HobbyTown — Attraction in Tulsa

I bought a boat on Thursday 5/22/14. While doing the proper pre-check (checking steering/throttle) the throttle would cut out after a few seconds. I took it back on 5/23/14 before going to the lake this weekend and picked up a more expensive, larger model. To my surprise while doing the pre-check on this model the throttle worked great but one of the plastic pieces connecting the servo arm broke during the pre-check. Needless to say I was about two hours away with no boat for the weekend after dropping around $200. I got back into town today and rushed to the store to return/swap the model.

Admittedly I barely made it in time 3-4 minutes before closing (5pm) but the store manager Steven told me he couldn't help me and I would have to return on Tuesday (tomorrow is Memorial Day). After being home from the lake I was hoping to use whatever I got in our neighborhood pool. His reasoning was it was almost closing time and he had to "get his guys out there." While I can appreciate that why didn't Steven, the manager, step up and do a return and/or swap which wouldn't have taken more than a few minutes. Why was the door unlocked if they weren't open for business? If you have your door unlocked be prepared to help customers that walk in or lock your doors and only let out the folks who are still there, in my opinion.

In college I worked retail at Best Buy and Staples and it was fairly common to have people in the store a few minutes past closing and we always helped them even if it meant staying a few minutes after closing time. So here I am with two defective units in a row and no one wanted to step up to help me. I am a repeat customer and have spent quite a bit of money there but I will no longer.

On Tuesday I plan on returning my items for full credit and will inform the local franchise owner of this. Many times when going into the store the employees (not all of them) act like they are too good to help you and they are RC gods who you must bow down to if you ask a simple question. This is not good customer service and I will be voting with my wallet by spending my future thousands elsewhere. They aren't the only game in town and I can also buy online moving forward for much cheaper.

If you live in the Tulsa, OK area I would not advise buying anything from them. After 8 heli's, 4 planes, 1 truck and now 2 defective boats I am done. That doesn't account for the numerous upgrade parts, repair materials and other items purchased there. If this is how they treat their customers I no longer want to be...

I'm not really sure how these guys are in business or how they plan to stay in business.

I am new to town and was planning to get an rc car for the track near my house so I stopped in this place. Seems like a nice place and has alot of overpriced items but I was willing to pay a premium to have the car NOW; however, after 2 trips to this shop I have decided to either order from TowerHobbies or from the Shop at Adam's Creek Raceway in Broken Arrow because the guy there said he matches the price from TowerHobbies since he knows most ppl order from them anyway.

When I asked about the restroom 2 guys ignored me talking about the football score and after a few more times of asking I finally was told the restrooms were out of order. They have 2 restrooms, locked and they claim aren't working so I had to take my kids to Ross's next door, ok I can live with that. Then I get back, and since no one is talking to any customers (I wasn't the only one) I took the 2 cars from the shelf that I was considering, the boxes were already opened and not taped (I guess they open all of their stock for some reason) and I had them carefully placed as to not damage anything and LOW AND BEHOLD the basterds speak "Um, you can't open that there, you must bring it up to the counter and let us assist you with that"

Ok, I'll play this game.. so I bring them to the counter, ask for help from all 3 knuckle heads yet again am ignored as well as the other 4 customers (at this point 2 of them are cussing and leave) so since I was ignored I go on and reopen the boxes to check them out. The one dummy rolls his eyes at me but that's it, the other 2 could careless.

Needless to say, I figured out which one I wanted and left it on the counter while ordering it from TowerHobbies on my phone and using a promo code provided on their site - Sucks cuz i have to wait for it to ship but I wasn't about to feed the basterd company any money.

Also I almost thought about avoiding RC car racing all together because I figured most ppl must be this rude since there was an entire store of jerks but I am happy to say that it was an isolated incident and is just the representation of the staff at the HobbyTown USA store in Tulsa. But the staff at Adams Creek Raceway were very friendly, they just mostly carry parts but will order kits...

Iv'e been going to this place for over 18 years and it's always had what I needed most the times than not and even then the ordering wasn't to much of a waiting time as else where. I have had a times or two it did take longer than exspected but I didn't mind the wait. I haven't really had much issues ever with the staff as some might have mentioned here in the reviews. Eveyone has a off day so I'll just leave that here. But none that Iv'e exspierenced myself. I have even bought personal aircrafts off one of the sales guys and was given a very good deal. Never steered wrong or taken for anything. They've been very honest on every question I could have ever asked and have provided me along the years with many great tips on Airplanes, Helis, Cars, Trucks that Iv'e purchased in the past used that needed work. More than a few times have even basically fixed them right on the spot for free with parts I already had or even as little as tuned my nitro or petro 8th and 5th scales r/c's. I like it also when I can walk in and be asked if I need any help on anything and then they just let me be however long I am around for without following me around or bothering me too. Anyhow the staff has changed a few times but not to much or to often either so that seems to me it's even a good employer to the staff they hire even. Few times also when they didn't have a part and knew I wanted it now I even got a refference to where I could possibly find it right then and there so they don't always just l;ook out for themselves either unlike many other places near by that talk dirty about their competitor. I might be able to find things cheaper online but when I want right now even then I don't feel like I was cracked over the head on price much either. So for all your hobbist needs I wouldn't hesitate to refer this location to anyone that's looking for a...