# My Ncp Hobbies experience – Jerks



## breaume

I have never posted any negative comments about a company before here or anywhere else. But then I never have had this kind of terrible service with a company before.

On March 7 I placed an order with them because they have a decent site and they are near Toledo, Oh which will mean less postal time. There site states orders will be shipped within 24 - 48 hours. 

By the time March 12 mail came I have not even received an email stating the item shipped. So I thought maybe some items may be on back order. I sent them an email and left a message on there phone.

No response

Next day another message left, no response. Same with march 14

On March 15 I sent them a last email telling them since they will not respond to me, Just cancel the order.

the only response from them was on march 15 after I canceled the order.



> Good Morning,
> Your order has been shipped, it was being held for the J B Brushes, we have been out of them for a couple weeks and they were due in, but never showed up, so order now processed with out the brushes, if you wish to stay on the backorder list for the brushes do nothing, if you wish to cancel them just respond to this email for cancellation.
> 
> Thanks for your orders and have a great weekend!!!!!!!
> 
> ncphobbies.com
> 
> check our clearance section often


I immediately responded



> I am sorry I just placed the order with another vendor. I no longer need this order. In my last email I stated I wanted the whole order canceled. I did the same with the voice mail.
> I have tried to get a hold of you for 4 days. All I wanted was a status on the order. But you would never reply. Do not charge my card. If this has not gone to the post office please do not ship. If it has then I will return it unopened.
> If there would have been the smallest amount of communication this would not have been a problem.


I did receive the package but it was post marked on March 16 the day after they said it shipped. I sent it back to them that day unopened and opened a investigation with my credit card company.

Well to day in the mail I received an envelope from them with a partial refund minus the 22% restocking fee.

I may have just let this go if it was not for the note at the bottom.



> We really don't have time to play ( practice an order ) We can't keep up as it is. So go practice ordering from some where else. No further orders will be processed for you.


Not only are they a poor company to deal with and a bunch of jack asses but apparently they are witty Seinfeld fans. --- Slot car Nazis

point of my post was to share my experiences so others won't have to deal with them. It could all have been avoided with a simple email saying Items are on back order.


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## martybauer31

Yeah, I'll have to agree with this one, they weren't rude to me, but the communication was non-existent and they don't seem to have what they post on their site in stock much. Needless to say they don't get my business.

If you need recommendations for places to order, I would go with Lucky Bobs, Jag Hobbies, Slot Pro Speedway, and Bat-Jet as really good starting points.


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## breaume

I should of added that the other vendor I ordered from was Lucky Bobs and it arrived the same day as the other package. I will order from them again.


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## 1976Cordoba

breaume said:


> I should of added that the other vendor I ordered from was Lucky Bobs and it arrived the same day as the other package. I will order from them again.


Lucky Bob's is literally about a three or four minute drive from where I work, and about 10 minutes from home -- Bob is great to deal with and carries a nice selection of replacement parts.

I am very lucky to live in Milwaukee as this is truly a slot car town. The weather still sucks a$$ most of the year, but hey, it's always nice in the basement.

'doba


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## noddaz

Thanks...


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## aelancaster

Another great guy to deal with is Joe @ N.J. Nostalgia hobbies (908-322-2676). Ordered from him last fri. 03/16/07 and pkg. came in on wed. 03/21/07 only because I called him around dinner time and it was to late for it to go out that same day. Super nice and very helpful.
Andy :thumbsup:


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## SplitPoster

You know, I have been spoiled by my fleabay experiences and with limited trades on this forum. Maybe one in a hundred have I wondered where my package was, and most times times they have been shipped within 48 hours of payment, with notice the majority of the time. The last 2 were in my hands less than 72 hours after payment. 

With commercial sellers? have only ordered from RRR a few times, they told me they'd ship in 3-4 days and they did. MEV answers emails, ships quickly. However, I ordered from model motoring a couple of weeks before the train show I displayed at. I wanted box art posters so I wouldn't have to haul my old boxes, and something to show the people who asked who made replacement parts, new chassis, locks and joiners, replacement track....and new t jet cars that suit what most layout guys are interested in. A one stop solution, as if it's not in the Walthers catalog to the train guys then it must not exist. I can't tell you how many guys came up to me and said "Hey, Walthers is making ho slot cars" like there haven't been any available since the 70's until now.
Did the online order, as the 800 number got a generic microsoft answering machine "no one is available to take your call." Yeah, I'm going to leave a credit card number on that.... I assume something was backordered, as I haven't heard or received anything a week after the show. And I now I got people asking me to sell them locks and joiners and tires, etc., and thinking all t jets are antiques and not to be fooled with unless you want that hassle. And they don't want Nascar or oversized-for-ho snap on. Well, I tried.


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## Bill Hall

I'm not laughin' at you Brian, but for you. Good riddance to bad apples! 

As is the usual with rotten eggs and Richard Craniums, they seem to be able to find the time to be curt, nasty and condescending. Yet they are unable to elicit the slightest common and decent courtisies when regarding a simple business transaction. 

It actually sounds like they do need some practice orders cuz they dont seem to have it figured out yet. 

Sendem' a few pizzas, and put a neg in with their local BBB. You'll feel better!

Bill


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## roadrner

It strikes me kind of funny in the sense that if, as stated in their reply " we don't have time to play ( practice an order ) We can't keep up as it is.", this is the kind of problem any business would like to have. Stop being greedy and hire some employees to provide good customer service and support. If you don't, the problem of not being able to keep up will surely go away. :freak: rr


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## breaume

> I'm not laughin' at you Brian, but for you.


Don't worry I am laughing too. I'm a little vengeful at times. 

There is a saying in customer service something like this. ‘A customer with a good experience will tell one person, a customer with a bad experience will tell 10 people.’ That was before the internet. Between this board and another I posted on in 6 hours over 170 people have viewed these posts. That is 170 people that will think twice about ordering from them. I guess they don’t understand that or care.

I ran a web store for nearly 10 years. If we were out of stock we would contact the customer immediately and give them choices. They may have not been happy but at least we communicated. What a lot of people don’t know is that credit card companies are very consumer conscious when it comes to internet orders. We had a customer use one of our products for nearly 2 weeks and send it back in a state that was not resalable. There were no defects or malfunctions to the product she just did not want it anymore. Our policy clearly stated full refund of defective products only and must contact us first.

She initiated a credit card charge back. I could not fight it the credit card company was heavily weighted to the customer. I had to eat the cost of the shipping, product and the Credit card Company charged me a $25 fee to process the charge back. We bent over backwards to make the customer happy to avoid this.


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## sethndaddy

aelancaster said:


> Another great guy to deal with is Joe @ N.J. Nostalgia hobbies (908-322-2676). Ordered from him last fri. 03/16/07 and pkg. came in on wed. 03/21/07 only because I called him around dinner time and it was to late for it to go out that same day. Super nice and very helpful.
> Andy :thumbsup:


Thats because you were on the phone with him, if you ever shopped his store he will literally walk away from you with a finger to your face if the phone rings, then will try to answer your questions while on the phone and it makes you feel like your holding him up. I may just be sour because when I was fresh into slot cars he traded me and basically robbed me totally blind. I wasn't someone off the street trading cars in for a buck, he knew I loved cars and traded me common cars for some very nice, rare cars. I lost my brown nomad for a #3 dino ferrari, a blue/silver nomad for a green porshe, and seven others.........live and learn. 

When release 5 johnny lightning tjets came out I just happened to walk into the store while the ups guy was still there. opened one case and saw the white thunder nova and asked "how much", he said "you know the going price, fifty bucks"...........back then whites went for 25-35 dollars, not like the craziness now. I said no thanks and hours later same day, nother dealer, sold me all 3 whites for 60.00............AHHHHH JUSTICE, well, kinda for me.


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## TX Street Racer

Wow, this sucks...I had consided making an order with NCP in the future...but will definately be reconsidering that now.....


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## Pomfish

sethndaddy said:


> Thats because you were on the phone with him, if you ever shopped his store he will literally walk away from you with a finger to your face if the phone rings, then will try to answer your questions while on the phone and it makes you feel like your holding him up. I may just be sour because when I was fresh into slot cars he traded me and basically robbed me totally blind. I wasn't someone off the street trading cars in for a buck, he knew I loved cars and traded me common cars for some very nice, rare cars. I lost my brown nomad for a #3 dino ferrari, a blue/silver nomad for a green porshe, and seven others.........live and learn.
> 
> When release 5 johnny lightning tjets came out I just happened to walk into the store while the ups guy was still there. opened one case and saw the white thunder nova and asked "how much", he said "you know the going price, fifty bucks"...........back then whites went for 25-35 dollars, not like the craziness now. I said no thanks and hours later same day, nother dealer, sold me all 3 whites for 60.00............AHHHHH JUSTICE, well, kinda for me.



Ahh, someone else who got stung by this guy. 
I went to a show with a guy probably 15 years ago and he told a very similar story. Only he got burned worse.
He traded a #40 Dark Blue Patrick Indy for 3 common Tyco
cars in the blister.

He, like you, had just come in to look around and get some parts. He had some of his cars in his tackle box, not to trade mind you. Just brought them to get parts on them.

Anyway, to this day, I will not buy from him. Spent a lot of money at shows over the years, but not one dollar to him.
Ripping people off like that is bad kharma.

Thanks,
Keith


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## videojimmy

I've spent thousands of dollars with NCP over the years, they used to be my main supplier for parts, and I know they can be slow to ship. I've also had problems having orders held up waiting for out of stock parts. After a while, I would ask them to email me if anything I ordered was out of stock, please just let me know... but they never did. They would just ship the order without the out of stock stuff... which was fine by me.

I've waited up to 3 weeks to get things from them, but every once in awhile they would throw me a freebee to make up for the past problems. Once they gave me one of their 70 dollar Wizzards, which was a very nice thing to do. On more than one occasion they've given me a MINT Tyco car. Usually, it takes 10-14 days to get your stuff, which according to your timeline, seems to be what was happeneing in your case. 

You cancelled the order after 8 days and they replied saying they shipped it? 
Sorry, but I don't see the problem there. 

Overall, I would have to say I'm happy with them. They never send out emails telling you the item was shipped, but then again, most vendors don't. They also give you free shipping on orders over 75 bucks, most vendors don't do that either. I just ordered about 150 bucks worth of stuff from RRR and there was no free shipping.
I ordered another 115 bucks of stuff from JAG, and there was no free shipping there either. That's probably the reaosn for their response, they have to eat the shipping charges, twice... if they already shipped it out. 

Let's be honest here, is 5 - 8 days really enough time to expect to have an order packed, shipped and delivered? After all, they are just a mom and pop hobby shop and even major hobby shops require more time than 5-8 days. 

No offense, but I think you should have waited another few days before getting so angry with them... but that's just my worthless opinon.

I've waited MUCH longer than a week to get stuff from places like Neil's Wheels. Several times, I had to wait more than a month to get parts I bought on eBay with "buy it now" and then paid on the spot with paypal. TWO months in one instance. 

So, again... a week to two weeks seems reasonable to me.
What they should do is list "please give us two weeks for delivery" on their checkout page, this way no one could get pissed off.


As for the trading thing, that's common everywhere. We've all made bad trades in the past, we've also made some good trades too. Are you guys implying that every trade you ever made was fair and even to all parties involved?

I wish I could say that. 

I've GREATLY overpaid for some cars on ebay, but I didn't blame the seller.
No one forces you into a bad deal, you make them willingly.


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## breaume

VJ

Please read the post again they shipped the order the day after I canceled it with them.

Until last year I was a mom and pop ecommerce site for nearly ten years. If you expect people to give you there money and you are faceless you better communicate with them.

I would have waited for the back order or asked to just leave of the one item. If they would have sent me one email. I don’t know these people and I have never ordered from them before. I could not get a status of the order. What would be my recourse if there were items damaged or missing in shipment? They ignored me when there was not a problem, how would I get a hold of them if there was. that was my reason for canceling.

I would probably just chalked it up to them being asses and never ordered from them again even with the 22% restock fee. But the Bull Shit comments on the receipt were total uncalled for. That was when I decided to post my experiences.

I am glad you had a good experience with them, but for me if they were the last person selling HO parts I would find a new hobby.


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## sidecar53

*We at Rose City Motorplex used to order from NCP too,*

to the tune of at least $1000 per season. No requests for what was and what was not in stock were ever answered and orders were always late and short. When we called we were spoken to rudely and that resulted in our ordering strictly from Scale Auto and Lucky Bob's. Their loss turned into our gain. We will never order anything from them again. Rick


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## martybauer31

A week to 10 days is reasonable, 2 weeks is not....

For what it's worth, I just put in an order with Lucky Bob on Tuesday for slightly over $60, free shipping. I got an email yesterday from him saying it had shipped. If I put in an order with Jim at Slot Pro Speedway or with Jag Hobbies they ALWAYS tell me if they have it in stock.

Bat-Jet has a shopping cart setup and they always list what they have in and out of stock.

Two weeks is about my limit on waiting for an order, if it takes longer and there is no clear reason why and no communication, they don't get my money again.

NCP must be doing well enough that they can tell customers to p!ss off, good for them I guess....

The other guys I mention sell pretty much the same type of stuff, and communicate, which means they get my business.


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## rodstrguy

I, like 'Doba live near Lucky Bob's, My travel time is more like 35 minutes though. Bob is a great guy to deal with and has lots of good deals on stuf. He calls me when he knows there is something new to come in that I'd be interested in. Great customer service, That is what we all should get for our money! 
That is also why I asked in another thread about a on-line dealer in another thread and it is good to hear from others good and bad expieriances to help spend money wisely!


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## waltgpierce

*Same bad experience with NCP*

I had a similar *bad* experience with NCP Hobbies. I ordered a 100 pair lot of pickup shoes. After weeks, I finally received the order. However, they were the wrong pickup shoes!
I sent them back to NCP Hobbies. Not only did I have to pay shipping charges to return the items, they charged me the 22% re-stocking fee. Then, they re-sent the wrong pickup shoes again, re-charged my credit card (I now have paid for the wrong item twice!), and wouldn't refund the previous shipping charges.
It took a complaint with the credit card company to get one of the charges taken off.
Of course, I also have 100 pair of Tyco pickup shoes which I do not need.


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## WesJY

I had same problem here. I ordered from them at least 3 times and all messed up big time plus restocking fees, shipping etc. I stopped buying from them since 2003.. I would warned people not to shop there. I hope they go out of business asap cuz they ripped off so many people.

Wes


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## videojimmy

WOW, I guess I've been lucky. After reading all these compliants, it makes me wonder myself


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## 1scalevolvo

I have never ordered from NCP Hobbies but I will state that as a matter of general principle that all vendor's should be on notice that we are in the internet age & that honesty & good service are even more paramount than before as news gets around much quicker than years ago.If you stiff or mistreat your customers you can get a very quick comeuppance !


Neal :dude:


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## Dragula

Nazi Communist Performance...those bastards.
DRAG_U_LA


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## railtrumpet

*Still jerks*

Here's my experience. I ordered on January 9th. Nothing was debited to my account by the 15th so I sent them an e-mail asking what was happening. No reply. I called on the 17th and left a message with my e-mail and my phone number. No reply. By the 20th, I had the bank put a stop on the order. Only then did I get a response saying my order was ready. Here is our brief volly of e-mails:

Dear XXX,

We have your order ready to ship to you, but your credit card keeps coming up as declined. Please advise us as to how we can finish processing your order. We can be reached at 419-898-2333 or faxed at 419-898-2330.

Thanks and have a good day!!

Brenda

Dear Brenda,

I placed my order on 01/09, I e-mailed you on 01/15 and then called and left a message on 01/17. I did not receive a response from your company until now. Due yo your unresponsiveness, I placed a stop order with my bank and you may consider my order canceled in full.

Sincerely,
XXX

No Problem.
I just ask that in the future you not waste our time with practice orders, as you might suspect we are quite busy this time of year, we really don't have time to put together orders for the card not to go through.
So just to be clear no more orders will ever be processed from here for you.

Buyer beware, especially of these jerks! Quality customer service and bargain prices can be found all over the internet. Save yourself a huge hassle and shop somewhere else!


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## noddaz

*wow*

wow


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## roadrner

It's been a few years since I've ordered from NCP, boy how things changed. :freak: rr


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## 1976Cordoba

noddaz said:


> wow


Yeah - wow. What a b----.

And what, is "Practice Orders" their shop lingo or something? A year later almost and they are still calling canceled orders 'practice orders' . . . hahaha 

Experts say when someone has a good customer service experience, they might tell one or two people. If someone has a bad customer service experience, however, they will tell 20 people. I'd say with service like this NCPH will not have to worry about too many orders much longer.


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## Bill Hall

We should all place practice orders on a pre-determined date!

hahahahahahahahahahaha!


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## martybauer31

Bill Hall said:


> We should all place practice orders on a pre-determined date!
> 
> hahahahahahahahahahaha!


THAT.... would be awesome! :thumbsup:


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## bobwoodly

*Good luck with Jag Hobbies in Ohio*

I've placed several orders from Jag Hobbies in Tiffin, Ohio and so far communication and service has been great and prices have been very good. They are my favorite for parts and are in Ohio and ship quickly! I'd check them out

http://jaghobbies.com


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## JLM Racing

What were you looking for?

*Yo!*


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## 4.3 ZOOK

Bill Hall said:


> We should all place practice orders on a pre-determined date!
> 
> hahahahahahahahahahaha!


another rebel like myself..now if we could just band together..ha ha:thumbsup:


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## Jim Norton

*Superior service at NCP Hobbies.......Yes!*

I order just about exclusively from NCP. I regret to hear of these problems as I recommend NCP to everybody. 

I guess I have been doing so for 7 or 8 years. This is what I have experienced:

1) Order 10 items. First 7 arrive. Then three days later 2 other items arrive. Then, a couple weeks later the remaining item shows up. AND...no additional postage. Rather than wait for that last item they go ahead and send what they have without additional postage. 3 shipments for the price of 1!

2) Order a couple hundred dollars worth and you might find a free magazine enclosed, Scalextric tires, Slot-it magnets, brushes, etc.. with a note saying "its on the house!"

3) Once I ordered about 70 pieces of Scalextric track under a 10% off offer. I found out that these were sold out and not available for another 3 or so months. I kept the order and the discount expired. Received track months later and the 10% discount was on there! That was a few bucks savings too!

4) Sometimes I have ordered items on Monday and they are at my door on Wednesday!

5) I have forgot an item and e-mailed for it to be included in an order if not too late. Original order arrives next day....THEN, a couple days later the forgotten item arrives with no charge for postage!

I have never really had any reason to contact them. They do a great job as far as I am concerned. Sometimes though, it might take sometime. Just hang in there!

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama


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## Rolo9th

Pomfish said:


> Ahh, someone else who got stung by this guy.
> I went to a show with a guy probably 15 years ago and he told a very similar story. Only he got burned worse.
> He traded a #40 Dark Blue Patrick Indy for 3 common Tyco
> cars in the blister.
> 
> He, like you, had just come in to look around and get some parts. He had some of his cars in his tackle box, not to trade mind you. Just brought them to get parts on them.
> 
> Anyway, to this day, I will not buy from him. Spent a lot of money at shows over the years, but not one dollar to him.
> Ripping people off like that is bad kharma.
> 
> Thanks,
> Keith


Add another to the list stung by him. My situation happened about 10 years ago. I won't go into details, but the fact is that he definitely took me for a ride, and this after having been a fairly good and regular customer of his for a few years. He knew who I was and how much business I had thrown his way, and yet, when I needed to move some high end items quickly, he low-balled me beyond belief.

Buyer/seller/trader beware.


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## Jimmy49098

A couple years ago I made a telephone order to NCP, they took all my credit card and shipping info, then I told them what I wanted and she said it was out of stock so I told them to forget it. I then ordered from Buds HO and got my stuff. About 2 months later they send me what I had called for, I call them back and tell them what happened, I did not get stuck with a re-stocking fee but I did have to pay to ship the stuff back to them.
Anything they have you can cheap cheaper other places and with much better customer service.


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## oddrods

I have been reading this thread and I have come to a couple of conclusions. 1st is I will for sure never do business with NCP. 2nd is that I believe that those of you that sold items or traded items to this company and feel you were shorted need to stop compaining. You all had a choice. You all could have said no. There are hundreds of posts on this group and every other group about guys that scored a great deal on a purchase and got it for way under what it was worth and I have never seen a single post saying that the lucky buyer screwed the seller and was wrong to have taken advantage of the seller. Is NCP a scummy company that is bad for the hobby and needs to go under? You bet! Did they do wrong buy trying to buy at a good price and make a profit from the purchase? I don't think so. Rob


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## martybauer31

oddrods said:


> I have been reading this thread and I have come to a couple of conclusions. 1st is I will for sure never do business with NCP. 2nd is that I believe that those of you that sold items or traded items to this company and feel you were shorted need to stop compaining. You all had a choice. You all could have said no. There are hundreds of posts on this group and every other group about guys that scored a great deal on a purchase and got it for way under what it was worth and I have never seen a single post saying that the lucky buyer screwed the seller and was wrong to have taken advantage of the seller. Is NCP a scummy company that is bad for the hobby and needs to go under? You bet! Did they do wrong buy trying to buy at a good price and make a profit from the purchase? I don't think so. Rob


How to win friends and influence people, by oddrods.....


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## AfxToo

Like Jim Norton, I've also had very good experiences with NCP Hobbies. I've even received holiday greetings from them thanking me for my business over the past year, with no hooks attached. I am surprised and disappointed to hear that others have run into problems with them and received correspondence that sounds borderline disrespectful. I know that anyone, myself included, can come across sounding callous and cold and say the wrong thing in a moment of frustration. You wish you could take it back but oftentimes you can't. 

Publishing others' foibles in a public forum probably does not help matters, even if you believe it is justified and you think you are doing other people on the forum a favor by "exposing" the offenders wrongs in a public way. You have to decide whether your personal grievance is worth it, whether your decision to not turn the other cheek is in the best interest of everyone involved. Once you let loose with your barrage there is no turning back because you have escalated what was a personal issue into the public forum.

Is is really worth it? Hard to say. I can see both sides. If you see something wrong and you do not do anything about it then you are not doing anyone a favor. But pulling the trigger still has a price and you have to decide whether you are doing the community at large a favor by your public response. Don't let the apparent anonymity of the online medium allow you to treat people any differently than you would treat them in a face to face situation. Right now there are a lot of people under a lot of stress and some of that is translating into bad behavior and moments of weakness. Taking a few steps back, collecting yourself, looking at the bigger picture, and trying to take the high road to resolving personal conflicts has never been easy, and current events make it even more challenging. But it should always be the preferred path.


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## oddrods

martybauer31 said:


> How to win friends and influence people, by oddrods.....



I have that effect on people sometimes. If anyone can show me a past post where someone has scored a good deal on an item and there was more than one person chastizing them for taking advantage of a seller than I will be more than happy to apologize for my statements. When I was selling slot Items that I made I made sure the customer was happy. I usually threw in extras and sold items that I believe were a good value. I never took payment for an item until it was ready to ship and I did my best to comunicate with my customers. Have I bought products for cheap and resold them for a profit? Yup. I have also paid through the nose for items that should have sold for way less. But on these occasions I spent what I was willing to spend. No body held a gun to my head and made me. 
Rob Rose
Mongrel Racing


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## videojimmy

NCPhobbies was my main HO supplier for years. I spent thousands with them when I first got back in the hobby, mostly because I was too lazy to research other vendors ... and also because they used to have a HUGE selection of items. Over the years, I found other vendors, and as NCP's selection decreased, I began to order less from them. 

I think it's safe to say their customer service is uneven.
They didn't always send their backordered stuff for free, that I can tell you.
There have been several times when I had to pay extra shipping to get my backordered items. 

Trying to get them on the phone is VERY hard, they don't answer emails ... and what drove me crazy was that they would never read the message section of the order forum.... where I would always ask them to inform me if something I ordered was unavailable. Not once did they ever give that requested heads up... I would just have to wait for a week, sometimes 2, sometimes even 3 ... and hope everything I ordered would be in the box. 

They also threw me a couple freebies ... once a Wizzard car at Xmas time, another Tyco U-Turn car cop car... it was a nice gesture, but so was my spending thousands of dollars with them. I can't say that their known for their freebies ... it only happened twice with me, but I also placed at least 75 orders with them. Kinda a "blue moon" freebie system they have there. Not that a vender is required to provide freebies ... but like any bartender will tell you, a free drink once in a while makes for a happy customer.

I'm sure they're good people, but they do need to work on their communication with their customers. I still order from them, but instead of placing an order or two a month ... it's now once or twice a year. I can't deal with the "not knowing if I'm getting what I ordered until it arrives" game anymore. 

Maybe they need a new website that will update their inventory ... so you know that the things you're ordering are actually available and in stock. If they can't do that, at least email your customers and inform them, especially when they're requesting that info ... like Bud's HO does, so does every other vendor I deal with ... too bad NCP can't or won't do the same. It's really frustrating to buy parts for projects on hold ... you see the box and think "cool, I get can started" only to open the box and see the parts you were counting on are missing ... because they either backordered or discontinued.

Give your customers the option to look for the parts they need somewhere else if you don't have them. Is that too much to ask? Making them wait weeks to find out is NOT good customer service in my book. 

I agree with oodrods on one point ... if you see the price of something, and you know how much is costs with shipping ... and you CHOOSE to place the order ... you can't whine about the cost later. 

Vendors have a right to make a profit on the items they sell ... it's called capitalism.


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## Pomfish

Here is a email I sent and then the reply.

Just thought you should know that you exceptional customer service does not go without comment.

From the Hobby Talk website;
Still jerks
Here's my experience. I ordered on January 9th. Nothing was debited to my account by the 15th so I sent them an e-mail asking what was happening. No reply. I called on the 17th and left a message with my e-mail and my phone number. No reply. By the 20th, I had the bank put a stop on the order. Only then did I get a response saying my order was ready. Here is our brief volly of e-mails:

Dear XXX,

We have your order ready to ship to you, but your credit card keeps coming up as declined. Please advise us as to how we can finish processing your order. We can be reached at 419-898-2333 or faxed at 419-898-2330.

Thanks and have a good day!!

Brenda

Dear Brenda,

I placed my order on 01/09, I e-mailed you on 01/15 and then called and left a message on 01/17. I did not receive a response from your company until now. Due yo your unresponsiveness, I placed a stop order with my bank and you may consider my order canceled in full.

Sincerely,
XXX

No Problem.
I just ask that in the future you not waste our time with practice orders, as you might suspect we are quite busy this time of year, we really don't have time to put together orders for the card not to go through.
So just to be clear no more orders will ever be processed from here for you.

Buyer beware, especially of these jerks! Quality customer service and bargain prices can be found all over the internet. Save yourself a huge hassle and shop somewhere else!
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2671303

More fun, entire thread;
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=180214&page=2

Keep up the good work!
Enjoy!


Now, the reply;

Hey,
Thanks for the free advertising, as it has been my experience that when someone does this they get several new people to come and view the site that may never have heard of it before which usually gets us new orders.
As an old Real Estate lady once told me( it doesn't matter what they say about me as long as they are talking about me and its true, you see we have been doing this for 15 years and do hundreds of orders a month with tens of thousands of customers around the planet we service several slot clubs which is our main focus and why sometimes during peak periods we are slow but they come first as each order is for hundreds of dollars a week.
So as old saying goes can't please everyone and obviously you are one, we can't get it all done some times of the year so we do what we can. Sorry we couldn't cater to your special immediate needs of instant communication on your toy order, but you may not know as you may be new to this sport, that several Companies have come and gone, some very large some small, but we are still here and growing every year, I guess some one likes what we are doing.
So you have a great day in your special what seems to be a high stress world, or you wouldn't take the time to screw around about a toy order with something so trivial as this, sorry we offended you.
A Pleasant Future to You and Your Family



Notice they seem to be saying "Some of Our customers are More Important and will get priority service, others are second class customers who will be serviced when we get around to it"

So, there you have it.
Later


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## Bill Hall

Nice tude


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## GoodwrenchIntim

Pomfish said:


> Thanks for the free advertising, as it has been my experience that when someone does this they get several new people to come and view the site that may never have heard of it before which usually gets us new orders.


Humm since when does negative feedback bring in new orders?????? I WONT order from them after what I have read. Karma does full circles. In the end they will loose


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## RiderZ

*!!!*

I've placed a lot of orders with NCP in the past.I had had the same experiance as most of you have stated.Once i found a "LuckY" man in Wisconsin he has been my only slotcar & parts provider.:thumbsup:


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## slotcarman12078

Quote:"Now, the reply;

Hey,
Thanks for the free advertising, as it has been my experience that when someone does this they get several new people to come and view the site that may never have heard of it before which usually gets us new orders."


Wow!! That has to be one of the most brilliant business strategies I've heard in a long time!!!! Poor customer service, even poorer communication, and a crap attitude to boot is always what I look for in a web based business!!! And I never would have known about this place if it hadn't been for this thread!! I'd be a total fool not to place my order right away!!!! Yeah, right!!!

For the few unfortunates who will place an order just to see how poorly this retailer performs, good luck with your purchases!!! May the order show up complete, swiftly and without a hitch!! Just one thing.. don't mention you heard about them from here.. You wouldn't want to ruin your test... Perhaps what this retailer doesn't care to see is the number of sales they won't get because of this thread!!! When I purchase on line from a business, I expect them to have what I order in stock, and ready to ship. I expect it to be shipped promptly. I also expect them to tell me if there is a problem with my order. That is how I would treat my customers, and it's how I would expect to be treated. They act as if they are the only supplier out there.. They should be well aware that they're not. I'll just shop at Jag.. They have what they say, and ship quick...


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## Bill Hall

Thanx Ujoe...for saying what needed to be said.

I hate punkass attitude from vendors. Clearly they have the time to participate in witty reparte', but cant seem to dot the I's and cross the T's at certain times.

I assert that if they spent the time they waste antagonizing customers on some apple polishing they might help their image.

Sadly, and all too often, we now live in an age where you'll get yer crap when I'm damm good and ready to slam it carlessly in a box if I even decide to get around to it cuz you already prepaid me anyway, ya sucker.


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## Montoya1

I have had a slightly different experience, almost a surreal one. I guess it can be covered under the post AFXtoo made, that sometimes it is better to take the high road.

I had a terrible experience with a vendor, not NCP but another one mentioned in this thread a lot. Maybe it is a reflection of the forum I was on, but when I posted of the experience, factually and without hyperbole, vitriol poured down on me from some of the other members. The vendor himself slammed me for making the thing public, despite the fact he had done nothing to make me think I would ever get the order or my money back. Excuses about lack of time were peddled out by the vendor, and the others (who I assume are that sucky thing, preferred customers), despite the fact he clearly had time to browse forums and update the site.

Suffice to say, I don't post about bad vendors anymore, kind of taking the high road by default. I spend the money with the people who give a damn about proper customer service. Scale Auto and WHP have been awesome, and I have 3-4 ebbay sellers I know are the cats whiskers.

Talking of ebbay, Did Helen Jarrels ever come back? Now there was a vendor.


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## Slott V

Sad to read some of the supposed responses from NCPH but some I read where the customer is bitching about 6 days. 6 days?  I have bought lots of stuff from them in the past and always had great service. They've been around the HO scene for a long time and anybody with past issues of SARN can find them very active in the HO racing scene in the past. I hope these cases are isolated.

Threads like this shouldn't be allowed in public if you ask me. Some forums won't allow members to post *good* information about website vendors because they don't pay for advertising to the particular site. But then people are allowed to rip on legitimate store fronts in a very well established site like this because of 1 or 2 misunderstandings. Just doesn't seem right.


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## slotnewbie69

then again,we also need the info on bad customer service to save our precious slot bucks for the good vendors...just saying...personal disputes should be pm'd,but i see nothing wrong with warning others of bad experiences with vendors...


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## brownie374

All this make swap meets look sweeter.We have one twice a year and I am already looking forward to the next one and its almost 2 months away!


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## Minreg

Similar concern, different company... if your bored read it...

Ordered over 2 weeks ago items that I was to believe were in stock, because the website says it is always up to date, and items listed are always in stock. blah blah

My CC was charged a week later.
Then I called on the 8th day and asked if this order was shipped and was told some items they were waiting on but now all items shipped out to me but one. FINE. 
Says I should have an email from UPS with tracking info. I told them I did not get that email. 
They say well maybe they did not scan it yet, check your email latter.
OK.

Never got that email and still waiting for it and or my slot toy order.
I am about to call again. So, how do you handle this?

If I call and get treated like some orphan, Im gonna freak out, do do, freak out. I want my toys!!!! Been a good boy and waited long enough.

I fully understand pre ordering and have waited for as long as 2 years for certain model trains to be made. This is not a pre order.
I hate hobby shops that lead you on. Then lead you on after you paid even.

Support your LHS. Oops, they are no good or non-existent. Oh well.
Website still says order "Processing."


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## T-jetjim

I too have ordered several times from NCP Hobbies. I never had a bad experience, but wasn't in any hurry and never emailed or called them.
I am shocked with some of their responses. Track clubs come first and too bad you had to wait for your meaningless toys? Unreal. My company revolves around product delivery and there are often mistakes, some by the customer when ordering and some by us. Regardless of who is at fault, this is a time to shine. We have worked extra hard in training our staff to attempt to make a negative into a positive. I am fighting a lot of competition with heavy pricing pressure. We seem to get our fair share of business and I am certain that it revolves around the service we provide and we are not the cheapest.
Whether 8 days is not enough days or too many days, a customer should never be treated like that.
I have been ordering through Jag the last few orders that I have placed and have been very happy. From the sounds of it, Lucky Bob's seems like another good source.
Jim


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## NTxSlotCars

HEY!!!!!!!!! We're having a SWAP MEET in Dallas, TX. on Saturday, March 7th!!!! I can't wait. We haven't had a slot car swap meet down here in 10 years. I hope some of ya'll can come out. It'll bring back that pre-internet experience.

more info at www.dallasslotcars.com

Rich
www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars :thumbsup:


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## oddrods

*NCP Letter: This includes the origonal post and is long*

This was the post that started the thread. Mind you I am not taking sides here as you usually only hear 1 side of the story so I try to take posts like this with a grain of salt. That being said after a quick count there are at least 9 posters that had similar experience, 3 others that had similar experience but were a little more supportive of your shop and 2 or 3 that are in complete support of your shop. I will post this entire conversation to the board so that people can make up their own mind. Thanks, Rob Rose

"""I have never posted any negative comments about a company before here or anywhere else. But then I never have had this kind of terrible service with a company before.

On March 7 I placed an order with them because they have a decent site and they are near Toledo, Oh which will mean less postal time. There site states orders will be shipped within 24 - 48 hours. 

By the time March 12 mail came I have not even received an email stating the item shipped. So I thought maybe some items may be on back order. I sent them an email and left a message on there phone.

No response

Next day another message left, no response. Same with march 14

On March 15 I sent them a last email telling them since they will not respond to me, Just cancel the order.

the only response from them was on march 15 after I canceled the order.


Quote:
Good Morning, 
Your order has been shipped, it was being held for the J B Brushes, we have been out of them for a couple weeks and they were due in, but never showed up, so order now processed with out the brushes, if you wish to stay on the backorder list for the brushes do nothing, if you wish to cancel them just respond to this email for cancellation.

Thanks for your orders and have a great weekend!!!!!!!

ncphobbies.com

check our clearance section often 

I immediately responded


Quote:
I am sorry I just placed the order with another vendor. I no longer need this order. In my last email I stated I wanted the whole order canceled. I did the same with the voice mail. 
I have tried to get a hold of you for 4 days. All I wanted was a status on the order. But you would never reply. Do not charge my card. If this has not gone to the post office please do not ship. If it has then I will return it unopened.
If there would have been the smallest amount of communication this would not have been a problem. 

I did receive the package but it was post marked on March 16 the day after they said it shipped. I sent it back to them that day unopened and opened a investigation with my credit card company.

Well to day in the mail I received an envelope from them with a partial refund minus the 22% restocking fee.

I may have just let this go if it was not for the note at the bottom.


Quote:
We really don't have time to play ( practice an order ) We can't keep up as it is. So go practice ordering from some where else. No further orders will be processed for you. 

Not only are they a poor company to deal with and a bunch of jack asses but apparently they are witty Seinfeld fans. --- Slot car Nazis

point of my post was to share my experiences so others won't have to deal with them. It could all have been avoided with a simple email saying Items are on back order.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by breaume : 03-23-2007 at 03:01 PM. """


In a message dated 2/2/2009 9:42:56 A.M. Central Standard Time, NCP3 writes:
Good Morning,

Happy Monday, I don't usually respond to letters like this or to guys who give us problems, but you seem like a guy just putting forth his opinion with out much negativity, I have been gone running my salt water boat in Fla to escape this whicked snow up here so little late in responding, my passion is boating, but with our pool business 24/.7 in summer don't get much of a chance, so go to Fla to get my fix a few times a winter.

Well to get started I guess this all started because this guys credit card was declined and nobody got with him right away, we get 20-30 bad cards a month so we get to them when we get some free time this time of year.
We have been doing this for quite sometime now, and there are problems from time to time but I must tell you not that many, every once in a while you run into someone that freaks out for whatever reason, just makes me wonder how the rest of their life is going if they spend time flippin out or trashing someone rather than just saying buzz off and get parts elsewhere.
As I'm sure you know if you have been in this hobby for a while, it has no growth pattern, and many distributors are no longer stocking parts or manufacturers even making as many parts as in the hey day of this sport, In this economy nobody in their right mind would invest all their money in slot car parts, for example in 1/24th our largest segment, many of your parts are made by guys in their spare time as a hobby in the basementor wherever, these guys are going away and not really being replaced. Some of your major manufacturers are guys that did well with this but have gotten jobs elsewhere, I'm not naming names but its happening.
So any way rather than talking you ear off all morning, I'just writing this out of respect for a guy that seems to care for our small sport, which it seems you do.

I have 2 other businesses, so I really just do this because my son started it when he was young, very young 15, he has moved on to other things employed by a major oil company, so I keep running for the employees that have been with us for several years, and as a service to the sport, as I'm sure you aware and maybe you do it as well, many use the site as a library whether they buy items from us or not,
I simply feel a passion to do what I can to keep this sport alive in a period of 0 growth. You see I have this building paid for and a beautful old American Hillclimb the one with the crossovers that was completely refurbished back in the 90 when we built this building, so even though I'm an old guy I plan to keep this running as long as I'm able and trust me its not for the big bucks of which there are none.
That brings us to the point that we are able to keep this portion going because we do have so many great and longtime customers, and when a guy comes along that is a pain, I just don't feel I need to put up with them, it really is no worth the hassle, you kinda get a feel after doing this for 15 years.
I actually don't follow any of the talk sessions, so the only wayeven knew this was going on is a couple of our customers told Brenda, and your letter, which is the only one I am responding to 

Well may I Wish You and Your Family a Great and Safe New Year



In a message dated 1/24/2009 12:37:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, ODDRODS writes:
I have been following the thread on Hobby Talk and your statement about this thread getting people to go to your site was indeed correct. I went to your site (I have visited it in the past as well) to see what you had to offer. what I found was a decent selection of HO product offered laid out in a fairly easy to use format. Prices were average to above average. Over all very similar to several other venders out there on the web. I do a large portion of my slot car purchases over the web (about 1-2k per year) and it seems to me that most of the HO business is conducted mail order as well. It amazes me that your company policy seems to be that you can be as nasty as you want when a customer has legitimate concerns. You clearly stated that unless a customer, or club, is willing to spend a lot of money with you than they are not important enough for you to be concerned with. Is there a dollar amount that you could post on your site that a customer needs to spend before you will give a status or return an email? Maybe you could have different levels that a customer can sign up to obtain a certain level of service. Something like:
Bronze level: 500.00 and under (you will get your order when we are finished dealing with more important customers if the items are in stock, if out of stock you can just wait)
Silver: 501.00-1500.00 (you will get your order when we are finished with more important customers, if items are out of stock you can just wait)
Gold: 1500.00 and up (You will get your order when we are finished dealing with more important customers, if items are out of stock you can just wait, but when we get around to finishing your order we might throw in a freebie at random) 
There were a few supporters of your company on the thread but even they complained of out of stock items and little if any communication. Bottom line is you are throwing away business due to customer service.
Respectfully, Rob Rose


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## noddaz

*Ok, I get the point.*

Ok, I get the point. Can we bring this slugfest to a reasonable close here?
I am not trying to jerk anyones chain here. I have heard enough.
Thanks...

Scott


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## eastside johnny

Just want to add a bit here. Our club, in it's 29th season of H.O. racing, every other week, 12 months a year is known as North Coast H.O.....WE ARE NOT AFFILIATED with North Coast Performance Hobby!!!! However we are both in Ohio. I have never dealt with them, even though they are just a little over an hour away so I can't add anything good or bad. I just ask that we PLEASE NOT be confused with them. We are a club on the shores of Lake Erie, they are a business in a small town between Toledo & Sandusky. For good service I've dealt with Futuretronics, Mark's Model World, Bud's H.O., & JAG Hobbies and never had a problem with any of them.
I've got to say though, the response about "Practice orders" (two different times) is one that I've never heard before!!!


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## 4.3 ZOOK

this reminds me of the character" Ignatious J. Riley" in Peter Kennedy Tooles' second
book "A confederacy of dunces" lol


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## hankster

This thread is being closed due to improper language and the offending party is banned for 3 days. I have no problem with member relaying their experiences with vendors. I do mind when they are vulgar and will take actions to prevent it from happening again.


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