Nitrotek - the worst ever

[brizo58]

Hi All,
Well I have only dealt with Nitrotek once that was to buy my Abrams M1A2.it turned up and it work . The only cock up by them was they sent me the PRO version at £200 and I only paid £129 for the standard version . So a result there. But I would (NEVER EVER) use them for anything. So stay away everyone. Brian...

[43rdRecceReg]

This..for the general behoof, is the guy (Omar Farra) who runs Nitrotek......
..
http://doeswhat.com/2012/11/30/intervie ... oter-city/

[PainlessWolf]

W.W.,
It could be amended to "They did eventually resolve the breakage by sending me an entire turret." Truthful and the reader can make whatever they would like out of your meaning.
regards,
Painless

[siegfried]

interesting , glad I read this before buying from them.

[Tiggr]

I have bought three tanks from Nitrotek.

Each tank was delivered in two days.
Each tank was undamaged and functional in every respect.
Each tank was a Taigen model, mainly metal.

No complaints from me.

[Faerie]

I just bought my first tank from Nitrotek, not knowing that they were on this blacklist. (I should have joined this forum before !) I only chose them because they are about an hour's drive away, should I have needed to collect.

My first attempt was to buy online, but their site hung when I placed the order. Might be a poorly designed site or something beyond their control, but it doesn't inspire confidence.
Next morning I phoned to check whether they had received the order. I spoke to a very pleasant & helpful lady who checked that my order had not been received, then helped me to place my order verbally. This took a while but went without a hitch, & I took delivery of the tank the following morning, courtesy of their free next day delivery for order placed before 1:00 PM.

My only real gripe is that someone there ought to learn to tape up a box SECURELY, as it was partly open upon delivery. The box had done it's job in protecting the contents but when you spend money with a company you want to feel that they've taken some care & you've spent your money wisely. I'm not convinced of the 'care' part.
I'm not unhappy with what I've got, but I do feel that Nitrotek need to raise their game when dispatching goods by courier.

[Munfred]

Just to update this I bought from Nitrotek Taigen Panthe G great looking tank les thank two weeks ideler wheel came. I contacted Nitrotek that’s when the fun began they immediately came on heavy did I shock it they asked the only thing that was shocked was me. I told them I was using it in the garden and wheel came off and lost grub screw they then said if you were using it and lost
Something the warranty is invalid I didn’t realise I had bought an ornament. This is all for a grub screw. Never go there again

[Albert]

I've just been reading on here about Nitrotek.
A couple of years ago, I bought my first 1/16. It arrived promptly and was packaged well. The smoke generator didn't work, the piston wasn't moving and there were no wiring issues. I contacted them and was advised that I needed to put the fluid in! I wrote back that the unit was dead and asked for a new part. Reply there was none. Chased them and never heard from them again. Luckily, a smoke generator is no big deal and neither authentic or much good. I replaced it anyway. The upshot was that my next purchases were not from them.

[BlueWotsit57]

Sadly my own experience of Nitrotek is not good at all. Initially things seemed ok, item priced reasonably and delivered quickly - thats the extent of the good things I can say.

My tank arrived and I checked components, charged battery and tested it on my workbench that all bits worked. The next day I put it on the ground to use and it was deader than the deadest dodo - nothing at all. Checked all the components battery, connections and no obvious issues. Posted a query on here and had some suggestions but I was not going to invalidate the warranty by opening the tank up.

I phoned Nitrotek and got a recording, apparently only communication was by email or support tickets, so I supplied a full description of the problem and what I had checked. Over the next few days I received responses basically asking questions that I had already supplied the answers to. At this point I pointed out to them I wanted a Returns Number as detailed on their website so I could send the tank back. I pointed out they could not object to this as the Distance Selling Laws here in the UK permit an item to be returned for whatever reason within 14 days.

Over 24 hours later the next email said, just courier the item back and ensure I put all the details of the problem, order number etc etc NO returns authorisation was needed. They did not acknowledge liability under Distance Selling Laws instead saying, when it arrives a technician will inspect the item and prepare a report, and we will forward this to you and will negotiate between us the next step but there could well be a delay in this.

I responded to this email by pointing out again responsibilities in law and that waiting an unidentified period of time for the monies paid was unacceptable and there was nothing to negotiate. As far as I was concerned the only aspect of a Technician inspecting was to confirm it was dead and then they would also have to reimburse my return costs at that point. Under Distance Selling Laws there does not have to be a reason for returning an item. Ultimately if they say there is nothing wrong it comes down to my word against theirs.

Having read reviews since all this started many people have had similar disputes with them. Anyway inline with their request I despatched the parcel immediately on Hermes 24 hour delivery service insured for the value of the item. On their website they quoted two comparison companies to use, and gave examples of what acceptable return costs would be. Needless to say these are not realtime costs and more importantly did not allow for the parcel to be insured in transit, which for this sort of value is essential if it were to get lost. So anybody else in this situation be careful.

Next day delivery was attempted but nobody answered at the premises to take the parcel even though they had confirmed being open for deliveries, yet an hour or so after the attempt they sent a response to my previous email, saying they will not refund anything until a technician at an undefined time has inspected the parcel. Again no acknowledgement of their legal responsibility.

Luckily I have paid through Paypal so if they continue to delay or mess me around I will involve them. Other options available of course if they ignore the Law, would be Trading Standards, and if I had not used Paypal I would have asked my bank to charge the sum back.

Nitrotek when I ordered provided me with a link to leave a reference for them - which I have now done. More interestingly is looking at a brief summary of reviews they have received 333 x 5 star reviews and a whopping 119 x 1 star reviews - pretty damning to have such a high percentage of the lowest rating possible, I just wish I had found this particular review site before ordering with them.

Anyway thats my update so far, I will progress this further as matters evolve. One thing is certain though no matter how this ultimately ends I will never use them again, or recommend them to anybody.

[BlueWotsit57]

As a follow up to my post regarding a brand new tank being faulty, and Nitroteks response, here is the report they sent me from checking the tank over

"The model turned on straight out of the box but would stay on intermittently, turning itself off at irregular intervals. Once the tank was disassembled, this would no longer occur: the battery has been tested, the connections have all been checked, and the other components have all been looked over, however no issues were found. The reported problem can now no longer be recreated, but was likely just due to a loose connection or snagged wire that resolved itself"


If there had been a loose connection they would have seen it, similarly perhaps a snagged wire would show signs of this Also over a couple of days the tank was not turning on at all for me so it was faulty I do not expect to buy goods and then immediately dismantle them to get them to work.

They now want me to give my address to them so they can return it - firstly they have the address anyway BUT more importantly, I returned this item under the Distance Selling Laws here in the UK and they were told this repeatedly - no reasons necessary for this option by myself

Secondly by their own admission when they had it back it was faulty even though later they could not recreate this - this is academic it WAS faulty, and under Distance Selling Laws this means they also have to pay the return carriage costs I incurred.

I will update this information as matters evolve as to how they decide whether or not they are above the laws of the UK