I wanted to know if anyone have purchased form the Great Models Website website and if so how are they to deal with? They seem to have great prices so that makes me want to know if they are good to deal with.
Thanks,
Dave

Good prices, but I've experienced about a 50% hit rate on their "in stock and on hand" merchandise. If I place an order for 5 things, I may get 3 of them. Then I have to re-order at Squadron, who has everything, but now I have to pay shipping for a second order. While I may have saved a few coins at Great Model per item, the savings is eaten up by the need to order the rest of what you want from someone else.

I have ordered before from there (two occasions) and had no problems. In fact, I have an order with them right now and it looks like its going smooth.

Rob

I've ordered from them a few times with no problems. Recently, they added an "In stock" notice to the site, so it's a little easier to shop now. They have good communication too if you need to change your order.

I have order from them in the past and had great fast service . Just phone and see if the item is in stock if you aren't sure .

Fast service, no problems. The site isn't totally up-to-date on stuff, so feel free to ask them on the phone (24 hour 800 telephone service). They will hold a shipment while they look for something, and are very open about the chances of getting it in.

Thanks everyone who replied. It looks like I have a good chance of them working out well. I'll give them a try but I gotta wait till I can spend $200 to save on shipping.

I've used Great Models many times, usually without problems, and will certainly use them again. If you go for the free shipping, make absolutely sure everything in your order is in stock. Absolutely sure.

When the Hunnicutt Sherman and Pershing books were republished, I ordered both from Great Models to get over the $200 mark and free shipping. The Sherman book showed as in stock, the home page declared the Pershing books had just arrived in the warehouse, but the Pershing page still showed the book as out of stock. I should have waited. Great Models shipped the Sherman title and charged me for shipping. When I complained, they shipped the Pershing book without a shipping charge, but I was never refunded the cost of shipping on the first book. They did something like that to me on another order, too, but I cannot remember the details.

Great Models can be very useful for hunting down out of stock items. If used for this purpose, make sure you understand how the shipping system works, especially when an order ships piecemeal, as the shipping charges can become prohibitive.

-Doug

Years ago I had a few problems with Great Models, and didn't use them for a few years.
Then a few years ago, I tried them again, and it's been fine. Their customer service has greatly improved over pass performance, at least for me. Their new "Check Marking" for in stock items quite frankly in much better than Lucky Models "in stock", as I haven't been stuck with an out of stock item since they started it. (I'm still waiting for items from Lucky Models since April, that were in stock when ordered, and have twice showed up as in stock since, and I'll probably end up ordering from Great Models when they show up in stock.) Sometimes the phone works better for customer service, and ordering than emails and the website.

I would highly recommend NOT using them and trying to find your needs elsewhere.

I used to be a regular customer but stopped using them this year.

My biggest complaint with centers around how shipping costs are calculated and charged.

When I placed my last order with them I was quoted $48 + $9 shipping.

I was looking at my MasterCard bill and noticed that I was charged $48 + $28 for shipping.

I emailed them to find out about the discrepancy and was directed to the policies page.

My point was that I would canceled the order and ordered elsewhere If i was told the "actual" shipping cost before shipping, I only authorized them to debit by CC for $9 shipping, In my books GM doing this was nothing short of fraud.
I could have ordered the items from HK for less.

Additionly the wording of the email responses was very rude and condescending. My emails to Loic were never answered.

I would recommend Squadron, Sprue Brothers, LuckyModel if they have the items you need.

NEVER will I order from Greatmodels again.

I recommend them,I never any problems or delay if the product is in stock,they deliver very fast,and the customer service people are very nice and effective.

Seems like there are a few out there that have had problems. What about users experiences with Sprue Brothers and LuckyModel? I've not tried them before but will look at the site now and would like to hear from all that used them before.
Dave

Sprue brothers are top notch in my books, fast shipping.Never had an issue with them.

Luckymodels is my favorite though, I've had 30+ orders with them over the last few years.
If they backorder any items, they don't charge any additional shipping.

When an issue does arise(which is rare) they always resove any issues quickly.
The last issue I had was when I received a Dragon t34 premium kit missing the dragon card(PE, tracks etc..)
They airmailed the missing item within a week(great in my books)

Greatmodels on the other hand have no clue about customer service.
one time they shipped me paint where 5 out of 25 bottles were dried solid inside the bottle. no liquid left what so ever. (Old stock no doubt.)
They wouldn't take them back as they claimed that shipping company had let them freeze(it was late summer) I could go on and on about GreatModels craptastic and rude customer service but won't.

Dave, I've used all three stores. I don't have a local shop, so I pretty much buy everything online. My experiences with both Sprue Brothers and Lucky Model have been good. Sprue Brothers has been very quick with my orders and shipping is fast. Lucky Model was too, but I've only placed one order with them. I've also had good luck with Free Time Hobbies (www.freetimehobbies.com). I tend to shop around and don't stick to any one store. Hope that helps.

Michael

This is great as I'm learning of so many sites I've not even heard of. I'm sure the tread is good for all to hear about anyone having issues before to help with who to deal with.

Does anyone have any problems with dealing with a site/company from Hong Kong? Jut asking.
Dave

just the shipping from hong kong is a killer, but if you go back there to buy models u can buy three times as much models with money for one model. its reallly worth it. they were selling tascas m4a1 late for 33.95! but they were all sold out when i got there. one shop i would recommend is jadarhobby.pl based in poland.

GENERALLY your best bet with HK is to buy lightweight stuff like PE. Most of that is postage-free from Luckymodel and very inexpensive from Hobbyeasy (LM advertises "free shipping," but their prices are generally a bit higher, though you have to check). Hobbyeasy is also better for having Voyager PE in stock. The thing with Hobbyeasy, though, is you pay extra for items made in Europe and they are drop-shipped from a place in Poland.

But Hobby Link Japan every once in awhile will belch out some really good deals, even with shipping. I got two Trumpeter sFH 15s for $20 each WITH shipping a few months back. Hisham is always good about posting deals from them.

That's what I tried to convey with my response. Al/Sparky had a similar result as I did. Perhaps we just got unlucky ordering something that they say is in stock/on hand but truly was not. I placed my order to capitalize on the free shipping amount, but after several items were deemed unavailable, they shipped and I had to pay for shipping. This has happened to me a couple of times.

If I had just ordered everything from Squadron, I would have paid maybe $10 more for the items total, but I would have had everything arrive in one order and would not have paid for shipping, thus saving me some money in the end. If GM had on hand and shipped everything at once, I would have save about $10 over ordering everything from Squadron.

I've had decent{not great mind you} dealings with GM and very good dealings with LM...the key thing with lucky model is to watch the inventory statis;
-"available" can take up to 2-3 weeks for them to restock. I just got an order that was delayed about two and a half weeks waiting for one of two items. Don't order anything that's "available" if your in a hurry and you'll be fine. Both items were free shipping but even with the wait, it was worth it. Anything they've had as "in stock" I've recieved here within 8-10 days. I've delt with them many times before and they're fast and nicely priced, but you have to know what's a good bargain with shipping added....but you should consider that anywhere else too, including ebay.

I agree with everything Sabot says about Great Models and have had similar experiences. If an order breaks up, for any reason, they will ship piecemeal and it will cost you. I also agree with all his comments about Squadron. In fact, ever since Great Models burned me twice, I usually buy elsewhere, especially Squadron and Lucky Models. However, I still use Great Models if a great deal rolls along or I really need something they have. I just make absolutely sure everything is in stock.

Lucky Models is probably my favorite online store. In stock items ship quickly. Available items can take a long time to ship. Mind the shipping costs.

I have used many others without incident including:
JB Model (1 order; surprisingly fast shipping to California)
HobbyBuy (2+ orders)
HobbyLink Japan (6+ orders)
Sprue Brothers (1 order; very quick shipping)
Dragon USA (6+ orders--I used to buy all the Cyber Hobby limited edition stuff but I am cured of that madness!)

In all cases, read the store policy with regards to out of stock items and how they are handled. That will help you avoid most grief.

-Doug

"been there done that" = burned by Great models multiple shipping... still a great deal when they have GOOd stuff at 50-60% off (usual daily sales are of 'crappy' stuff).

Hey Doug, Sprue Brothers has like half a dozen Cyber-hobby limited edition kits at half price for their 5th year anniversary...I got half a dozen, with free shipping, came out to about 27-28$ USD each....

Lucky Models - best prices, but you have to navigate/learn their byzantine shipping system/costs. BUT... many PE/AM stuff is shipped FREE by AIR, so you get it in a week!

I guess I'm dealing with a different Greatmodels, LOL!

The trick is to make sure you let them know to cancel back orders if you don't want to pay the separate shipping. It's not hard to do. I have a pending order with them right now and they are holding it until the final item either comes in this week or is declared unavailable right now. In that case, I told 'em to ship what they have and cancel the rest.

One of the best ways to monitor their sales is to keep a "wish list." Then if an item goes on-sale, you'll see it flagged on your list. It's how I found out about their RoG U-boat going for $50+/-. That's about $30 better than any price I'd see elsewhere.

I like Sprue Bros. but I find their stock is rather limited. I don't know that GMs has more items in their warehouse, but they list things that aren't in inventory but which come in and out of stock. Like I said, I use their wish list to manage my wants.

IMHO Greatmodels Webstore is the best. They have one of the largest selections in the US and the prices can't be beat..especially since they run sales constantly.

Yes...sometimes they are out of stock on certain items but you can look at an "in-stock-only"catalog on their site and you'll know 100% if the item is in stock or not. They have fast and VERY friendly service. They also accept paypal which is very convenient. I would highly recommend them.

Other on-line vendors I would recommend are:

www.squadron.com

www.hlj.com

hobbyterra

www.tankworkshop.com

I've had good luck with all of them.

Jeff