question on RPM warranty policy

[59burst]

I posted the 1st picture on BST to buy a odd arm for my old new RC10 with RPM '91 arms. then bearrickster told me RPM would send me a replacement. thanks for the info again

mailed to RPM, then just got this answer

Yes I have one, but they are very rare and going for a lot of money on ebay. I will sell you this one, but would need to get $20 plus shipping (postage). Where are you located so we can get you a shipping quote, if you are still interested?

Richard
RPM R/C Products
President

I don't think it's normal or acceptable neither. I agree it's rare and could be turned to $$. but it couldn't be a issue if they have a policy on their products.

maybe I can pay $20 even it was not clear one meant a set or odd. but still want to post this to make this issue clear and get some advices from you guy's experiences.

Hyeong

[59burst]

I got a quick update.

Normally we would warranty a break but in this case, those a-arms have been discontinued and unsupported by RPM for in excess of 10 years. In the event of an RPM item being discontinued, the warranty no longer applies. The owner of RPM found a set from his personal collection that he is willing to part with if you are interested. The text of the RPM warranty program can be found on our website FAQ page at http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/faq/warranty.htm of which I copied the relevant portion for your reference below:

Discontinued Products: RPM cannot warranty products that are no longer supported or manufactured. We will do everything we can to supply a replacement part for a valid warranty request but if an item that has been damaged is discontinued and no longer supported by RPM, the warranty is considered void.

[Coelacanth]

Interesting post. However, boiling it down to what matters--if there was ever any warranty on that item, and that warranty period has expired, you have to pay whatever they ask to replace it. There's no obligation by RPM to give you a 'good price' if there is no warranty remaining. Just my thoughts.

[LTO_Dave]

I'd pay the $20 to get the new white one. Then buy a pair of black ones since it's a runner and keep the white ones for a shelfer.

[59burst]

everything is clear now. they only have one arm (not a pair). and, fastang offered me on the arm. and I'm waiting for the answer from him. maybe I'll take both for later
thanks

Hyeong

[Charlie don't surf]

That still kinda upsets me, the best answer is

1) No, we have none
2) No, we sold it all to Asso-man
3) Yes, but you can't have it

[59burst]

what's wrong with RPM, David and me?

[Charlie don't surf]

what's wrong with RPM, David and me?

Nothing, I just think it is insulting to offer a lifetime warranty, then offer an arm for $20 bucks after a failure- If they said the warranty was out and they had no more than ok!



but....................I did just send them a shot of my Ultra Molded buggy with a broken chassis, and they said that sadly they were out of the black ones but would I accept a new white kit as a replacement for $99 since they were getting such good money on ebay

[lpddpd]

I agree with Charlie to a point. It all has to do with the wording of the warranty. In this case I think limited lifetime warranty is what RPM wants it to be, but did they state that in their original warranty. Was there an internet to check the warranty when those arms came out? I think if you're the original buyer, and you have a really old receipt to prove it you have some justification to be unhappy with their response. If however, you bought those on the secondary market (even if NIP) RPM has some wiggle room to get out of it. Obviously they are not going to make another set, and yes those parts are very old, but if standing behind your lifetime warranty is one of your selling points, you really should have a plan for how to deal with that in 10, 15, 20+ years.

I think the best lifetime warranty stories are LL Bean if I remember from business class right. One was for a boomerang someone bought, threw it out over a cliff and it didn't come back. LL Bean gave them a new one. Second was for a really old sleeping bag I think, something like 50-75 years old that had been in storage. The family pulled it out and it just disintegrated. They wrote LL Bean and were sent a new sleeping bag. No way it was the same model style, but still they didn't try to not honor it because that's one of their selling points.

[scr8p]

when you go to their website, in the F.A.Q., it says right in there that if you break a discontinued parts, your're SOL. so why bother even sending them an e-mail?

i can't believe they even offered one...... at ANY price.

[Jay Dub]

Granted, the product has been OOP for many years, but I still think it is bullcrap. This fucker could easily do a short production run of these arms and sell them again. Instead, he is offering you one out of his "personal" collection. for $20. This is exactly what Debeirs (sp?) does with diamonds. He probably has a box of them and is slowly leaking them to the public for golf money.

[aconsola]

The policy was originally listed as a lifetime warranty with no qualifications. I emailed them several years ago to ask about warranty on discontinued items, and got the same info 59burst was given. somewhere over the past 3-4 years or so they updated their policy online to spell out the exclusion for discontinued items.

If they don't have any old stock they are not going to make any even if they still have the molds. Someone one here tried to get a run of parts. my memory of the details is sketchy, but I think it was worlds arms, and they were told they had to pre-pay for a ton of them, at above what retail price would be for a similar current part just to get them to pull out the molds. Any machine time away from high sales volume current molds costs them money that they could be generating by making those parts. I certainly don't see them making a couple random parts here and there to fulfill old warranty claims when they could just add an exclusion to their policy.

[scr8p]

apparently, making "dirty danglers" is where the big money is at. not remaking parts for 20 year old cars. they've been asked, multiple time, and it's not gonna happen.

hell, i couldn't even convince them to make the team car arms they currently still produce in white instead of black. not a chance. they said something like............ we'd have to do a run of 1,000 sets, and they're lucky if they sell more than 2 sets of the balck ones a month. so, it's understandable why they won't do it.

my jaw dropped when i found out the came back out with the rc10 "shorty" front bumper. but of course, molded in black.

[59burst]

I got a reply and, they don't have a easy payment method like PayPal or credit card.

[scottmac74]

When I ordered 3 plugs for some gear covers, they made me send a check... I guess those 3% CC fees will ruin a business.