I ordered some gear from Tower Hobbies 4 weeks ago and although I live in Australia 8 weeks is a bit of a stretch in my book. It seems to me that the package must have been moved by pony express on land and a slow boat on water. It still has not arrived. The longest I have ever waited for a package to arrive from the states is about two weeks.
Has anyone else had this much of a wait for parts from Tower Hobbies. I did email them about two weeks ago and was told to give it 90 days[B]. Thinks this is the last time they get my business.

The thing is, Tower doesn't always ship immediately. They wait about 24-48 hours before they even ship. You can always pay the extra dollar to put yourself on the top of the list. It usually takes about 10 days for my orders to arrive. Other online hobby shops ship faster, and I try not to buy from Tower if I can.

Batman:

That seems odd. As JDM said, they often don't ship right away, but at 2 months, something must be screwed up. Perhaps something is backordered? I'd give them a ring, regarless of what the email said.

I usually receive gear from Tower in 7-10 days (Arizona USA), unless I bump my order to the top, as mentioned. There are no rivers to ship via slowboat here, but if they wished to do so, pack mules could be utilized. So far, so good - no mules.

daveWCO

You can't hold a vendor responsible for shipping issues, unless they haven't shipped the order. Tower has no control over what happens to the package once it leaves their loading dock. If a shipper loses the package, it's the shipper's fault.

Tower is telling you to wait 90 days, because that is the policy of the shipper. IIRC, the US Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx will not accept a claim on a lost package until 90 days after the initial shipment.

It's extremely easy to find out if your order has been shipped. Go to Tower's website, log in, and view the status of your previous orders. If it's been shipped, it's out of their hands.

I placed an order with Tower on 06/28 and received notice it was shipped on 07/01 (3 days later). Today's the 11th so hopefully today's the day.

Tower also does not specify what shipping method they will use when you pay for the shipping. I have paid $7.99 numerous times and gotten it Fed Ex Ground, USPS Priority and USPS First Class, with greatly varying delivery times. When they sent my order First Class (at their cost of $1.84) and charged me $7.99 I called and complained. They could care less. I try to avoid tower also, after spending over $1700 in a little less than 8 months with them, they could care less whether I was happy or not.

Well, I just arrived home and NO PACKAGE WAITING FOR ME.

Originally posted by batman
I ordered some gear from Tower Hobbies 4 weeks ago and although I live in Australia 8 weeks is a bit of a stretch

Surface mail usually takes 6 to 8 weeks. I have made several orders from Tower, none were lost or went over 90 days. Shipping by courier is faster but can cost a lot more. I would rather wait and save some money

Several years ago I purchased a computer part from a US store. They charged $250 to ship the 1kg package via UPS, who then managed to take 3 months getting it here (including 2 weeks in Customs!).

I ordered some stuff from tower once and they shipped it USPS.They gave me the tracking # when they shipped which I checked after 5 days.My package was sitting at the postal hub.It stayed there for two weeks!I got my stuff in about 17 days.
Dave

Today's Saturday,,,,STILL NO FREAKIN' PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!

The thing is, Tower doesn't always ship immediately. They wait about 24-48 hours before they even ship. You can always pay the extra dollar to put yourself on the top of the list


I just logged on to Tower's site and couldn't find where to add a dollar to bump up the list????Dave

Dave:

To bump up on the list, I've always used a different shipping option, like USPS Priority for well over what you would pay at the PO (or anywhere!). So far, it has worked, but again, you are shelling out a nice chunk of change for the service.

daveWCO

Monday and still no package. This is absolutely unacceptable. No one should have to wait this long for items purchased. I don't care if the extra $1 was paid or not,,,,,this is way too long.

Cruise:

They must have sent it via UPS on the 1st. I say that because only the men in brown would "sit" on a package for so long!

Also, figure the 28th was a Saturday and then came the 4th of July holiday.

daveWCO