Spot on DCM, I get so wound up by people whinging about how cheap iris to buy from abroad, it is ridiculously expensive in the UK.
I tend to buy from abroad, generally I can buy, have it shipped and pay import duty and it still costs less than here, plus if I order on a Sunday night it's nearly always here in time for the next weekends racing! The saddest part is, I am even getting better customer service from shops who have English as a second language often! The only risk (I accept though don't like) is it can be impossible to make warranty claims.
As an example of prices Speed passion V3 motors are @$75 in the US, aren't they more than that in £'s over here?? I'm not blaming the shops as I get the impression they don't make a huge margin, but someone is screwing us here in the UK!
The best/only way of UK shops competing is customer service and/or being at tracks, that's why places like PBM and DMS still get my business when I can!
As an example of good cs though, I asked Stella Models if they could get me the new Tamiya ESC when Tamya first announced it. It's not really a core product for them but they agreed to ask and also then to let me know when it was released. Despite me not chasing them they came back to me this week with a date/price, they had remembered me asking for the product! It's amazing how many UK shops I've never heard back from in similar situations!
Again with Stella, they shopped round various places to try and find a cheap trf801x for me this summer, and remained helpful and polite even after they realised they couldn't get it sorted in time and therefore wouldn't get the order. It's being treated well even when you go elsewhere that makes me then go back to them next time! To be balanced, PBM are very good at this too, totally understanding when you end up going elsewhere!
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