Excellent Customer Service When I Had a Problem
I recently purchased and completed the TECHING DM229 Original Automobile model from StirlingKit. I purchased it during the original early bird preorder period. The model itself is impressive and I ultimately rated my experience with the DM229 4.5 out of 5. However, because my model was from the early production run, I did encounter a few problems during the build, including a defective part that eventually stopped me from being able to continue. When I started running into problems I was honestly nervous that maybe I had made a mistake buying such an expensive model from a company located overseas. I was ready to start modifying the model myself to try and make it work, but before doing that I decided to contact StirlingKit customer service by email. They responded very quickly. Every email I sent received a prompt response. More importantly, they didn't simply ask me what parts I wanted and mail them out to make the problem go away. Mona, Martin and their technical team actually tried to understand what had happened and determine why the parts had failed. They eventually provided all of the replacement components I needed along with an updated instruction manual at no charge. The replacement parts solved the problem and I was able to continue the build and successfully complete the model. What impressed me even more was that their involvement didn't end when they mailed the parts. They followed up afterward to make sure the replacements had worked. When another customer later reported a very similar problem involving the same area of the model, StirlingKit contacted me again because they were investigating whether the two problems were related. That showed me they weren't only interested in fixing my individual model. They were trying to understand what went wrong so the problem could potentially be corrected for future customers. I have since learned that StirlingKit and TECHING have made a number of improvements to the newer production version of the DM229 based upon feedback from builders of the earlier versions. They have webpage dedicated to it and explaining what they upgraded. I give them a lot of credit for listening to their customers and actually doing something with that feedback. The only downside to my experience was the amount of time it took to receive replacement parts from China. However, that is understandable considering where the parts were coming from, and StirlingKit provided tracking throughout the process. Problems can happen with any complicated product. To me, the real test of a company is what they do after something goes wrong. Based upon how StirlingKit handled my problem from beginning to end, I would not hesitate to purchase another model from them. 5 out of 5 stars for StirlingKit customer service.