I have had a Ticket with Dragon that has not been responded to for over 9 months, 3 weeks and1 day to be precise.

Is this how Dragon treat all their customers or am I just exceptionally unlucky?

I am really annoyed by the lack of support they have shown, they do not respond to correspondence on their own Ticket / Care system.

I have a copy of all the posts on their Ticket system as proof if needed.

I doubt if I will ever buy any product they manufacture again (I have most of their German armour kits after 2000).

I would like to know if this is common amongst all their customers?

It may also vary depending on where you live. Perhaps US customers dealing with Dragon USA have a better crack at it than people in other countries?

I had a recent POSITIVE experience with them. I bought one of their kits that was designed in such a way to cut corners that it omitted a whole sprue of necessary parts that are given in another kit. I contacted Dragoncare and explained that OOTB the kit was unbuildable as-is and they instantly sent me the required sprue from a different kit. They also, in the past, were quick to replace some kinked Sherman tracks. I did, however, have an issue with them regarding a kit that had a missing part. Dragon requested a photo of the missing part (?!?!) and the whole request got bogged down and I never got that one resolved.

If you do a search here or on other forums you will find a lot of comments about Dragoncare/Dragon Doesnt Care depending on who got what in terms of service

Dale,

I heard back from my contact at DML this morning who told me the parts were shipped to you back in March. Another set is being arranged for now.

Normally, Dragon Care does not cover parts chewed by a pet so I think you can consider yourself lucky that they responded at all.

Regards,

Tom

Hi Tom

Firstly thanks for your assistance it is appreciated and I still think I shouldnt have sent you an email about it but I was obviously frustrated..

I dont think that I have been unreasonable with Dragon and I have been patient as the length of time shows.

From my point of view Dragon have not replied to my Ticket posts which I have shown you, which I dont think is unreasonable.

Tom I have a very large Dragon collection and I like what they do, but I dont call a non response even in a negative to my request as service..

If they had of said no I would have known where I stood and could have either scrapped the model or bought one at a swap meet.

I was prepared to pay for the parts like you can with Tamiya or Tasca if they required me to ( I am reasonable), yes I agree my pets bad behaviour is not their issue.

If I had received the parts I would not have sent additional requests, if they had sent them they could have advised that via their ticket system and finally they could have advised me of their shipping and I would have chased it locally.

Once again thanks for your kindness and assistance in this matter.

Kindest Regards

Dale Marston

as are most companies, actually. One or two may do it but 97% do not. I contacted Dragon about buying some replacement parts and it was a hassle. They did agree to sell me the parts but the price was not really cost effective. It cost more to get a few small parts than it would have just to buy a new kit. This was back when the 251 halftracks were $28 or so...

Most companies will provide replacements for their own mistakes or errors but not yours. Perhaps they feel a particular request is just outside of the scope of their services and chose not to reply at all?

I don't have an issue with them not being set up for it, my issue has been the lack of response.

It is okay to say no, I can't help, it is more offensive if you just ignore someone.

I think they should have the ability to sell parts like Tamiya and Tasca.

It would provide them with a means to recoup freight etc.. and provide service that customers would expect to pay for.

What is a sprue worth honestly?

Imagine if you ran an Industrial Engineering and Automation Company and said I can't supply spares, you just have to buy a new machine.

At the money they charge for a kit you aren't going to throw it away for 1 part are you.

If it was an old airfix or matchbox kit maybe.

From what I gather from talking to people at Revell regarding spare parts, and also Tamiya who do sell sprues and parts, the companies don't just keep big stocks of sprues on hand. For example, when the new Tamiya XYZ comes out, Tamiya USA has NO PARTS for it until someone has a defective kit somewhere and returns it or it is returned to Tamiya by a dealer. So then Tamiya has an XYZ kit with no instructions. But if you call and want to buy a sprue A from the kit, they will take the parts from the defective kit and sell them to you. It takes some effort to keep track of the defective kits, what parts are or are not still available, etc. With Dragon they may be able to supply a missing part here and there taken off of sprues from defective kits, but if you offer to buy a whole sprue they aren't set up for that or may not have complete sprues handy since they send out defective individual parts.

Again most companies DO NOT sell spare parts. Tamiya USA and Tasca may but Revell, Hasegawa, Arii, Fujimi, Hasegawa, ICM, IBG, Academy, Italeri etc do not seem to offer that luxury. Honestly too from what I have seen in the past, what they sell the parts for may not make them terribly cost effective. I was able to buy some parts once from Dragon after a huge hassle/haggle (it may have been via Mark Up Polo and not Dragon USA?) and the small sprues were something like $15 each plus $9 postage PER SPRUE to get a couple parts for a $28 kit.


As for the reply thing... yeah they SHOULD reply. But often they probably don't. To be fair, honestly, most places you contact or try to call about anything never get back to you. You have to badger them to death just to get the time of days. Thats just how service is any more.

I've had issues with warped and/or missing parts from some of their 1/25 car kits (warped body, three tires in the box and the like). I called their customer service number, gave them the kit and part numbers and received the parts, free of additional charge, in a couple of days. One can't ask for more than that.

They have a parts requester link on their web site. You just fill it out, submit it, and you get the parts in about 10 days.

David

without being cheeky, I come form the Industrial Automation field where machines have 1000's of parts some worth a couple of dollars to some worth thousands.And as a manufacturer and supplier of goods you need to keep parts from the 0 cents to the $1000's.

Dragon, Tamiya etc.. would have extra sprues from the kit collation and packaging process as there would be some inspection of sprues for quality and need for additional sprues due to process deformation, damage during handling etc.. Surely you don't believe that they just inject the number they need for kit production and hope all is well.

I have worked with the injection moulding process for non model related indutries so i do understand the process. As for storage, distribution and logistics they already have these systems in place they just need to tweak the resources to handle the service and low volume requirements.

All that aside manners are for free and if you respond positively or negatively to a customer request at least they know where they stand. I don't think that because standards of customer service are slipping across many companies and services that we should accept it. I personally won't and I won't support companies who won't stand behind what they do no matter what product it is.

Kind Regards

Dale

Yes what you say is probably correct at the highest level, but when you need a Tamiya part you don't call Tamiya's HQ in Japan, or even their factory in the Philippines. You call their US or Canadian or wherever distributor. The distributor (like Dragon USA, Tamiya USA etc.) does not carry stacks of every part for every kit. They are also often really set up to deal with retail stores or wholesalers versus individual people. They provide spares or extra parts as a service on a parts-available basis.

The distributor for Tamiya and DML in the UK manages spare parts just fine

When I had a missing part in a DML Panther a few years ago I raised a ticket with Dragon care. I didn't get a reply for 2.5 years. Yes you read that right; two and a half years. When I did it was to ask if the part was still missing (as if it had somehow rematerialised inside the sealed bag in that time)

In the meantime, after giving up on DML after the first month, I contacted the distributor; the Hobby Company. The sent a replacement within a few days free of charge

remembering this I contacted them again when I messed up the decals on a Tamiya Centaur. They had no problem sending me a set for a reasonable fee

It seems they have no problem at all with sending spares. I would guess when they need to break kits for spares they simply claim a replacement from the manufacturer

DML's lack of service is one of the reasons why I very rarely buy their kits anymore. As they original poster says; how hard is it to reply to an email?

Chris

I never thought about not buying a kit due to lack of customer service. I guess I should boycott AFV Crap since they refuse to replace the mis-boxed T80 Sherman tracks I purchased.

Yes; 'really' David. I guess how we spend our money is our own indivivual concern. Athough that wasn't the only factor, that did put me off them and I chose not to give them any more of my money, which is my prerogative.

I wouldn't know about 'AFV Crap'. I've built a lot more of their kits than I have Dragon and never had a problem. I guess I'm just lucky

Thats kind of not the point though. My point was that you said distributors are not set up to deal with this; however I can point to one certainly that is. Maybe when there's a problem its worth trying the distributr

I was more irritated that the issues existed than their responses.

Take care,

Scott Gentry

Bought a sealed Jagd Panther kit from someone on ML private resllers and the upper half was warped really bad. Tried to correct it but could not. They requested a photo of the part which I did. They promptly sent a replacement part at no cost to me. Their response was quick and they did not give me any crap. Very pleased with DragoCares!
I suppose they can't please everyone for whatever reasons.

Hi

Dragon care and my problem go back nearly 18 months. I have sent photos and a copy of the bill of sale for the models, Twice.
Had one answer to the loads of mails I sent. All I wanted was the missing turrets to the M4 hybrid PTO Sherman that where
Missing in the three kits I brought. I live in Germany so this could be a problem with them. Most people living in the USA
have good service from them.
Good luck.
As for me Dragon is not having any more of my money thank god for Tassa Models.

Ian.

They sent me a full sprue within a couple of weeks, but I'm still waiting to hear about an issue with a Premium Edition Panther D from around a year ago - I guess it's down to what they have available.

Cheers,
Paul

I have sent them photos of the miscast part (it was the front of a suspension unit so pretty vital) and a copy of the bill of sale as they asked. The last I heard from them was an automated reply in the beginning of April.
Not the best service out there.
G.

On at least three occasions, i have lost parts. They either charged a shipping fee, or sent gratis.
I live in the uS and understand things are not so cheery in Europe.