I am shocked at how poor Revell's service is for missing parts!

Katzennahrung wrote:

Heller is likely better in this respect. I wrote them an email that I destroyed some parts in my ship kit. Two weeks later a postman knocked on my door and expected me to take delivery of an express package from Heller. I had not additional costs. Okay, I am living in Europe and cannot comment how such a situation had turned out if I were living in America (overseas shipping is not that cheap I assume).

I haven't dealt with Heller, but I have dealt with Airfix, which is the parent company.  I have contacted them a few times for parts.  When it was a missing or broken part, they always replaced it free and shipping was on them.  One time they sent the wrong part, but they sent the right one when I told them what happened and told me to keep the other parts.

There was one time I got three Airfix 1/24 Hurricanes on Ebay that all had missing parts.  I wrote them and explained what I was trying to do and they charged me a nominal fee to replace the parts.  I think it was something like 5 pounds, which just about covered shipping.

Back when Marco Polo was importing Hasegawa kits, I was able to get some replacement parts from them with no hassle.  Since Dragon USA is the importer now, I have not even had responses to my requests for parts.

I've had to contact various manufacturers because I buy a number of kits on Ebay and they are sometimes missing parts.  Revell-Monogram (US) is very good.  Airfix is excellent.  Hasegawa used to be great, but not any more.  Tamiya is responsive, but expensive.  Dragon has said they would get parts to me and I never heard from them again. 

Trumpeter is also lousy.  I've been waiting over a year for replacements for a 1/32 P-38 which came brand new with broken booms.  I've contacted their US distributor a few times and I always get the answer that they will send the parts soon.

Anyway, that's been my experience.

Bill

I placed an order via Revell's online service for ONE part from ONE kit.  This was the first time I've done this in OVER A YEAR!!.  This was two days ago.  This morning  I get a strongly worded email from a person with the initials A.P. stating:

"We at Revell will no longer honor replacement parts requests from you, any of your family members, or friends (with NAMES given for each of these categories, mind you).  You are now banned for life from using our service.  If you find a part is missing, defective, or damaged, we suggest you purchase a new kit.  If, upon opening the kit, you find a defective or missing part, return it to the store where you purchased it.  DO NOT bother us with this again!!!!" 

AGAIN???  When was the last time I contacted them to have an "again" so soon?  Evidently a year and a half is too soon.  Well, like I said, NAMES were given and I am now banned, BANNED, for LIFE.  And I don't even know who any of these people she named are...no clue whatsoever!  Anyhow, I sent a strongly worded reply to this effect.  Who knows what will come of that. 

Regardless, I've contacted most of the members in all three of my modeling clubs about this, and it was decided unanimously to boycott Revell, and that each member would both email and write to Revell (and this A.P. #!$*^) about it.  I hope she got what she wanted!!

Perhaps I am the lucky exception . . . I have not ever had to have missing parts replaced.  (I'm knocking on wood!)

Bill

cthulhu77

If you think that is bad, try some of the other places...Dragon took SIX months to replace some bits...on a kit I was supposed to review .  LOL.  I don't think it's publishable.  

I had a broken fuselage on a Dragon Me 262 that they replaced with no fuss in less than a week after I emailed them a copy of my receipt. I guess like most things it is luck of the draw.

Revell is one company I no longer buy kits from after the bad customer service I had......here's the story.

I bought the Revell 1:1200 ocean liner Queen Mary 2, however the hull was warped rendering the kit useless. So I sent them a courteous e-mail giving them the kit bar code and info and asked for a replacement of the hull and a few other pieces that were also of poor, poor molding quality.

He clearly didn't read the e-mail thru, because I didn't want spare parts I wanted replacement parts for a kit they messed up in the first place. So I sent them another e-mail asking for some questions to be cleared up, like what shipping costs I'd have to pay and etc. Never got a reply back, thus if they don't want to answer me then I won't reward them with being a customer.

I am sorry to hear that you are having such a bad experience with Revell. In the past I have made two requests for parts. One was for an entire hull with some miscellaneous small parts for a 1/96 Cutty Sark;, and recently for a tail light part for a '68 Mustang. Both times the parts were delivered in a timely matter (three days for the tail light). There was no charge and I received what I needed. I can not expect more than that!

I have dealt with four model companies in regards to replacement of damaged or missing parts:

Testors- superb service, no questions asked, prompt delivery!

Revell Monogram- good service, many questions, fairly quick delivery.

Tamiya- good service, a bit of phone tag, part obtained in a reasonable amount of time

Hasegawa/Dragon- fair service, multiple email exchanges, excessive wait (approx 9+months), part eventually obtained.

I dont boycott any particular company, but this is one reason I prefer a LHS to an online one. If there is a problem with a kit, I can return it to the purchase store and get it dealt with there promptly- either exchange or refund, instead of thru customer service which may or may not be responsive.

Actually, I'm not too worried about it and definitely am not loosing sleep over it.  I just feel sorry for the people they named.  Those poor souls are banned for life and don't even know that they are or why they are such.  What happens when they order something only to find this out?  I'd say that Revell would have a tough time getting around that to explain it away.  Who knows?

so how do i get parts in the uk? that only appears to be for the us or germany

Wow, I guess I'll call myself fortunate. I'm pushing 60 and have been building model cars, aircraft, ships and wooden ships almost all my life and haven't had a missing or damaged part ever on a sealed kit. I've had parts missing in opened kits, but knew about it before hand and usually buy kits like that for spare parts and kitbashing anyway.  I build, and have well over 400 kits in the stash and I open everyone of them to look at after purchase. Gee I wonder if I should post this, I might jink myself and get half a kit on my next purchase. lol

                                                                                                                          Ken

well i think i just sent them an email through their site but im not at all sure.

when i clicked send it just took me to the same form again only in german instead of english is that normal?

It's the link to the German Revell website, that's why it's not in english.

yes i know. i selected english filled out the form then sent it but it just switched to the german form so i dont know if i actually sent the email

Oh, rest assured it did send it!  That's what I did and is what got me in this mess in the first place!  That form you filled out and sent will go straight to Revell USA.  Good luck!! (You'll need it.)

LOL CHEERS

I'm surprised. I've ordered missing Revell parts online (didn't phone) and received them quickly, and at no charge, For parts I lost out of my own carelessness, from an old kit I bought from ebay. I thought that was pretty damned decent of them!

iv just had an email reply from them suprisingly quick

the 32 scale tomcat wheel part i need isnt available anymore :(

i think theyr gonna send me the 48 scale tomcat tail the email didnt mention money so it may be free

 

I just ordered parts 1 & 2 of the Revell 1/96 USS Constitution.  Revell America responded very quickly and agreed to replace the parts.  Their polite response came within 24 hours of my email request.

Bill

After reading this entire thread, I am thinking that Revell America, and maybe Revell overall, have revised their replacement parts policy recently to be more consistant with other manufacturers.  I have not had the need to contact them, but the last few posts are definitely showing a different attitude by Revell than the posts from a couple years ago showed.

Warshipguy: Isn't Parts 1 & 2 the Main Hull pieces? 

Hmm.....I've had great service from Revell.  If a piece is missing or I lose or break a part, I just order the missing part from online and get it within a week, and I don't pay shipping, so I'm not sure why you paid the $3 for shipping.  In my opinion Revell's service is great

I had a terrible experience with Eduard. It took them over a month to answer my  emails I sent them and when they did, they wanted $30 + shipping for 5 tiny parts!! Is that a joke or what!!

plastickjunkie

I had a terrible experience with Eduard. It took them over a month to answer my  emails I sent them and when they did, they wanted $30 + shipping for 5 tiny parts!! Is that a joke or what!!

That probly makes sense to them considering their photoetch sets cost more than the kit you're using them for

I'm not saying that I had trouble with them in the past.  Like I said..I haven't requested a replacement part from them in at least a year ( that I can remember..it may be even longer).  I just sent this last request and got a heck of a response with them naming names of people I've never even heard of...and saying that I am banned for life (and other things that the forum moderators WOULD ban me for if I repeated them here).  I just thought it was a little uncalled for considering that I needed ONE decal sheet  in a whole YEAR's time.   I guess I should have gone through Revell USA rather than the German site.   Maybe they thought I was trying to short them a quarter for the cost of the decal sheet?  Lord knows how they're hurting so bad for money right now.

Tuchase,

Good eye!  Yes, parts 1 and 2 are the main hull pieces.  I recently bought an old (1960's) version of the Constitution for spare parts. It cost $9.00 on ebay. The kit is complete with the exception of the hull halves. So, given the comments on this thread, I contacted Revell of America via email to see if there would be any difficulty in replacing the parts.

I was completely above-board with them. I explained the situation fully, except for any mention of this thread.  I also informed them that I could not assert that the pieces were missing as a result of any problem with Revell.  In fact, I offered to pay for the parts.

They responded by informing me that , although their parts replacement policy only allowed parts to be replaced in recently purchased kits from dealers, they would be happy to replace these pieces for me.  They also informed me that the parts had already been shipped.  I will let everyone know when I receive them.

Bill Morrison

redraider56

plastickjunkie:

I had a terrible experience with Eduard. It took them over a month to answer my  emails I sent them and when they did, they wanted $30 + shipping for 5 tiny parts!! Is that a joke or what!!

 

That probly makes sense to them considering their photoetch sets cost more than the kit you're using them for

 

 

How can that be when the complete kit sold for $28?  I needed an aileron, the seat and both cooling jackets for the mg's , hardly $30 worth of parts.

warshipguy

Tuchase,

Good eye!  Yes, parts 1 and 2 are the main hull pieces.  I recently bought an old (1960's) version of the Constitution for spare parts. It cost $9.00 on ebay. The kit is complete with the exception of the hull halves. So, given the comments on this thread, I contacted Revell of America via email to see if there would be any difficulty in replacing the parts.

I was completely above-board with them. I explained the situation fully, except for any mention of this thread.  I also informed them that I could not assert that the pieces were missing as a result of any problem with Revell.  In fact, I offered to pay for the parts.

They responded by informing me that , although their parts replacement policy only allowed parts to be replaced in recently purchased kits from dealers, they would be happy to replace these pieces for me.  They also informed me that the parts had already been shipped.  I will let everyone know when I receive them.

Bill Morrison

LOL, I have a feeling that sometime in the last year or so, someone high up in Revell Monogram's Executive Suite saw this thread and decided this was the wrong type of publicity for a company like this.  Or someone lower in the ranks pointed this thread out to someone higher up!  Either way, they seem to have had a change of heart from their previous stance.  Which is good news for all of the modelers who have legitimate complaints.

Model companies need to be responsive to the needs of the customers.  Given the nature of our hobby, parts can be easily damaged or lost; those companies that offer a liberal parts replacement policy need to be appreciated!

That is one reason that I like Model Expo. They advertise that  they will replace any part from a kit as long as it was purchased from them. That guarantee is for the life of the kit.  Iron Shipwright also offers that guarantee.  To me, this is the bedrock standard that all companies should adhere to.

Bill

warshipguy

Model companies need to be responsive to the needs of the customers.  Given the nature of our hobby, parts can be easily damaged or lost; those companies that offer a liberal parts replacement policy need to be appreciated!

That is one reason that I like Model Expo. They advertise that  they will replace any part from a kit as long as it was purchased from them. That guarantee is for the life of the kit.  Iron Shipwright also offers that guarantee.  To me, this is the bedrock standard that all companies should adhere to.

Bill

I'd like to mention Squadron.  Customer Service Manager Jeff Melton is a fine gentleman that will make you glad you used Squadron for your hobby needs.

Thank you! That was an oversight on my part. Squadron's reputation is also outstanding!

Bill