HobbyTown — Local services in Mooresville

I feel bad writing this review (which I’m sure is more than the owner felt when he decided to attack me over the phone for a quick buck). I want to help you understand what you’re getting into when you go here.

I bought an RC simulator software combo, but ultimately decided not to use it. I came back to return it completely untouched and unopened the next day (as the employee kindly confirmed). After finding nothing wrong, I was told it could be returned, but that he needed to check with the owner. After calling the owner I was told normally there’s a 20% restocking fee, but that they would cut me a deal and make it 10%. This is not listed anywhere in their return policy on the receipt (which is already extremely limited and they definitely do not warn you up front). For a store where purchases can easily reach many hundreds of dollars, this is significant!

So here I am thinking: Restocking fee? For a completely unopened item being returned to a physical store? Heck, I will go place it back on the shelf myself free of charge! At this point, I felt like I was being had. They then claimed that the manufacturer requires it to be shipped back to them and this was to cover that cost. But then the answer was changed to: there is a software code in the box that could have been tampered with and taken (again, box was confirmed sealed and could easily be checked, but clearly that wasn’t the real issue).

Was I being that difficult by requesting a full refund on a completely unopened item? I didn’t think so, and after hearing inconsistent answers and even accusations, I felt more like I was being lied to for a quick buck, so I stood my ground and calmly explained my logic. The owner then came on speaker phone and proceeded to talk at me telling me all kinds of things like ‘why are you holding my store to a different standard than the rest of the industry?’, ‘we have our policies and we can settle this with lawyers’, and even ‘actually, there is a controller within the combo box... I’m an electrical engineer and can tell you there’s a circuit board in that controller so actually this is an electronic, not software and we don’t take returns on electronics”. I wish I had this recorded... I cannot make this stuff up! Mind you, I walked in 5 minutes prior, a normal customer trying to make an honest return of an unopened sealed box purchased 24 hours prior and it escalated to this. The extreme defensiveness was incriminating. When I was finally allowed to respond, I was quickly interrupted and talked over with him saying ‘You’re not going to win”. When I replied that I was not trying to ‘win’, simply wanted my fair refund and even offered 5% or $10 for their trouble, his response was “you’re being unreasonable... you’re not meeting me in the middle, you’re trying to meet in the middle of the middle!" “You can either take your 10% or I am calling the police for trespassing, you have 30 seconds to decide” before abruptly hanging up. This is pretty much verbatim what was said to me. It had somehow devolved to threats and intimidation.

His employees witnessed the entire exchange and seemed visibly appalled before apologizing and doing their best to remain professional. I apologized to them that they had to work for him. I’m sure I could raise a bigger stink, but I’ll let his own words do the damage. I guess $20 meant that much to him. He ‘won’ (I truly feel sorry for him if he actually thinks this is winning). I took my 10% loss, he gained a quick buck, and will lose a lot more than that in the long run.

To be fair and complete, the two young men helping me seemed earnest and understanding, who genuinely wanted to do the right thing but were caught in the middle. They did their best in the uncomfortable situation they were put in. The other employees I have interacted with in the store have always been helpful and reasonable, and they do have a good selection. Two stars for that. Just know what you are getting into and the kind of owner your money is going to. Beware...

Really bad service and i was treated very badly, I bought a gen4 maddog scooter for 1800 cash paid in full and I had one of my buddy's come to hobby town also to purchase himself a maddog scooter as well. Everything was fine at first I was told by the owner that if anything wasn't right on the bike to bring it back and as long as it wasn't normal wear and tear that he would take care of it.i wasn't told that the bike has no warranty until after I paid for it, well i went to put air in the tires on my bike and check the tire pressure and realized that there are no threads on the rear tire valve and there is no way to add or take air out off the tire or add any. The rear tire would have to be taken of the rim and change out the valve stem and put the tire back on the rim and pump it up and put it back on. I called the store and talked to an employee about the problem, and he told me that I could take it to such in such and around how much it would cost. I then told him I had just purchased my b8ke from them 26 days ago and I have my receipts to prove it. Then he got smart with Me on the phone and at that point i asked to speak with the manager and asked for the guys name i was talking to do I can tell the manager how he was so rude and disrespectful on the phone. He told me his name was prometheus. Promethius huh.... I was livid. I hung up and went to hobby town. When 8 got there I was told the manager was not there that they where on vacation and they wouldn't return until the following week. I now that was not true but I continued to call every day for two weeks with no response and alot of ignorance from the adolescents they have working there. I eventually spoke in person with the owners wife and she was very ignorant to me also and she told me that they where n9t going to have it fixed and that I was on my own. Bike is still not fixed. I told her at that time I was gonna call the better business bureau and post a negative review and that I was not expecting to be treated in such a way when I had brought more customers to purchase bikes there. Between me and my buddy I brought there we've spent alot of money with them. I went home angry and very disappointed, when I got home the owners wife called me back and then offered to pay for the tire to be fixed but honestly they treated me very poorly and it's like the damage is allready done know? I'm gonna pay for it to be fixed myself I would have bought a used bike if i wanted all these problems. You might be okay to buy rc cars and car models from there but don't buy any dirtbikes or scooters or anything they put together themselves. They have high-school kids putting the bikes together that you are supposed to trust your life and safety on. And they will not honor anything after they allready have your money, if you absolutely have to buy one, get it on credit, so they are forced to be honorable or they don't get paid. Trust me, no one should be duped or treated the way I was treated. I don't even wanna give them one star but it won't let me post if I don't hit at...

This review was over a year ago. I updated my grammar and it looks like a current review. Its over a year old, TBTH We have been here many times since my experience in '15. Our most recent experience was trying to buy a basic part for a very popular RC toy and their staff telling me it wasn't anything they ever made. I repeated that I'd bought them 6 months ago, there! Once he moved, I pointed out a pack that another person grabbed for me and guess what? That's what I needed! The other guy had literally walked away and gotten on the phone. As I was grabbing my receipt and parts, the original person said "Yep, I just called them. They don't offer that part. You have to buy aftermarket". The guy at the register paused, asked me for the bag and said "they do. They're right here, he found them on the rack". The original guy was so set on his soap box of being right that he missed the boat... not the first time this has happened with the same person. Initially I took a Nitro Traxxas truck with no handheld for repair estimates. I didn't want to spend anything until finding out the cost to overhaul most of a used truck vs, say spending another $100 for a new truck with hand controller. Well, they lost my truck. Then they found it and someone had already done $50 of repairs. I walked out. Then I called later to hear there were territorial pissngs between 2 under-25 year old repair techs. I again explained my need for an estimate only, no more repairs and then things died for 2 more weeks because they again lost my truck. The end result was me spending well over one hundred dollars to find the truck needed everything. Despite the receipts and new parts on the truck, the new owner gave me $50 for a truck that had over $100 of their parts and repairs, unused. Where they redeemed themselves was a 2 hour repair for parts only on my sons Rustler. They feel tuned in, passionate and focused now. They'll demo some things in the parking lot and educate you instead of talking to you like you're a lesser person for not knowing your toys. That holds a lot of water for a mechanical professional buying a $250-$1000 RC toy. I've only deducted 1 star because of the snafu with the old truck and manager, and the same name on the store. Reputation follows a name, that's business. Otherwise, they'd be between a 4 and 5 based on a few calls and obnoxious millenials acting like they're doing you a favor in answering the phone so you get what you need. Retail sales is tough but the customer is always king until they become a complete butt about the situation. Calling to make sure someone has a part you need now is more than reasonable when it can be had from Prime in 2 days for a little less. Again, overall they have been...