Received very gatored Freewing P51D Old Crow: Not happy with MRC customer service

[Fallguy44]

Hey Fallguy, what are you going to do with the gatored plane, after you get the new one?

Returning it.

[Fallguy44]

Quick update. I spoke to Martin on the phone and was told they checked all 35 planes in stock and shockingly all 35 planes were gatored similarly. He is sending me pictures of 2 of the best of the bunch. Haven't seen them yet. So my options are to keep my orginal, take one of the 2 they found or return it and hope the new shipment in 6-8 weeks are better. I am considering the latter as the cold weather is moving in and I won't be flying as much. Tom is apparently in contact with Freewing as this is not good for them either.

[deadbug]

Wow...On the one hand, I'm pleased that MotionRC is continuing to earn their reputation for 1st class customer service— but on the other hand, Freewing's factory quality control at least on this shipment is obviously substandard. That is concerning as I was planning to buy another Freewing warbird in the not-so-distant future.

Puts the factory worker's fingerprint & smudge in the silver paint on the upper flap surface of my new ”Old Crow” in perspective. I didn't say anything about it at the time, but things may be a bit lax on the assy line QC.

[Fallguy44]

Got the pictures of the "best of the bunch". The silver is slightly better. I stress slightly. And the green on the hatch is just as bad.

Tom, Martin mentioned you were contacting Freewing. Did they offer any solutions or is my only option to wait the 6-8 weeks? Thanks again.

[AirHead]

It's time for the model airplane manufacturers to invent something called..."Gator Aid"....There is an elusive process out there waiting to be implemented that will eliminate that issue. But, replacement parts are a big part of manufacture....

[fhhuber]

There's a way to mitigate the issue but you can't eliminate it. Cover the model in a film (MonoKote, vinyl, tissue and paint...). It adds weight and complicates manufacture. A stronger skin over the foam "cells" will reduce the ability of it to "gator."

[Hippie 64]

I've seen much worse , but you do need to try and remember these boxes are in containers crossing the ocean in the sun . They will and do get hot inside . I know your not happy but I didn't think it looked too bad ..


Bryan

[Hippie 64]

Wow...On the one hand, I'm pleased that MotionRC is continuing to earn their reputation for 1st class customer service— but on the other hand, Freewing's factory quality control at least on this shipment is obviously substandard. That is concerning as I was planning to buy another Freewing warbird in the not-so-distant future.

Puts the factory worker's fingerprint & smudge in the silver paint on the upper flap surface of my new ”Old Crow” in perspective. I didn't say anything about it at the time, but things may be a bit lax on the assy line QC.

That's not a finger print . That's part of the mold . Seen it many many times from all Mfg's


Bryan

[deadbug]

That's not a finger print . That's part of the mold . Seen it many many times from all Mfg's


Bryan

Bryan,

It absolutely IS a fingerprint and smudge of the paint caused by contact while the paint wasn't completely dried. The lighting and my iphone pic of it doesn't show the detail of the fingeprint ridges. In person it is obvious what it is.
Now, does it stop me from enjoying my plane? No. But the fact it was allowed to be shipped from the factory as-is without attempting to touch-up or redo...to me, and together with the OP's issue, says something about the qc there.

[AirHead]

There's a way to mitigate the issue but you can't eliminate it. Cover the model in a film (MonoKote, vinyl, tissue and paint...). It adds weight and complicates manufacture. A stronger skin over the foam "cells" will reduce the ability of it to "gator."

You are right about the added weight and current methods don't help and they consume time and materials. Also, this gator issue has been beaten to death and it's always there. I just can't let go of the idea that they could experiment with spraying the mold cavity with a thin polymer or styrene liquid and expand the polyolefin into it. They might bond nicely under heat and pressure and when they take the planes out of the oven, they would have a baked on thin, but hard lightweight shell. Similar to the hard shell foam boards that artists use...But, foam still likes to expand under heat! It's jut plain old physics....Done...

[fhhuber]

Bryan,

It absolutely IS a fingerprint and smudge of the paint caused by contact while the paint wasn't completely dried. The lighting and my iphone pic of it doesn't show the detail of the fingeprint ridges. In person it is obvious what it is.
Now, does it stop me from enjoying my plane? No. But the fact it was allowed to be shipped from the factory as-is without attempting to touch-up or redo...to me, and together with the OP's issue, says something about the qc there.

Sometimes called a fish eye... usually due to touching the surface before paint is applied. The paint then just flows off of the fingerprint oil. No ridge pattern normally left.

Touching the wet paint usually leaves the fingerprint ridges so you could positively ID who touched it.

Its not all that easy to fix in a factory setting.

[Fallguy44]

Update:

I noticed the defective planes were put on the scratch and dent portion of the site after this whole issue. The plane showed out of stock on the regular part of the site. I was advised by Martin to put my name on the email list so when they come back in stock I will be notified. He also said once I place the new order he will have the warehouse manager check the plane before shipping to ensure it was not defective. So I get an email on Friday saying they were back in stock. I placed the order and immediately contacted Martin to let him know the order was placed so he could have the warehouse manager check the plane. He responded quickly and advised just that. Great. Today I receive this email from Martin:

Hello Robert,

The models that we have in stock are still the faulty ones. We have not had a delivery since your last order. If I send you one of the ones we have it will be exactly the same as the one you had before. Please let me know what you would like to do.


Regards,

------------------------------------
Martin
Customer Service Manager
Motion RC

Tom, please correct me if I am wrong but it seems you pulled the defective planes off of the scratch and dent sale and put them back at regular price as if nothing is wrong with them right before Christmas? Is so, that is very shady. If no, what the hell is going on here? I am so fed up at this point. I am sick and tired of going back and forth with Martin. Maybe it's not his fault, maybe he's not getting the correct information but as a Customer Service Manager, I expect correct information, especially when I am following his directions. Again, before this plane order, you guys have been great but you are really letting me down here. Tom, can you please step in here, like before and figure out what is going on so this doesn't happen again. I'll wait to hear from Tom, before canceling this order and never buying from Motion again.

[Alpha]

Hi Fallguy44, I forwarded this to Martin. It's 3am here and I'm heading to bed but I'll have him get to the bottom of this within the next hour. There's no way the warehouse would put planes from Scratch and Dent back into Normal inventory. I'm speculating, but it's probably a mistake somewhere in the inventory notification. In any case, this is very alarming and I can see why you're frustrated! I'll have Martin clarify the situation in your service ticket. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

[Fallguy44]

Hi Fallguy44, I forwarded this to Martin. It's 3am here and I'm heading to bed but I'll have him get to the bottom of this within the next hour. There's no way the warehouse would put planes from Scratch and Dent back into Normal inventory. I'm speculating, but it's probably a mistake somewhere in the inventory notification. In any case, this is very alarming and I can see why you're frustrated! I'll have Martin clarify the situation in your service ticket. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Thanks. I made Martin aware of this prior to my posting. Will be standing by.

[PappaBear]

Hi Guys,

With regard to the Freewing Old Crows with the gator effect fuselages. We had 35 Old Crows with badly gator effect fuselages. This was a faulty manufactured batch from Freewing, they have been informed of the issue. The 35 models we had in stock have all been sold as Scratch and Dent models and we do not have any left. However, we have since received a further shipment of Old Crows from Freewing and unfortunately, these are part of the original faulty bach which has been shipped to us in error.

Motion RC would never sell faulty goods as first quality products, and I would like to apologize at this point for any confusion which may have arisen due to the faulty models.

Regards,

Martin,

Customer Service Manager for Motion RC.

[Fallguy44]

Hi Guys,

With regard to the Freewing Old Crows with the gator effect fuselages. We had 35 Old Crows with badly gator effect fuselages. This was a faulty manufactured batch from Freewing, they have been informed of the issue. The 35 models we had in stock have all been sold as Scratch and Dent models and we do not have any left. However, we have since received a further shipment of Old Crows from Freewing and unfortunately, these are part of the original faulty bach which has been shipped to us in error.

Motion RC would never sell faulty goods as first quality products, and I would like to apologize at this point for any confusion which may have arisen due to the faulty models.

Regards,

Martin,

Customer Service Manager for Motion RC.

So the new batch that was coming in 6-8 weeks that you mentioned previously is still part of the bad batch? Can you just tell me when the non defective planes are coming in? This is getting ridiculous.

[Tom]

These were not part of the same batch at Motion RC. We sold 100% of the Old Crow we had as scratch and dent. We had none left. We just received a container of new planes from Freewing and in that new container that just arrived were new Old Crow. We counted all the inventory and put it away. We marked the inventory received in our accounting system which automatically puts everything in stock on our website. At that point, two people ordered the Old Crow. We checked the planes before we shipped them and found one to be gatored. We checked more and eventually checked all of them. Unfortunately, 100% of the Old Crow we just received from Freewing are gatored....again. Clearly these were part of the same bad batch from Freewing even though we just received them. I've asked Freewing to check everything they have in stock because I'm guessing they have more bad Old Crow in stock.

At this point I have no idea when we will get good Old Crow. There are 4 weeks before every factory in China shuts down for Chinese New Year. If Freewing thinks they have good Old Crows in stock, it is likely not on the production schedule during the next 4 weeks before the 4 week shutdown. Assuming that is the case, we will likely not receive any good Old Crow until May or even June because they will not go back into production until after their Chinese New Year holiday which means they will make them in March and ship during April and receive in May (best case). I don't know what the inventory level is in the factory and I don't know if any of them are good. I also don't know if they are making more in the next 4 weeks so I'm purely guessing at this moment. Alpha will go to Freewing, help check the inventory, and check the production plan.

I'm sorry we don't have any good Old Crow. We don't expect to receive defective products, especially at a 100% defect rate, but we do check many planes and spare parts before they ship out to customers which is how we caught this before we shipped anyone a defective plane. I apologize and I'm doing all I can to make sure we don't get any more bad planes from the factory. Thanks for your continued support. I really do appreciate your business!

[JamesonC]

While I understand some frustrations here, certainly any customer can see the hoops MRC is jumping through at least trying to make this right?? Tom and Alpha both involved and now Alpha hands on in the factory! I would feel like a dang celebrity if that was me! LOL

But seriously, I hope everyone sees how much work the management at MRC is putting into this customer's situation. I know plenty of companies that would turn their nose up at one unhappy $279 purchase but MRC doesn't and that speaks volumes! I have recently been called a MRC fanboy and was told I make them out to be better than they are. Well... I give you exhibit A!

[Fallguy44]

These were not part of the same batch at Motion RC. We sold 100% of the Old Crow we had as scratch and dent. We had none left. We just received a container of new planes from Freewing and in that new container that just arrived were new Old Crow. We counted all the inventory and put it away. We marked the inventory received in our accounting system which automatically puts everything in stock on our website. At that point, two people ordered the Old Crow. We checked the planes before we shipped them and found one to be gatored. We checked more and eventually checked all of them. Unfortunately, 100% of the Old Crow we just received from Freewing are gatored....again. Clearly these were part of the same bad batch from Freewing even though we just received them. I've asked Freewing to check everything they have in stock because I'm guessing they have more bad Old Crow in stock.

At this point I have no idea when we will get good Old Crow. There are 4 weeks before every factory in China shuts down for Chinese New Year. If Freewing thinks they have good Old Crows in stock, it is likely not on the production schedule during the next 4 weeks before the 4 week shutdown. Assuming that is the case, we will likely not receive any good Old Crow until May or even June because they will not go back into production until after their Chinese New Year holiday which means they will make them in March and ship during April and receive in May (best case). I don't know what the inventory level is in the factory and I don't know if any of them are good. I also don't know if they are making more in the next 4 weeks so I'm purely guessing at this moment. Alpha will go to Freewing, help check the inventory, and check the production plan.

I'm sorry we don't have any good Old Crow. We don't expect to receive defective products, especially at a 100% defect rate, but we do check many planes and spare parts before they ship out to customers which is how we caught this before we shipped anyone a defective plane. I apologize and I'm doing all I can to make sure we don't get any more bad planes from the factory. Thanks for your continued support. I really do appreciate your business!

Thanks for the explanation Tom. If you do get more in before their break, can you have someone notify me directly if those planes check out? Thank you.

[Fallguy44]

While I understand some frustrations here, certainly any customer can see the hoops MRC is jumping through at least trying to make this right?? Tom and Alpha both involved and now Alpha hands on in the factory! I would feel like a dang celebrity if that was me! LOL

But seriously, I hope everyone sees how much work the management at MRC is putting into this customer's situation. I know plenty of companies that would turn their nose up at one unhappy $279 purchase but MRC doesn't and that speaks volumes! I have recently been called a MRC fanboy and was told I make them out to be better than they are. Well... I give you exhibit A!

I wouldn't say jumping through hoops. They are doing what they are supposed to do when they receive a crap load of defective planes, whether I complained or not. But yes it is frustrating to get an email saying they are in stock, buy one and then be told they are defective again. Martin's email provided the incorrect information again, with little explanation. So yes frustrated. I understand how MRC is processing their stock that is received and that the supplier is mostly to blame, but that doesn't take the frustration away. I hope when the next batch comes in that they are able to check to make sure they aren't defective before it shows for sale on their site.