Anyone else had a bad experience with Estes?

I had good experience with estes. Little slow on shipping items out the door during sales, but that is to be expected. I have done 4 orders now from them and once had a completely smashed box, thanks ups, but estes sent all new product out the next day. They were very friendly and apologized so many times to me about that happening in the first place.

Nothing but great experience with Estes. They are the leader in low power rocketry for a reason. I remember being heartbroken twenty years ago as a kid when a motor CATO'd and destroyed my rocket, but after sending Estes the remains with a description, they sent me a whole new kit and pack of motors.

My only bad experience with Estes is how well they do a job of cleaning out my wallet.

My calls and emails have always been friendly, and I'm very much pleased with the customer service.

I just wish that the OP would change this thread into what it should have been... A request for help in building that capsule.

I agree with K'Tesh above.

Also to chime in on my experiences with Estes, of the 5 times or so I've had to contact them about an issue (some my own fault, others not), 4 were simply outstanding and one was long and drawn out (I believe it was forgotten at one point). Still, I consider the last one an unusual exception and was very grateful for their quick and very generous help.

I too have had nothing but good experiences with Estes customer service. If I had any complaint it would be that they have fixed my screw ups at their expense. I once rolled the chute too tight in my DRM and the result was a broken fin and a bad road rash when it was drug across a parking lot behind a partially open chute. I called Estes to buy a new decal sheet and they sent me an entire kit free of charge.

The original post is surprising to me, Estes has always been a pleasure to work with for me.

Estes customer service is the best I have ever dealt with. they have sent me several replacement kits when all I asked about was if replacement parts could be purchased. my favorite example... I sent an email to estes because my order was missing the 24mm screw on retainers I ordered and had a mega der red max kit in it that I did not order! their response, Sorry about the mistake, we will send out the retainers free of charge, enjoy the Mega Der Red Max. so then I did my L1 on that kit....

I do have to wonder if the cost of their excellent customer service - sending entire replacement kits, for example - will take a toll on the finances of the company. Not that I expect sending out a few kits free of charge will bankrupt them or anything, but businesses these days are usually looking to cut any extra expense just to remain competitive. The level of support that Estes offers is highly unusual in today's business environment. It makes me wonder how long it will last before it attracts the attention of beancounters...

It is cheaper than stocking parts and sending parts. They do not stock loose parts. Paying for a building to store spare loose parts for warranty claims would be $$$$ as would the cost of a person to maintain that inventory.

For them, it is FAR, FAR cheaper to keep a few kits on hand and send them as replacements.

That is why when you report a failure of a single motor, they do not ship you a single motor. They ship you a package of motors.

They do try to save money if you report a failure of a 24mm E motor. They will offer to replace it with two packs of D motors since they can be shipped via USPS cheaply. The E motors have over 30 grams of propellant each, so they must ship HAZMAT, which is expensive.

EXPjawa said:

I do have to wonder if the cost of their excellent customer service - sending entire replacement kits, for example - will take a toll on the finances of the company. Not that I expect sending out a few kits free of charge will bankrupt them or anything, but businesses these days are usually looking to cut any extra expense just to remain competitive. The level of support that Estes offers is highly unusual in today's business environment. It makes me wonder how long it will last before it attracts the attention of beancounters...

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shreadvector said:

It is cheaper than stocking parts and sending parts. They do not stock loose parts. Paying for a building to store spare loose parts for warranty claims would be $$$$ as would the cost of a person to maintain that inventory.

For them, it is FAR, FAR cheaper to keep a few kits on hand and send them as replacements.

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That is the bottom line of their policy. It really is a win win for Estes. I still feel a bit guilty contacting them for replacements, especially when it is my own doing, knowing that they are likely to send an entire kit at their expense.

After my experience with my DRM, I will only contact them if it is a problem with the kit. I don't want them to pay for my mistakes, one is enough.

The bottom line is, they save money in storage/manufacturing/shipping and earn a fantastic reputation for customer service.

Marc_G said:

I still have and regularly fly some of the first Estes rockets I built when I became a BAR 5 years ago.

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Me, too. I have a Sprint and an Alpha that are both from around 1982, so 13 years old, and I do still fly them sometimes. The main thing holding me back isn't their airworthiness, but rather my sentimental attachment to them...

Estes give customers the pickle.

https://www.giveemthepickle.com/?atc=GOG&ctc=GEPBF&gclid=CL2pzq3Z0MYCFYeCfgodCHYCSg

I placed an order on June 29th 2015 for the 4th of July sale. I placed a second order for the same sale on July 3rd 2015. I checked the shipping status on my orders on July 8th. and it showed my second order due to arrive on July 10th. My first order still showed processing for the 9th day which had me worried.

I called and spoke with a very nice lady on the phone and told her about my concern about my order still processing 9 days later. She checked my order # and said that she would take care of it right away.

I received my order "priority mail" 2 days after placing the call. Always a person I can talk to, great customer service, friendly staff.

Nothing but good, here.

+1 for typical estes customer service. They sent me a plastic tower kit for a Saturn V when the one I had received was wrecked. Free shipping and all!


Braden

EXPjawa said:

I do have to wonder if the cost of their excellent customer service - sending entire replacement kits, for example - will take a toll on the finances of the company. Not that I expect sending out a few kits free of charge will bankrupt them or anything, but businesses these days are usually looking to cut any extra expense just to remain competitive. The level of support that Estes offers is highly unusual in today's business environment. It makes me wonder how long it will last before it attracts the attention of beancounters...

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It could become a problem for Estes if there was a lot of abuse -- false claims, etc. But Estes has had pretty consistently good customer service for 50 years with very rare exception, including a couple of management regimes that were VERY bottom line oriented, so I think they'll try to retain a high standard of service.