My Spektrum DX9 transmitter has stopped working.

Today we made contact with Horizon Hobbies Germany !

A friend had sent his DX9 for repair in August, recorded and insured. He received a confirmation of delivery on 3rd August from Post Office but since then nothing from Germany.

He knew we spend a lot of time in Germany and that my wife speaks fluent German so asked her to help.. He had rung himself , sent e-mails etc but no response. We have family in Germany so have an inexpensive option for phone calls to Germany for up to one hour at a time.

Anyway with all the details the first two calls hit the recorded message and hold etc. A quick call to our daughter in Germany confirmed this was still happening when she rang. So on attempt 3 I said to leave the phone on and we can listen to the music. A few minutes later a live voice. My wife explained everything (in German) and was given a reply of it has arrived but is still not repaired. Arrived 3rd of August BUT we did not open the package until the 30th August !

Ring back tomorrow and we will give you and update. Fingers crossed. .

Geof

Hi,

A bit late I know (and I note Piers Bowlam has mentioned this already - sorry Piers) but definitely worth trying Mike Ridley at

http://modelradioworkshop.co.uk/contact-details/

He is very helpful, fast turnaround and also sells lots of other useful stuff.

Rob

Hello,

Unfortunately we were unable to call Germany HH before they stopped work. I forgot the time difference and we rang at 2.30 pm to be told by reception that service had closed.

Anyway my wife tried this morning and after a few minutes of music got through to the service department.

She was told that my friend's DX9 has been forwarded to America to be repaired. They only have 3 technicians and it is quicker and cheaper for them to do this. It should return to Germany on Friday 15th and hopefully arrive back in England between 18th - 22nd September.

Geof

All conversations on the phone are in German - I am sure it helped..

surely then we should be sending to the USA for warranty repairs etc

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Looks like somebody couldn't organise a party in a brewery to me! .

but I'll admit I'm biased!

It certainly seems an illogical business decision to close the UK service centre then send items to the USA via Germany so they can be sent back to the UK again. Must be very expensive in terms of shipping costs and very counter- productive in terms of customer satisfaction.

I can't see this helping their sales either as word spreads concerning the very confused and slow service situation.

Sounds like a complete shambles. Is it an hour difference to Germany?? What the hell are they stopping at 3:30 for??

Its an absolute disgrace and HH deserve everything they get. Merging 2 service centres and only employing 3 technicians to cover all of Europe and even then the stuff goes to America, its a complete and utter mess. Most of the jobs are likely to come from outside Germany, as many German flyers use Multiplex.

Horizon Hobby management need to be replaced and proper management need to be running the show. I won't be recommending HH to anyone from now on. Don't get me wrong, its good equipment, but with a shambles of after sales service why bother.

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If Spektrum goes, it will take 90% of radio problems with it.RIP.

Where did that carefully researched figure come from?

This forum, very recently.

There was a poll to which almost 1000 members responded (which is statistically very significant), which showed just under 30% of UK RC flyers use Spektrum.

Almost 100% of radio problems involve Spektrum (there are whole threads dedicated to Spectrum problems on here and RCG,and no threads dedicated to Futaba,JR,Frsky, Hitec, multiplexetc. or any other makes).

It is not rocket science.

I understand why, Spektrum is very well marketed with BNF and Txs costing less than £100, it's the old mantra, buy cheap, buy twice.

Edited By ted hughes on 08/09/2017 14:26:08

Edited By ted hughes on 08/09/2017 14:28:02

When did we ever see a thread saying "my Futaba radio is problematic"? Maybe once in a blue moon.

Edited By ted hughes on 08/09/2017 14:30:14

Here is that thread for anyone interested in reading it. Much of it (as here ) is theory and supposition, but there do appear to be a couple of individuals who have talked to HH directly and got the inside track. If the EU operation has gone bust it is going to be a huge disappointment for those who have Spektrum gear and (to a lesser extent) those with a stock of HH models.

PS - I have also asked for clarification on their trading status on FB , PM'd Andy Kunz (Spek developer very active on RCGroups) and started a thread over there to see if anyone in the US operation is prepared to share any insights. If this is true though I expect they will remain silent for now.

Edited By MattyB on 08/09/2017 15:53:17

Please provide actual evidence, not meaningless bluster, to support this assertion. And no, I am not a Spektrum user.

No it isn't. People who respond to polls on this forum are a self selecting subset of the subset of model flyers who use this forum.

Anyway, IMHO, the vast majority of "radio problems" are nothing to do with the radio, so it's difficult to see how the loss of Spektrum would have a noticeable effect on the total number of "radio problems".

Steve

You can probably all stop panicking, so I understand - things are in hand that a highly respected BRITISH retailer will soon be appointed sole Horizon service and repair agent. From the horses mouth by the way. And his missus.

I hope that Staufenbiel/Horizon Hobbies haven't lost my transmitter!