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Modeling in General
General discussions about modeling topics.
Takom - Disappointing customer service
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 05:25 AM UTC
Well I'm a little disappointed. I bought the Takom Chieftain Mk 5 a couple of years ago and started making it at the beginning of the year. When I got to the turret I discovered that they had provided a Mk 11 turret.

I duly contacted Takom to get a replacement. They came back to say that they couldn't help as they didn't have any left from the production run. Now I sort of can accept that as it would be unfair to expect Takom to retain unlimited responsibility.

The bit that has rather annoyed me is that they then essentially closed the matter. There's no acknowledgement that they sold me a duff kit or that I have wasted about £50 (not including the extras I'd bought for it).

If it was my business I'd have offered a replacement equivalent of some type. I'm not especially after a free kit but just some sort of tangible acknowledgement that I was sold a pup!
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 07:05 AM UTC
That sucks ...

I have a resin kit (resin caster died a half a year after I bought my kit) of a Horch 830 BL Pullman limousine with only two wheels instead of the required four ...

I'll have to dig out my Takom Chieftain from the stash and check which turret they gave me ...

/ Robin
ctkwok
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 07:39 AM UTC
I understand your frustrations but is there something they can really do for you given they have no spares available in terms of what their responsibilities are to you? Usually as the customer you'd be expected to check the parts after your purchase which didn't happen in this instance if I'm reading your situation right, which might have increased your chance of getting a spare, or a refund from the store you purchased from.
Kevlar06
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 07:46 AM UTC
I think your fall back position is to do just what you’ve done, bring it to the attention of the modeling community, and perhaps someone else can help (as Robin implies). Having worked in a LHS, and having dealt with many manufacturers for replacement parts, I can say firsthand what TAKOM did for you was pretty much an industry standard. If a manufacturer has exhausted the product run, they really can’t do much more. But, have you gone to the distributor of your product? Sometimes distributors will stock parts for defective kits. Most distributors expect they’ll have at least a 5% return standard on kits, for one reason or another, and will keep the returned kits on hand for parts. Some dealers (as in LHS) do this too, although that’s less common, since their storage for a multitude of different kits will be much less. You might give the distributor a try too.
VR, Russ
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 07:52 AM UTC
I realize now that I should have checked when I first bought the kit but I didn't think in those terms. I will now! Sadly the shop I bought it from closed recently.
barkingdigger
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 07:53 AM UTC
Hi Matthew,

Your other option is the Buy/Sell/Trade forum here, or the usual auction sites. Somebody out there will have used their Chieftain hull for a conversion and will have a spare...
Kevlar06
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 08:03 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I realize now that I should have checked when I first bought the kit but I didn't think in those terms. I will now! Sadly the shop I bought it from closed recently.

.

So who was/is the distributor in your geographic area? Almost all kits are distributed through one or two geographic are distributors. They may still be in business and might still be able to help if you contact them directly.
VR, Russ
RobinNilsson
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 08:43 AM UTC
Would you need the whole turret or just the turret shell?
I have a few Tamiya Mk 5 turrets as leftovers from conversions if that could be of any use. Don't know if I need things like bins and smoke dischargers but the barrel and turret shell are leftovers.
/ Robin
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Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 06:31 PM UTC
That is very kind of you. I have all the fittings its just the upper shell that's wrong. But don't worry. A pal has asked for the hull as the basis for an ARV conversion.
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