Walkera Is it really this BAD?

[jimmymc2286]

Around Xmas I started looking for a 500 size nitro helicoptor. I didn't want a over powered conversion like the Align 500 conversion. Just a real 500 size with no bigger engine then a .20. After looking the net for a while I could only find 2 the Walkera #83 and the Leo .15. Just as I started to order the #83H I found the Walkera V18G01. It is a FBL ready to fly with a .18 perfect. It is a beta run but I had to have it. I must say it is a nice heli. Looks great and is just the size I was after. On the 4th or 5th tank the end broke of the crankshaft. Contact with the dealer and they told me they would check with the factory and see what they would do. They have not answered my email again. Emailed Walkera several times and they have not answered my emails. A heli without an engine is a high priced paper weight. I replaced the .18 with a .15 and have been flying it but I hope nothing else breaks. But I am sure if it doesn't come under warrenty and I have to pay for parts They will answer my mail for an order.
By the way this thing flies great. The FBL unit works great and the whole thing is a fun fly. Just the Company Sucks.

Jimmy

[bytemuncher]

You can blame Walkera, but at the same time you should have done your due diligence before buying a heli...especially in that size class. Buying a heli and then just hoping or praying there will be support is kind of dumb IMO. Assuming a Chinese manufacturer is going to provide a high level of product support is also extremely naive. Seriously.

[Heli-opolis]

In my experience, if you don't expect much, you won't be disappointed.

But then again, while I agree with bytemuncher to a certain degree, I'm no less guilty in that I thought RTF really meant what it said.

Generally though, you puts your money down and you takes your chances. I've had both great experiences and frustrating experiences with the same vendors and not only from China.

While I feel your pain and understand your frustration, we all have to learn to basically take things like this in stride and take our little victories where we can.

Now, "snatch the pebble from out of my hand weed hopper."

You are probably too young to know what that is a quote from but other old farts on this forum should get a little chuckle.

[jimmymc2286]

Now, "snatch the pebble from out of my hand weed hopper."

You are probably too young to know what that is a quote from but other old farts on this forum should get a little chuckle.[/QUOTE]

Not hardly, I'm 60 and been flying RC for 40 years. I've bought from companies all over the world. I don't care where it is made a product is only as good as the company that made it. I still believe I should get what I pay for, The helicopter came with a warrenty and the company isn't standing behind it. If the people buying Walkera products think this is normal practice for any company you are wrong. If you are willing to except this

(You can blame Walkera, but at the same time you should have done your due diligence before buying a heli...especially in that size class. Buying a heli and then just hoping or praying there will be support is kind of dumb IMO. Assuming a Chinese manufacturer is going to provide a high level of product support is also extremely naive.Seriously. )

bytemuncher,
I did my research, and yes I do blame Walkera for not backing the warrenty. I am not asking for a high level of product support. If that was the case I would want them to take the copter back to China and fix it send it back to me at no cost. That is what any good company would do. The only support I asked for was to send me the broken part and I will take care of it. That is the least amount of support a person can ask for. Spending several hundred on a heli and not expecting support is Dumb.

I have 20+ helicopters from several differant manufactures. Walkera is the only one that has not stood behind their product. They will not burn me again.

So let it be writen so let it be.

Jimmy

[MilitaryMachinist]

He has a very valid point, they should honor the warranty no matter where they are from. If they have a no defect policy, they should fix this for him.

[helicraze]

Yep they are pretty bad. Even give you a warranty card and dont honor it

[zadaw]

As far as I know, Walkera only offers a 12 months' warranty on its transmitters. It will not service any other items and that includes receivers. But that is not explicitly stated in its warranty card and so it is a bit deceptive.

I am not sure though whether there is any difference in treatment between their local and overseas customers. But even if there are, you cannot really blame them that much because I do not get HH support and warranty in Hong Kong either.

[john aeras]

Originally Posted by Heli-opolis

Now, "snatch the pebble from out of my hand weed hopper."

You are probably too young to know what that is a quote from but other old farts on this forum should get a little chuckle.

lol! I did get a chuckle, although you paraphrased it... I thought it was
"snatch the pebble from out of my hand little grasshopper"

[Heli-opolis]

You are right John, it was paraphrased.

On the topic though, I've gotten screwed by Goodyear tire on their warranty in one instance while at the same getting a replacement when I probably shouldn't have. Those are just two specific examples of tossing the die and seeing what you get.

I can't think of a company anywhere in the world, and having been in 25% of the countries in the world for at least a few months each, that's a lot of companies but not a single one have I gotten consistent service in.

More often than not, much of the service I got was only 'lip service' both at 'home' and 'abroad'. Wherever my 'home' and 'abroad' happened to be at the time.

One could say they've only gotten bad service from Company A while the next person may have gotten nothing but good service and a third person mixed results.

Personally, I haven't had any problems with Walkera but at the same time do I think Walkera is perfect, no.

Do I think or expect that a company in a country that has only known capitalism for a decade or so is going to get things right, that it has taken other companies in other countries a hundred years or so to figure out and still inconsistent at best, again, no.

You being 60, you'll probably remember the Star Trek episode where some super- being, 'Q', creates an entire world from his mind and the only thing wrong with it is that it is all more or less just a facade, things that look like what they should but don't ring true where it counts. In many ways, the situation here is similar.

It reminds me of the old commercial in the US that said something along the lines of, 'The quality goes in before the name goes on.", what many said in jest was, "Quality, a word we like to use.". Knowing what 'service' or 'warranty' or any of a number of business terms means is one thing but putting them into play, another.

If anyone expects to be able to compare service across the globe and expect it to all be the same, you might as well stay and shop at home. The world out there isn't as cozy and safe as it is in the US, where even there, things aren't too cozy and safe.

Again, you puts your money down and you takes your chances.

Actually, I should have only need to say one word, actually two, 'Charter Communications'.

Enough said? ;-)

[jimmymc2286]

Heli-opolis, Well said. The question I asked is if Walkers is really this bad. After reading the responses, the answer is Yes they are. And from the few answers here that is OK.

It is not OK with me. I was raised in the midwest in a time when a lot of companies were learning the fact , the end customer is the boss. This Walkera thing is not a Chinese thing. I have done bussiness with several Chinese companies and they will do whatever they can to make sure you are a return customer. They are proud of their Companies and are hard at it to make them grow. They are just as proud of the products and the quality of their service. We have all seen companies form and fall. That is the way it works. Foruns like this help get the word out about companies that are marketing products for us. It also lets us get the word out about the good ones and the bad ones. Like it or not today we have a world market. Walkera claims to be a world class company with a world class product and service. This is my second Walkera, one of their newest and top of the line products. The product is fine the service poor. As I said before a helicopter with out an engine is a paper weight. I don't care where something is made, If it is not correct it is the manufacturers job to make it so.
It has been made very clear that this is exceptable to a portion of the modeling community. I am not against that I just can not except this practice as normal. You can spend your money and take your chances all you want. I will spend my money on a product I know will work and if not will be fixed. I take enough chances just flying these things.

Jimmy

[MilitaryMachinist]

Its not acceptable to me and I have been flying since 2006. If Walkera doesn't pay attention they will fall as fast as they climbed, and be stuck in the toy heli market. People trust Align, they support their product, back their warranties, they have some of the best manuals on the market, their instructions can teach a beginner to build like a pro... and so on... If Walkera wants to make it 10 more years they better wise up.

[Heli-opolis]

I don't think I said that it was OK, more like I've pretty much come to expect poor or no service as too many companies either don't have a clue as to what it means or, they treat it as a separate 'product' in its own right and if you want it, you pay an extra premium for it, as Align does by front-loading their product prices with the expectancy that a certain percentage of sales are going to be at a loss.

As a comparison, if you want good service and are willing to pay for it, buy Align, if you aren't afraid to gamble that you may get what you paid for or you may not and are going for the best initial price point, there's Walkera.

So far, I have a positive balance with Walkera but there is the statistics and chaos theory called Gambler's ruin where if you play long enough, the house always wins. If the house wins too many times though, the house ends up losing.

Maybe Walkera will figure that out, maybe they won't or maybe they will never reach the tipping point and keep just enough people happy to stay in business but never thrive.

Who knows?

As for MilitaryMachinist, if it's not acceptable to you, why are you buying so many birds from them? ;-)

[czynot]

Let me get this stright. You got a nitro heli and crank shaft broke after 5 tanks? And you want the manufacture to face up to their warranty?
I dont care what or where the manufacture is or are. You wont get this under warranty. They will just blame it on the end user. They will say you didnt breakin the engine or fly too hard.
Yes they SHOULD cover you in a prefect world. Will they? NO!
If you buy it from your local hobby shop and this happen? Will your LHS help you? NO. They will also say you broke it. Contact the manufacture. Manufacture will tell you contact your LHS. well.. you know the run around. This happen all the time here at home. Good old USA.

Good luck if you are waiting for someone else to fix it or replace it.

[jimmymc2286]

Originally Posted by czynot

Good luck if you are waiting for someone else to fix it or replace it.

I'm not waiting for them to fix it. When they didn't answer the first email that is all the info I needed. I have allready replaced the engine and flying the poop out of it. And OS will stand behind their engines, So will Thunder Tiger, Super Tiger, YS, these I know first hand. After 50 years of flying models I have had a few problems, not once did one of these companies fail to go out of their way to take care of my problem. I do not know who your LHS is but if they did me like that I would not support them. Either go to another hobby shop or shop on line.


Heli-opolis,

I am sorry I wasn't meaning for that to be directed at you. All I ment for you was Well Said.
I do have Align, Century, JR, Thunder Tiger, Gaui, Rjx, ECT. I think my mistake was thinking because Walkera asked a premium price for this helicopter and they have intered the 500 class nitro and electric market they had stepped it up. My mistake.


To everyone,
By the way It flies great. Going to be one of my everyday fliers. Engines are easy to come by and I can make any of the other parts, or adapt one to fit. Not everyone is a toolmaker and has the machines to make the things they need. This just added another $50 to price of the copter. $50 I or anyone should not have to spend. I will keep the heli, I will enjoy the heli, I will not buy another Walkera helicopter. I will not recomend a Walkera to anyone. When someone ask what I think of Walkera I will tell them just what happened and tell them not to do bussiness with them.

[zadaw]

Originally Posted by MilitaryMachinist

Its not acceptable to me and I have been flying since 2006. If Walkera doesn't pay attention they will fall as fast as they climbed, and be stuck in the toy heli market. People trust Align, they support their product, back their warranties, they have some of the best manuals on the market, their instructions can teach a beginner to build like a pro... and so on... If Walkera wants to make it 10 more years they better wise up.

I am not getting anything near what you you said about Align in Hong Kong. In fact, if you buy an Align kit from the local agent, you are on your own once they have tested the servos in front of you. This is no different from other brands of helicopters.

I think it is important to differentiate the service offered by the vendor / distributor and that offered by the manufacturer. Align is distributed by HH is the US and they can provide a level of service similar to their Blade helis. In Hong Kong at least, there are a couple of vendors who will provide free lifetime repairs for Walkera helicopters. I don't think you can contact Futaba, JR, OS and YS engines in Japan directly for repairs either.

Nobody can predict which brands are going to be around and doing well in 10 years' time. Hirobo used to be as dominant an Align and were very innovative and high quality. Walkera has done a lot of other things to annoy their user and vendor base as well, such as not making their Devo transmitters backwards compatible with the 2801 pro.

[czynot]

Asian (China or HK) LHS really sucks. I do agree. Once you hand over your cold cash? you are on your own.
Walkera is like a KIA. Cheap and it will take you from point A-B. If you want quailty? you buy a BMW or Ferrai.
I have started with the v450D01. I replace every piece of electronic on it now. If I didnt have all those parts? i would have sold it. I brought it because it was cheap RTF. It was great and fly smooth but their servo dont last. RX are very limited to settings or other servo option.
Walkera is cheap heli to learn from. you will out grow it fast, than you will realize there are alot better birds out there. Alot of other and better options.

[crf69]

Hence my signature.

I love Walkera because they got me started fast intot his wonderful hobby.

But they are complete shit.I loved my 400d02 and v450d01's.(issues i'd rather not talk about)

Genius is all i fly Walkera anymore.Got more flights out of that than anything Walkera.

Building a Gaui X5 and align 450 pro v2 3gx at the moment

[jimmymc2286]

Another week gone and still no response from Walkera or the dealer. I would think that Walkera could at least take the time to send an email to deny the replacement. I have sent more emails but still not a word from them.

[bytemuncher]

Try to get Lucy on msn lucychan02j1@hotmail.com. She is with Walkera sales and might be able to help you.

[bytemuncher]

Originally Posted by crf69

But they are complete shit.I loved my 400d02 and v450d01's.

I share your feelings. Love/hate relationship with Walkera. Hate them as a company (they are complete sh*t), but love to fly my genius and mini cp.