Wildman Rick CT Customer Service

At the 9-21-19 CATO launch I bought some engines for cash and trade in.
I was told that my cost would be $65.60. I asked if the trade-in was taken in consideration and told it was.
There were other people around, at the time, I was not familiar with the prices so I didn't say anything and didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

When I got home I looked up the manufacturers suggested retail prices. When I ran the numbers, it appeared that I was over charged by $20.17. I emailed, USPS mailed and called and left a voice mail. No response. I tried to contact Rick to find out if perhaps I had miss calculated the costs.

I received:
One pack of F27-4R engines that retail for $44.99.
One pack of E20-4W engines that retail for $24.99.
That comes out to a total of $69.98. With CT tax that comes to $74.42.
The F67-6 engines I traded retail for $28.99.
If you subtract $28.99 from $74.42 that comes out to $45.43. In addition to the F67 engines, I paid $65.60.

It appears that I should have only paid $45.43. That is a difference of $20.17.
Based on the additional amount of $65.60 that I paid, I only received a credit of $8.82 for the F67 engines.
$74.42 - $65.60 = $8.82.

I appreciate having an on field vendor but it would be nice to receive a response if I have a question about what I was charged.

I'm not slamming anyone or making any negative comments. I am simply stating the facts.

Did he give you retail price for the trade in , or his price? I've traded motors in before to dealers and only received the dealers price , not the retail . I can honestly say I tried trading in a O3400 a few years back and the dealer ( no the name will not be giving out as I respect the dealer ) only wanted to give 650 in credit . It may be the same thing.

I am probably going to regret responding to this, skipped my morning coffee... so here it goes anyway.

You kind of are making this negative by blowing this out on the form instead of to the vendor first. I have seen this taken place numerous times on the forum and its just not the correct way to go about it. You are not happy, perhaps you missed out on your coffee as well this morning. You took the time to run the numbers and did a great job on doing so, that clearly took some effort.

You stated you tried to contact Rick. Did you call get his voice mail and not leave a detailed message? Did you give him time to respond? Did you take the time to go to his Website, grab his email address and send him the info you posted above? Did you give him a few days to look it over and get back to you?

I am all for reporting a negative customer experience on the forum under the vendor feedback section if:

• You reported your issue directly to the vendor (E-mail is always nice so you have a paper trail, provides clarification and minimizes the possibility of a miss understanding)
• Allowed the vendor time to respond. (Are they heading back from a launch and have a 6+ hour may be 48 hour drive back home) And then need time to un-pack and answer a ton of emails, ship out a few orders as well)
• Sent a follow up e-mail asking for a response (Crap happens so give them a week or two)

No response after a week or two, or perhaps did get a response and are now clearly getting the run around. Feel free to hit up the forum and post your experience in a fair and polite manor.

Trade-in motors???

There's your problem right there - not sure if I were a vendor I would take a motor back.

Not knowing how it was stored, for how long?
Who wants to buy a motor that bounced around the back of a truck for a few months (or worse) - no thanks.
Every customer deserves a new, factory-fresh motor, every time unless specifically marked as a return and [significantly] discounted.

Value approaches zero for me.....

What are real risks involved in using a motor that perhaps was a trade-in, or previously opened? Not questioning anybody's knowledge, but just looking for any bad experiences that may have been due to such reloads.

I first contacted Rick via email twice with no response. I thought that perhaps the emails didn't get through. After a week I sent a letter. A few days later I left a voice mail. After nine days I have yet to receive a response. I have all this documented. As you can see, I put a lot of effort to contact Rick and give him the benefit of the doubt. I just wanted to know how he came up with $65.60 in addition to the trade in.

I went to the Wildman CT web site and two other web sites to get contact information.
After nine days I have not received a response. I wasn't looking to be negative or slam anyone. I simply stated the facts as they occurred in a fair and polite manner. The reason I posted on the forum is because I exhausted all possible means of communications. I didn't post a negative review on Yelp or contact a consumer protection agency.

I appreciate having on field vendors. Even though I can get better prices elsewhere, I try to give the vendor some business at the launch to show appreciation for them being there.

Hopefully I answered your questions. If you think I said anything inappropriate in my initial post let me know. If you read both my posts you won't find any negative comments or judgmental statements.

The efforts you made to contact him in my opinion are on point, I would have stated or clarified your communication efforts in the beginning of the thread.

To answer the question about trade-ins. The two F67 engines were in a package that I never opened. The package was in pristine condition. They were stored in a sealed container in a room with constant temperature and humidity. I never took them out of the container until the day I traded them in. I purchased them a few months ago so they weren't hanging around for a long time in adverse conditions.

I hear what you are saying about the condition of motors that are stored in a trailer or truck for months. It so happens that in the past I have purchased reloads from a different vendor that were not in the tube but in a plastic bag. One of the packs I received in this case was covered with dust but since it was in the original sealed package I was not concerned.

To answer Mustang67's question concerning what I should have stated first in my post. I wrote the events in chronological order according to how the events occurred. That makes for easier reading and easier to follow.

I appreciate the fact that you stated that my efforts to communicate Rick were on point.

Is the date in your original post wrong? 9-21-19 was 9 days ago.

I have observed that rocketeers are very understand and give rocket vendors, be it online or on field vendors a lot of leeway when there are problems. If they experienced the same type of problem with Home Depot or Amazon they would not tolerate the same circumstances. I think it is because we appreciate companies such as AeroTech and on field vendors.

I can honestly state that Estes and Apogee Components have provided me superb customer service when I have had problems.

Most vendors are doing this as a second job. Therefore we give them leeway to find time to get back to us.

richP said:

What are real risks involved in using a motor that perhaps was a trade-in, or previously opened? Not questioning anybody's knowledge, but just looking for any bad experiences that may have been due to such reloads.

Click to expand...

Perhaps not a problem in this instance as the motors involved were unopened SU cardboard motors but in general:

• Missing or substituted parts if the bag's has been opened.
• Greasy fingerprints [or worse] on the delay element.
• Chipped, dented or cracked liners which is the real concern for me.

Plus, just an overall personal position that if I pay full price, I expect to get new, unopened goods fresh from the factory in every case possible.

FWIW, Rick is usually pretty good. He does have a very demanding occupation and even as a club member it could be tricky to get hold of him away from launches. Is it possible for you to address this at the next launch? I'm not in CT anymore or I would just drop by his house for you and tell him he had a customer relations problem he needed to address.

Durham, CT is 125 miles from where I live so I don't get out there too often.

I dropped him a note on the personal number I have. Let's see if that helps. He also goes to almost every METRA launch -if that helps.

Pine Island is a four hour drive from my house but thanks for the info.

Just for the record. At that 9/21/19 CATO launch I told Rick that the vendor that used to come to CMASS launches has moved away and that he should see about attending. He seemed interested. We would love to have him and hopefully that will increase his sales.

FredA said:

Trade-in motors???

There's your problem right there - not sure if I were a vendor I would take a motor back.

Not knowing how it was stored, for how long?
Who wants to buy a motor that bounced around the back of a truck for a few months (or worse) - no thanks.
Every customer deserves a new, factory-fresh motor, every time unless specifically marked as a return and [significantly] discounted.

Value approaches zero for me.....

Click to expand...

Good point and that's probably why the OP didn't receive the amount for the motor he was expecting, because the vendor to take into consideration that possibilities you listed above.

I appreciate everyone’s feed back but I was hoping the vender himself would explain his rationale. It would have been nice if he told me up front that he only gives 30 percent of the retail cost on trade-ins.

My fault for being a trusting person. Now I know better. Fool me once .....

If the 30% is the fact than he should have been told that.

I’ve been doing business with Rick for almost 2 years now. Not a single issue. I’ve spent a couple thousand with him, never an issue contacting him. You sure you have the correct number? I contact him twice a month for two different club launches , never a problem. He hasn’t disappointed me yet

I should of walked away from the deal. I didn’t want to appear rude or ungrateful, especially since he already inputted the transaction in his computer. I should of asked how he came up with $65.60. But once again I didn’t want to appear difficult. If this situation occurred outside of rocketry I would have been more assertive.

I’m sure I’ll see Rick sometime in the future. For $20 I will just let this pass and not bring it up. Like I said, I invited him to attend CMASS launches at Amesbury. With all the college teams he will sell a lot of high power motors.

I have done business with Rick in the past and all went well. One time he was at a launch in Berwick, ME. Since the usual vendor was there they stuck him way back from the flight line. I could see he was not getting any business so I bought some engines from him to show appreciation for him coming.

To answer your question I can’t say 100 percent I have his correct email or mailing address. The email and USPS mail did not kick back. I did call the correct phone number.

Some of you are trying to make me look look like I’m the bad guy. I feel as though I was over charged and I’m looking for an explanation. What’s wrong with that? If you are over charged at a store don’t you speak up for yourself?

Hey! Tried texting you last week, no joy. Unfortunately I was in the hospital (but all good today, just got some more IV antibiotics and will be laughing and waving all10 fingers)..tried calling today without success. I'll try again tomorrow.
If we don't hook up, stop by - everything's on the computer and we can look at it, and fix whatever. I haven't looked at the computer because it's in the front of the trailer and I can't dig that out yet...

rick

btw. i do take "trades" and they become what I fly next.

Hope you get well soon. I can’t drop by given that I live in the Boston area. Take your time to get better then you can check the computer.

Creating a whole thread over 20 bucks and 2 weeks?? I was in the trailer during the transaction, didn't hear the particulars but I do know Rick took the motors in trad only as a favor to you, he had a full case of those motors sitting right there and needed more like he needed a hole in his head.

Duplicate

Once again I’m the bad guy right. So I’m supposed to know all that? How do you know the trade was taken as a favor or what his inventory consists of? If you know so much why didn’t you speak up at the time? It’s apparent Rick has responded to me and I know why he didn’t contact me.
If I have a question about a price or response time that’s my business. Keep your judgmental opinions to yourself.

OP has made contact with vendor. Whether or not issue resolved will be up to the 2 parties involved. Thread locked.