

id="quote">id="quote">

Not that you'd really care to... but. []

Long long time ago, Australia had just one phone company

and all was good. It was called Telecom Australia and

that all made sense and everybody was happy.

The the marketing guys came in... and coined "Telstra".

And the corporate boys came in an IPO'd the thing.

About 15 yrs ago, the ever-smart govt decided the phone biz

needed some competition... and so they invited all-n-sundry

to set up a competitor to Telecon Oz. The result was Optus,

and their promotional byline was "YES".

(Yes, probably the same guys who thought "Monday" was a good

recognisable name for a mgmt consulting firm.)

Optus today is part-owned by Cable & Wireless (hey hey, UK!)

and SingTel (previously known pre-IPO as Singapore Telecom).

[HunterZero]

Heh, I still occasionally go to the same hobby shop that my Frog came from all those years ago in Sydney. It has moved place a couple of times, but I think it's still the same guy who runs it. Always fun to talk to the 'hired help' asking for parts for a Fox, and getting the response, "A Wha...? Never heard of it". If the boss is there, he'll come and talk to me though, and he remembers the older cars.

Makes me feel old. [:I]

I ordered a 50195 steel antenna there (it's still on the books), and asking them to call me when it came in. A couple of months later, no call. So I dropped in, to see the part I need hanging on the wall :/

- James