109 replies to this topic

[gatormark]

Installed a new hawk 7 in my gr F car yesterday,it made it 140 ft and went up in smoke. I looked at the track owner and he said OH WELL. I told him to replace it and he said there is no warranty per Eagle Distributing who is his source. Anyone heard of this? I mean its obvious the track owner does not value my biz lest he hands me a new motor ( 6 bucks his cost) and keeps me coming back but this guy is going broke per his attitude so no surprise. Sent JK a email explaining what happened, lets see how they respond. I mean I know its only 12 bucks but the point is customer service or lack of it. the track is in avon park fla.

[Zippity]

Please tell me that you are joking.

[slotcarone]

Bad decision on the track owners part IMO if you bought it there and are a regular buyer!

[havlicek]

     What Mike said.  With the track owner right there seeing it all happen, the least he should have worried about is a "guarantee".

[Racer36]

You dont actually say you bought the motor from this Raceway. Did you ? If so, I would agree that the owner should make it right with you and deal with the supplier later.

[Rob Voska]

Hey they are cheap!  Just keep buying more!  (gotta follow the official party line)

Would you be happier if it ran great and was .5 seconds slow? You would just end up throwing it away anyhow.

Junk is junk.  Cheap motors are like buying lottery tickets.  Every once in a while you might get a few dollars back but overall it's just a waste of money.

[havlicek]

All I know is that the track owner's "stuff happens" attitude is almost a kind of "guarantee" in itself.  A guarantee that at least one customer sin't going to be very happy.

[MSwiss]

Installed a new hawk 7 in my gr F car yesterday,it made it 140 ft and went up in smoke. I looked at the track owner and he said OH WELL. I told him to replace it and he said there is no warranty per Eagle Distributing who is his source. Anyone heard of this? I mean its obvious the track owner does not value my biz lest he hands me a new motor ( 6 bucks his cost) and keeps me coming back but this guy is going broke per his attitude so no surprise. Sent JK a email explaining what happened, lets see how they respond. I mean I know its only 12 bucks but the point is customer service or lack of it. the track is in avon park fla.

A few things.

The motor did not cost your raceway 6.00 from Eagle.

It cost him 7.62.

And that is the distributors policy, these days.

If you have a defective item, send it back to the manufacturer.

[olescratch]

That's the way slot related situations are being handled today.  "You only paid a small price so you really shouldn't be upset if it doesn't work well", BS!  Every time I hear this type of response it makes it clear as to the direction this hobby is headed...….down!  Who is exactly responsible for the defective product, the line of responsibility needs to be defined.  Is the person making the purchase in fact dealing with the track owner, distributor, or the manufacturer.  I believe that if I buy something at a track, I should have to go no further than that to obtain any kind of refund/exchange of a defective item.  By making it necessary for someone to have to deal with anyone else is just another reason for someone to deal directly with the manufacturer in the first place, skipping all the middle man obstacles resulting in less money for the track owner (my 2/100)! 

[MSwiss]

John, you're operating on the assumption that the manufacturer will cheerfully replace the item.

Slot racing is not buying an electric drill at Home Depot.

A lot of manufacturers do not replace things, no questions asked

You're dealing with a whole different type of business.

[jimht]

​OP didn't mention whether the car had bound up gears or whatever else might be user failure to set things up properly...regardless, the OP also stated he notified JK Products.

 

AFAIK Tim has been very responsive to such issues...certainly has with me.

 

Other than that the original post is troll bait looking for sympathy regarding what may or may not be a track owner (or owners) with an unfortunate attitude. yada yada yada.

 

 

YOMV 

[Tim Neja]

Although it's sad that it went up in smoke so quickly---expecting the track owner to replace it is ridiculous!! He didn't manufacture the motor--nor offer any guarantees as to it's longevity.  The attitude of the racer is as bad as the track owner! We have NO idea if it was installed properly-- but Mike is correct--the place to expect any return on a defective product is with the manufacturer--NOT the track owner! 

[havlicek]

I certainly can't say whether the OP was "troll bait" looking for sympathy, but there are some points that do warrant consideration:

1) While he certainly didn't buy a drill from Home Depot as Mike pointed out, that drill and other far more expensive tools will more often than not be replaced, no questions asked by the retailer.  Consumers generally expect that, so it's possible that the OP has now learned something that applies in particular to slot car raceways who sell retail.  I recently had to replace a "like new" Sawzall that was only a few months old, and I had purchased at the local lumber yard.  They only offered to send it out to be repaired, which meant I still had to buy another one to keep working...lesson learned.  I gave the tool with the purchase receipt to one of the lumber yard employees, and replaced it with one from a tool-seller outside of town who DOES do the "normal" replacement within one year thing.

2) If the OP didn't know about this sort of policy, the retailer's cost of $7.62 motor is not going to make him feel much differently...especially since that Home Depot drill will have cost many many times more than that, and the "big box stores" operate at relatively low margins, even with being able to flex their purchasing muscle for low cost purchasing.

Jim did make some good points though, because it very well be that the OP did something to cause the motor to burn up.  I too believe that Tim (JK) seems to have been generally really responsive to whatever issues come up.  Racers DO ask a lot of these inexpensive/disposable motors, and from what I've seen, they are still an extraordinarily good value all things considered.

[Phil Beukema]

What's your guess on the percent of the of the track owners who would cheerfully replace the motor? 

[Dave Crevie]

Just a note on the usual policy of retailers. They do not handle warranty issues. In most cases, there is a note on the box

or in the instruction sheet that says that quality issues need to be brought up with the manufacturer. There is usually a

telephone number listed. That doesn't mean you will get any satisfaction. On the many times I have handled the problem

that way, I have only once or twice received a satisfactory settlement. Most recently;

 

I did not receive the monthly cable TV bill in the mail. I tried to get a duplicate sent, so I could pay it on time. Their on-line 

customer service website was of no help. I called the customer service help number, and got no co-operation from the 

representative. I needed a "super double secret security code" for her to access my account and send me a new bill. So 

I will have to pay a late fee when the bill comes.

 

I bought a riding lawnmower from Lowe's on their Memorial Day sale. It included free shipping and free assembly. I got it

a week late on delivery, and it didn't run. Contacting the store was of no use. They just would not deal with it. Calling their

corporate customer service line was no use either. I ended up tracing out the problem and fixing it myself. I also ordered

a rake that after four months I never received. I cancelled the order, but have not been credited for the charge on my

account. Won't be buying anything there again.

 

I ordered a sprinkler hose through Amazon. Three weeks after the promised delivery date, I tracked the package. I was

directed to the third party seller, who told me they didn't have any more. Amazon immediately refunded the money to my

account, I have no idea if they had payed the seller. I have been ordering a lot through Amazon, and this has been the

only glitch since I started dealing with them. It was the third party seller's fault, not Amazon's.

 

But this is how business goes these days. The companies hire a bunch of people who don't give a tinkers damn about

customer satisfaction. And the companies suffer for it.

[Eddie Fleming]

If the track owner is dealing with a new customer it is one thing and with a regular racer it is another.

 

Personally I expect no track warranty on motors. If I feel it was defective I will take it up with the manufacturer or call it bad luck.

 

If you go to a speed shop and by a motor for your race car I don't think it comes with a warranty.

 

Just my opinion.

[zipper]

I bought a new G27 arm and began to break it in with 3 volts. After a minute - poof. That's it, no warranty. But I knew it, and just mentioned it to the dealer. Things do happen.

[elvis44102]

track owner flunked customer relations...unless this person frequently complains...this would seem to promote purchasing online instead of at track as ebay always refunds me something or replaces unit to avoid bad ratings

 

i work with customers within the IT industry and am asked to go "out-of-scope" sometimes and nobody wants to hear someone explain scope of work...its usually a time thing 

i would rather donate 10 min of time than just blow them off.

 

this reminds me of why we were discouraged in the 60;s of buying slotcars at K-mart and going to raceway..it works two ways  

[S.O. Watt]

Two different raceways up here eliminated all problems with either Hawk. We no longer use them.

[Bazzie]

I know there should be consumer protection, but we need to be reasonable also. We expect retailers to have low markups, but at the same time provide good guarantees. You can’t have both.

I buy a lot of components from China via Aliexpress. Apart from the 2 week cover Ali provides, there pretty much is no guarantee. Things are so much cheaper and on the whole quality is ok. I end up providing my own QA and guarantee.

So if you want a good guarantee, expect to pay more


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gatormark]

To clear things up, I have used hawk 7 in my koford chassis Gr Fs for 3 yrs, I know how to get a good gear mesh with my eyes closed. I broke the motor in per pkg instruction with low voltage, IT RAN 140 FEET and went up in smoke. I would expect a new motor from track owner, as did the other 3 gents who watched it Lol. If this is his policy, I will deal online since online is the only way to get warranty, that's if JK covers it. NOW, if it was a high dollar motor and it was run hot etc I can see the track owner passing the buck. I have won a couple Gr Fs with these motors and my daughter never lost running them so we know how to break them in. They have been pretty good handicap motors.

[JimF]

Two different raceways up here eliminated all problems with either Hawk. We no longer use them.

 

OOC.............what did y'all replace them with? Is this primarily in flexi based classes or for Retro as well?

[Danny Zona]

I'm sure posts like this have no influence on the situation with the owner.(rhetorical)

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[jimht]

Repetition of the original complaint that the track owner should have replaced the motor is still just trolling for sympathy and is not likely to increase the chances of getting a replacement from the track owner.

 

As was said: " If this is his policy, I will deal online" and you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Personally I would probably have replaced the motor and contacted Tim at JK for replacement...but you're not dealing with me, eh?

[garyvmachines]

Big sign at my Local Auto Parts Store ...... No Guarantee on Electric Motors !!

 

Just say'en  ........

 

GAV