Current Manufacturers Customer Service -

[Charlie don't surf]

I have been ordering a few current parts here and there, and have had various experiences with different people, so here is my list-

LRP- Poor, no return call/email had to hassle them to get a response.

Panther Tires- Super poor-made a tire/foam order ( large ) waited 11 days for shipping info, and on the 11th I called them ( which took 7 days to find their contact # ) and was told they were waiting for the tires to come in, which they just did, and they said they should be here in another 10 days-

Jconcepts-Great! super easy and super fast ( and cheap ) shipping.

[Coelacanth]

HPI's support is also very good. If you have specific questions about their products' specs that isn't listed on their site, they're good at answering email messages.

Sadly, and for as long as I've worked in I.T. (16+ years), it seems most organizations who have websites ignore their emails--or don't answer in a timely manner. Frankly, if your company wants an online presence, it's shameful to take longer than 24 hours to answer an email. If email replies take longer than snail-mail, one is totally missing the point of having email in the first place.

[civilguy]

I'll add Venom was great to me. Email response within one day, and missing parts from my Creeper kit arrived within a week. The rep even threw in a couple spares.

Traxxas replaced an XL-5 esc for me quickly and painlessly.

Next up is AE, for missing slipper pads from my B4.1 FT build. I'll post up as soon as I deal with them.

[call-911]

Novak - I had heard many good things about their customer service so when I got back into RC I went with their brushless ESC. I had used a T4 growing up as a kid and never had any issues. Used the new brushless esc for 3 runs and on the fourth it started cogging real bad. Later I found out that there was a long list of people on RCTech with the same issue due to a design flaw. If a high torque steering servo was connected to the car and the wheels were manually moved (in my case to reinstall a shock after a spring change which I've done for years growing up in RC), it would GENERATE enough current to smoke some temfets on the ESC. After an email exchange and forwarding the link to the long thread regarding the issue, they wanted $100 or so to repair the speed controller or $150 to replace it with a new one which "magically" had a new diode to prevent upstream current. I decided to get a new replacement and when I got it back from Novak, sold it and immediately bought a Tekin RS. Customer service my ass.