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Banana Hobby

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:07 pm
by DejaD
This is not so much a, "don't buy from this place" kind of post as it is a "holy crap is it hard to communcate with some people post" and I'm not saying I will not buy here, but...
I have been told numerous times and seen on websites and airplane packages that RTF meant everything you need to fly the plane is in the box...So I contacted BH today to inquire as to why MANY of the planes on their website are listed as RTF, when in fact you have to supply a Tx, Rx, battery and charger. The first response told me all about the refund/return policies in effect at BH and also informed me that they do in fact have in stock the airplane that I used as an example, but did not answer the question. I responded and attempted to ask the question a little differently but pointing out that while it does say on some of the RTF models that you do need to supply the TX,Rx and battery it also uses the terms "Ready to Fly", "Complete kit", "Everything is Included" in addition to "RTF" in the same product "promotion/ad". My main point was to alert them to the contraditory infromation they are putting in the web ads.Their second response is as follows: "For optional accessories, some customer have them in their hand, if the price include with all of these accesories, but some customer doesn't want and no need them."
Now, I'm not making fun of their grasp of the english language, I have been known to butcher it badly myself at times. And for the last 25 years I have worked side by side with Japanese engineers and spent many months in Japan, so I'm used to the broken English. (but I did expect more from a girl named Cathy, my wife's name is Kathy and she....well never mind. I said I was making fun.) So my response was short and sweet, "Ok,... you win."

Does anyone agree with my definition of "ready to fly"? It sounds to me like "Cathy" thinks I'm angry about having to use my own radio equipment. My only point was don't call an airplane RTF unless it truly is ready to fly. I really don't think she understood what I was asking/stating. Am I totally off base by asking this question?

Re: Banana Hobby

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:51 pm
by kaptain_zero
While I have never dealt with the following site, they do have a nice explanation of RTF/ARF/BNF/PNP models. I'm a bit confused about the whole thing myself... being used to just walking into a hobby store, selecting a set of plans and then picking out all the wood I need to put it together......<sigh>.

This link drops you on the RTF page, there are links to the other versions in the left sidebar:

http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/rtf-rc-airplanes.html

Regards

Christian aka

Kaptain "Where's my watering can, I gotta water my fanfold foam tree!" Zero

Re: Banana Hobby

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:47 pm
by ergocentric
I have sniffed around their store a little and one thing I did notice that it does say ready to fly 100% but then you get the option to buy without tx/rx/battery/charger/extra battery/lipo sack/tx battery/epoxy/flight simulator/neckstrap

a $65 plane becomes $173

Re: Banana Hobby

PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:48 am
by kaptain_zero
I took a quick peek as well.... Yeah, they advertise the RTF bit, but post the stripped price to make it look attractive. The form clearly shows you that you have selected to not include this, not include that and it's quite cheesy that the price does not change when you add stuff, but waits until you go to the shopping cart.

As always, it's buyer beware....

Regards

Christian

Re: Banana Hobby

PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 3:34 pm
by Juanlargo
If you plan to buy from Banana Hobby I recommend that you use Pay Pal just in case things don't go well. As for their products, the quality is variable from great to poor and there is no way to know which ones are good except to read other peoples experiences. Banana has a reputation of of not delivering the goods but they appear to be getting better. I have placed two orders with them, one was uneventful and the other nearly resulted in a Pay Pal dispute but they did finally make it right.

I never buy RTF and the only BNF stuff I will buy is at my LHS, that way I know it will work. The ARFs they sell are usually pretty good. Some have motors, some even have servos in them. I prefer an ARF that is just the Airframe since I prefer to install my own motors and electronics.

So Banana is what I would call a relatively safe bet but keep your eyes open....