Horizon Hobbies

[Dave Bran]

Its not the move to Germany that's the issue, its the unprofessional way they have gone about it, giving no confidence that they will ever "get it right".

They could have set up a forwarding agent in the UK, they could and should have been more on the ball with keeping the operation going during the change. It does not bode well for the future that they made such a major and juvenile mistake, and worse, seem unable to correct it.

No return contact. after 7 working days and not even an acknowledgement.

[I_AM_MARKEVANS]

Good point Dave, nothing to do with them moving to Germany or Brexit or anything else people may come up with.

Just what they seem to have made with the whole situation and total lack of confidence in them now they seem to have gone very quiet with regards support etc.

If they didn't or don't want to deal with the repairs etc and all that side of it, they should have put one or 2 employees into some of the UK stores that still carry HH stuff and had a service centre there for people to send their stuff too. Turn around on repairs etc may have been longer but better to deal with someone in the UK and even face to face if you lived near a store rather than how things are now.

I can't say i've ever needed HH support, but at least it was nice to know it was there before, and i hope it comes back and they get everything sorted like they said they would in that FB post.

Edited By I_AM_MARKEVANS on 18/04/2017 09:46:25

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 18/04/2017 14:52:28

[Kim Taylor]

In the interests of balance and fairness, I must report a small (and unexpected) success!!

I returned a receiver to H-H.de just over a month ago, with no real expectations tbh as it was well out of warranty (as I explained to them) to see if it could be repaired.

Today a box has arrived with a shiny new receiver in it free of charge.

So maybe (and hopefully) they are following up on their facebook statement and turning the situation around.

For now, I can only suggest that H-H and Spektrum customers 'keep the faith'.

Kim

eta It still would've been better if I'd at least received an acknowledgement of receipt from them - the silence was deafening. In my case it was only a low value item, but if I'd sent a transmitter I would've been climbing the walls!!

Edited By Kim Taylor on 20/04/2017 11:43:19

[Peter Christy]

You had better luck than me, then! I also returned an out-of-warranty receiver that had suddenly stopped working. This was to the UK store, a while before they closed.

All I got back was the same faulty receiver along with a rather curt note saying it was no longer supported!

I'd only previously had to return one Spektrum item, a DSM-2 Tx module that stopped working. It was promptly replaced by a newer version, confirming reports I had heard about their excellent service support.

My most recent experience, and those of another club member, have persuaded me that now HH are to be avoided at all costs.

Its a real shame, after the efforts the original team put in, building such a good reputation.

--

Pete

[John F]

I don't think that sending an old Rx and them sending it back saying they no longer support it warrants being "avoided at all costs".

No other manufacturer will repair, for free, out of warranty, bits of kit. It is unfair in my view, to expect an old item to be repaired with the proviso that you'll not respect their products thereafter if they don't.

[Peter Christy]

I forgot to mention the episode with the B'n'Fly Pitts special as well, where 'phone calls led to me being shunted around an interminable automated 'phone system, whose sole purpose seemed to be to prevent you from speaking to a human being, emails and letters being ignored, etc. I finally did get that one replaced (the entire elevator chain - including the gyro - decided to reverse itself between flights!!!)

My fellow club member, who had one of their "beginners glider", which every second or third flight would lock everything hard over and spiral into the ground, never did get it fixed or replaced. He gave up in the end. It was definitely an airborne fault, as it did it with several different Txs, including my DSX-9, which has performed flawlessly for years.

So, no, I'm not just basing it on one incident. I was simply trying to be brief, and overdid it!

I also used to be involved in manufacturing and repairing radio gear many years ago, and remember a guy turning up at 9 o'clock at night, with a set that was at least fifteen years old and had a faulty stick pot. We replaced it while he waited! We also replaced, at less than cost, a receiver that had ended up in the sea, after the glider it was in was attacked by seagulls! We used to pride ourselves on fixing anything we'd sold and keeping customers happy.

Sadly, this approach is seen as old-fashjoned, these days.....

--

Pete

[Geoff S]

Peter, I was brought up living 'over the shop' in the family run radio and TV shop in the 40s and 50s. We had a similar approach. Christmas Day often brought people to the back door to buy batteries and I've been out to repair TVs so that customers could watch the Queen's speech. It was just part of the service we offered. Unfortunately dad closed up after losing money for some years once places like Comet could retail at better prices than he could buy wholesale.

I saw the future and left the business to pursue a career as an electronics engineer elsewhere when I was 21. Change has been happening forever. It's just that at 77, like others of my generation, I've seen it for longer It just seems to be happening a bit faster than before.

Geoff

[MattyB]

Posted by John F on 20/04/2017 12:33:54:

I don't think that sending an old Rx and them sending it back saying they no longer support it warrants being "avoided at all costs".

No other manufacturer will repair, for free, out of warranty, bits of kit. It is unfair in my view, to expect an old item to be repaired with the proviso that you'll not respect their products thereafter if they don't.

Agreed. I always found it somewhat amusing that the people who celebrated HH's habit of replacing out of warranty kit for free in the past were often the same people who decried the pricing of new products . "Free" replacements are never really free, they have to be paid for somehow.

Personally I would much rather have high reliability out of the box, decent but not over the top customer support with parts available for home installation, and a lower purchase price. I guess that is why I do not use Spektrum...

Edited By MattyB on 20/04/2017 14:03:18

[DIGGER]

I would like to add my twopence worth. I reasently had a problem with a model that had a receiver problem that resulted in a bad crash. Sent an email to HH Germany explained the problem they asked for a full report and the problem ,which I did. They then asked for a full list of parts and my address. That was just before Easter. I just sent an email to see what was happening. Had a reply back in under 5min to say that all the parts are being sent out tomorrow free of charge. Now that's what I call service they even apologised for the delay in contacting me before as they receive about 200 emails a week. I don't think that is bad service at all. I would think now that everything is going to them instead of UK is bound to mean extra work and delay. The bottom line is I am still very impressed with the service and I for one will be staying with them. THANK YOU HH

Chris

[Peter Christy]

Well, perhaps my clubmate and I were just unlucky and caught the UK staff just after they had received their redundancy notices!

If the German operation is living up to the standards of the old HH, perhaps I ought to try sending them that receiver, which is now acting as a paper-weight!

The problem for HH, as I see it, is that good reputations are very difficult to build, and very easy to destroy. This is especially true when there are alternatives available that afford either better service or cheaper products - sometimes both! I ended up getting an Orange receiver, which whilst it may not have the backup that HH once boasted, is cheap enough not to matter. Oh, and so far, it has behaved flawlessly......!

--

Pete

[Erfolg]

John F

My interpretation of no longer supported, is that they will no longer repair the product.

This approach is not unique, nor new. My parents had a Warfedale Amplifier when they made them, it broke, there response was the same. That was probably 40 years ago. Not surprisingly there next amplifier was completely different, an Aiwa. Which I now have, which still works fine.

[John Lee]

I damaged the canopy of my E-Flite CZ T28 when it blew over on Sunday. All the usual UK suppliers were showing out of stock so I ordered direct from HH Germany. The price on their website was shown in Sterling & is what you pay (unlike HK) & was a bit cheaper than the UK (none) stockists were showing. Ordered Sunday evening & it arrived yesterday, Wednesday. All good & I'd certainly buy that way again.

[MattyB]

Posted by Erfolg on 20/04/2017 16:42:18:

John F

My interpretation of no longer supported, is that they will no longer repair the product.

This approach is not unique, nor new. My parents had a Warfedale Amplifier when they made them, it broke, there response was the same. That was probably 40 years ago. Not surprisingly there next amplifier was completely different, an Aiwa. Which I now have, which still works fine.

OK, but a (probably very expensive in those days) analogue amplifier is a rather different product from a low cost digital receiver. It would probably cost far more to fix the RX than replace it, which they are not legally obliged to do if it is out of warranty.

Edited By MattyB on 27/04/2017 14:43:29

[MattyB]

Posted by John Lee on 27/04/2017 14:28:50:

I damaged the canopy of my E-Flite CZ T28 when it blew over on Sunday. All the usual UK suppliers were showing out of stock so I ordered direct from HH Germany. The price on their website was shown in Sterling & is what you pay (unlike HK) & was a bit cheaper than the UK (none) stockists were showing. Ordered Sunday evening & it arrived yesterday, Wednesday. All good & I'd certainly buy that way again.

If you listen closely you can hear the few HH distributors left in the UK crying quietly into their beer glass with this post...

[DIGGER]

I had another email from HH , just to let me know it has been sent. They didn't have to do that as they have told me they were sending the parts. I am very impressed. And yes MattyB they must be crying as you say.

Chris

[Paul Marsh]

I want to buy the new UMX Waco, Wildcat and the Commander, and all out of stock. Even Spektrum receivers are either out of stock, or the prices have shot up.

Vendors on ebay are selling the AR610 for over £70 in some cases, one is even selling one 610 for £99!

One time, they were around £20 for genuine ones, but not any more.

[Piers Bowlan]

That is making JR receivers look cheap Paul, assuming you could track one down this side of the planet!

[Trevor]

Just to follow up on my post of a fortnight ago: my friend has today received an e-mail advising that his transmitter has been repaired and is being sent back. So it appears that the repair backlog is at last being addressed.

[Kim Taylor]

Posted by Paul Marsh on 28/04/2017 17:00:11:

I want to buy the new UMX Waco, Wildcat and the Commander, and all out of stock. Even Spektrum receivers are either out of stock, or the prices have shot up.

Vendors on ebay are selling the AR610 for over £70 in some cases, one is even selling one 610 for £99!

One time, they were around £20 for genuine ones, but not any more.

All showing as available at SMC.

The AR610 is £26.99, so it's gone up a bit recently, but still not a bad price. May well find it goes up the next time they order stock though!

Kim

[Denis Watkins]

Al's Hobbies, guaranteed genuine HH gear have stock

.

[MattyB]

Very interesting - HH are resurrecting the PZ brand with two re-releases, the Artizan and the Stinson Reliant. A change of heart, or an effort to restock their pipeline of "new" products at absolute minimum cost? You decide...

[Erfolg]

I do not believe it< I have stripped my PZ Stinson Reliant because I could not get a spare wing to replace the damaged one I have. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[DIGGER]

Posted by Paul Marsh on 28/04/2017 17:00:11:

I want to buy the new UMX Waco, Wildcat and the Commander, and all out of stock. Even Spektrum receivers are either out of stock, or the prices have shot up.

Vendors on ebay are selling the AR610 for over £70 in some cases, one is even selling one 610 for £99!

One time, they were around £20 for genuine ones, but not any more.

You find that with alot of things, take for instance Hobbyking parts, I have seen on ebay items double the price. Some people are to gready, perhaps it would be a good idea to start a list of places where you have seen Spektrum goods for sale at reasonable prices, that way we can all benefit.

Chris

[I_AM_MARKEVANS]

I asked the same question on their Instagram account, why they are bringing Parkzone back. They said it never went away because the Sport Cub is still available under that banner, and i asked then why did they bring some of the models out under the Eflite brand like the Radian + Visionaire if the brand never went away.

Strange one.

I couldn't resist the new Torrent 110 also and had to order if off the new website. It was showing in stock when i grabbed one then was back unavailable a few hours later. No email on shipping status so guess i gotta play the game now and wait to see if i got one or not.

[Dave Bran]

I contacted HH on 9th APRIL due to problems I (and others ) were experiencing with a newly released model (Blade 130S). as the dealer could not help nor gain contact with HH for support. I had made a lot of effort to bottom out the issue and offer a solution before that contact.

TODAY 5th May I received a reply, which said:-

"Contact your Dealer."

Goodbye HH, I will no longer buy your products. (Neither are those around me who know what I have experienced)