Horizon a bit cheeky?

[mattscupoftea]

I just spoke to Horizon's repairs department to ask them what my options are regarding the stripped A gear on my three-flights-in, no crashes 130X.

"That's odd" was the reply, "sounds like the sort of thing that happens in a crash"

I reassured him that there had been no crash, just two previous flights of hovering, with gentle landings. On solid floor, not even grass.

"doesn't sound right to me" was his reply. . .

I then pointed out that I was a little surprised too that my practically brand-new, out of the box heli would fail quite so quickly. I also pointed out that I was surprised at his reaction, seeing that with a small amount of research online, it seemed that this was in fact quite a common 'fault' with the 130X - and that it seems to have something to do with incorrect meshing due to the poor installation of the tail gears, torque tube, and tail boom in the factory. He made noises like it was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

I guess it's his job to pretend that the heli is perfect out of the factory, in much the same way that an accountant is supposed to feign surprise when your invoice still hasn't been paid months after, but anyhow. . . He suggested that if I send a photo of the stripped gear, and a photo of the undamaged heli, they would 'see what they can do' about it, that they were completely out of stock of said gear, but perhaps they might 'be able to find a replacement part from an old, damaged 130X in their spares box'.

Really? Should I expect a faulty product to be replaced with something out of the spares drawer?

I know I'm being a bit pedantic, and will confess that I'm merely venting here, but still. . .

Let's see what their reply is when I email them. . .

[helijohn]

Think I'll take the 130X off my Xmas list.

[debrooker]

from my experience emails I have sent (a few) all but one were unanswered.

you could try pulling some email addresses from linked in, to see if you can find someone to get the right level of attention

[TSK UK]

Matt,

The normal route is too speak to your retailer first, then they can sort/solve any problems.

HTH

[blueskiesdz]

I had same problem with a gear and the normal tail wag. I sent it back and they replaced it but said it was user error not poor manufacturing. I knew it would only happen again so promptly sold it on eBay ! Real shame as I was so looking forward to the 130x coming out....

Rik

[Gixxer]

Matt,

The normal route is too speak to your retailer first, then they can sort/solve any problems.

HTH

^^^ This - Your contract is with the retailer, not with HH, so your first (only) port of call should be the retailer and if they decide the damage was due to a manufacturing defect, they'll probably replace the broken part, or if the heli is less than 30 days old, maybe the whole thing, then they can take it up with HH if they so desire, but you don't have a contract with HH so it's pointless contacting them.

[mattscupoftea]

Thanks, folks.

I don't want to give the impression that it's not a good heli, cos apart from a few niggles, it's great, as i think general opinion would agree.

If I don't get a reply, I'll get on to the retailer for further advice.

[mattscupoftea]

^^^ This - Your contract is with the retailer, not with HH, so your first (only) port of call should be the retailer and if they decide the damage was due to a manufacturing defect, they'll probably replace the broken part, or if the heli is less than 30 days old, maybe the whole thing, then they can take it up with HH if they so desire, but you don't have a contract with HH so it's pointless contacting them.

Ah, perhaps I'll just get on to the retailer anyhow.

[collective itch]

Why is it the retailers fault for being supplied with shoddy products though? Talk about passing the buck. I spoke to someone at hh about the faulty tail pitch slider, and was spoken to in the same manner. I won't be buying any more of their models, no matter how capable they make them look in their promo videos.

[unwind-protect]

Why is it the retailers fault for being supplied with shoddy products though?

Because they are the ones who took your money? The retailer is supposed to look at a product and decide if it is of a quality that they are happy to sell.

In reality, HH has a history of releasing products with less than perfect QC (see DX6 issues, DX8 issues, antennas falling off rxes, etc, etc), which they have made up for with virtually unmatched customer support. If they've decided to cut back on that then I suspect they'll quickly find themselves becoming another Walkera.

[mattscupoftea]

I don't think the suggestion is that it's the retailers fault, but that it's their responsibility to deal with the issues that occur with something that they sell.

Having just spoken to the retailer (at length, during which I was continually urged to 'confess' that I had crashed "even a hard landing is enough to cause this, or anything touching the tail blades, like grass" and cajoled into it through suggestion that they all fly them, and that everyone in the shop had had crashes on them at one time or another) I'm a little frustrated. They were great, apart from trying to extract said confession (if I had crashed in any way, I would have happily paid for replacement parts - I'm not an idiot, or a scrounger) and suggesting that there are no problems any more with the gear meshing (after mentioning that all of the helis they sell are checked in the shop for such meshing issues?!?). It would seem that there are no spare gears around at the moment either. They've said that HH told them that they have none either. To be fair, he asked me to call back in the morning, by which time he will have a look to see if there might be any lying around or at least be able to tell me when the replacement will be available.

My biggest frustration is being treated like a naughty schoolboy that is denying something that he has done.

I didn't crash, land heavily, manhandle or otherwise threaten the heli. so far my £140 has bought me two and a half flights. Not great value for money.

[konceppt]

maybe the lack of gears anywhere would point to the fact that everyone is having to replace them or hh are having to use all their stock to repair customers helis

[collective itch]

It's a poorly built rip off, that has vastly overpriced spares. Horizon talked to me like I'd crashed mine initially. I have now as my tail completely failed on I think my fourth flight. When both my tail sliders broke, the only thing the heli had touched was air. The head speed is actually pretty high on these. How long before someone loses their tail, loses control, and gets hurt.

[coolice]

Matt,

The normal route is too speak to your retailer first, then they can sort/solve any problems.

HTH

^^^ This - Your contract is with the retailer, not with HH, so your first (only) port of call should be the retailer and if they decide the damage was due to a manufacturing defect, they'll probably replace the broken part, or if the heli is less than 30 days old, maybe the whole thing, then they can take it up with HH if they so desire, but you don't have a contract with HH so it's pointless contacting them.

I was going to say the same, take it back to your retailer to look over first and try to find the problem.

TSK UK, do you still fly some TSK models?
.

[jamiem]

Sounds more to me like they were trying to help you out by giving you a used replacement part rather than making you wait until the new parts come in to stock? If your not happy with this then simply return it to your retailer They take a 25% (roughly) markup on these things for exactly this reason - to deal with the issues (although that's clearly not the only reason they get a healthy profit).