Tamiya Usa = Morons?

[PaPeRo 30]

I just gotta get this off my chest. Ok so a few weeks ago I was about to order a VW Beetle body + window mask sticker sheet + plastic body parts for my M04L project from Tamiya USA's online store. The cost of all of this from them would've been over $50...lol. Even though that's fairly pricey I didn't have a problem with it. The problem was they did not have the masking stickers in stock but they had the body and plastic pieces in stock....Whats that all about???? Why the badword don't they just keep these things as a set so that people like me don't have to go searching the *******en planet for these stickers????? I searched all of ebay and only found ONE place that sold the window masks stickers and the guy wanted like $14 for it...lol. Now get this...today I get an email notifying me that the stupid window masks and stickers are in stock while the bodies are not!!! What the heck????

I've had it with these clowns who run Tamiya USA's online store. I've decided to NOT buy the body + plastic parts + sticker sheet. What I'll be doing now is converting the M04L into a M04M and put an HPI....that's right HPI body on it. Think I'll get the HPI 225mm Datsun 240Z Cup Racer body which ironically costs way less than that rediculous $50 VW body. When these idiots figure out how to stock the right parts in their warehouse I may change my mind and buy stuff from them.

So for anyone who needs the sticker sheet for the M04L Beetle they have them in stock. If you need them or want to stock up to sell them at a higher price later get them now for only $6.50. I won't be needing the stupid stickers...thanks to the morons who run Tamiya USA's store. It's these kinds of things that keep pushing me away from Tamiya as a whole.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=9495236

[Henk4Focus 0]

I take it you a a little TICKED OFF!! I understand the frustration, not nice to try and do a project without the neccesary parts. It is a shame that it is like that but I have to say that even here in SA I understand when the folks doing the importing do not have the stock. We are having a Transnet strike here so it has a ripple effect that starts at the ports and goes straight through to the end user. Cut them some slack, at the end of they day they are importers and not the manufacturer. It is sometimes difficult to sort out exactly what people want and what not. I'm a buyer so believe me, good buying is a difficult thing as an item will not sell for a year and the next moment the 10 you had in stock would be sold and you would need 10 more.

Hope all works out for you.

Henk

[WillyChang 1814]

i don't get... you want whole set, you just buy the BODY PARTS SET

https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=50696

if you want to buy the separate parts to the set then you go separate

at least TamiyaUSA sells direct to the (US resident) public the non-retail spareparts

that usually LHS orders in for you; others aint' so lucky even if $$ is no quibble

who implied any guarantee that everything you want will be there whenever you feel like wanting it?

[backtomyroots 432]

Not every manufacturer has every part in stock 100 % of the time . (I've currently gone through this with Traxxas).

Did you call them ? They sometimes have items that aren't listed as in stock laying around.

You think that's difficult ? Try getting parts for some "other" brands .

[TamiyaDan 8]

welcome to the wonderful world of tamiya parts support, think its horrible now, imagine how it was 10 years and 20 years ago. I've spoken about my love and disdain for tamiya many times.

I'll give you this advice, Get the part you need ASAP because it is already discontinued.

[Jonny Retro 12]

i don't get... you want whole set, you just buy the BODY PARTS SET

https://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=50696

...

That is a good point ... but it would have carried more weight if the link didn't show the set as discontined

[SKIPP 0]

i don't get... you want whole set, you just buy the BODY PARTS SET

Not that its any of my business,but probley

couse they don't have it. ie.....discontinued.

[CarKing 1]

Moron? Seems a bit harsh since you don't know me, but moving on.....

Your problem is that we have all of the parts separately and not as a body set correct? The issue is that we get the parts in the way they are provided to us by Tamiya Inc. in Japan. Believe it or not, we do not have a say in when they discontinue products, or how they bundle bodies. We always order enough of each to make sure we can have X amount of full body sets, so if we order 20 bodies, we will order 20 sticker sheets and 20 of whatever else it takes to complete the body. We cannot control how they are purchased, or how Tamiya Japan sends them to us (i.e. one shipment might have the bodies and the next might have the decals). We also do not have the facilities or inventory control in order to simple bundle them all together and create an item number at our choosing.

There is a chance that you simply received a sticker pack missing the masking since 99.99% of the time, the stickers and masking are included in the same package.

If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to PM me and I will give you my direct line so you can call me and maybe I can help ease your frustration at the situation, and hopefully find a solution regardless.

Andrew

[lucasan 28]

Wow carking, you're brave to reveal yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if you get flooded with pm's concerning this or that about stock, coming soon items, etc.

[pastimesteve 49]

I have to respectfully disagree with PaPeRo. As a U.S. Tamiya fan, thank GOODNESS for TamiyaUSA. If it wasn't for them, it would be a LOT harder to find parts. I certainly would never call them morons. The fact is, I can get stuff from them that I can't get anywhere else, at least not domestically.

My only critique of TamiyaUSA is that I wish they could sometimes get stuff shipped out a bit faster, but that's probably because I'm spoiled by other vendors who ship stuff out within 24 hours, each and every time.

Anyway, good job TamiyaUSA, and thanks to Andrew for coming on here.

Steve

[JAnderson 59]

Wow carking, you're brave to reveal yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if you get flooded with pm's concerning this or that about stock, coming soon items, etc.

Not really I have been very public on this and many other sites since 2000 and get very few inquires for help. The fact is out website here in the USA has more information on it than any other Tamiya Site so most can find what they need no matter where they are. I do get messages or e-mails from time to time and I'm happy to help

I have even hand my e-mail in my sig forever.

[markbt73 5316]

So you have a slight problem getting parts for your toy car, and you go all petulant and Veruca Salt-like and verbally abuse the employees of the company in a public forum instead of contacting them in private about your problems, and you got not one, but two representatives from the company responding in a very polite manner offering you help you. We should all have such customer service "problems."

[Champ85 609]

I just placed an order with TamiyaUSA a couple days ago for a Stadium Blitzer manual and a few other things because I just got a restoration project in the mail recently. Blitzer manuals are impossible to find, even on the Bay. Yes, there is a free version in PDF form on some site, but it's not the best quality. Amazingly, TamiyaUSA had a real printed manual for sale. I'm really happy for that.

I commend the guys at TamiyaUSA because they are at the mercy of Tamiya, Inc. of Japan for all spare parts. And as has already been said above, it is really hard to keep parts in stock when you don't know who, when, what, and how many of each part people are going to want to buy. Nothing worse for a shop than to have stock that sits for literally years.

Sometimes I think it's the Tamiya Japan guys that are "morons" for discontinuing stuff in an illogical manner. For example:

Want Stadium Blitzer rear wheels? Sure, no problem.

Want Stadium Blitzer rear tires? Sure, no problem.

Want Stadium Blitzer front tires? Sure, no problem (not in stock right now, but available to buy later for sure and all over the Bay)

Want Stadium Blizer front wheels? Nope. Discontinued. Impossible to find. Really? I want to buy a set.

Want Buggy Champ parts? Nope. Discontinued. Even front tires are impossible to find now. I mean, it's a part that is supposed to wear out, but you can't buy any spares. Come on. Even Jason finally ran out of stock.

Ok, I don't want to turn this into a rant thread.

I am glad to have guys like CarKing and JAnderson visit this forum and offer help, ideas, contests, etc. Thanks guys!

[Singapore_959 18]

Well that comes across as a dummy spit / bad day shout. We've all had them but it sounds rather spoilt though as per Willy's reply.

As has been mentioned TamiyaUSA gives us the most comprehensive english language parts explanation and list available, and I am (and I am sure hundreds/thousands others are) grateful for that. For viewing pleasure alone its appreciated. You get my support and thanks.

I do think it's a pity that you don't process orders from overseas (or is that a dealer contractual obligation?) as you would probably get alot of business via this. Even if you only accepted paypal. Years ago I bought the spare parts box sets for about 200usd from you, but had to do so via a helpful US based TC member who paid, received and on sent it to me. Overly complicated and relies on goodwill of others.

[RichieRich 685]

I've had no problems with Tamiya USA. The best part for me is that if I order on a Monday, I have the parts on Tuesday. It's nice living so close.

[kalsh 44]

Think yourself very lucky you have Tamiya that you can order from. In little old New Zealand we are totally reliant on our LHS or Ebay (or friends via this club - you know who you are - thank you) who will order stuff for you from Tamiya USA, JAnderson answered a very simple inquiry I had a while back and like most people we respect the employees of large corporations as they are simply doing the best they can in the industry. I hope you can get your body parts. I to tried to get some parts namely chrome tree for the M04 beetle an M tree for the Ford 350 but it is proving very elusive on bth parts.

[PaPeRo 30]

So you have a slight problem getting parts for your toy car, and you go all petulant and Veruca Salt-like and verbally abuse the employees of the company in a public forum instead of contacting them in private about your problems, and you got not one, but two representatives from the company responding in a very polite manner offering you help you. We should all have such customer service "problems."

It's not a slight problem man, it's a FUNDAMENTAL MANAGEMENT problem. And why should I contact them? Their site says the bodies are not in stock I shouldn't have to call them to ask them to go search their warehouse for leftovers that were missed during their last inventory count...LOL!!! Genius! What monkey would discontinue a complete body set then go sell the individual parts of the bodyset and not have them stocked as a BUNDLE? Why would someone go buy a body without the appropriate stickers??? What did you think everyone prints their own stickers like Willy Chang? Do people buy clear bodies then paint door handles and window frames??? Why not just bundle the stickers with the body??? It's a fundamental problem that needs to be made public so that hopefully something could be done so that this issue doesn't become an accepted part of the Tamiya experience.

Well that comes across as a dummy spit / bad day shout. We've all had them but it sounds rather spoilt though as per Willy's reply.

As has been mentioned TamiyaUSA gives us the most comprehensive english language parts explanation and list available, and I am (and I am sure hundreds/thousands others are) grateful for that. For viewing pleasure alone its appreciated. You get my support and thanks..

Willy's reply was misinformed. What did you think I'm so stupid to want to spend MORE money to buy the the body parts separately when the complete set is cheaper? As been mentioned the bodyset is DISCONTINUED!!! Does this make sense to you? I mean think about it, what morons would discontinue a complete body set while continuing to sell the stickers separately? Who the heck needs VW Beetle stickers if they don't have the BODY and can't buy them???

As for the Tamiya webstore are you serious? It's a mess as 95% of the parts have NO DESCRIPTION whatsoever while 2/3 have no pictures! And don't be so gullible because you can order parts for your car from them. It's all part of the obsession to discontinue items as quickly as possible so that nobody but Tamiya themselves have the parts for you to buy.

Anyway I'm tired of putting up with the constant problems associated with trying to find Tamiya parts. It's not like they're cheap either...lol. I just found the HPI 240Z Cup Racer body set for $33 free shipping and no trax. Where can I find the complete VW Beetle body set for that much? Regardless that's just one of the many reasons why it's so frustrating to own Tamiya products.

[WW-nut 0]

It seems that you PaPeRo are in a minority of one who has this attitude towards TamiyaUSA; if you lived in the UK you'll find our importer is useless; you can't buy from them direct, they never speak out on forums, etc, they're indeed useless. TamiyaUSA are an asset. Take a look for yourself, this is our importers website ---> http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/W...ys/ecommlogin.p

But hey, I guess you aren't listening to anyones responses so by all means continue to grumble.

[Mad Zero 316]

So you have a slight problem getting parts for your toy car, and you go all petulant and Veruca Salt-like and verbally abuse the employees of the company in a public forum instead of contacting them in private about your problems, and you got not one, but two representatives from the company responding in a very polite manner offering you help you. We should all have such customer service "problems."

Very well said - we all get a little 'passionate' about our hobby at times and these things are frustrating but Tamiya USA = Morons? is way OTT ...chill dude!

[blasta999 0]

Take a look for yourself, this is our importers website ---> http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/W...ys/ecommlogin.p

Oh that's a fantastic site they have there WW-nut, in the tamiya R/C parts section i love the lack of pictures, sorting or even page numbers LOL.

I can see the issues you are having with the stocking levels Papero, but I ONLY WISH we had guys like Tamiya USA.... I wish they'd ship down here! I'm regularly looking at their site in envy.

FYI... these are our distributors http://www.toytraders.com.au/tamiya_holding.asp - Coming soon "apparently!?"

Luckily i live close to a great LHS that stocks plenty of Tamiya, and also have access to Fleabay for the unusual stuff.

Cheer up, the hobby is supposed to make u smile

Rob.

[mb_c11 0]

I don't see why I am bothering with this, but:

It's not a slight problem man, it's a FUNDAMENTAL MANAGEMENT problem. And why should I contact them? Their site says the bodies are not in stock I shouldn't have to call them to ask them to go search their warehouse for leftovers that were missed during their last inventory count...LOL!!! Genius!

You could email them to ask whether and when they expect to get in more stock.

Insulting other people won't gain you cookie points, by the way.

What monkey would discontinue a complete body set then go sell the individual parts of the bodyset and not have them stocked as a BUNDLE? Why would someone go buy a body without the appropriate stickers??? What did you think everyone prints their own stickers like Willy Chang? Do people buy clear bodies then paint door handles and window frames??? Why not just bundle the stickers with the body??? It's a fundamental problem that needs to be made public so that hopefully something could be done so that this issue doesn't become an accepted part of the Tamiya experience.

Willy's reply was misinformed. What did you think I'm so stupid to want to spend MORE money to buy the the body parts separately when the complete set is cheaper? As been mentioned the bodyset is DISCONTINUED!!! Does this make sense to you? I mean think about it, what morons would discontinue a complete body set while continuing to sell the stickers separately? Who the heck needs VW Beetle stickers if they don't have the BODY and can't buy them???

Because some people might need to buy the stickers because they bought a second-hand body that has misapplied stickers or is lacking them, or they damaged the stickers on their own body. Selling stickers and body accessories separatedly is a service that is useful for people who don't want to buy a complete bodyset each time they need to fix up a body.

As for the Tamiya webstore are you serious? It's a mess as 95% of the parts have NO DESCRIPTION whatsoever while 2/3 have no pictures! And don't be so gullible because you can order parts for your car from them. It's all part of the obsession to discontinue items as quickly as possible so that nobody but Tamiya themselves have the parts for you to buy.

Regarding the pictures: like 99% of other webstores. Regarding what they have in stock or not and what is discontinued, an explanation was offered earlier in the thread, but apparently you didn't read it.

Anyway I'm tired of putting up with the constant problems associated with trying to find Tamiya parts. It's not like they're cheap either...lol. I just found the HPI 240Z Cup Racer body set for $33 free shipping and no trax. Where can I find the complete VW Beetle body set for that much? Regardless that's just one of the many reasons why it's so frustrating to own Tamiya products.

Yeah, please go to HPI, and soon discover you will have exactly the same issues with them. Have you considered that a less confrontational attitude might actually get you further? Flaming people just because of a petty reason like this one, and then insulting others who try to help you is not going to help you. Perhaps it's time for another hobby, if you get worked up this badly about parts not being in stock or being discontinued.

[PaPeRo 30]

Because some people might need to buy the stickers because they bought a second-hand body that has misapplied stickers or is lacking them, or they damaged the stickers on their own body. Selling stickers and body accessories separatedly is a service that is useful for people who don't want to buy a complete bodyset each time they need to fix up a body.

You are completely missing the point...

You see they wouldn't have this problem if they still sold the complete body set. In other words since they intentionally discontinued the complete body set so they could sell separate pieces of it FOR A LARGER PROFIT this is what happens ie the stock gets out of control and for customers like me who needs a complet body set I have to search the entire planet from various vendors to try and cobble together a simple body. Does that sound acceptable to you??? Is that what Tamiya wants their customers to do???? They need to get their **** together.

Insulting other people won't gain you cookie points, by the way.

I don't need any helping hand nor any cookies as I've already found a solution-> HPI 225mm Datsun 240Z Cup Racer body set $33 shipped no tax.

Tamiya USA can keep their stupid stickers and out of stock bodies...I don't need them anymore. A few screws and my assembled M04L is easily converted into a M04M.

Regarding the pictures: like 99% of other webstores. Regarding what they have in stock or not and what is discontinued, an explanation was offered earlier in the thread, but apparently you didn't read it.

Yeah, please go to HPI, and soon discover you will have exactly the same issues with them. Have you considered that a less confrontational attitude might actually get you further? Flaming people just because of a petty reason like this one, and then insulting others who try to help you is not going to help you. Perhaps it's time for another hobby, if you get worked up this badly about parts not being in stock or being discontinued.

Very few people buy realistic bodies with no stickers. The only people who do this are resellers who basically buy up whatever stock they could get their hands on then resell them on ebay etc. They don't care if they only have the body and not the stickers. If you can't control the inventory then sell them as a bundle. It's very simple and hardly rocket science.

As to the explanation, that's not a solution it's an excuse. Claiming that you have no control over what gets sent over from Tamiya Japan is LAME. There is something definitely wrong with your company if your US Branch cannot place specific orders from the Japanese Branch.

As far as HPI is concerned they sell complete body sets so there is ZERO POSSIBILITY of pieces of a body set being out of stock. Not only that but their bodies are much cheaper so in most cases I could buy TWO complete body sets for the price of trying to cobble together ONE Tamiya set. In fact I just bought a HPI Miata body for my M04M and it cost me less than $20. Good luck trying to find a Tamiya body for that much let alone an M04 body...lol. AFAIK all M04 bodes have been....that's right DISCONTINUED. This is just ONE problem out of a string of problems that Tamiya thinks is acceptable. Another is the garbage AV alloy pinions which they insist on selling knowing full well that they're complete JUNK and ruins the spurs very quickly. Then there is the bundling of plastic bushings in most kits...what year is this?

[Skottoman 306]

I like TamiyaUSA. Whenever I can't find parts on Tower or Ebay, I can sometimes get them from TamiyaUSA. I've gotten some hard to find parts from them.

I see them as a 2nd, or 3rd resource for the stuff I just can't get anywhere else.

Being in CA makes shipping fast. Prices are not the best, but sometimes you just need to get something no matter what.

Sorry they didn't have exactly what you needed in stock, but that is the way of the hobby sometimes.

Cheers,

Skottoman

[WillyChang 1814]

You are completely missing the point...

You see they wouldn't have this problem if they still sold the complete body set. In other words since they intentionally discontinued the complete body set so they could sell separate pieces of it FOR A LARGER PROFIT this is what happens ie the stock gets out of control and for customers like me who needs a complet body set I have to search the entire planet from various vendors to try and cobble together a simple body. Does that sound acceptable to you??? Is that what Tamiya wants their customers to do???? They need to get their **** together.

actually i omitted (purposely ) to tell ya the bodyparts set was originally issued for the M02 Beetle

unlike the BuggyChamp and SandScorcher bodysets, then the Beetle was put onto M04 etc the bodyset was never brought back too AFAIK

As to the explanation, that's not a solution it's an excuse. Claiming that you have no control over what gets sent over from Tamiya Japan is LAME. There is something definitely wrong with your company if your US Branch cannot place specific orders from the Japanese Branch.

meh, you sounding like a spoilt brat matey ... J.Depp's Willy Wonka was on TV recently...

TUSA is at mercy of HQ just like any other distributor... you can order anything you wish but if its not in the warehouse ready to ship

then Japan will just sit down have a sencha and take a long think about making it. Might be tomorrow if you're real lucky,

might be next decade if you're not. Occasionally they discover old stock in some forgotten nook and ship that out.

As far as HPI is concerned they sell complete body sets so there is ZERO POSSIBILITY of pieces of a body set being out of stock. Not only that but their bodies are much cheaper so in most cases I could buy TWO complete body sets for the price of trying to cobble together ONE Tamiya set. In fact I just bought a HPI Miata body for my M04M and it cost me less than $20.

HPI's Miata has just come back, lucky for you. They've been unobtainum for a decade until last xmas.

As for HPI's stock issues... LHS here has a backorder list of 400+ shells with the HPI distributor... by your tapemeasure

you'd think it'll be sooooo easy to suck out a few more and stuff them all into a container and ship it a few miles south.

Perhaps!

but no

[bakaguyjean 7]

I agree with PaPeRo. Tamiya should sell the complete body sets. This is world wide though as even Tamiya Japan sells the Beetle body the same way. Three different parts never in stock at the same time. Tamiya America are not the morons its the guy that thinks nobody in the whole world wants a complete Beetle body set. There is a huge a mount of cars done this way and its just stupid. If you a want beetle body here it cost the same as at Tamiya America. Or you can buy a complete kit for a $20 more if you can find one because no shops re order the cars because there is no parts support to make money off of. LHS have to pay the same price customers do for bodies like this. Why not just sell a complete body. The whole M04 line is like this. How about the wheels,beetle wheels in a parts bag instead of special ordering them.

And Tamiya Japan has no control over thier stock either,they import most of it from PI.

But HPI bodies are made in America so that is why PaPeRo can get them fast and cheap. Good luck finding them anywhere else.

PaPeRo is a little worked up and gone crazy,but why does Tamiya make it so hard just to order a body? Make a body set that distributors can order, so they can sell it. Even Tamiya America is sitting on decals that nobody wants. What distributor would order just decals?

Now that I think about it you cant even buy a replacement body for most of the current or re release buggies off the shelf. What are there 4,One nitro buggy,2 srbs and that current belt drive buggy. Oh Tam Tech gear cars have complete bodysets for all of those .

Where are the body sets Tamiya? So you want a body set that doesnt fit a TT-01 or M05,Yeah,You are going to have to special order that.