Traxxas support response..... NOT!

[jj2003]

Greetings to all. I want to start out by saying what a great group of people you have here with great support and knowledge. Far better that the company I purchased the boat from. I've been reading now for about two weeks and cannot find any better anywhere. Keep up the great work and comraderie. I Just bought my first RC boat, a Spartan. My son and I were out running her for the 4th time and each time prior and including this run I noticed the boat going much slower than the initial launch. Batteries still at 51% and motor and esc still around 98 degrees during this run. Opened the hatch and to my surprise, again water! About 1 full cup. Oh no, bad cooling jacket....no.....bad hose connects...no. Closer inspection revealed seam at bow separating. Its a brand new boat. I e-mailed customer support and this was my response:

At 09:46 PM 5/24/2011 -0500, you wrote:

John Fiegel sent a message using the contact form at
http://traxxas.com/contact.

Greetings,
I just purchased a new Traxxas Spartan for my son 2 weeks ago. We have had
the boat out 4 times now and I noticed water in the bottom of the hull each
time we took her out. Upon close inspection the last time we ran her, there
is an area near the bow that has opened up and is allowing water to enter.
Being a new boat, is the seam prone to separation and is this covered under
manufacturer's warranty?


Hello,

The only warranty is the 30 day electronic warranty. Please send a very well focused picture of the area you are referring to.

Best regards,
Steve Lindholm,
Traxxas Customer Service


No warranty on the Hull? 30 days on the electronics? For a $400 boat? Are you kidding me? Thier support is like the the ruskies on the Capital One commercial. What a joke! It makes me want to post on the Traxxas forum as many colorful words I can think of just to get banned on purpose. Sorry Peter Traxxas, but your support team sucks. My buisness is going elsewhere where I can get a decent response like " we can look into it for you and do the best we can", not a reply like only the electronics are covered. Ask your support members, if your $400 blue ray player died after four times using it, would you take it back to the store for another or would you swap out the guts for better quality parts? I really think not! I'm going with MG. I'm gonna torch this and send them the pics!

[markster]

He's trying to say you caused the hole by hitting something but if there is no obvious damage marks around it they will replace it.

[dag-nabit]

With all due respect, I understand your frustration, and I'm not trying to be a mother hen or wanna be moderator, but....

Can we go easy on f***n's. This is a general public forum and my daughter, who is my rc buddy, reads these forums.

I can certainly understand an occasional expletive to make a point, but am I out of line to request we keep this forum somewhat family oriented?

I made a post similar to yours over on Traxxas, but I went straight to the source, PM'd it directly to the mod and got myself banned for life.

It is interesting though that when Jpriami posted about the boat he modified for his friend breaking in half on the maiden voyage, Peter from Traxxas said "send it in, it's covered", but now Traxxas is telling a father and son running a stock unit "sorry it isn't covered".

Kevin

[roadrashracing]

WoW! If you would have taken a picture of the area like they asked, I'm sure if it was a flow they would have sent you a new one, but the way you are actioning, would would sned you a nice gift from my dog!

[jj2003]

My appologies

To Kevin and All, my appologies to you. I dont want to get banned from here. I understand completly about the family forum. It was late, it took them 2 days to answer 1 simple question and after I read the response I wanted to scream. Sorry for venting on the board. I think I was trying to get a rise or response from a senior traxxas support specialist who may be "browsing" the threads to appologize for such a stupid response. I normally dont ever post such explitives, but I just wanted to strangle someone. It wont happen again and thanks for all the info and help.

[scoota]

To Kevin and All, my appologies to you. I dont want to get banned from here. I understand completly about the family forum. It was late, it took them 2 days to answer 1 simple question and after I read the response I wanted to scream. Sorry for venting on the board. I think I was trying to get a rise or response from a senior traxxas support specialist who may be "browsing" the threads to appologize for such a stupid response. I normally dont ever post such explitives, but I just wanted to strangle someone. It wont happen again and thanks for all the info and help.

Edit the last section of of your first post & start again , we all understand your frustration .

jason

[jj2003]

Your right! I would too. Sorry to vent and post has been edited!

[jj2003]

Did so as you sent this Jason, my apologies. I just dont understand why he couldnt ask the question, "can you send some pics?" Not start with "only the electronics are covered". This unit is bone stock, brand new. I thought water had entered thru the transom while going in reverse. But after getting the hang of driving it and not using reverse once on the 4th run, I knew it had to be something else. I just wish they would have thought out the response like I didnt. I'm very sorry for venting to such a knowledable group of guys. I cannot tell you all how sorry I am and it wont happen again.

[dag-nabit]

Thanks jj,

Hope you feel a bit better after venting...... even if it was kinda short lived.

Kevin

[LarrysDrifter]

We all need to vent sometimes. Dont feel too bad. Just keep the foul language in its place.

[GeoVW72]

Not to play devil's advocate here, but I've dealt with Steve in the past and found out the he "works remotely" and doesn't deal with the rest of the support team directly. He is apparently the only one that deals with all the on line support and to your credit he is a little misinformed at times.
Traxxas does have a "*lifetime hull replacement plan", which as far as my understanding is 75$ for a replacement hull.
You will be far better off to call support and talk to an actual person.

Pictures of the split will also help us and them to see the problem.

Without seeing where/how big the split is I wouldn't really call it the source of all the water in the boat. Seems to me that they always will have water in them, the transom grommet is not the best and re-seating it by re-installing the power module may help keep the water out.

[chadrob30]

I too have dealt with Steve...great guy who is kind of caught in the middle of the Traxxas BS....first step is to register the serial number of the boat. Then take a few macro shots of the affected area of the hull and email them to him....with some tact, explain that the boat is your son's, and that he is very disappointed that he cannot run it....you may have to send the boat to Plano, but I would bet that they will either replace or repair it....you may have to pay shipping one way, but it's better than nothing. Good luck.

[markster]

The stock water jacket also leaks water, more so with any modifications to the cooling system.

[jj2003]

I thank all of you for your time and also your patience with me. Again you have my deepest apologies and you can be certain you wont see it again. I have "vented" and yes it was "short lived" but it is in best interest to follow the righteous path now. I understand now that it was the combination of my son's disappointment and the assumption of Steve that it had crashed, that cause a "mental breakdown" in my train of thought. Peter Traxxas, I also owe one to you. I almost called you out without ever speaking to you and I have seen many of your responses to other members more knowledgable than myself. I am humbled and hope I can benifit from all of you who have been dealing with this much longer than myself. For money's sake, I dont see an immediate need to send the hull back. I think its more than repairable and will do so with the recomendations of a few really nice guys, who took the time to respond to another post of mine. We took her out again today to determine how bad the leak was. About 20 minutes of run time and 1/2 a cup. Not terrible and repairable. Thank you all again for your concern and enlightening me back to reality! Boy, sometimes the kids feelings really grab the parents and become exagerated quickly. Oh well, live and learn right!? Thanks again, JJ.

[scoota]

I thank all of you for your time and also your patience with me. Again you have my deepest apologies and you can be certain you wont see it again. I have "vented" and yes it was "short lived" but it is in best interest to follow the righteous path now. I understand now that it was the combination of my son's disappointment and the assumption of Steve that it had crashed, that cause a "mental breakdown" in my train of thought. Peter Traxxas, I also owe one to you. I almost called you out without ever speaking to you and I have seen many of your responses to other members more knowledgable than myself. I am humbled and hope I can benifit from all of you who have been dealing with this much longer than myself. For money's sake, I dont see an immediate need to send the hull back. I think its more than repairable and will do so with the recomendations of a few really nice guys, who took the time to respond to another post of mine. We took her out again today to determine how bad the leak was. About 20 minutes of run time and 1/2 a cup. Not terrible and repairable. Thank you all again for your concern and enlightening me back to reality! Boy, sometimes the kids feelings really grab the parents and become exagerated quickly. Oh well, live and learn right!? Thanks again, JJ.

All is good , welcome to OSE