Adventure at the LHS

[Halgar]

When I get home I think I just need to pull out the Clod and play around with it.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!!! What you do on your personal time isn't any of our business!



I hear ya, it's been a while since I've pulled the old clod out and had my way with it.


We ARE talking about R/C's, right?

[pituk]

Yes , the prices where on the packages. I believe it was nine for the nose plates and four on the arms , its nothing I will lose sleep over. I agree Melvinsarmy , it feels good to drive down to the hobby shop . Look at all the kits available , pick up the box and read the specs , then drive home , pop in Def Leppard and start building. I had considered getting an Axial a10 from there even thought it was about 30 dollars cheaper at Amain hobbies...

[RER40]

The places I have had bad experiences at are local bicycle shops. I bought a nice used Cannondale off eBay a few years ago. The rear derailer wasn't shifting properly. So, I took it in to a shop. The lady put a screw driver in my rear cog (like she was checking something, yeah right) and said I'd need a whole new freewheel, $90. I said, "no thanks" I knew that sounded fishy. So, I rode to the next shop. There they spent 3 minutes on the bike, got it to shift correctly and charged me $8. Needless to say, I have yet to set foot back in that first shop. I've got a lot of stories like that about bike shops.

Bike shops, hobby shops

Last lhs I went into there was a sign behind the counter that said
LABOR CHARGE = $60 an hour.... we charge just like any auto repair facility

So I ask the nimrod, so are you ASCE certified?
And he goes, "ASCE what?"

[RER40]

The more I think about this subject, the more I realize how much I miss the local hobby shops around here. Going in to a shop and walking out with a brand new kit is one of my favorite parts of this hobby. Head home, put the Godfather on the DVD, grab a beer, set up the table and start putting something together. It's just not the same when it comes in a brown box that's been dropped off by UPS.

Somehow having the UPS chickiepoo show up at the door is just fine with me

[adam lancia]

LOL @ ASCE certified!

[jwscab]

yeah, I always hated walking into the local LHS that were near me. I did my homework, I knew what I wanted...most of the time, you can't even see what they had stocked, so you had to ask. I would assume they would try to be helpful, and try to ask what is was for. Of course, I built custom stuff so it was always a mixmatch parts list.....the attitude would go from bad to worse as I explained more, and asking to see the parts they had was like i was asking to see their personal bank account or whatever....like, 'no, you ask for what you need and i will get it'.

I would have said maybe it was just one butthead, but I'd seen it more than one occasion at more than one lhs. once I got fed up with that, and by the way, paying practically double for parts, plus waiting a week for a special order(for a common part, always? c'mon), the mail order stuff out of RCCA was like a godsend. hmm..I can see every part, I can order without an attitude, it took the same amount of time, and it was cheaper!

i can't say that about every lhs i had been to, but the ones local and convenient were.....

[RER40]

A buddy of mine goes by the theory ........

"Hobby shops are like nudie bars - they're for looking, staring, and fondling.
But for the real deal it's better to do your business at home where
it's safe and you know what you end up with in the morning."

[MelvinsArmy]

lol Halgar.

I wish my UPS delivery person looked like that. Think +100lbs with stubble.

$60 an hour at a hobby shop translates to "We don't want to work on your car, so don't even ask."

[scr8p]

that's why shops love to sell RTR's to people that have no idea how to fix them. that way, they can butt rape the customer in labor fees when they break it.

[civilguy]

Wow- sounds like y'all need to move. My LHS is great-- I get most parts at the same price as on the web and I've spent plenty of time in there just BS'ing. I've even gone thru boxes looking for parts-- none of the "I'll get it" attitude. I bought 3 Micro-Ts two Christmases ago and some parts-- I think he gave me 10% off the whole deal. (Now the HobbyTowns on the other hand aren't any good-- but I don't consider them a LHS.)

Your stories are sad really-- being a small business owner myself local merchants get the majority of my business. When I roofed my house the lumber yard (less than 1/2 mile away) drove up my street with their forktruck with a full pallet of shingles. I called when I was done and I got charged for what I used off of it.

I guess it depends on the shop and more importantly the owner.

[purpletimbo]

Guess I got both sides of this, my LHS in my town, is a horror story, owned by husband and wife, but 2 stores, she runs ours, he runs the one 43 miles away, don't blame him, she can probably curdle the milk in his fridge from that distance.
I went in after buying my first ever nitro, and asked what fuel would it take, armed with the full specs of the motor etc.
It is all in the back, pick what you want, how should I know, never even moves off her chair.
Never been back, needless to say, especially as a motor store stocked a few rcs, and Tornado fuel at half her price, and a helpful sales guy who taught me about % etc.
My next nearest are modelsport about 40 miles away, and always worth the trip, what you guys say about seeing them in the flesh, the whole front is glass cases, full of assembled and painte from 1/36 up to a Baja stuck on the wall.
I use them mail order as well, keen internet prices, matched in the shop, but personal experiences are never better, the guys there prefer people who buy kits, and not rtr, then they don't keep running back for repairs, just parts.
When I needed a clutch bell for my Nitro basher, known as a Trinity Monster Spyder in US, the original was pricey, so I took it down, and he vanished into the back, reappearing soon after, with a Savage lightweigt bell, perfect match 60% cheaper.
then I needed a one-way bearing for it, they ordered from Mtroniks, the importers, who are in the same town as it happens, but wholesale only, when it arrived, was plainly wrong, so I took a ride over. After seeing the original, the shop guy had a conversation with Mtroniks, hopped in his car, drove over, came back with bad news, none in stock, so please accept this used but working one from Mtroniks free, to keep you going till we get stock in.
Now thats service

[Halgar]

lol Halgar.

That's what I'm here for. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, right?

Wow- sounds like y'all need to move. My LHS is great-- I get most parts at the same price as on the web and I've spent plenty of time in there just BS'ing.

Uh, Civi, have we ever told you that we don't like you much? Glad you've got a place to call home. Finding a place that services more than what the proprietor or employee's own or that will help everyone are hard to find. I've been to a few, but they are rare.

[hibernaculum]

Years ago, a similar crazy thing happened to me at a hobby store. I asked the guy if he had any old parts, and he listed about half a dozen very minor items - we're talking Frog resistors, battery clips, plastic bearings, stuff like that. Might have been worth about $20-$30.
I asked how much, and he said "Call me tomorrow". I was like, wtf?
So I rang the next day. The asking price? $150. Even if he went on ebay to check, where the hell did he get that figure?

I said "You do realise that this stuff is about 20 bucks worth, and plastic bearings are practically worthless because ball bearings are cheap these days?". He just ended the conversation and hung up! Nice customer service.

Have to say though, that most hobby shops aren't like that. I had some great finds years ago, and the shop owners were often very helpful.

[fordtransman]

BTW, I am ASE Certified in Manual Trans/Diffs, Auto trans/transaxles, Engine performance, and Electrical systems. (Brakes/Suspension tests are in a few weeks) I am also a Ford Certified MASTER Tech, and I specialize in Auto trans at the dealer... So the RC Certified thing is pretty funny... If there was a Test, I would take it...

I DO have a late 70's "Schwinn Quality" patch on my work jacket..its in regards to QUALITY of that bike line in the 70's and 80's. I Still have my mid 80s BMX in my moms garage with my original skyways on it.... (Not for sale)

I was done at the LHS when the manufacturer suggested price really became that... which is the SAME price I can buy it from the manufacturer... ???? Confused.

I purchase my items from several ebay-based rc businesses, and have never had a problem. I get my stuff in 3 business days. Most items that can fit in a small manilla mailer are charged less then 2.00 shipping. At last count, their ebay feedback was over 240K at 100%

LHS, take notice!!


My dealer offered me the New, stickered 2007 Shelby GT500 still on the lot today.
(The one I want and have been verbal about for 2 years now)
Dark blue, black convertible top, no stripes. They told me 42k..and up to 84 months finance.
The day it arrived on the lot, sticker price was/is 50k, and 25k markup... I saw it fall to 10k markup...now its almost 10k UNDER sticker plus tax.

Should I?

[MOmo]

I think it just depends on the LHS. I come from a CS background, and for me its kinda like the "golden rule", treat others how you want to be treated. That said, when I worked for a HS, I made sure to learn names and be as helpful as possible get a complete picture and not necessarily sell them the most expensive package.

There are a couple LHS' I use. I rarely order things off-line despite saving a few bucks. One LHS I use, I do get a disc. which is nice. I primarily order all my parts there and they usually have it in a week (Hobbytown). The other LHS also has a track, so when i race and break, i will buy parts as needed. They are facing some financial hardships (as are a lot of people) and may close. A group of people got together and pooled funds to keep the location open till may. After that, its anyones guess. We've already lost several HSs in the area, one had a long history of outdoor off-road racing.

The Hobbytown i go to charges $10 hr for labor. I also know that some people will build cars for folks who don't have the time, and make $$ doing it (Im on the list IF something comes up). and at $10 I think its fair. (Im sorry but $60 is insane.)

The LHS where I used to work has a long history. Father opened it over 20 yrs ago. Great store. Its a complete hobby store, RC cars, planes, helis, Trains, models, rockets, etc. BITD they used to help support local club racing (rc10 era) and remain involved in some clubs, though the car racing isn't prominent. Mainly airplane clubs.

Since then, the father has retired and the son has taken over. He has the personality of a Rock and doesn't get the CS part of it. I was working w/ a customer for over 20 min, talking and getting info (he came in looking for a specific kit we DIDN'T have in stock) and he left empty handed. He comes up to me and criticized me for letting him leave w/o buying anything. I explained he came looking for something specific but WE didn't have it. He told me I should have still tried to sell them something. I shrugged it off. All too often I worked the register and took in returns of kits my co-workers had sold to people that they weren't ready for (Namely the T-Maxx). They would drop $500, and come back to return it a few days later, kit un-opened because they got home and were overwhelmed. It turned them off right then.

My success rate was much higher and I had a TON of customers that wanted to deal ONLY with me because of how i treated them and helped them. I think addressing them byt first name REALLY through some of them. some co-workers knew the "regulars" but rarely got to know the new faces.



MOmo