What part of "we don't have this" do you not understand?

[Gabrielle Proctor]

We just had someone call in. They talked super slow and they were as annoying as hell. I had to play 20 questions just to get any info out of them.

Me: Hobbyshop, how can I help you.

SC: Ya'll carry batteries for RC cars?

Me: Yeah, what kind of car do you have?

SC: It's a hummer, I need a 19.2 voltage.

Me: A hummer? What company makes it?

SC: I don't know.

Me: Where did you get it?

SC: At a yard sale. *ding ding ding! They got it at a yard sale. If any of you ever consider buying an RC car, don't get one from one of these two places, yard sale or internet. I'll tell you why, soon, you will break it and NO ONE will have replacement parts for it. Period. PLUS, we don't have an RC hummer in stock and I don't know of a company that makes them. Therefore, it's a slim chance we have what they need in stock. I don't know how to find what they need even if we do have it. So, I tell them...*

Me: We don't have what you need.

SC: Can you check?

Me: Yeah, I can, but I know we don't have it.

SC: Are you sure?

Me: Yes. We don't carry a hummer RC in this store. I don't know if our distributors even make it. We have RC cars that range from $200 - $600 in electric and nitro, we don't carry anything like you would see in Radio Shack. (I was trying to get at a certain point without being rude, it was, "If you weren't so cheap you would realize that we don't carry toys. We carry high end hobby stuff. And a hummer RC most certainly sounds like a cheap toy.")

SC: You have nitro and electric?

Me: Yes.

SC: Well, this one is electric.

Me: That doesn't mean we have it. If our distributors don't have it, we aren't going to carry parts for it.

SC: *says something to someone in the background and then hangs up with out a goodbye or a thank-you-for-your-time.*

[Jadedcarguy]

SC: Well, this one is electric.

Don'tcha know, their all the same!

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Well, I checked with the owner when he got back about a 19.2 v battery, he said we certainly don't have one.

And seriously, the hummer part was just the body, what matters is the truck underneath. Just so everyone knows that if you want to get an RC soon.

[Jadedcarguy]

I used to be into RC, not so much anymore. I still have a nitro car floating around somewhere. It amazes me how people will assume that "it's all the same" with this kind of thing. Try full-size car parts, it's worse!

[karma_gypsy]

we don't carry anything like you would see in Radio Shack. (I was trying to get at a certain point without being rude, it was, "If you weren't so cheap you would realize that we don't carry toys. We carry high end hobby stuff. And a hummer RC most certainly sounds like a cheap toy.

What if it was a really expensive RC from RadioShack? . . . I know, I know . . . probably not . . . (I purchased an RC car from Radio shack a loong time ago, spent about $150 on it and it was marked down considerably for an after Christmas Sale).


I've seen those RC Hummers though, they are pretty cheap and cheesy. I think you can even buy them at Wal-Mart or Target, probably would be great for kids or just driving them around until they're busted.

[Jadedcarguy]

What if it was a really expensive RC from RadioShack? . . . I know, I know . . . probably not . . . (I purchased an RC car from Radio shack a loong time ago, spent about $150 on it and it was marked down considerably for an after Christmas Sale).

Radio Shack has never and never will carry RC cars like you can get at a real hobby store. I have spent thousands on just one car alone. The Radio Shack cars are fun for just bombin' around the back yard, but they don't hold a candle to the pro stuff.

[lordlundar]

Radio Shack has never and never will carry RC cars like you can get at a real hobby store. I have spent thousands on just one car alone. The Radio Shack cars are fun for just bombin' around the back yard, but they don't hold a candle to the pro stuff.

Yeah, the RadioShack ones you can't soup up to trip speed radars.

For the record, on an old episode of TheScreenSavers (When they had their original studio I think) they had a guest on who was supercharching nitro ones that broke 270 mph! It went out of broadcast range in 3 seconds, with a booster antenna to boot!

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Radio Shack has never and never will carry RC cars like you can get at a real hobby store. I have spent thousands on just one car alone. The Radio Shack cars are fun for just bombin' around the back yard, but they don't hold a candle to the pro stuff.

Yeah, if you're going to radio shack to buy a $150 RC, DON'T. We have nice RC's at hobbyshops for that amount that are electric, durable, and you can get replacement parts for them too. I bet Radio Shack doesn't offer what we do in terms of fixing your car after it's broken. Or if you want an upgrade.

[JustaCashier]

I hope the hobby shop RC's have more than two frequencies, or at least the frequencies can be user changed on the individual units/remotes.

A few years ago, I bought a monster truck RC from RS, for around $70.00. I wasn't expecting anything fabulous, I bought it almost on a whim.

Then, a couple of years ago, a buddy of mine and I decided to race our RC's in the alley behind our apartment bldg. His was also from RS, but a totally different design, and a few years older than mine.

Imagine our surprise when they responded in a very erratic way! They were on the same farkin' frequency, Kenneth! They were reacting oddly due to two remotes trying to control each of them.

I summed it up to Murphy's Law, that that would happen, out of what I figured would have been several frequency possibilites. After visiting the RS website, though, I discovered they only used TWO frequencies amongst their RC's!

Again, I realize I wasn't paying big bucks compared to other RC's, but, it would have been nice to have a few more diffferent frequencies used, or even an option for the user to somehow adjust switches, or change crystals to change the frequency.

Mike

[Gabrielle Proctor]

I hope the hobby shop RC's have more than two frequencies, or at least the frequencies can be user changed on the individual units/remotes.

Here's how it works. I'll use a bit of our merchandise as an example. Our Micro T comes in three colors red, green, and blue(colors of light, how convenient). Each color runs on a different frequency. Ta-da! The company has just color coded their product, rendering it idiot proof(mostly).

I'm not too experienced with the inner workings of RC, but I have never had a customer complain about a frequency problem that wasn't their fault(like leaving the RC on but the treansmitter off, BIG no-no). I imagine the place they go to run their RC's, like a club with a track or a runway, takes care of it to make sure no one has these problems.

Kevin or the owner will go over frequency with first time buyers just to make sure everyone is flying or driving safely.

[Jadedcarguy]

The cheaper "toy" style RC's typically only have 2 frequencies, 27 and 72 mhz, if I recall right. The hobby grade systems can run on more than that, like 15 to 20 frequencies. There are also different bands for ground and air radios as well.

[JustaCashier]

Thanks to you both for the info!

I have forgotten to switch off my RC before, and had it jump forward and back a bit from picking up the signal of another device.

Mike

[Jadedcarguy]

Thanks to you both for the info!

I have forgotten to switch off my RC before, and had it jump forward and back a bit from picking up the signal of another device.

Mike

Been there! I had a 4WD offroad car take off like a bat out of hell once because I switched off the remote first. First and only time I did that! I got lucky and it caught a little bump and flipped over but if it had hit a kid or something.....