Fine Design visit

[driftah]

they certainly have dinged a lotta folks by the sounds of it.The good stories are fine and all but what makes a good company is customer service and if they cant keep that on the up and up they are sunk in the end.bad stories do travel fast usually because they are seen as warnings too imo unhappy folks equal no return business.funny how ose has a very good reputation in comparison hmmmmm customer service maybe.

[Jeff Wohlt]

As many have stated...buyer beware...enough said. There are plenty of great distributors out there.. I suspect FD had contracts for sole dealership of some hulls and those have not run out... but they will. I suspect vendors have had issues with them as well. This has been going on for some time and yet people drop BIG money and take their chance. With all the posts on FD I feel if you deal with them and get burned... DON'Tcomplain!! It is not one site it is MANY sites warning you.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Eodman appearance isn't always what it is. If you waked into my store, I have about 1 each of each model hull on display and the rest in the basement. Maybe Chris stores his excess stock somewhere else.

As far as issues, its a tough balancing act. You want to support everyone 110%, but time and lack of help don't always work on your side. I'm not making excuses for him, just the reality of being in the hobby biz. I have a couple of friends in the Hobby Biz with full service shops, cars, trucks, heli and planes. Years ago, they did well. But today they describe stores like this, "showrooms for online stores". People come in and look, then go online and buy.

[Flying Scotsman]

Do not get me started up on this company.....OSE is stellar...FD??????

Douggie

[FighterCat57]

Eodman appearance isn't always what it is. If you waked into my store, I have about 1 each of each model hull on display and the rest in the basement. Maybe Chris stores his excess stock somewhere else.

As far as issues, its a tough balancing act. You want to support everyone 110%, but time and lack of help don't always work on your side. I'm not making excuses for him, just the reality of being in the hobby biz. I have a couple of friends in the Hobby Biz with full service shops, cars, trucks, heli and planes. Years ago, they did well. But today they describe stores like this, "showrooms for online stores". People come in and look, then go online and buy.

I'll back that up for sure. There's a lot of meatballs out there that can make it tough to keep a positive attitude first.

The LHS here closed up a few months ago. Basically because he said old guys were slowly getting too old to fly and the kids just looked at what to buy online cheaper.

If you saw my shop... well... You'd see a nice Audi. lol. ...and a bunch of boxes.

Just information, not for or against anyone.

There's a trend in China... Shopping malls that don't sell anything. They are just showrooms for merchandise and if you like something you can order it online later to have it delivered. It's really strange, full malls, with nothing for sale, just product showrooms.

Perhaps there is something about that trend that might be headed our way.

[Ub Hauled]

I have bought from Chris in 3 separate occasions... he procrastinated in 2 of them and 1 of those 2 I had to cancel the order because it never shipped.
I give people the benefit of the doubt, if you fail me, I simply move on... you DON'T wanna take my money and walk.

I have to say that with all these bad reviews from people that go to him asking for help and get shafted, I would not wanna try again to work with him again, just because I would not wanna chance something really bad happen, that's why customer service is so important (pre/post purchase), these days one wants to have repeat customers.

[Basstronics]

But today they describe stores like this, "showrooms for online stores". People come in and look, then go online and buy.

Thats the truth! Everyone has their money on their mind these days. There are two LHS's in my area and netiher has much in the way of boat parts. One of them is even manned by a big wig gas guy... So they do have big gas items- and thats it.

LHS's dont have stock in most things I want and if they do their prices are MSRP.

My hobby dollars are very limited- I need the most I can get. So when gas costs me at least $6 worth to just get to a LHS thats MSRP and usually doesnt have what I need- well they sealed their own fate.

long live OSE!

[Brushless55]

Yesterday I had to attend a funeral for my sisters husband in Middletown NY. Afterwards my son & I stopped in to their store! Well its a little(?) messy but quite the collection of boats ... most in some sort of completion! Doesn't appear to have a lot of back stock on hulls.

Spoke with Dan - Chris was on phone and after he got off he elected not to come out! One thing I noticed about their boats when I lifted the lids --- they are very clean & well organized! The store could use some of that!

Small boats, mid-size boats, large boats all electric no gas to be seen! Just a few observations not a plug for or against just observation.

interesting part of the OP
maybe there is some truth about the negatives we hear and see on the web

[LarrysDrifter]

Ive had 3 separate dealings with FD when I first got into FE. 1st order was a Drifter L assembled minuse motor and esc. That took 3 weeks to get to me. Not too bad considering they had to build it and I assume my Drifter wasnt the only boat being assembled, so no complaints on that order. 2nd order was a Nue 1515/1/Y. I recieved it within 4 days of ordering it. 3rd order was an Octura X442. Recieved it within 4 days also. All 3 of my orders were placed over the phone dealing with Chris. Of my 3 total orders with FD, I have no complaints. He did talk to me to help me out with any question I had and just general talking. I cant say I would order again from FD after reading too many negative posts here and there, just too paranoid at this point. Not to mention their higher prices on most of the products they sell.

[MR2NR]

This is the way things are headed. Just like when stores opened up back in the 1800's Do you think there was any CS if your only alternative was walk 100 miles??!! I buy most everything online now. Why? Because of taxes. They take out income tax and then sales tax here in Missouri. It's ridiculous. Amazon has a lot of my business and since they offer free two day shipping it's a win win. Local hobby stores I have found are more of a convenience than anything else. You can live without them and they know this. They want the guy who will spend not the guy who wants to take care of something and get a deal.

[iamandrew]

I think it also depends on what you are buying.
Here in newcastle there is about 2 hobby stores, in which both carry a verry limited RC boat range. E.g. one has a proboat and NQD boats, the other has one gas boat.
I dont see why i was able to import from amain hobbies, a slash 4x4 PE with 80$ shipping, and it still be $200 cheaper than buying the 2WD standard one here....

[sigelitest]

I have dealt with Chris this year and he has been very reliable not an issue with anything. If I call he gets back to me. I don’t know of many hobby store owners giving out their personal phone number in case you have a problem. I order a lot from OSE and a lot from FD. I always call in my orders from FD and he will give me advice on my set up. From the dealings I have had with him he is more than willing to make it right as long as it is realistic. He is a 2 man show from what I can tell and does it for the love of the hobby. In order to support the hobby it is good to spread the money around a little or it won’t be here anymore. I have no problem spending money at a place where they like to do what they sell. And we all make mistakes so it is nice to give someone a chance

If I stopped ordering from online sites because of some flame threads I would stop ordering online. I like to form my own opinion.

[Make-a-Wake]

I ordered a Neu 1515 a couple years ago from FD, waited a fair while to get it and it was the wrong wind................also had big long leads with 8mm bullets on it?????????? Called him and finally got thru, he said they had sent a floor model that was in a car(??) by accident............. He said he would get me the new 1515 sent out, which he did, and never asked for the 1100kv 1515 back........, it now resides in my 8s Elam......................go figure.

[ray schrauwen]

I think it also depends on what you are buying.
Here in newcastle there is about 2 hobby stores, in which both carry a verry limited RC boat range. E.g. one has a proboat and NQD boats, the other has one gas boat.
I dont see why i was able to import from amain hobbies, a slash 4x4 PE with 80$ shipping, and it still be $200 cheaper than buying the 2WD standard one here....

Because the middlemen in Canada are getting really rich. or were.... The LHS takes a beating if they import through Canadian distributers.

You think thats bad, we used to have a great Toronto Hobby Show years ago. The Owners of the venue charg so much for Vendors that nobody comes out anymore. No more factory reps, No Tamiya display, no TT display. It's about 1/4 to 1/8 the size it used to be 10 years ago.

Oddly enough, Hobby City is opening a storefront in Orangeville ontario at a defunct Hobby Shop and Great Hobbies is opening a new store in Mississauge on Sunday.... Tried to find it but, it must be really small because??? no could find it physically???

Anyway, things are changing, that Storefront idea fraks me out man!!! Where things are only on display. Holy crap, thats just too weird...

I have heard that Mexico is dredging out harbours to create a super distribution center for N.A. More freaky stuff!!

[Stinger9D9]

... Great Hobbies is opening a new store in Mississauge on Sunday.... Tried to find it but, it must be really small because??? no could find it physically???

Hi Ray,

The new Great Hobbies location is in the plaza on the northwest corner at the intersection of Winston Churchill and Argentia. It's in the location of the old Radio Shack (The Source) store, 2 doors to the left of the Bulk Barn. It's a pretty good size, probably about 8,000 square feet or so.

I drive by it everyday, but that particular building is behind a couple others so I can't see if it's open yet or not. I'll probably drop in on Saturday though.