Giant Cod keep loosing my business

[Reno Racer]

Sorry folks, I know there have been a few threads about GC been owned by a Chinese Company etc, but for me thats not important. I just want a UK based shop (for speed or delivery and postage costs) that sells decent priced electric flight components (ESC and motors mainly), rather than me default to Hobby King.

I know of all the others, Airtek et all, but there stuff is alot more expensive and for a basic sport aerobat, i don't need the really good expensive components.

I always try and use BRC or GC first, although BRC seem to have hardly anything these days and everytime i go to GC i find that 90% of what i look at is out of stock. Frankly, this turns me off, so i then end up spending my money at HobbyKing instead.

We all bemoan about keeping the LMS alive, but come on GC (and others), if you don't have a good stock, then we'll go elsewhere.

Is that just me been grumpy, or do others feel the same way?

Chris

Edited By Christian Ackroyd on 23/04/2012 23:57:37

[Steve W-O]

I agree entirely, yu waste a lot of time finding what you want, then find it out of stock.

Usually cost cutting = business cutting, unless they cut things that are really not needed.

It doesn't matter when it is a government or municipal organisation, but for a business, it can spell disaster.

Trouble is, it looks like HK is feeling the pinch to, I ended up not ordering from them last week for the same reason.

[Mark R]

Must admit i havent had problems with GC at all, usually 24 hr delivery time, tho their website does say they are on the move, so i wouldnt be suprised if stock levels are not up to date.....and yes i know they should try harder, but hey sometimes firms let things slip.

[Keith Simmons]

GC is great when they have items you want in stock, but I have to admit I have been waiting for months for them to re-stock and so far have not done so. I have sent a notification reminders for when the items I want is in stock via their website and so far nothing.

I understand that GC may wish to sell different products and stop stocking some items which are not selling, but at least remove them from the website. They have not done so, therefore that item for me is still valid.

I agree, I will shop elsewhere soon.

[Olly P]

There is a notice on the GC website saying that they are about to move premises and are therefore drawing down stock levels- quite a normal thing to do actually, but on GC you can see what stock they actually have, so you realise they are doing it.

I use GC a lot for bits, and agree it can be annoying when they don't have something in stock. At the moment however I don;t mind giving them the benefit of the doubt, and will probably use them going into the future - I am likely to want some more Rx's and motors soon!

[Lee Wilson]

Agree with Olly, the notice has been up that there stock levels are down as they are moving premises at the start of next month so hopefully their normally good service will be resumed soon.

[fly boy3]

Sound "fishy" to me (no pun intended). With my Mr Meldrew hat on, if they are moving to a larger out let then they need to take all their stock with them. If they are moving to smaller premises, then we might have to put up with reduced stock levels. Cheers

[Olly P]

FB3 - it depends on the distance being moved, bulky and heavy stock is expensive to ship in the UK - I helped an engineering firm relocate some machines a few years back - mostly momentum/brake presses, and they cost in excess of £4k each to move 2.3 miles.

Even going into a larger facility most organisations use the move as a time to reorganise and will minimise stock levels to reduce cost.

[Andrew Garnell]

Hi

I used to run a large autoparts warehouse in the UK and we moved to a largrer unit a couple of miles away. I can a sure you for the moving period we cut down stock levels for the simple reason it was less stock to move !!! It will take them several weeks at least I would think before they will be back up as normal.

Regards

[fly boy3]

I understand Olly. Cheers.

[John Cole]

I have always had excellent service from Giantcod, and agree with the supportive comments above. But even under normal circumstances their website contains a lot of zero-stock items.

I have felt previously that it would make their website easier to use if they had a filter-button which would allow you to see only in-stock items. For instance if you want to order a few specific items and they are all in stock then you might like to top up your order with some useful low-price items to save on postage costs. In looking for those, you woud of course only wish to see those in stock.

I have suggested this to GC and got a luke-warm response (I guess their minds are focussed on the move!). But if YOU think this would be useful why not contact them and say so:

GiantCod ContactUs

[Simon Chambers]

I've actually been shopping at HobbyKing a lot more recently as, firstly Giantcod seems to be lacking in motors over the last year - especially the XYH motors. I hate spending ages trying to find the correct size and KV motor, to then find its out of stock. Then I have to compromise on the motor and choose a different KV or model. I usually spend a good couple of hours trying to find suitable motors, and to have to do that again due to being out of stock is frustrating.

The second reason is that I find a lot of the HobbyKing stuff is very good quality nowadays and there is a good range. Also it helps that they are cheaper than the cod, even after shipping.

My only hesitation is the usual 2 weeks shipping delay in getting stuff here. So anything I need from HK, I have to plan well in advance.

If Hobbyking UK ever opens up and has a decent selection of stock, I should imagine I'll stop using Giantcod all together.

[Alan Randall]

Hobby King are based in Hong Kong but even they often have lots of items out of stock. Also the time delay for delivery is sometimes verging on the ridiculous. We have all seen the delay in kits coming back into stock after a successful launch, so why do we expect GC to work miracles when Rip Max, Horizon Hobby, etc cannot.

In common with Hobby King, GC do front-end load the items that are in stock in any classification, so IMO you do not have to search very hard for the instock items.

Edited By Alan Randall on 25/04/2012 11:29:38

Edited By Alan Randall on 25/04/2012 11:32:54

[Erfolg]

There has been adverse comments with respect to both GC and HK, with items being out of stock.

Yet compared with my excellent LMS (some 15 miles away) their stock levels are very, very, high.

How often have you gone to any LMS and have to compromise, or come away empty handed?

I have found both very good indeed, for all those hard to get parts, that we electric flyers use. Yes, I too, have had to wait occasionally. From that perspective HK are better. Sometimes I suspect that non available items from GC, are the equivalent of discontinued lines. In my suspicions are true, perhaps a change of policy is required with some of the labelling with respect to stock levels.