Revell Customer Service- Why patience matters!

[jaymcminn]

One of the tires on a Revell Porsche 911 Targa I'm working on has nasty mold lines on the face, almost like it was short-shot. Trying to get a replacement from Revell looks like it's going to be a nightmare! The order form is ridiculous. You can only file a "warranty" claim if you have proof of purchase, which would have been a generic receipt from my LHS if I still even had it after six months. So I went to the "spare parts" link, where you fill out your information and they inform you (in German) that they'll get back to you within ten days (more or less) with the cost of the part plus shipping. From Germany. Which will probably cost roughly the same as just buying another kit. All for a lousy kit tire with no sidewall detail! The kit, minus the tires, is fantastic but if this were a Tamiya kit I'd have the part on its way to me after a pleasant five minute phone call. 

Rant over...

 

Note: it was suggested (correctly) that I amend this post and make everybody aware that, as I posted in one of my replies below, Revell did get back to me within a day and offer to send a replacement free of charge for the offending tire. I think the expectation of poor customer service these days has primed a lot of people to think that that's always going to be the case but I'm happy to report that it wasn't here. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by jaymcminn

[PowerPlant]

Strange. I’ve had nothing but great experiences several times. I wrote an email to Revell’s so called department X, explaining the reason I need a spare part (damaged or missing), and every time they responded within a couple days asking for my address and sending the parts no questions asked, completely free. Only once I got a response they had no spare parts for a specific long out of production discontinued kit. All parts they said they would send arrived within a month. It was always smaller parts or decals I asked for, and I am in Europe, so that may be why? 

[wrenchr]

Check ebay for parts? Maybe one of us have a spare? Pic? 

[niteowl7710]

Your proof of purchase would be the bar code on the box. It's designed to track replacement parts so that people aren't just asking for replacement tires, wheels, bodies, et al without actually buying a kit.

People long ago ruined the "no questions asked" parts replacement at Revell by scamming them out of stuff (on both sides of the Atlantic).

[PowerPlant]

Again, I’m not sure how it works in the US, but I’ve had no trouble getting spares from Revell. That said, I never abused them for freebies for kits I don’t have, and would always honestly explain the situation and offer to pay for required part/shipping. The last time was whenever the 1970 Firebird was last reissued. I have the older US box without the Trans-Am decals, and that latest ROG release had an expanded decal sheet with the Trans-Am decals, so I wrote to Revell, explained the situation, and offered to pay. They just replied that I should send my address and they would send the decals. They arrived within two weeks no charge whatsoever. 
The email is departmentx@revell.de

Edited March 16, 2023 by PowerPlant

[peteski]

I also found dealing with Revell of Germany parts support hassle-free, and no charge.  Last time I needed a new body and decals for the recently released Jaguar XK-E.

[iamsuperdan]

I thought Revell's customer service was great. 

My Porsche Panamera kit did not come with tires. 

I went to the website, followed the steps, and had a set of tires in less than a month.

 

 

This is one of the reasons I always open and inspect kits when I buy them. I never leave anything "factory sealed" after purchasing. That way if there's an issue, I can deal with it immediately, before the kit goes out of production, or I lose the receipt, or whatever.

[jaymcminn]

Well, that was a premature rant. They got back to me today and are shipping the tire at no cost. Six week delivery time from Germany, but not the end of the world. Next time I'll step away from the computer and get a snack before posting in anger!

[bobthehobbyguy]

2 minutes ago, jaymcminn said:

Well, that was a premature rant. They got back to me today and are shipping the tire at no cost. Six week delivery time from Germany, but not the end of the world. Next time I'll step away from the computer and get a snack before posting in anger!

Definitely. In the age of the computer it's too easy to respond in haste. When we wrote letters there was a chance to rethink things before they got mailed.

As far as the issue with parts replacement it was the people who took advantage to get free parts. It's not hard for the companies to figure out what is happening. And of course they need to curtail the theft.

 

[stavanzer]

16 minutes ago, jaymcminn said:

Well, that was a premature rant. They got back to me today and are shipping the tire at no cost. Six week delivery time from Germany, but not the end of the world. Next time I'll step away from the computer and get a snack before posting in anger!

Jason, nothing wrong with a well written rant.

Glad you will get your parts though.

Thanks for the follow up.

[PowerPlant]

Glad it worked out. Revell really is on the ball in that respect. I just find honesty works best. Another situation I had a while back was when I straight up tore the decals by accident when opening the instructions. Totally my mistake and fault, no Revell’s shortcoming whatsoever. So again, I wrote, explained what happened and asked how I can order/pay for a new sheet. Without much further fuss, they just sent me a new decal sheet for free. They really do take care of their customers, and it’s a shame when people take advantage of that, but I hope they do filter out the requests between reasonable and ridiculous ones. 

[Dpate]

I know aoshima will not ship spare parts or anything to the states by order unless you're a business.  I remember someone on here mentioned about some kit on here can't remember which one, but for folks to check there kits to see if they had a warped windshield.  I already had this kit for months, and checked it, and sho nuf windshield was warped because of how it was molded.  They sent me a whole chrome tree and new glass parts that i didn't even ask for all for free.

[1972coronet]

13 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

People long ago ruined the "no questions asked" parts replacement at Revell by scamming them out of stuff (on both sides of the Atlantic).

A couple of times - once around 2008 and once around 2013 - I emailed Revell wherein a requested replacement parts for kits I hadn't purchased, and expressly mentioned that fact, and that I insisted upon buying the parts that I'd needed. One of the kits was the 1969 Dart GTS which I'd purchased on eBay. Its glass was scuffed, and since the 1968 Dart was (and still is) in production, and its glass is exactly the same, I'd figured I'd purchase 'replacement' glass.
They sent it to me no charge.
Next was the SS hood for the 1969 Nova. I have the (phantom) COPO edition, and wanted to build it as an L78. Again I stressed that I was going to purchase the hood and its faux vents. 
Same result: I received the parts free-of-charge. 

But, yes, there certainly are folks who makes claims - false claims - about "missing" or "damaged" parts ( IIRC, the 1966 El Camino and its companion 1966 Malibu Wagon were two of the most common kits with "missing" hoods). 

[bobthehobbyguy]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

But, yes, there certainly are folks who makes claims - false claims - about "missing" or "damaged" parts ( IIRC, the 1966 El Camino and its companion 1966 Malibu Wagon were two of the most common kits with "missing" hoods). 

And that becomes pretty obvious to the manufacturer because they know statistically what are typical problems. A hood may be ocassionly possible but certainly not common. 

[Mr. Metallic]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:03 AM, jaymcminn said:

Well, that was a premature rant. They got back to me today and are shipping the tire at no cost. Six week delivery time from Germany, but not the end of the world. Next time I'll step away from the computer and get a snack before posting in anger!

Can you still modify your initial post and possibly amend it with a note at the end? That way someone popping in here doesn't get the negative impression of Revell Customer Service? It's one thing if the complaint is warranted, but in this case it wasn't. 

And thank you for posting your follow up.

[jaymcminn]

58 minutes ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Can you still modify your initial post and possibly amend it with a note at the end? That way someone popping in here doesn't get the negative impression of Revell Customer Service? It's one thing if the complaint is warranted, but in this case it wasn't. 

And thank you for posting your follow up.

Done. Good point about amending the title as well.