In early February I ordered a replacement for my Whattmeter.

I got the usual acknowledgement and order number, but to this date no Whattmeter, and no response on several E-mail inquiries to info@astroflight.com.

This is highly unusual for this vendor, but I know there are issues with the economy and such.

Is Astroflight still doing business as far as anyone out there is aware?

It seems really strange that they have not acknowledged my inquiries.

They are struggling to keep up with demand. We have them on order as well. Efforts are in place to correct this situation. I would say that it's difficult for an American supplier like Astro to pull off what they do as is. I can't say enough for the efforts of Bob and his group.

thanks
Steve
www.battlepack.com

Originally posted by Herleman
In early February I ordered a replacement for my Whattmeter.

I got the usual acknowledgement and order number, but to this date no Whattmeter, and no response on several E-mail inquiries to info@astroflight.com.

This is highly unusual for this vendor, but I know there are issues with the economy and such.

Is Astroflight still doing business as far as anyone out there is aware?

It seems really strange that they have not acknowledged my inquiries.

My order from late October/early November has yet to be filled.

Be patient.

WJ

Gee. I'm sorry to have touched a nerve. I do have great respect for "Astro Bob" and his products -- that's why I buy them in the first place. They are the very best of their kind.

The fact remains, however, that while I have complemented this supplier many times in these various forum, this time they did not even acknowledge my inquiries, and that both irritates and worries me.

It takes only seconds to respond if only to say "please be patient". The text can be formatted, and a "canned" response can be sent immediately. Had I received any sort of reply, I would never have thought anymore about it.

I made no demands whatsover in my repeated inquiries except to know that my order was still coming. But I heard nothing for over three weeks, and received nothing to confirm that the transaction was still in process.

I ordered well over one month in advance of my needs to ensure that sufficient time was allowed. I do not order things that I do not need or have a genuine use for. Had I just known what was going on, I could have made other plans. They did not tell me in their ads that they would like for me to be patient when I buy their products.

I'll be patient, as you suggest, but I will also remember this transaction.

I have to wonder, however, if reverse logic would apply. Would they would accept my assurances that I would pay them eventually, but that for now they should be patient because I'm too busy to send them money.

By the way, just after posting this note in this forum, Astro Bob's group did send a note to tell me that my order "should" ship this week.

You also have to remember that you're not their only customer. You're not the only one sending them email demanding to know the status of your order. It may only take "a few seconds" to send YOU an email, but multiply that hundreds of times over, and it takes a significant chunk of time out of someone's day, time that could be better spent filling orders rather than making excuses.

The solution is obvious, right? Hire someone... Well, maybe not. That's assuming there's a specific bottleneck somewhere in the process that would benefit from additional help. That's assuming there is money to pay for additional help. That's assuming people can drop whatever they're doing (generally delaying backlogged orders even further!) to hire and train new help. That's assuming there are production facilities for the new person to use. Adding production capacity to keep up with what is probably a temporary increase in demand is not as simple as waving a wand.

Please understand. I "demanded" nothing.

I simply asked for a response. I believe that three to four weeks is sufficient time to send such a response.

I have no issues with their staffing and I would not pretend to know their situation.

I would point out, that other companies, e.g., Parkflyer, FMA, Mountain Models have had no problems keeping me apprised of where my order was. One of them even made a personal call to me to clear up a question. I value that kind of customer service highly and I will support those who provide it. That's my choice.

I find it unlikely that those companies are less busy or more heavily staffed than Astroflight. They have simply have elected to address their customer's needs in ways that I find more suited to my needs.

I am not suggesting that Astroflight is in any way a bad company. They are not, and their products are excellent.

I do believe, however, that they need to consider how they respond to customers. I do not believe that any company can simply ignore responding to inquiries because they are too busy. Keep in mind that they have not told me that this is the reason that they did not respond. For all I know, they might simply have elected to take a couple of weeks off. That is clearly their right if they choose to do so, and I am not suggesting otherwise. Their are trade shows and WRAMs and NEATS and stuff like that they elect to attend. I will not pretend to know all of their activities.

I just wanted them to respond to my inquiries in a timely manner.
I wanted to see if I could find out where my order was so that I could make some decisions on my own activities. That should not be a big problem to an organization of their caliber.

If no one ever gives them feedback regarding these things, they may never realize that they have what I percieve to be a problem.

I personally think that they can do better.

Whether they agree is up to them.

I can get their products elsewhere, and, had I been apprised that there was likely to be a delay, I would have done so.

I consider my time to be important, too.

I ordered brushless motors on december 1st 2003.
I received them yesterday.

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Its now one week after the week that they told me that they would ship.

No Whattmeter.

I don't think its coming.

Herleman, I don't know too much about the whattmeter or who makes it but let me tell u a story about what happened to me with another vendor.........here goes!!!

Order a Hacker motor and esc from my local hobby shop on Dec.14, 2003. Ever couple of weeks I would ask my hobby shop if it has come in yet. They in turn tell me that no it has not but they will call Aeromodel ( the U.S. distributer of Hacker products) and ask them as to the status of said motor. This goes on for months till last week when I asked my hobby shop again as to the status of the motor. I told them that this is getting ridiculous and that I am either going to cancel my order or get another kind of motor if this situation is not taken care of now!! The hobby shop called Aeromodel on the phone while I was there and they told him that they r at the mercy of Hacker in Germany as to what they get and when they will ship my motor. In my frustration I went home wandering what to do about this problem. I got on Hacker Motors website in Germany and emailed them about my problem. This was Sunday! Monday I got an email from Rainer Hacker (owner of Hacker Motors) telling me that I would b receiving a call from Aeromodel as to the status of said motor. That afternoon I got a call from them with sincere apologies and excuses as to why I have not received my motor yet and that they are shipping it out today by airfreight and it should be at the hobby shop tomorrow. Guess what........ got a call at 1030 A.M. from the hobby shop the next day as promised stating it was there and so was the esc. I think that Mr. Hacker reemed out Aeromodel about the time frame it was taking to get one of his motors. We will never know what was said in the conversation with the 2 but for them to ship it out that fast something had to have taken place!!!
The reason I am telling u this story is to let u know that maybe u should contact the appropriate parties involved and maybe, just maybe u will get this thing ironed out in a timely fashion the way I did!!
Let me know how it turns out , OK?

GOOD LUCK,

Joe

Thanks Joe:

Short of getting hold of Astro Bob, I don't know how to get anyone involved.

They seems to have plenty of business, and, of course, they will take care of the HS customers first.

What is frustrating is that I tried to get this thing from my LHS, but they were out of stock. They told me that I could order one from the website and get it more quickly.

They told me that they were ordering some anyway. Well, they ordered after I did, but they got theirs in and have had two in stock for the past two weeks. I could have just waited and gotten it from them more quickly.

Mine still is not here, and frankly, I don't care if it ever gets here.

I need to buy a new BL motor right now, and I want to beuy an Astro 020. But I will not.

I absolutely refuse to do business with a company that has such utter disregard for its small customers. Simply put, they just don't give a darn.

Too bad. They make excellent products. But my money will go to China instead. That is wrong.

Actually I talked to him the other day, here on RCGroups about the Astro 109 chargers, (which are so so so popular they are selling out the first day he stocks them)

He told me right now that the chargers are on hold and they are doing a run off Whattmeters, so you should be getting it soon.

You got to understand he is making so so many chargers, selling out right when the places recieve them, the other products too.

Just be patient like I was with my charger and they will come.


Steven

I ordered a watt meter from astroflight 5 weeks ago and nothing. They won't even reply to my e-mails. I ordered one from All Electric R/C and they will send one on Monday. I even called them to make sure they have them. Astroflight is pissing off way too many people from what I read.

We are a dealer and we ordered ours in late Jan. Bob is working on 1500 units with some new help right now. Bob has plans to get things going at the shop. It takes time to hire and train people to do electronics.

Bob will come through in the end!

my 2 cents
Steve

Originally posted by justme4321321
I ordered a watt meter from astroflight 5 weeks ago and nothing. They won't even reply to my e-mails. I ordered one from All Electric R/C and they will send one on Monday. I even called them to make sure they have them. Astroflight is pissing off way too many people from what I read.

After reading these tales of woe, I guess I won't hold my breath while waiting for my small order of connectors to arrive!

I've e-mailed without a response and phoned (during their business hours) without the call even being answered. This is a totally different experience than with any other R/C vendor.

Good thing for Astro Flight that their main products are nearly unique and of high quality. Maybe they should stop selling minor accessories and concentrate on their electronics.

- Jeff

Has anyone received an order from Astro Flight recently? I still haven't received my order placed on March 8.

I had high hopes when, on March 27, I received an e-mail from Astro Flight saying they would ship "next week" (the week of March 29). Alas, it is now almost 4 weeks later, and the items have not arrived.

My entire order consists of a few Deans connectors -- nothing exotic or rare. I have already re-ordered from another vendor, but I'm also leaving my order with Astro Flight, just to see how long it eventually takes.

Aye caramba!

- Jeff