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

Modeling Subjects Ships
1

I thought I would pass this on to everybody, and if anyone else has had this same problem and can give me any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

I am completely shocked at how poor the service is at Revell. I recently purchased the 1:72 Scale VII-C Uboat plastic model, and after drilling all the vents out in the main hull sections, I noticed that they had put two sprues in the box with the same parts on it in place of another sprue set that is completely missing. No big deal, I will simply order the missing sprue set from Revell, pay the $3 shipping costs, and they can mail it to me in a couple of days (or even a week if necessary).

Well, it took me 1 week to finally get to talk to someone on the phone, that someone had no idea what a sprue set even was (they actually told they had never looked inside a model box, they told me that I could have 10 seperate parts from this sprue set sent to me at a time, that same person put me on hold 10 times to answer other people’s phone calls (she told me she was also the operator), and then they told me that it would probably take me more than a month to get these parts if I get them at all. SHOCKING!!!

By this time I was completely laughing outloud on the phone in disbelief. I am shocked at how poor their service is, and I am completely hesitant to even buy another Revell model. If I do, and that is a big IF, I am going to tear the box open right in the store and check to make sure all the parts are in it.

As far as my future plans, well, I am going to return the model to the store where I bought it. I will then calmy explain to them that the model came without one of the sprues, and it also came without either of the two hull sections (I am sure they will not want to take back two hull sections that are all carved up). I will then get another, check to make sure all the parts are there, and forget this whole thing ever happened. I guess I will have two new hull sections to test my airbrush and paint mixtures on. Hey, maybe I should just order all the sprue sections and put together a second UBoat. It will probably take me at least a year to get all the parts, but I guess I am in no rush.

2

i had decals that were defective wrote to them i figured 2-3 weeks after 7 weeks i said the heck with them i painted on the decals 4 days ago after over 3 months guess what i got in the mail

3

I called about 2 broken parts and torn decals and I remember getting good service. I even requested a copy of that years hobby counter catalog ( I used to call the LHS to order kits and it was easier if I knew the number) and got it. I owed them nothing for shipping. That was when Binney-Smith (Crayola)owned them though. I always open new kits when I get them. If need be I order replacements then and by the time I get to the kits, I’ve got the new parts.

4

I’ve never had a problem with Revell USA. I’ve heard the Revell of Germany was a little slow for obvious reasons.

If the model is currently in production, replacement parts have been delivered within a month. AND they don’t care if the problem was caused by them or me. Great service for $3 is my take on that. Your mileage may vary.

5

I got one of their 1/32 P-38 kits and it was totally warped! All of the major parts were bad. The LHS did not have any more. I wrote to Revell explaining the problem and sent the bar code with the letter. 3 weeks later I had a whole new kit in the mail. And they did not even want the old one back!

6

Never had an issue with Revell AG, like others have said, there is a delay of a couple of months but they always come through with the parts!

cheers

Mike

7

That’s why I like ordering from Squadron-if I have a problem they deal with it and probably later rant at the manufacturer. Although I’ve spent beaucoup bucks on their site.

8

UPDATE:

Well, I got another phone call today from Revell (USA). This person claimed that my order had been shipped today.

As many of you know, Revell’s VII-C 1:72 scale UBoat does not have numbered sprue sets in it. Therefore, when I placed my order for the sprue that I was missing, I posted each individually numbered part on that particular sprue (I am missing the sprue with the telescope parts on it). I could not simply order the sprue based on its sprue number. I could also not refer to this models code of 05015 because Revell-USA only uses 4 digit model codes where Revell-Germany uses the five digit codes.

The lady who called me the second time also did not know exactly what I was talking about, but she claimed that my order had been filled and shipped. I don’t know exactly what they have sent to me, but I am hoping for the best.

I will let you know if I get the part in a few days simply because I do not want to bash Revell when they are actually serving me pretty well in the end. I was really agravated to hear that it could take more than a month to get a simply part replaced in this day and age. You would be fool to not return your model and get another one.

9

Pff, I’m having quite the same experience with Academy and their supplier, I think bad customer service is the rule and not the exception all around the industry.

10

the other thing that bugs me is if you have a defective part why should you pay that xtra 3 bucks for shipping that basically raises the price of the model and i should not have to pay a penalty for their defective products

11

I had some broken parts on my Type VII. I sent an Email, identifying the parts, and replacement parts arrived in about a month. No cost, so sweat.
Mike K.

12

Your experience is why I always open the kits when I get home and check all the parts against the instruction sheet. Well, that and I finger the parts and dream of things to come! [:D]

13

Since I head the local Office of Consumer Protection I can assure you that the attention paid by firms (even large national corp’s) vary widely and even within the corpoartion’s subsidiarys Some fall over themselves to try and help/please a customer mainly because they know they spent alot to attract that customer and if the don’t do the right thing they may lose them forever and have the former customer "bad mouth them " to their friends and relatives Others take the attitude that there are many pebbles on the beach and if the lose one they will move on to the next I always reccomend is to be persistant, forcefull but polite and if you can work you way up the food chain if the clerk/operator can’t or will not help

14

I can shed some light on Revell’s policy…
My son got the big 1/96 scale USS Constitution kit back in early August. When we looked closely at the kit, we discovered that the bag of black sprues was missing. The kit is molded in three colors- black, tan, and white. All the sprues of each color are packed in together in a plastic bag, and we were missing the bag of black sprues. We were missing a couple hundred parts- all the cannons, eyebolts, yards, deadeyes, anchors, etc.

I went to Revell’s website, and found that all you can do there is request up to 10 parts, by part number, for $3. So, I wrote a letter explaining our problem, and sent it. About 3 weeks later, I got a reply from Revell. We got an envelope with a copy of my original letter and a photocopy of the webpage showing the “how to request replacement parts, 10 parts max” policy.

I was not pleased, and sent a second letter, expressign my severe displeasure. about 3 more weeks went by, and then I got a call from someone from Revell. He apologized, and told me the following:

Revell uses a “Fulfillment House” to handle the parts requests. He said that it is more efficient to have the parts separated into bins, off the sprues. Most of the requests they get are for a single part from one of the kits with relatively few parts. (Think car kits.) The people at the fulfillment house don’t know anythign about models-- all they know is they have a number bins with parts from kit 1234, and all they do is find part 34 and mail it.

He also told me that they had the limit of 10 parts because they felt that unscrupulous people had taken advantage of them to get kits for free- again, based on the fact that many kits don’t have that many parts.

He said that he realized that the big Constitution kit was an exception, and that they would open up a kit and send us the bag of black parts. He said that the fulfiullment people only have the bins of parts, so they have no idea what parts come from what sprues, or how many would have come from the bag.

He ended the call by apologizing again, and told me our parts sould be sent. That was 3 weeks ago-- I don’t have them yet- I expect them soon, though, or he’s going to get a call back!

I should have taken the opportunity to complain about their $3 charge for replacement parts. Why shoudl I have to pay extra because they screwed up? I Bought a 1/72 tank kit that was missing the decal sheet- I wasn’t going to pay $3 to get a replacement decal sheet for a $9 kit! IN my eyes, that is rewarding them for bad beahviour-- bad quality control is rewarded with my paying an extra 30%!!!

-Bill

15

Bill, your story amazes me as to how stupid Revell is acting about modeling. It really makes you wonder if they have 1 or 2 people who develop the models, and then a bunch of low paid college kids who run the business. I can’t beleive that they actually seperate all the parts from the sprues and limit you to 10 parts at a time. It only makes sense to me that a very common problem in model kits is buying one that is missing a sprue out of it. Not individual parts, but an entire sprue.

I am supposed to get what Revell sent me today or Monday. If it is 10 parts that were attached to the sprue that I am missing, the model goes back to the store (without the hull halfs). From now on, I will just check to make sure that all the parts are present as soon as I get a model home, and if it isnt, the model goes back to the store. Heck, I may just check it right in the store if nobody is watching. I am definitely not going to go through this “Replacement Part” fiasco again.

After all these stories, I am very hesitant to buy anymore Revell models. I think Revell is quickly becoming a company that is focused on serving the low-cost, cheap models, segment of the modeling industry anyway. I hear people complain about fit problems, and lack of quality, all the time about Revell. They surely don’t have any customer service to back up their models.

Furthermore, it is completely ridiculous to make your paying customers wait three weeks to a month to even get a reply to an inquiry let alone replacement parts sent to them (and then make them pay $3 for this lack of service). It is you, Revell, that has made the mistake, not your customers. This time delay, again, makes me wonder who is running the company. In today’s day and age, this should take no longer than a week with the use of the internet. You will always have people who will attempt to take advantage of you, but you must just write that off as the cost of doing business. DON’T CHANGE COMPANY POLICIES TO AVOID BEING RIPPED OFF BY THE MINORITY IN A WAY THAT COMPLETELY HASTLES THE MAJORITY OF YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT ARE JUST TRYING TO GET WHAT THEY PAID FOR!!! This is terrible business.

I know that other companies may be the same way, but I will have to go on my own personal experiences with each company on a per-incident basis. I will let everyone know what I receive in the mail today or monday.

16

My hobby store will actually let you look in the kit box there at the store if you just ask. Yes they are a little more weary of this if you decided to not buy the kit afterall, but they still let you do it. I’ve done it before, and it really helps. I hope you can get this sorted out.

17

I’ve received good service from them before.

If I bought a kit with that specific sprue missing, I would have gone back to the shop I got it from and requested a replacement kit. The shop isn’t out anything as they send it back to their supplier which I suppose forwards it to the manufacturer for replacement.

If as you say, had started the hull, no problem, just switch the parts from one kit to another.

18

I received my package from Revell today. Revell definitely replaced the entire missing sprue with all the parts attached. Therefore, I cannot really complain about Revell’s service after all. I don’t think they should charge me $3 for something they failed to do (put all the necessary sprues in the box). I placed the order for the part last Sunday (I think), and received it today. That is only 6 days, and I consider that to be very acceptable. I guess I will consider buying Revell models again in the future if they make something I like.

I will check the model as soon as buy it from now on. I will check it in the parking lot if they won’t let me check it in the store. I also still think that Revell should teach there employees a little more about their products. After all, they are the face of Revell if they are the people that we consumers talk to when we call them.

19

I had a missing parts problem with a Revell kit.I purchased the South Goodwin lightship model and was missing the sprue containing all the clear plastic pieces. I called revell and was told I would receive the parts in the mail. This kit is made in Germany and I was told that it would take six weeks to receive my parts. I spent six months making calls and waiting for the parts. I finally got tired of waiting and just scratchbuilt what I needed to complete the model and it is a really nice ship model.I never did receive the parts.

20

Hocking. I think any hobby shop will let you check the kit out in the shop once it’s been paid for.

Model builders are a curious bunch and we love to look at kits even if we aren’t buying that subject.

Some of the shops near here will actually have a sample kit opened for inspection so one can see the kit before buying, especially an expensive one.

Glad you got the parts though.