Someone I know redeemed reward points towards a free model and over a week has gone by without shipment. Shipping was paid for too, so there's a monetary loss associated with this transaction right now. They won't respond to any emails either. Anyone else have similar experiences with poor customer service?
Texan Airplane Store...a scam?
- Thread starter 4438559
- Start date
Unboxing Aviation
Member
the only retailers I personally trust are Squatchys, Diecast airplane store, panda fox, prairie Diecast, my hobby house, sprue bothers, all of these retailers have excellent customer service, I think that's most important when ordering models.
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LeoMuse747
Well-known member
Aviation Enjoyer
Well-known member
Dang he's wearing a marching band uniform there. I'm betting he's real busy at the moment.
squatchys_diecast_hangar
Member
He is a kid in high school
YesterAirlines
Well-known member
Exactly. There are several of these fly by night stores in the US often run by youngsters. While I praise their spirit would I seriously trust them with my $? Probably not. They neither have the funding, interest or attention span to keep the enterprise going for long. Texan has been selling models at seemingly way too low prices for a while from what I saw. It's like an airline selling seats for a $1 and equating full flight with profitable flights.
RM ModelStore, Midwest Modelstore and now Texan as well.
You're better off buying from a trusted store with some pedigree like Squatchy's, Waffles, Jet Collector, Ezytoys etc and ideally one where you know the owner or they engage with the hobby like West Coast Diecast.
What's unbelievable is that they sent an email advertising their rewards system like 3 days ago...after screwing over people using the reward system.
In either case, I'm hearing stories from other friends about bad experiences with the store too. My personal experiences have been few but mixed, and after reading these posts as well, I don't think I would trust gambling my money with them.
Agree that the other retailers mentioned above are excellent!
In either case, I'm hearing stories from other friends about bad experiences with the store too. My personal experiences have been few but mixed, and after reading these posts as well, I don't think I would trust gambling my money with them.
Agree that the other retailers mentioned above are excellent!
LeoMuse747
Well-known member
BTW, I bought when he was just starting his business, so maybe that's why things were smooth... maybe he was focused in offering a good service at first.
danwashere
Active member
Thanks for the kind words haha
I now have gotten so busy I have a team behind me helping me out and we did 50+ orders early last week
aviation456
New member
I have noticed that prices in the UK, where I am based, are substantially higher (on average) than prices offered from store abroad such as elsewhere in Europe. Especially at AMS but ARD as well to a certain degree. Why is this the case? Shipping prices perhaps... Or is it simply because they are committed to their business in the long run rather than a short stint??
texanairplanestore
New member
Our Response:
Hey all, yes I run this store exclusively by myself, and no, this is not a "fly by night" where I occasionally pay attention to it. While yes, this is not my only obligation at the moment (college is a big one), I do enjoy participating in the hobby and have so for over three years now (since when I became aware of it). I started Texan Airplane Store because I enjoyed the hobby and wanted to share it with others.
While yes, I do admit fault for growing pains and issues we've had both in the past and present, I am working to resolve all issues and just recently we have resolved all outstanding issues with old order fulfillments, ensuring our resolutions go above just a simple refund (i.e. complete refunds + free models in the future, points for our loyalty program, etc).
Communication won't always be instant for me due to other work like college or my job, however, I do make sure to return all emails I get and have done so in the case of the issue @4438559 was referring to. For clarification and transparency, they used points for a free JB A320 that had sold out in pre-orders and had mistakenly not been made unavailable. To solve this, we offered them to pick a different model up to a $60 value ($12 more than original) for a replacement.
Our rewards system is very successful and is great for others to receive points based on what you buy and redeem them for free models. We offer up to 20% off or $50 off (essentially a free model) and lower options as well.
If a model is broken, like @Irish mentioned, our policy is to provide a full replacement or, if it is sold out, a complete refund upon return of the model to us. All issues related to this were resolved. If you receive broken models (they are fragile and sometimes break in shipment) and do not attempt to reach out to us to return them, unfortunately we cannot do anything. We will always take back broken models and provide appropriate compensation and have done so in the past.
We take pride in our ability to provide lower prices than most, that is one of the main goals of our business, to give others the opportunity to enjoy the hobby and save a few dollars in their wallet for necessities or other things. This is a business I run out of enjoyment, not solely for profit margins, and that is obvious based on our pricing. We believe that lower prices creates more competition in the space and only betters products, and as such, should be encouraged.
If you have any concerns or want to voice your opinion, my inbox is always open as well!
All the best,
Nick
Hey all, yes I run this store exclusively by myself, and no, this is not a "fly by night" where I occasionally pay attention to it. While yes, this is not my only obligation at the moment (college is a big one), I do enjoy participating in the hobby and have so for over three years now (since when I became aware of it). I started Texan Airplane Store because I enjoyed the hobby and wanted to share it with others.
While yes, I do admit fault for growing pains and issues we've had both in the past and present, I am working to resolve all issues and just recently we have resolved all outstanding issues with old order fulfillments, ensuring our resolutions go above just a simple refund (i.e. complete refunds + free models in the future, points for our loyalty program, etc).
Communication won't always be instant for me due to other work like college or my job, however, I do make sure to return all emails I get and have done so in the case of the issue @4438559 was referring to. For clarification and transparency, they used points for a free JB A320 that had sold out in pre-orders and had mistakenly not been made unavailable. To solve this, we offered them to pick a different model up to a $60 value ($12 more than original) for a replacement.
Our rewards system is very successful and is great for others to receive points based on what you buy and redeem them for free models. We offer up to 20% off or $50 off (essentially a free model) and lower options as well.
If a model is broken, like @Irish mentioned, our policy is to provide a full replacement or, if it is sold out, a complete refund upon return of the model to us. All issues related to this were resolved. If you receive broken models (they are fragile and sometimes break in shipment) and do not attempt to reach out to us to return them, unfortunately we cannot do anything. We will always take back broken models and provide appropriate compensation and have done so in the past.
We take pride in our ability to provide lower prices than most, that is one of the main goals of our business, to give others the opportunity to enjoy the hobby and save a few dollars in their wallet for necessities or other things. This is a business I run out of enjoyment, not solely for profit margins, and that is obvious based on our pricing. We believe that lower prices creates more competition in the space and only betters products, and as such, should be encouraged.
If you have any concerns or want to voice your opinion, my inbox is always open as well!
All the best,
Nick
Phantom
Well-known member
Are you probably comparing prices incl./excluding VAT or other duties...?
YesterAirlines
Well-known member
There are a variety of issues that make the UK not very competitive for model prices. Namely:
1. As Phantom mentions it is a high tax environment. VAT at 20% plus import taxes don't help pricing
2. There is a limited pool of importers and distributers so some stores get models from each other at marked up prices
3. Models are typically sold in USD so the USD:GBP exchange rate is a factor
4. There aren't enough stores and the ones that exist are generally poor. ARD are very hit and miss and the prices are high, AMS get things late and are unreliable when it comes to ordering, Airspotters charge stupid prices and Wings400 is a boutique store that sells small amounts at higher prices as they get them through 3rd part channels. Bedfordshire Diecast is far and away the best UK store but they don't sell all brands (I'm pushing Simon to stock more).
All in all I try to buy in the UK as much as possible but in reality find myself still having to buy from the US, Canada and China direct quite a bit.
squatchys_diecast_hangar
Member
Unfortunately one of the reasons we don't ship international. By the time a customer pays for the extremely high ship costs, which we have no control over, and then what folks have to pay for VAT and any other custom charges, it just doesn't make sense in reality. We ship to Canada but even then ship costs are really high(my opinion).
Thank you for the clarification. I believe another model was selected. Hopefully will turn out as expected.
Jazajia
Well-known member
Getting broken models doesn't necessarily mean the retailer is doing you wrong. In my experience, if you buy enough from a particular retailer, you are bound to have a bad experience occasionally.
I have received models with loose parts and minor damage from EZtoys, JetCollector, West Coast Diecast, and of course Waffle, which wins the cake. Those are all my top retailers, and I frequently purchase from them, even Waffle
. I got worried a bit there with the whole Texan situation. I know Nick personally and can attest that he is a good person, but I also know he has been increasingly busy and can feel overwhelmed by the store at times. Glad to hear that it was nothing more than a misunderstanding, as I suspected.
Irish
Well-known member
Oh no I understand, and he seems like a good guy and at least the fact he’s acknowledging the situation goes a long way. However some of the models had really bad paint defects some that couldn’t be from shipping unless the mailman drop kicked that shi. Just would be nice to have a double check before models get sent out ya know. I’m not worried about it though, It got flipped and made some money back.Getting broken models doesn't necessarily mean the retailer is doing you wrong. In my experience, if you buy enough from a particular retailer, you are bound to have a bad experience occasionally.
I have received models with loose parts and minor damage from EZtoys, JetCollector, West Coast Diecast, and of course Waffle, which wins the cake. Those are all my top retailers, and I frequently purchase from them, even Waffle
I got worried a bit there with the whole Texan situation. I know Nick personally and can attest that he is a good person, but I also know he has been increasingly busy and can feel overwhelmed by the store at times. Glad to hear that it was nothing more than a misunderstanding, as I suspected.
Jazajia
Well-known member
That’s a different issue, defective models leave the factories all the time. They still have to be sold. We can always return a model to the retailer, but in many cases the retailer will still try to sell the model again to someone who would not notice/not care about whatever is wrong with it.
I’m thinking stuff like when GJ messes up the cockpit windows, or Aeroclassics come with wavy wings, etc. That’s just how those models are, and as long as enough of us put up with it, things won’t change.
When NG forgets to print the titles on one side of the model, etc. Then things might be different. The model is likely to be re-sold at a discount as “defective,” and even the retailer might be able to receive some form of compensation from the manufacturer I would want to believe.
That’s the ugly reality of the hobby.
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