Hi

Just thought I'd share my (mis)adventures with Dragon Models DragonCare service.
I've read many a post denouncing their service as Dragon(Couldn't)Care(Less) so was reluctant to contact them for a missing part; actually an entire sprue in my case.

I contacted DragonCare 12 months ago to see about getting a sprue that was missing from the 1/35 Sdkfz 10/5 kit. It seems some releases of this kit didn't have the drive sprocket sprue(it wasn't even on the instruction sprue listing!).

They raised a case number, asked for proof of purchase, I emailed them the instructions showing the missing tree and never heard back.

Lo and behold 12months To.The.Day. the sprue arrived in the mail, all neatly boxed and wrapped.

So DragonCare does care - just seems to take them a long time.

Happy Modelling

I've not had many problems with my DRAGON kits. Having said that, I've never had the dubious pleasure of dealing with DRAGONCARE- It sounds like a Health Insurance organization.

I've always dealt with my modeling problems on a "fix-it-on-your-own" basis. If anything, this kind of experience helps with acquiring self-sufficiency, even though it is only in a small way- In SCALE, that is...

A year does seem to be a long time to resolve your issue, maybe they didn't have it in stock and waited on production to do a run for another release.

I had experiences with them three times and I was able to get replacements within three weeks.

Mark

My understanding of "Dragon Care" policy, from them, is that they will only send you parts if, and when, they have unsalable kits in their warehouse, ie; crushed boxes and damaged kits that they can pirate the wanted parts from. And they will only take the wanted part from the same kit that you have specified (if you needed a drive sprocket for a panzer lV G they won't send you a drive sprocket from a panzer lV H, even though it's the same piece). If you're very lucky the parts may be on hand, if not, you will have to wait...and wait...and wait. They will not take the parts out of an otherwise good kit, and Dragon will not mold a sprue just for you.

[quote]I contacted DragonCare 12 months ago to see about getting a sprue that was missing from the 1/35 Sdkfz 10/5 kit. It seems some releases of this kit didn't have the drive sprocket sprue (it wasn't even on the instruction sprue listing!). [quote]

Missing and damaged and incomplete sprues / trees / runners are, I suppose, a fact-of-life for us modelers - buy enough kits and you are bound to find missing or short-shot bits.

But this is beyond strange! A key sprue (I'd classify sprockets as being fairly "key" in a tracked-vehicle kit... ) missing... That happens. But from BOTH the box AND the parts-list in the instructions? Wow! So what happened? Did our friend The D make some run of that Sd.Kfz 10/5 kit with a weird double-mistake - skipped sprue AND error in printing? That just seems soooo odd... But if that's what happened, I would think that there must be other copies of this mutant kit out there in stashes, etc. It can't be a packing-process "one-off, stochastic error" of simply leaving a part / sprue out. I'm sure that the instructions aren't printed one copy at a time as needed for packing a box.... So there was a faulty instruction - run...

I have this kit in my stash... Now I'm wondering where - in what storage box - it lies, and whether my copy also enjoys this dubious distinction...

I can't recollect ever seeing or hearing this sort of double whammy story before. It's got to be pretty rare as an event - to not mention a needed part in the list AND not pack that same needed part in the box. It seems almost like the packer was reading the specific faulty instruction set copy and placing sprues in the box serially as he / she read, instead of using the posted "master sprue list" I'm sure is posted at the kit assembly station(s). It's not like the box was packed as if it were a special order being filled according to an order-form for a customer.

Weird! Bob

PS: I've dealt a few times w/ DragonCare over the past decade... results almost always good, but quite varied in time-to-resolution. DC is actually a 1-man office (talked to the guy a few times), and he has a modest pile of open kits to forage from for customer needs. And sometimes it seems that he actually knows little about the kits and their having common parts... But at least there IS a Dragon Care to sometimes help folks out!

I got their M1120 THAAD last August and found one entire sprue missing. I'm still waiting. I send a reminder every week and get nothing but crickets chirping. I actually got a response in October where the person there said they'd email a higher-up...more crickets.

This is only the second time I've had to deal with them. The first was a missing decal sheet for their SAS desert Jeep, which I received maybe a month after sending them the proof of purchase. The THAAD just sits in my stash like a $100 brick, mocking me. (I should have spent the extra cash to get the Trumpeter version, I guess).

I'm glad you got your parts. There's hope for my THAAD yet.

Only kit I've yet had a sprue missing from was the Rye Field M1 model, and I think I've got enough spares by now to make up for it.

Glad you got your sprue; I was just thinking that DragonCaresButisSlow was probably not as easily marketed...

I too was missing a sprue from the RFM M1 (clear blue sprue from the tusk kit). I tried everything I could to get in touch with them, but it's been nothing but crickets.

Have you tried their Facebook page,I sent them a message last week and got a reply in a couple of days.

No, but I will - thanks!

Annnnd, it appears that the whole DragonCare website has disappeared into the void. I tried to connect to the ticket I have open with them and got this:

"HTTP Error 404.0 - Not Found
The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."

When I try just DragonCare.com, I get this:

"Web Page is Unavailable
We are very sorry.
The web page you are trying to reach is unavailable.
Please contact the Website Administrator.
We apologize for the inconvenience."

You can do it through Dragon models USA customer support:
http://support.dragonusaonline.com/Main/Default.aspx