Hobby Fever

I purchased a Traxxas Stampede 4x4 VXL from another hobby shop while out of town, and was looking for a local resource. I found these guys. There generally is only one person in the store and they help who they're working with all the way until they leave, so you may end up with a little wait if a couple people are in line. The wait is worth it. I had 101 questions regarding various vehicle maintenance and parts, and 99 were answered off the top of their head, the rest they were able to quickly look up. These guys know what they're doing. Let me give you a disclaimer: I don't know much about RC yet, I'm still learning. That being said, Hobby Fever has been a valuable resource for recommendations and assistance with actual maintenance. They demonstrated to me how to fill my shocks with fluid, and even pointed out a couple mistakes to look out for. Being shown once, I can now take care of it. At one point I was sold the wrong rims/tires for my vehicle, but that is because the Traxxas documentation that Hobby Fever was referring to was wrong for the 4x4 VXL model. I came back to see if they had any rims for the 4x4 VXL, not even inquiring about returning the old rims (they were already glued) and I was -offered- a return. The next day when I came in to exchange, a different person was present but they already knew about the exchange! They take care of their customers. I must have purchased $200 in parts here already, so I dove in some more and bought a Rustler VXL from Hobby Fever for my girlfriend. I didn't think it'd catch with her, but she loves it, enough to break it on day one :-) . We came back to replace the front casters on it and the employees knew that particular part breaks often- they then ordered stock, aluminum and RPM nylon versions of the replacement parts for it, so we can find something that works for us. The Good: Knowledgeable, very helpful. Willing to go the extra mile for you. The Bad: A bit of a wait in line (up to 20 minutes depending). Notes: Be humble, patient, have an open mind and be willing to learn. If you explain carefully what you're after and let them know where your knowledge falls short, they'll give you good recommendations and will even help with maintenance. more

I recently purchased some products at Hobby Fever and had a very disappointing experience. For Christmas I wanted to purchase my fiancee a remote control airplane, a product which I knew very little about. At the store, I was guided to purchasing a plane for ~$625, for which I asked if there was training software. I was told that the plane did not include software and I spent an additional $200 on training software, for a total of $825. After opening the plane, I realized that it did include software and that I had double purchased training software. I assumed that I could easily return the separate software package, since the CD was still sealed in its original packaging. However after returning to the store, I was told that I would not be allowed to return the extra software that the store manager recommended that I purchase. I was rudely given many weak excuses of why I could not return the product including, that the store was a small business and because of the weak economy that I could not expect to be able to return the product. The following day, my fiancee called the store and asked what the problem was with returning the product. After getting nowhere, he told them that we would fight the charge on the credit card and review the poor service. The guy who originally sold me the plane then proceeded to threaten to beat my fiancee up if he entered the store and called him several slurs before calling him a ?f****** kike? and hanging up on him. The practices of this store seem very unethical and I feel as though I was scammed into double purchasing a product. The store manager has been very hostile in the process of getting a return and I am very frustrated by this experience. Pros: Good salesman Cons: Unethical more