Ultimate Hobbies — Attraction in Orange

This review is based on their Tamiya 4wd Mini Car races.

Pros: - Lots of stock Good prizes Nice sized track

Cons: - Very disorganized Expects customers to police themselves (So many obnoxiously loud adults yelling in Tagalog. Yes, I'm also Filipino, and I understood the vulgar language that the adults were exchanging with kids around) Rude race host Complacent with how they run things NOT WELCOMING

Cliff, the person in charge of Mini 4wd races, was open to feedback on how to improve the experience at his store. I gave him some ideas. For example:

Keep the center of the track clear so ppl testing cars can see where their cars are going Have staff make regular announcements to keep walkways clear Make each category have first priority for testing their cars if they're up soon. Other categories can wait for the second half of the practice session.

Cliff seemed open to the ideas and feedback. Sadly, it was the race host that was rude and closed-minded. I was shocked to hear from my husband and my roommate who came with me to the races that the race host had given the three of us dirty looks. Not sure why, but we assume that it's because we're openly gay (dirty looks came before I spoke to Cliff).

My message to the owner and to Cliff:

Please invest in more staff for the races, not prizes. The quality and the experience is more important than just catering to your regulars.

Be welcoming to new guests. You don't know how beneficial they may be to the future of your business.

Please get rid of the raffle because it's illegal for a for-profit company to do raffles in California.

Have your race host, Brian, take a class in basic customer service. If he can ask about his lunch break, then that tells me he is a paid employee that should be held to higher standards. He represents Ultimate Hobbies at these events, and being professional while at the events does not require physical effort.

Being told that this activity is not for me by Brian was very rude and insulting. Always encourage your customers to come back, never discourage them. Be empathic and listen to concerns.

Unfortunately, Ultimate Hobbies lost our business. We live locally, and have frequented the store for kits and parts (spent a lot of money). This was our first race, and the impression was not good. The activity is definitely for us, but the race venue is not.

Good luck in the future.

Update: They removed me from their Facebook page for voicing...

I have been to this store many, many times both last year and this year 2016. Being brand new to the hobby, ie less than a year, I certainly DO NOT understand the posts here about poor customer service. At times it has almost been overwhelming the number of times I am asked if I need help when just browsing. This is not an employees fault but more that they are adequately staffed and a large retail store, if just browsing it can get annoying sometimes. Everytime I have asked for help, they are prompt, have been honest and had great knowledge. I unfortunately have been on a work disability and have more than I desire of free time thus am compairing this store to every hobby shop in Orange County and a few in LA County recently, as to my opinion. They are 5 STARS on customer service and knowledge. I'd give them a 2-3 STARS on BNF, RTF and ready to drive product inventory. It is never consistent and sporatic. The larger than their competitors shelving adds to the hit or miss selection they may or may not have at any given point. Rule of thumb definitely here is call 1st. 4 STARS on parts inventory, again huge stocking area and they have nearly always had parts for my R/C buggy, heli, and general needs when I've shopped. However, something bad must have happened here in the store history, you may feel like you are being accused of being a thief as your parts are walked up to the register behind the long counters. That seems a bit ridiculous that I or I am sure others are going to aim for the door and bolt out with a 4 dollar plastic part in my hand, especially after I have spent a few hundred dollars here on different occasions not to mention I do not think I look affiliated with gangs or can run fast right now with a cane. I'd give them a 1 STAR on common sense if that was a normal rating. The store itself is dated and I would rate a 3-4 on looks and current consumer demand. This is NOT your goto store for anything for quadcopters or helicopters that aren't Blade or Dromida. They are also not your FPV stop. Overall good store and would be 5 star if they carried a consistent stock and didn't act as if unsold merchandise was more valuable than diamonds and gold, the next step will be beinging up products to the register under armed guard. My guess is the street value for my 3s 2200mAh Lipo is about what I paid...

I spent a ton at this store because it was close to my office and I am new to the hobby. I found that they had a good floor staff, but don't dare to try to return anything. Management is very hostile. I got a plane that was basically dead out of the box (bad electronics). I took the plane back in to show them. I asked for either an exchange or at least for them to send it back to the manufacturer for me. They told me they won't exchange anything that was opened (even with a receipt and it never worked to begin with). I get it, as they don't want used models on their hands. What I did not get was the fact that they would not help me send it back. They said that they did want to spend money to do so (I guess its OK for me to spend my money). I suppose that they have more customers than they know what to do with, as I was walking out the door with my plane, the manager, who is the son of the owner, proceeded to badger me. He was questioning my ethics for simply asking them for help while I was trying to leave the store. Keep in mind that this is after I spent thousands of dollars over the past few months, and I had a receipt in hand for this plane. It was weird, I was not angry customer guy or anything like that, very polite up until the very end. It appears that I really offended management for asking for their help with a return. My mistake was not realizing that it was more important for them to have money instead of me having a working plane. Needless to say I will never go back. I would recommend Robs or Gearbox if you value customer service, not just at the point of sale, but with customer service that shows that they truly value...