High Fly Hobbies — Local services in South Daytona

Went in there on my lunch break to quickly purchase a sub $100 drone for my a friends son. He is interested in buying a DJI and wanted to get a cheap one to practice on. I was talked into buying a $89 drone with an extra battery, he explained the flight time would be 8-9 min. Ok no problem. Finally opened it with him yesterday. The box looked previously opened since a few items were out of place, the batteries were already in the controller, the micro sd card was out of its holding slot and the instructions were crinkled. Honestly as long as it works I didn't really care they sold me a used one since its cheap and will probably get destroyed anyway. Charged both batteries according to the instructions. After two separate flight times of under a minute I realized both the batteries were shot as they would not charge after a SINGLE charge and two flights of a minute. I looked online realized the drone the sold me was a POS and had many complaints and most people recommended another route on top of the fact that every store had the device listed 20-30% cheaper. I cut my losses packed the thing up exactly as it had come (open) headed back to the store. I bought it a week ago opened it yesterday both batteries were not working after one use on top of the device being used. They literally gave me two new batteries and refused to even give me store credit. Yeah as pissed as I was my fault for trying to give business to a local shop. Get home and tried it again one of the engines blew... Never going there again. Obviously they don't care about their customers on top of their 30% markups....

Im sure these people are great folk and have a passion for the hobby. And as experienced as they are, they resonate with the experienced customers that come in,saw and heard that for myself.

Now if their approach to customer service is let the customer approach then they will lose the noob who knows nothibg listening to the back and forth between obvious veteran hobbyists.

I wont slam you guys and will leave 3 stars. But do think about the odd guy that you see show up and be more engaging.

In this day and age of I want it now and the internet,you would want more people to cone in and engage a hobby shop,i personally want to speak with those that enjoy the hobby instead of watching a YouTube video,to learn about what parts to buy and such. Now i realize you cant be engaging with every customer this is true but sometimes there are OBVIOUS people that you can pick out of a crowd if you wanted to.

I walked out slightly put off by the fact you had no multi battery charger,and the lack of engagement with a customer,so much so i called my bud who's sponsored and asked his input as to what i should be looking for there,as i was there to pick up a few odds and ends like hand tools,wire,shrink wrap stuff ill need in my quad build,and maybe a quadcopter or beginner plane.

Treat each customer that walks in as an open wallet that you can potentially pull money out of,with the right...

I came in just to look around and maybe find a new hobby. The young man behind the counter, Philip, seemed short with newbie questions. Maybe he's used to answering the same newbie questions all day. When I started talking about the more technical aspects, it seemed that he became much more engaging in the conversation. As someone who has done customer service, I totally get it. Nine times out of ten, you'll never see these newbies again. The guru hobbyists who came in while I was there got superb help and treatment. If I knew what I was doing more, I'm sure I would've had an outstanding experience, but as for newbies in the hobby, I'll rate my experience as a solid "good". Philip answered all my questions in a very professional manner. To be honest, it's not fair to put the task of training new hobbyists on the shoulders of the hobby store clerk, especially when they're not going to leave having purchased anything. I'll keep learning the hobby by myself and when I'm competent in the hobby, I'm sure I'll be back. I've been an automotive mechanic for over 20 years and electrical engineer for about 15, but this is a fascinating crossover of the two fields that I'm just not familiar with. I look forward to coming back when I can keep up with the big boys, but for now I'll stay...