ASK Cub Reporter- Time To Empty The Mailbox Again, Version 03.08.2010

Cubby– In a previous edition of ASK Cub Reporter I posted a letter from a Tommy K. that was about his Slash having poor range after he got it wet. At the end of my post I asked Tommy to shoot us a letter back to let us know what the problem ended up being, so here is the scoop (and a good testimonial about Traxxas customer service).

“So, I found out Traxxas has a drop-off window at their corporate office to accept walk-in service requests. I took my separation anxiety stricken slash in on my lunch break on a nice Friday afternoon. A friendly service tech came and hand me fill out some paper work and give him my Slash for repair. Since we weren’t sure what exactly the problem was, I just gave him everything. He took my phone number and said they would call when the work was done and that it would take 3 to 5 business days. About a week later, I received an email from Traxxas stating that they tested my Slash with their transmitter and had no problem, but since I didn’t send in my transmitter they were unable to diagnose it but guessed the problem was with the transmitter. They also said they would ship the Slash back to me soon. I emailed back that this was wrong and told them that I had given them my transmitter and requested they not ship anything. It was a Saturday morning and I was worried my request would go un-noticed and come Monday morning I would have a package en-route and an even larger problem.

So far, this isn’t the happiest service experience. Stay with me though. I called their service department on Monday and told the friendly guy on the phone what happened. He was able to pull up my service ticket number and see all the correspondence. He put me on hold for about five minutes and went to talk to the technician that worked on my Slash. When he got back, he said that the transmitter wasn’t with the Slash when it got to the tech and he didn’t know what had happened to it. The service rep then promised to look into it some more and call me back the next day. I waited for a call all day Tuesday and then around 6:00 pm he called me back. The first thing he did was apologize for taking so long to get back to me but that it took a while to resolve my problem. I don’t think they ever found my transmitter, but he said since the tech department felt that was the problem, they were giving me a new one and I could come pick everything up at my convenience.

Yes, there was a goof-up and they made a mistake. Through the whole process though, I was treated kindly and they never got angry or made me feel like it was my fault. They honored their warranty and supported their product 100%, no questions asked. Traxxas not only makes good product. They treat customers the right way.
Thanks,
Tommy K”

Cubby– To boil it down, it was the transmitter that had gone bad, and Traxxas did a good job of making things right. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out Tommy, and props to Traxxas for taking care of their customers like they should.

Cubby,
Can you send me some stickers?

But I also have another question. I have 2 Ice chargers and I only use Lipo batteries but they don’t balance charge. Is there some way to balance with them or do I need to buy new chargers?
Skip W.

Cubby– What’s up Skip? Thanks for the email.

Can you have some stickers? Sure no problem, you can click on the BSRC Shop link at the top of the page, or you can shoot me your mailing addy and I’ll send some to ya.

Can you balance charge with a Duratrax ICE charger?

Yes, and no. No, you can not with an ICE right out of the box. But yes you can when you use your ICE with an ElectriFly Equinox Lipo Balancer. You plug your Lipo battery’s balance port into the Equinox, then the Equinox plugs into the ICE. It will keep any of the individual cells from being overcharged as well as keeping them in balance. The Equinox is a good unit, and is relatively affordable at around $35, a lot cheaper than most new balance chargers. So no need to chuck those ICE’s yet, they are still good to go with an Equinox attached.

Cub Reporter…
at my local club like only 2 or 3 guys do all the work on the track and nobody else wants to help and they just sit on there asses….. so i guess i am asking what are some ways to get all the lard asses to work on the track????

Henry

Cubby– Hey Henry, thanks for the email.

Ya, that’s the way it is at every track in America- a few guys do a lot of work, a bunch of guys don’t help at all. So what can be done about it?

I feel that the guys that like working on tracks will work on’em, the guys that don’t “enjoy” it simply won’t, so don’t try to force somebody to do something they don’t like. If only 3 guys from your club like working on the track, just deal with how much they are able to get done. Ask everyone to show up to track work days, but never try to “force” them, as that will cause nothing but problems in the long run.

With that said, if someone pays their cash to actually join your club, make sure they know that’s a commitment that they are willing to help. While a member might not want to help work on your track, they should be willing to do something- such as running the computer, selling hot-dogs, working on your clubs web-page, or whatever, just as long as they help out in some way. So don’t get all torqued at the guys that don’t work on the track, try to get them involved in other things that need done.

That’s it for this week folks, thanks for reading. We dig getting your letters, so don’t be shy. Shoot your letters to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter