There is a debate that has been raging online and in print for as long
as I can remember. It is the debate over "Support Your Local Hobby
Shop" versus saving money online. There is no right answer as each
modeler has different combinations of conditions that influence their
buying decisions - large or small town; good selection or not; multiple
local hobby shops or not; and the list goes on.
One key variable in this equation is customer service. If one were to
speak in generalities, local shops are more consumer friendly than online
or mail order houses. Of course we all know that this generality is not
always true. Some local businesses are not user-friendly, they think of
themselves as a monopoly since they don't have much local competition.
And we all know that our favorite larger mail order houses like Squadron,
VLS, Hannants and HobbyLink Japan have fast service and equally fast customer
service when things go wrong.
Let's look at a few examples that I've experienced lately:
-
I recently tried to order a parka as it was REALLY cold this winter
(what happened to global warming?!?) and none of the local stores
had any in stock (big surprise). I found a nice-looking website called
US Wings that carried nice aviation attire, found a nice parka and
placed the online order. A few days later, I noted that my credit
card had been charged, so I was anxiously watching for UPS to deliver
some warmth. A few weeks later, I attempted to contact this company
(they don't offer telephone customer service and they are slow to
respond to emails) to learn that my parka had been back-ordered and
it will be another month before delivery. They had three strikes against
them all at once - they hadn't advised me of the back-order, they
charged my credit card anyway, and by the time the bloody thing would
get here, it would be too warm to wear. I cancelled the order. To
top it off, they have yet to credit my card for the charge, but my
credit card company is taking care of that for me now.
-
I ordered several kits from HobbyLink Japan and they shipped them
in two boxes on the same day. I received the first box right away,
but the second box was hung up in the mail for almost two more weeks.
When it did arrive, it looked like it had stopped an RPG round. The
hole in the side of box revealed the two kits inside and that they
were mooshed. HLJ offered to replace the two kits right away. While
the kit boxes and the kit's carrier sprues were damaged, the kit parts
were surprisingly intact, so I declined the replacements.
-
I had pre-ordered the Classic Airframes Meteor kit as soon as it
was first announced on the Squadron Mail Order website. Some months
later, I pre-ordered a few more forgetting about the first pre-order.
When the Meteors arrived at Squadron, these folks took the time to
call me and confirm that I really wanted that many Meteors and repeated
back my duplicate orders. The mistake was mine, but Squadron went
the extra mile to ensure a happy customer.
-
One local hobby ship I used to frequent had an owner who was RC-oriented
and when through stages about us static modelers. Sometimes he would
stock new stuff, other times he would only carry what the WalMart
carried. Sometimes he would special order stuff for us, sometimes
it was too much trouble. Sometimes he even stocked photo-etched and
resin detail sets, other times he'd revert back to the WalMart model.
These anti-modeler stages would occur every six-to-nine months and
not last long when his store's income dropped accordingly.
While I am for supporting local businesses (including hobby shops),
if the proprietors are not going to be responsive, I vote with my feet.
As with the first example, mail order isn't always a better answer, but
as long as we share our experiences with one another on forums like Hyperscale,
we can at least help keep one another's frustration levels to a minimum.
As long as there are companies like Squadron, VLS, HLJ and Hannants, we'll
still have our unique needs fulfilled.
Now go build a model!
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