Our Simple Warranty and Return Policies Most stores have return and warranty polices that begin something like: "We want you to be happy with your purchase and will do everything in our power to make you happy including refunding your full purchase price if you aren't satisfied." That is then typically followed by paragraphs of exceptions, limitations and impenetrable gobbledygook that leave you feeling that they don't really want you to understand their return policies. Unlike those other places, we do want you to understand our policies and why we handle things the way that we do. Our goal is to handle returns in a way that is fair to both of us and keeps our costs (and therefore our prices) as low as possible. We want to treat our customers fairly while avoiding abuse from the small percentage of customers who feel compelled to make everyone else pay for their mistakes. At minimum, we want to be as clear as possible about how and why we handle returns so you can understand how we work before you make your purchase.
Easy returns have become a staple feature of modern retailing. It is one of the weapons huge retailers use to keep expanding at the expense of small retailers. Returns cost all retailers money. Returns at the big box stores are generally charged back to the manufacturer or importer and cost the giant retailers nothing. Returns at small stores are generally absorbed by the store and directly reduce profits. That's why small retailers have to be stricter about returns. In addition, some products are inherently complex, messy and prone to customer difficulty. The big stores don't bother carrying those products. That's part of the reason that you won't find most of the products we sell at the giant retailers.
We also understand that returns cost you frustration, wasted time and cash expenses. Some of that is just an expected part of the learning and building experience but that doesn't make it any less irritating for you. We may not be able to please you in every instance, but at least we recognize that you are generally just as unhappy about dealing with a problem as we are. Our goal is to take responsibility for the products we sell while trying to avoid unnecessarily driving up our costs and your prices.
Hobby Engineering wants you to be happy with your purchases, but our products make returns and replacements problematic. Our products are generally used as part of a learning or development experience. Learning is a messy, complex process and problems are part of the experience -- that why test questions are often called "problems." Lots of times your first attempt at learning any new skill is a disaster and you have to start over again. Sometimes even your second, third and beyond efforts show signs of needing more practice.
While we do our best to sell quality products and stand behind them, its not practical for us to guarantee your learning experience. Car dealers don't replace vehicles damaged by inexperienced drivers. Piano stores don't give you a new piano if you hit a sour note. Sports stores don't guarantee that your new ball will score a touchdown. The reality is that most problems you may have with our products result from your own mistakes or from attempting to work beyond your current level of skill. Damaged parts are part of your cost of education. We encourage you to thoughtfully consider your purchases and only order products that you are sure you can handle or that you are willing to risk as you develop your next level of skill.
On the other hand, stuff happens and part of our service is trying to minimize your pain. Stated below as clearly and completely as possible are our return and warranty policies so you can understand you options and risks.What Can Be Returned - New, unopened merchandise which you have received within the last 30 days may be returned for a refund of what you paid for the merchandise.
- Opened merchandise which you have received within the last 30 days may be returned for a refund of what you paid for the merchandise less a restocking fee of 20% or more with a $5 minimum restock charge per item.
The return period is extended for certain types of products purchased as gifts during most of November and December. Please keep reading to learn the details of how we handled returns.Limited Warranty - Hobby Engineering offers a limited, 60 day warranty protecting you from manufacturing defects in most of the products we sell. If a product fails to perform as described during the warranty period due to a manufacturing defect we will repair or replace the product. Limitations and special cases are described in the following paragraphs.
- Kits:Many of our products are kits which you assemble. Our warranty for kits applies to the individual components within the kits, not the final product. You are responsible for workmanship, troubleshooting, debugging and dealing with assembly challenges required to turn the kit into a final product or model.
- Electronic Components and Modules:Thanks to modern manufacturing techniques it is extremely rare for defective components to get shipped to customers. It has been decades since we have suspected a defective component in our own projects and production. On the other hand, depending on the component, it can be relatively easy to damage these products through mishandling, wiring errors, power glitches, misunderstanding data sheets or general lack of experience. It is your responsibility to prove that problems with electronic components and modules were caused by a manufacturing defect rather than by your handling and use of the product. As a practical matter, that means you should think of these products as non-returnable once opened. This also applies to electronic components and modules provided as part of a kit. During the warranty period we will exchange electronic components and modules for a fee of 50% of our normal sales price for that item, even if the failure was caused by your error. You must send the failed product to us at your expense. We will pay for economy shipping of the replacement. Replacement products may be refurbished.
- Many products we sell are also covered by a manufacturer's warranty. You always have the option of attempting to resolve any product problems directly with the manufacturer.
The Fine Print - "Unopened" refers to the actual product packaging, not the outer shipping container. This means that you can open the brown or white box or envelope that your delivery person drops off without voiding this part of the warranty. "Unopened" refers to the product packaging within that shipping box or envelope.
- The return period counts from when the package is delivered to your address until you ship the return back to us as determined by the carrier's tracking system or the postmark. For shipping methods such as First Class Mail that do not provide a delivery date we assume that packages are delivered 14 days after we mail them. For kit products ordered between November 10 and December 24 each year, the return period begins on the delivery date or December 25, whichever is later.
- A restock fee is deducted from your refund for any merchandise returned after it has been opened. The minimum restock fee of 20% ($5 minimum) is applied to products that we can quickly inspect for completeness, shrink-wrap and restore to nearly new condition. Additional deductions will be made if the inner packaging has been disturbed or if the product has been used. If you break the shrink-wrap, peek inside, say "whoops" and quickly close it the restock fee will be between 20% for simple products and 30% for complex products where we have to spend a lot of time verifying the contents. If you zip open a tamper-proof box, open inner parts bags or begin to use or assemble the product the restock fee will be 50% to 75%. If the product appears damaged or abused the restock fee will be 100%. Please note that we never sell returned merchandise (opened or not) as new. All returns end up on our clearance rack or in the trash except for a small percentage of products from manufacturers who accept returns.
- We do not refund shipping charges. We will pay for return shipping only if we shipped you a different item than what you ordered, as shown on our acknowledgment screens during checkout. If you refuse a shipment we will deduct any reverse shipping charges that are billed to us from your refund. We will not accept C.O.D. shipments.
- You are responsible for adhering to all regulations regarding return shipping of hazardous materials. As a practical matter this means that you cannot return paint, glue, fuel, aerosol cans or other material containing solvents, flammable material, gas or liquid under pressure or other regulated materials. Fines and liability for violating hazardous material shipping regulations are virtually unlimited.
- We will recalculate your original charge considering the return. You may loose discounts based on order size such as "free discounts on holiday orders over $99" or "save $20 on orders of $200 or more".
How To Return Products Returned products must be shipped to:
Hobby Engineering - Returns
282 Harbor Way, Unit D
South San Francisco, CA 94080
It is your responsibility to return products to us in good condition. We strongly recommend UPS because of its excellent reliability. Please see the notes below about using the post office for returns.Returning Packages Via The Mail Post Office delivery services are generally cheaper than other carriers because they put more of the responsibility on the sender and recipient. While we understand your desire to be economical, it is not practical for us to spend significant amounts of time dealing with the post office to get your return. - We recommend USPS for return of only small, low value packages. Drop the package in the mail and there is a 99+% chance that we will get it quickly and easily. Feel free to use Delivery Confirmation if that makes you feel better but please recognize that it is not proof that we received the package. Delivery Confirmation shows that the postman left the package in the public lobby of our building, not that we received it.
- If you choose to use the post office for returns you must use USPS Signature Confirmation service if you want proof that the package has reached us. Please recognize that most of the time the mailman will not walk to the side of the building where we are located and instead just leaves a pick-up slip in the building lobby. We will pick packages up at the post office only if our schedule allows. We do not accept any responsibility if the Post Office returns the package before we get there. We will deduct a $10 service fee from your refund if we go to the post office to get your package.
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