There's a hobby store in my area that apparently must stay in business simply because it's the only one in town. Needed some screws and decided to see what they had. First thing I see when driving into the busy parking lot (it's in a strip mall) is either an employee or son or friend of the owner in front of the store flying a 2'-long electric fixed wing over the people and cars. Later they were running a model car in the area where cars were driving in and out off the access road. One truck had to stop to avoid the model.
After walking in I was reminded why I never go there. The owner sneers at you - like you walking into his store imposes on him somehow, or like he's doing you a favor by being open for business. Truthfully, the store is very well stocked. Still, the parts I really needed ended up being ordered on Ebay from China, the only source for what I was looking for.
Did buy a bag of screws and while checking out, one of the enthusiastic employees was telling a prospective customer his political and personal views regarding a Horizon Chroma multi-copter the customer was looking at. The customer was a middle-aged woman so the employee apparently felt the need to educate her on all "drone" issues. Without getting into details, he basically made it sound like most people who operated them are idiots and if you didn't operate one the way he believed was correct, then you would be an idiot too. This coming from an employee who was letting someone fly a fixed wing over the parking lot in front of their store.
Two other employees, or sons or relatives, were behind the counter. I commented that the Chroma looked like another Phantom clone. They immediately quipped that the Chroma was much better and that the Phantom's were old news. They added that the Chroma was as good as the Inspire and the camera alone cost $600. I commented that I got both of my Phantoms total for that much and that they were great flying aerial camera platforms. They didn't say anything but gave me a "so what" look. Then when I asked where the zip-ties were, one of the employees said they didn't carry any and that zip-ties were only good for holding together his crappy Mazda. Nice.
Not to promote, but recently I purchase a grand worth of parts from RMRC for a long-range fixed-wing project and will be ordering more to finish it up. Over the months I posed several questions through their support email and have received nothing but positive, honest and helpful responses. I know there are other companies that also genuinely like to help their customers and these types of companies are the ones that get my continued support.
There's a popular and friendly hobby store I used to frequent in another city but it's a 2-hour drive round trip. Most of my hobby shopping is done online now because frankly you get more selection, better pricing and it's convenient. As a lifelong business entrepreneur and multi-business owner, I do everything I can to support local business, but only when the business has a clue and deserves that support. In my opinion, any company that doesn't actively work to earn a customer's respect and loyalty certainly doesn't deserve to be in business. And the older I get, the more I realize that life is too short to deal with people who just don't get it.
After walking in I was reminded why I never go there. The owner sneers at you - like you walking into his store imposes on him somehow, or like he's doing you a favor by being open for business. Truthfully, the store is very well stocked. Still, the parts I really needed ended up being ordered on Ebay from China, the only source for what I was looking for.
Did buy a bag of screws and while checking out, one of the enthusiastic employees was telling a prospective customer his political and personal views regarding a Horizon Chroma multi-copter the customer was looking at. The customer was a middle-aged woman so the employee apparently felt the need to educate her on all "drone" issues. Without getting into details, he basically made it sound like most people who operated them are idiots and if you didn't operate one the way he believed was correct, then you would be an idiot too. This coming from an employee who was letting someone fly a fixed wing over the parking lot in front of their store.
Two other employees, or sons or relatives, were behind the counter. I commented that the Chroma looked like another Phantom clone. They immediately quipped that the Chroma was much better and that the Phantom's were old news. They added that the Chroma was as good as the Inspire and the camera alone cost $600. I commented that I got both of my Phantoms total for that much and that they were great flying aerial camera platforms. They didn't say anything but gave me a "so what" look. Then when I asked where the zip-ties were, one of the employees said they didn't carry any and that zip-ties were only good for holding together his crappy Mazda. Nice.
Not to promote, but recently I purchase a grand worth of parts from RMRC for a long-range fixed-wing project and will be ordering more to finish it up. Over the months I posed several questions through their support email and have received nothing but positive, honest and helpful responses. I know there are other companies that also genuinely like to help their customers and these types of companies are the ones that get my continued support.
There's a popular and friendly hobby store I used to frequent in another city but it's a 2-hour drive round trip. Most of my hobby shopping is done online now because frankly you get more selection, better pricing and it's convenient. As a lifelong business entrepreneur and multi-business owner, I do everything I can to support local business, but only when the business has a clue and deserves that support. In my opinion, any company that doesn't actively work to earn a customer's respect and loyalty certainly doesn't deserve to be in business. And the older I get, the more I realize that life is too short to deal with people who just don't get it.
