Branson Hobby Center — Local services in Hollister

I stopped by here on vacation when my son's Traxxas truck broke a wheel caster. I bought the part and since I was on vacation and didn't have any tools with me, asked the owner if I could change out the part right there at the counter. Obviously the shop has all the basic tools to do this kind of thing and then some. It only takes a screwdriver an an allen wrench. But he replied, "sure, if you have the tools", and walked away.

I was blown away that he could be so callous. So I said nothing, went back home and got the job done with my Leatherman.

I would give this shop a 5 star rating for everything except customer service. For me their service was like a slap in the face. The owner could have lent me a screwdriver and an allen wrench to do the job - such a simple job - but instead he said "nah." So if you're considering this shop, I'm also inclined to recommend "nah" unless you're desperate for a specific part, and even then, don't expect the owner to care about you. Such a stark contrast to the rest of the very warm, welcoming Ozark area.

UPDATE: After seeing the owner's reply to my review, I wanted to re-emphasize that he offered zero explanation to me on why he wouldn't let me use his tools. He didn't offer any explanation at all, just refused and walked away. I called him on the phone when I saw his reply to my review. He said he tries to explain his no tools policy to everyone that asks, but admitted that he may have forgotten to explain to me in this case. So far he has not edited his response to show that, so I'm...

Drove past this place many times. Never stopped in. Decided to stop in with my son. Purchase a $25 Titanic model ship. Was excited to do it with my son. While gently removing pieces, the model pieces broke, split into, bent etc. holes designed to accommodate the model pieces were wrong size, the Titanic ship was unable to be put together because of the extremely poor quality. I only lost $25 here, but it makes me approach very cautiously the idea of purchasing anything at higher cost here. There are many items for several hundred dollars. If I can't even get a $25 item to be able to be put together because of such poor quality, what does it say about all the other items in the store. Just saying. Not impressed so far. Too bad. I love privately owned stores. I was hoping for a great experience. Kinda let down. 😢 Employee/ (((owner))) Insisted on identification with credit card purchase under $25. I had my wife's credit card on me so I had to go back down a flight of stairs to get my wife to come back in and show her ID. Such a drag. Unimpressed...

This is overall a very nice hobby store and they have a nice selection of RC cars and kits. I'm into HO scale trains and their selection was smaller compared to other stores and their prices were considerably higher than other train stores. Also, the nicer trains were in a display case out of the boxes which makes me hesitant to buy anything there if the locomotives aren't in their original boxes. If I were to leave a separate star review for their model railroad selection, and how they had the locomotives on display out of their original boxes, I would leave 3/5 stars. If you need anything model railroad related, Midwest Model Railroad in Independence, MO has a huge selection and very reasonable prices. They also have lightning fast shipping. The store overall, I would give 4/5 stars. However, all of the staff was extremely friendly and very...