Quote:
Originally Posted by jordagar
Darren, please do not take my post as a personal attack.
I am merely venting frustration in that I had a list of stuff I wanted to buy today and I have two really good model shops near me that I know I could have got everything on my list but both are now closed on the only day that I am able to get to them.
I don’t question your dedication and the amount of time you spend supporting the sport by attending national, regional & local meetings and I was unaware that you had a presence at these meetings as I’m an average club racer and those meetings are far from my ability. I’m also not saying that you guys aren’t entitled to a day off, this is not the case.
I have supported DMS since I moved to Watford in 1995. I have bought 4 nitro cars, 1 electric buggy, 2 RB engines, pipes, loads of fuel, many tools and lots of spares in that time. I also used to go to the back field at Parmiters on a Sunday to run my Hyper 7 and subsequently my Losi 8 (Both bought from DMS and setup/tuned by you). My name is Jordan, you will recognise me if you saw me.
Like you, a young family and other commitments take up much of my time and as a result Saturday is the only day I am able to go to a shop to get the stuff I need. As an average racer with limited talent but loads of enthusiasm for RC, I rely on guys at the track but most importantly the model shop owner / shop guys to give advice or support for the products I have bought or want to buy.
Sitting in front of a computer reading manufacturers descriptions of a product (written by a marketing person) and clicking “add to cart” isn’t the same as going into a shop and talking about the product, buying it and taking it home.
I mentioned that I am surprised that in the current economic climate that a specialist retailer is closed on traditionally the busiest shopping day of the week. You have made the decision based on your declining takings but I am sure that if you asked around that you would be surprised at the feedback about closing on a Saturday and how much business potentially has been lost as a result. Surely I am not the only one who feels this way?!
The reason for my decision to purchase from the 3 sites I mentioned was
purely made on the cheapest price and stock availability alone. My thought process here is that if I have to order online and have stuff delivered I might as well shop around and get the best price. This would not have been a factor if I had the opportunity to purchase from DMS or MK today. Even if you did not have the item I wanted in stock, you could have ordered it and I could have picked it up next Saturday (Thats the way it used to work..didn’t it?)
Regarding the remarks re: JE Spares. I have never had the urge to drive 178 miles on a Saturday to JE Spares to buy some parts so was unaware that they were closed on a Saturday. I live in Bushey, they are in Manchester!?
Please accept my apologies if you feel that my rant was targeted at you, this was never my intention, I was merely venting frustration as instead of building my car with its new ESC, motor, building/filling the shock and diffs with oil, I sit watching TV and responding to your reply instead.
I know what I’d rather be doing.
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Jordon,
It was hard to take your first post (both on this thread and the entire forum) as anything but an attack on us tbh.......
You go on to say that you really wanted to buy/have your bits today, so why not just order them yesterday and arrange for our saturday delivery option, you would have got them this morning, been building and tinkering all day and everyone would be happy. I know you will add you would like to have advice on them before hand, talk about and discuss the options available to you, we do have three phone lines at our place, you only have to pick up the phone and we can gladly discuss your requirement before you order, even if not right away we could call you back when it suits you....
You did mention that we should be there on a saturday in your first post then in your reply you state you dont begrudge us a day off? Which is it, we cannot do both.
I have to say by first name alone, I dont recall you, but then we have seen thousands of customers in the 20 odd years we have now been trading, so please forgive me, I would probably recognise the face more then the name.
Like I mentioend in my first reply, there are tons of other options for you to be able to get the stuff you need, in particular by picking them up at our club as many do every thursday. You mention you race 1/10th buggies on Friday, why not race at your most local club on a Thursday which would kill two birds with one stone, satisfy your racing craving and allow to pick up your goods in person.... although I cannot recall ever seeing you at our indoor club.
As for Saturdays, they "used" to be the busiest day by a long way (15 years ago) but the interent has re-shaped things dramatically and in fact just before we closed on the saturdays it was the quietest day by more than half of any other and we took on average about a quarter of what we took on a normal Monday!!! Some saturdays at the end we would barely take enough to pay the staff for the day and cover the running costs, the final straw for me though was seeing my then 3 (coming up 4) year old boy growing up fast and I would barely see him week after week and that HAD to change, we now spend far more time as a "family" at weekends, in particular the saturdays....
As for "ordering on a Saturday, if not in stock, get it the next saturday", same thing works from a "thursday to a thursday" does it not?
And lastly as for the getting the best prices, then mentioning MS, BMM etc, last time I looked (and we check every day
) most of our prices (on all the items you listed - SP ESC, motor, servo, shock oils etc etc) we are still cheaper (if not the cheapest) by some fair way on most of these, so why did you then not "mail order" them from us still for Tuesday........
Lucky for me TV tonight was awful, so I dont mind too much typing two long replies (and trust me my typing is slow), but since I am up in just over 6 hours to go to Stotfold, I will reply to some of the other posts quickly and call an end to my contributon for tonight on this thread.......