Lack of RC-M support?
 

There was a thread posted today which asked if others had similar bad experiences with their lhs and high prices, long waits ordering parts etc. It seemed to turn into a question of whether or not supporting (or not supporting) lhs was good or bad. I personally like to support my lhs as they provide quality service and prices comparable to online. But this made me think of a trend that seems to be growing on rc-m that doesn't support mike on the forum he provides.

While everyone is quick to rave about and recommend others use Mike's mounts, battery trays, and slipperential, other products seem to be neglected in favor of HC and other retailers. I've seen more than a few cases where members automatically refer others to HC for lipos, fiegao's, chargers, etc when their budget wasn't even mentioned. It's one thing to point someone there when asked for a cheaper alternative, but to not mention Mike's quality products and services first, on his forum doesn't seem right to me.

Maybe I just feel gulity about learning so much here and not spending more with Mike. I doubt he made much on my first and only order, charger and 2 5s packs. As 1 pack had a dead cell, he shipped a new one before recieving the other back and paid for shipping. Almost feel guilty about buying a used rcm mount for my truggy instead of waiting for the redesigned one. But I'll replace the losi tray with an rc-m version and get some more packs to support Mike and his quality products and services. Even if that means paying sales tax + shipping.

You are right, people are not supposed to reference products in the forum that are in direct competition with Mike's products. The sad fact is that this happens so much, mods would be doing nothing but editing posts to remove them.

Typical conversations where other retailers were mentioned used to go something like this:

member1: what's a good battery for setup x?
Member2: a battery with specs of y. Rcm has these availible which are some of the best out there. There are cheaper options availible....

The typical response now is:
member2: (insert link to other retailer)

That's what I find kind of disturbing, the lack of rcm being mentioned first (or at all in some instances). It's disrespectful in a way. And the point of this thread was to point this out as I've noticed an increase in it. Reviews and experiences with other products, retailers and even pointing others to them was not the issue. I guess I just worry that the new(er) person asking the question may never know about the other products Mike offers and Mike losing out on sales because of it. I know the reason I knew about and bought my lipos from Mike was from answers to questions like the one above.

Yeah, I have seen this alot as well. Just a couple weeks ago I did it myself by linking HP G3 45C lipo's, not that I wanted people to buy there, but that is the only website that posts them at the time (aircraftworld = HP), it was not a link to the product saying 'buy this from here'... and I am sure that Mike will get them in soon, and that is where I would buy them from.

What is HC stand for though? Do you mean HK (hobbyking?).

For my support I just bought a Tekin rx8 and a front motor cover for Neu last week. I live in SK, Canada... not a stones throw away.

It really is disrespectful to always link a website that has a product for oh, a couple bucks cheaper (who cares?)... Mike provides a MAJOR service by having this forum, frankly, one of the best on the net, and people are stabbing him in the back by telling others to buy elsewhere.

The only parts I've seen readily reccomended off site that compete w. Mike's are the lipos. (I'll take your word on the boxes, I've just never paid attn to those.)

Its a tough call on those, bc I don't think you can just ignore the fact that they exist. Mike can't carry every lipo on the planet, nor does he try to compete w/ the cheapies from HK. Mike tends to carry top shelf racing quality batts like Hyperions. However, these are not for everyone, and sometimes you just need something cheap that works well enough. Given the # of people that run these, they are an important aspect to the hobby. I know BL may be cost prohibitive if there were only high end batts to choose from, so hopefully they bring more people into the hobby and the RCM store who may have not gone BL to begin with. It is a bit of a turn off to have a highly censored forum like some other sites, and may just drive more people away than it does bring in.

As far as the other parts, I hope people use the money they saved on the cheap lipos to support the store here, as Mike's parts are always innovative and top quality.

The only ones that really annoy me are the ones who buy cheap chinese copies of Mike's mounts and conversion kits, have problems, and then come here for help. Personally I just ignore those threads, but I'd be happy to help anyone else.

Personally I have bought a wide array of parts from Mike, mounts, servo, lipo, esc, motors, and more. I will say I dont shop exclusively at RC-M, but I do throw the name out there every chance I get at the track and lhs. In my recent search for a lipo I did go to the RC-M store first but Mike didn't have what I was looking for so I had to shop somewhere else. I support RC-M as much as I can, both by ordering from him when I can and by word of mouth advertising

I always refer people to Mikes shop if he sells what they;pre looking for ( conversion kits, battery trays, esc & motor combos etc ), but quite often he doesnt have the item instock or just plain doesnt sell it. I know he has his own branded lipos that are well priced, but sometimes guys are after dirt-cheap, and HobbyKing/HobbyPartz/Yeshobby etc are well-known & well liked; the issue of Mike selling Zippy lipos has been mentioned before but it was deemed to be not worth his while due to the mark-up in price required to make a profit.

I will do more to check his line up existing batts and chargers though, along with anything else applicable that he does stock/ have in stock etc, as should we all for future reference when someone asks where to buy stuff.

I have spent a fair bit of money with Mike too ( 2x MMM, GorillaMaxx parts, 1/8 diff kits, dogbones & a few other bits and pieces ), but often I have to go elsewhere as he just doesnt have the parts I need for a TXT-1 :lol:

As an LHS employee, you may have just put on a big flame suit, lord knows I need one anymore. Mike's lipos aren't 30 bucks, so obviously no one should buy them. It's a mentality I see day in and day out. Honestly, if I found a Hyperion that suited my needs better than the TP cells I use almost exclusively, I'd buy it. I know they're good packs and if I have any issues, I can call Mike. I think a lot of why the cheapest option comes up every time is most people just know that's what they'd buy. I've given up on making the argument for spending more on lipos. I'll just keep doing it and pitting away from the HC guys who had to resolder half their packs.

I was gonna write a whole story but I'll shorten it up. I know Mike can't carry everything but when it comes to Lipos, something a little more middle of the road would be nice. I know Mike carrys quality lipos, I've bought some, but they came with a big price tag. There are many choices available that are more cost effective for the majority of people, IMO.

But I still won't buy from HobbyCity, just other places taht I sometimes find good deals

At any standpoint there are other competitors and sure the competition of pricing is their but if you are asking questions here and we are all here to help why not support your favorite website if they sell stuff even if it is a small purchase or big that why Mike put a site we can quickly go to and shop for stuff and get it delivered quick, not some overseas place that you have to wait seven days. As for lipos everyone has a there own opinion. just my 2cents:no:

At any standpoint there are other competitors and sure the competition of pricing is their but if you are asking questions here and we are all here to help why not support your favorite website if they sell stuff even if it is a small purchase or big that why Mike put a site we can quickly go to and shop for stuff and get it delivered quick, not some overseas place that you have to wait seven days. As for lipos everyone has a there own opinion. just my 2cents. COMPETING ONLY MAKES ONE STRIVE TO BE BETTER THATS WHY OTHER RIVALS TRY TO COPY RCM QUALITY!!!!

I thought the thread title was referring to RCM's lack of customer support! - glad that's not the case. I'm sure I'm like most RCM members, I will only recommend products I know have worked for me...like RCM pinions - best available, no question. I'm also sure that as members we would promote RCM products both here & on other forums

A couple of quick comments & suggestions;

- I don't have a lot of spare time. It would be great to hear about new & existing RCM products...maybe an e-newsletter could serve that function?

- RCM members could recieve loyalty points/$$ against purchases from RCM

- RCM members could rate RCM products on the forum as a buying guide for all

- RCM members could recieve a birthday gift certificate (low $ value, with expiration date) to assist with RCM purchases

I understand this represents some work for RCM however, if that's offset against the gain I'd be surprised if the benefit to RCM didn't more than justify the cost

I think this can be summed up by saying that we all need to remember why this forum is provided, and take a second look at what we are posting before submitting it.

I agree, we should all try to add some more activity in the "Customer Testimonials and Feedback" section of the forum.

There are some really good things about having this be an open forum. Just think if things were run with a lot more of a nazi style. We were only allowed to say good things about Mike and his products and we could only recommend RC-M's products. This place would be dry as hell and 3/4 of us wouldn't keep coming back. The other things you can see too are trends. When people start off using one type of product but it is not quite right, so it evolves into something else. I truly believe Mike and his customers would miss out on emerging products. I have seen times when people recommend quality products and next thing you Mike is carring those products too. Which is great. That is what I like about Mike and RC-M.

just gonna poke in here and say that i buy ALL my stuff from mike regularly and if he doesnt have it i grab it locally. Ive never ordered from HC and i never will. I rarely if ever use fleabay and i also do no order anything from many larger retailers.

the saying goes "support those that support you" thats what i go by.