JE Models

What can I say about JE? Well, as my readers will know, I hold a certain disdain for large corporate chains and if they existed in the model world, I wouldn’t be using them. However model and hobby shops are usually independents which mean they have to do something more to attract business to them. I have been using JE since 2007 when they were in Prestwich but now they have moved to sunny Middleton. Having had a couple of years away from RC, so much had changed it was like I was a beginner all over again.
So what do JE do? Well, a lot!
They have an amazing product line so you have choice — and I don’t mean average choice either. This shop stocks cheap and mid range cars and bashers, to the expert and high end competition level cars so this really is a specialist place which is great for people like myself who like higher end competition level models which are rarely found in many model shops.
JE is a car specialist — I don’t think it does any aviation or boats but thats fine as I only do cars anyway, and there are plenty of places that do the other. JE is primarily an off road specialist however they do also stock competition level on road cars too, such as the Xray T3’s (of which I am about to buy from them :) etc. Anything you want which they don’t carry then they can certainly get it for you which is worth doing. Why? Sure there are other sites on the net which may already have something in stock, but if you live close to JE — I would say its always worth asking them to get you a quote for two reasons.
1) In my experience they always beat anyone else’s price anyway (if price is your only motivation I asked for a quote on one car which they quoted me £90 cheaper than the other two businesses who carried it in stock). AMAZING.
But more importantly
2) You then have expertise and advice on hand with any part of your car, equipment — venues to try etc. I have learnt a lot from these guys not only in respect to equipment, but also clubs and venues too.
When I say expertise I mean expertise. Staff in many shops are totally knowledgable but considering two of the staff I know are pro racers too then you can’t get much more experience than that. Stu Wood (who I saw on TV not long ago haha) currently races for TLR (Team Losi Racing) and has won many accolades to date so is a great source of info. Neil is also a sponsored racer too (Orion I think) so already you have two people there to give advice to back yard bashers and hobbits (Hobbits? Thats such a good typo I’m leaving it in — I meant hobbyists) to someone who may be thinking of taking things a little more seriously like national competition.
They offer a great mail order service too and if you like Haribo they you will have two things to be pleased about when your packages arrive, as they do tend to send you some with your orders which is a nice little touch. Being on many RC forums like I am — this does not go un noticed by the masses as it’s often a topic of conversation (peoples weekends ruined when their order came with no Haribo! haha)
Are there any negatives? Not that I have found yet. I mainly buy in person but I am on the site every day and although its a nice site, maybe the site could do with some tweaking with regards to navigation but other than that — I can’t think of anything to complain about. Even for someone like me who buys things then changes his mind — not a problem to JE. As they were still new and unopened items they were happy to refund what I didn’t need. Superb service!
So my closing thoughts… It’s often the the little things which make a business — you need to get it all right such as the product line up, the pricing, the staff, the knowledge and the customer service. All I can say is JE Spares tick all those boxes twice over, so if you haven’t already tried them, then I suggest you look on their website or pay them a visit soon!
(point to note, although they do have a shop you can visit and buy from they are primarily a mail order company, so they are closed on Saturday and Sunday)