Estes Customer Service

What I am about to report may be common place to you, but it was a new event for me and I want to tell you about great customer service from Estes.

This last weekend here in northern Colorado, we had a rocket launch at the Atlas site. I was preparing to fly my fourth "E" flight in our alphabet contest. I was flying an Estes Maxi-Alpha on an Estes E9-6 motor. I had already flown this rocket on 4 "D's", and was two flights away from finishing the "E"'s. I pressed the launch button and the rocket fired, left the launch rod and then blew apart. The nozzle, motor mount and plastic fin lock fired out the bottom and the rest fired out the top and the rocket floated down from 20', gutless. Insides cleaned right out.

I recovered the parts, made sure the small fire was out, and walked back to my truck. I then proceeded to take photographs of the remains of the rocket from several different angles. I took photographs of the remains of the engine mount and plastic parts from a couple of different angles and I photographed the motor, the motor size, and the motor date code.

When I got home from the launch, I went to the Estes webpage and found customer service. I wrote them speaking of the event of the day and gave a description. I did not ask for anything, even though I was hoping they would replace the rocket. (I mean, I was going to have to pay $10 to get back into the contest (the bribe), and I was going have to fly the last two "E" flights and come up with another rocket. Gee, the expense of it all.)

Come Monday, I get an e-mail from Christine at customer service at Estes. She says they need photographs to effect the warranty claim. I sent the photographs Monday night and I forgot about it. (Gee, at least they could replace the motor which might be typical in this day and age.)

Today I received another e-mail from Estes Customer Service and Christine. It states that they have received my order and it will be shipped straight away. The order was for a new Maxi-Alpha and a package of E9-6 motors. WOW! Far beyond what I expected. I think this is great customer service and I wanted to share it with you guys.

I built the Maxi-Alpha because it was quick and simple. I could build it in a few minutes, fly it in the contest, and not take too much time away from my L-3 cert. preparations or anything else. So I was bummed a little when it blew up. It meant I was going to have to pull a bird that I am less than confident of out of retirement. Now I don't and I can go back to ground tests, practicing my tracking and working with my GPS and transmitters before the launch in three weeks.

Thanks for letting me share about my unexpected good fortune from Estes.

BEAR

That's really good to hear Bear. A few years ago when a motor from that bad batch of Aerotech G80's detonated on the pad and destroyed one of my rockets, Aerotech sent me two new motors.
I haven't had any reason to use Estes' customer service but now I feel more confident in the event I'll need to.

This is similar to my experience with Estes, which I posted on the Double Shuttle heading under the Rocket Boost Glider category. They replaced the E12's and offered me a replacement rocket of my own choice.

Christine is great, as is Estes Customer Service. I have twice been treated the same way. I must say that the customer service in the model rocket industry is the best I ever encountered. This is why I know this hobby will be life long.

I recently finished my Estes Dark Energy (thread here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?50254-My-take-on-the-Estes-Dark-Energy) and after a couple of days I went to move it and noticed part of a decal had completely fallen off. It wasn't ripped or torn when it was applied. I contacted Estes and asked if I could just buy another set of decals. Yes, I offered to pay for the set. They are sending me a whole new kit, free of charge. They do have great customer service.

Christine and Angela are both great gals to deal with. I had similar cato on a pad with one of their motors and they did the same for me. My rocket was a scratch build. They sent a V2 and a pack of motors

I hear these stories all the time, but I must have done something wrong with my claim a few months ago. A bad engine ripped apart the sustainer on my Comanche 3. I got a prompt reply stating that I'd have to choose another model since the Comanche 3 was discontinued, so I dutifully chose a kit of about the same value (Dark Energy). Having read about everybody else's surprises, I wondered if they would send a pack of engines for the Dark Energy, or a pack of C11-0 since that was what was defective. I just got the kit.

But I'm not complaining. I still got a new rocket that would help me use up all those C6-3s left over from Flight Packs, less than $5 worth of tubes will let me bring the Comanche back to life, and I still have the remaining engines from the pack to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the whole batch of engines was bad or just that one. Actually, my dad recently saw a Comanche 3 on the shelf at a hobby store and got it for me. I'm thinking of combining the parts for an extra long, Comanche 4 :-D

UrbanKnight said:

I hear these stories all the time, but I must have done something wrong with my claim a few months ago. A bad engine ripped apart the sustainer on my Comanche 3. I got a prompt reply stating that I'd have to choose another model since the Comanche 3 was discontinued, so I dutifully chose a kit of about the same value (Dark Energy). Having read about everybody else's surprises, I wondered if they would send a pack of engines for the Dark Energy, or a pack of C11-0 since that was what was defective. I just got the kit.

But I'm not complaining. I still got a new rocket that would help me use up all those C6-3s left over from Flight Packs, less than $5 worth of tubes will let me bring the Comanche back to life, and I still have the remaining engines from the pack to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the whole batch of engines was bad or just that one. Actually, my dad recently saw a Comanche 3 on the shelf at a hobby store and got it for me. I'm thinking of combining the parts for an extra long, Comanche 4 :-D

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You could always scratch build it too. I didn't realize that it had been discontinued??

AfterBurners said:

You could always scratch build it too. I didn't realize that it had been discontinued??

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Yeah, they made the Mini Comanche 3 and then discontinued the full sized version. From what I hear, it's very easy to lose that rocket due to the high altitude and small diameter.

And yes, I was originally planning to get some BT50 tube, BT20 tube, and centering rings to rebuild the sustainer (the fins, nose cone, and boosters are still good). It wouldn't take too many parts for someone to scratch build an entire Comanche 3.

I wanted to submit a follow-up. Estes received my comments about the Cato probably on Monday. I received notice of what I was going to receive yesterday, and today, on Friday, UPS delivered the replacement kit and three new motors. It is going to snow tomorrow and I will be indoors with another rocket to build. I am a happy camper and quite satisfied with the Customer Service from Estes.

UrbanKnight said:

Yeah, they made the Mini Comanche 3 and then discontinued the full sized version. From what I hear, it's very easy to lose that rocket due to the high altitude and small diameter.

And yes, I was originally planning to get some BT50 tube, BT20 tube, and centering rings to rebuild the sustainer (the fins, nose cone, and boosters are still good). It wouldn't take too many parts for someone to scratch build an entire Comanche 3.

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Another high flyer I like is the CC Express. I might scratch build it and beef it up a little. I just like building them from scratch because I can choose better quality parts if you know what I mean.

BEAR said:

I wanted to submit a follow-up. Estes received my comments about the Cato probably on Monday. I received notice of what I was going to receive yesterday, and today, on Friday, UPS delivered the replacement kit and three new motors. It is going to snow tomorrow and I will be indoors with another rocket to build. I am a happy camper and quite satisfied with the Customer Service from Estes.

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dont you love how fast stuff gets to us from estes? :wink:

Bubba02STi said:

dont you love how fast stuff gets to us from estes? :wink:

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YES, I DO! :clap: And for me, Apogee is very fast also. You probably do not have that issue with Apogee. You just drop over to Fillmore St., and there they are! For me, they are about 2 1/2 hours away.

There have been times with Apogee Rocketry that I have ordered on Friday afternoon, and the USPS delivered it to me the next day on Saturday.:clap:

Estes has been great also.

I hope to finish up the new Maxi-Alpha tomorrow morning, except for paint, along with a Leviathan, except for paint, a "G" Force except for paint, and do some ground testing for my L-3 cert. I find it strange how the threat of 12" of wet snow affects my painting plans. That will take me through "H" size motors for the alphabet contest we are running at NCR, and the M900 for the Intimidator IV for the L-3.

Have a good weekend.

BEAR

yeah its nice to be able to go in... i forgot some launch lugs on the counter one day (a friday) and by the time i noticed they were gone i had a package on door step (saturday) both companies have gone above and beyond in their customer service... just like many other companies i have done business here...