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F-Decals Customer Service?


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Hi Guy's, I bought some Air New Zealand Boeing 787 decals from F-decal which were showing "in stock" at the time and I recieved an order confirmation and notification once they had been shipped.  Once the decals arrived they had sent me the wrong sheet but invoiced me for the correct ones I'd ordered.

 

When I went back to the F-decals website I noticed that the set I'd ordered were now showing "out of stock".  I have tried to contact them through "contact us" on their website and after several days have had no response.

 

Has anyone here had dealings (good or bad) with F-Decal?

 

Looking for alternatives I found a set on Ebay by a Russian company called Ascensio. Has anyone used their decals or dealt with them?

 

Thanks,  John

 

Edited by John Darlington
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Hi John,

This has happened to me too, they replaced the decal with no problems. F-dcal are good guys but do have day jobs and sometimes in my experience take a few days to answer emails. 

Ascensio is one of the good guys too by all accounts.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ian

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Despite previous good service I have a minor issue with F-DCAL at the moment which is a bit disappointing.

 

Ascensio decals are good. You can buy them through PAS who give excellent customer service. I used Ascensio decals on a Yak-42D which I put in Ready for Inspection a few months ago. (I'd post the link but I'm still finding my way around the new Forums!) The one thing to be aware of is that they don't react to decal solvents or setting solutions. The best way to get them to settle into panel lines etc is to press them into place with a cloth dipped in just off the boil water, a technique recommended by Drawdecal.

 

HTH

 

Dave G

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Finally found the link to my Yak-42D.  Bear in mind that like all laser decals Ascensio decals are translucent and work best when applied over a white background

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002814-tri-jet-from-tatarstan-tulpar-air-yak-42d-in-1144/#comment-2364389

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Hi Dave, thanks for the advice on the Ascensio decals......translucent huh?  The Air New Zealand scheme I'm after is a white fern and koru on a black fuselage and tail. Could mean trouble?

 

I've still had no response from F-Decals so I might have to go with Ascensio anyway.

 

 

Cheers,

 

John

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Laser decals are by definition translucent but apart from having to apply them over something white, either paint or a decal underlay, they aren't any more difficult to use than conventional silk-screened decals.  At worst you may have to do some careful masking.  Some manufacturers (e.g. F-DCAL and 26) produce both laser and silk-screened sheets and the trick is to know which are which!

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From my experience, their customer service is average at best.

I have read somewhere that the owner was very ill recently and may not have been as responsive as he would have liked.

However, a couple of years ago I ordered a decal sheet that came with a missing additional sheet. I contacted them and was told the additional sheet would be sent immediately. 

Still no sign of it.

 

Then more recently, I bought a sheet (Cayman Airways 737) in which the writing on one of the coats of arms was incorrect - one side is correct in being something like Times New Roman font and the other is simply done in Arial or whatever. Inspite of me sending an email with an attached photo showing the error, a replacement decal sheet was eventually sent out, after another reminder email, that is still wrong. I noticed from a picture on airlinercafe from a few years ago that the decal has been wrong for ages.

 

I can't be bothered anymore buying anything from them.

 

Of course other people will have different experiences but this is mine.

 

Jeff

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
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Unfortunately I'm in exactly the same position. I'm working on an SAS DC-6 for the Airliner III Group Build. After I had started the build I realised that F-DCAL had omitted the detail sheet which contains the registrations. Having dealt with them since they started in business I assumed that it would be sorted after a couple of e-mails but so far I have simply been ignored. The only other manufacturer who makes decals for the short DC-6 is Vintage Flyer and they only do American airlines which I don't normally model. My build is going reasonably well and I don't know whether to carry on in the hope that F-DCAL come good, try to source registrations from elsewhere or put it aside for the moment and get on with something else.

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How recently was that?  As I said, I've dealt with F-DCAL since they started in business and not had a problem until now. In fact I've defended them when others have complained about poor or slow service. However the present situation is unacceptable.  I know they have day jobs but if there is a problem such as illness, supplier issues or whatever all it needs is an announcement on their website, we know the reason and allowance will be made. Just to ignore your customers isn't very clever.

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On ‎25‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 1:55 AM, bentwaters81tfw said:

I have bought from F-Decal and Ascencio, although I have yet to use them. Postage was not the quickest, but otherwise, no problems.

May I ask, did you buy the Ascencio decals from Russia? It seems they have been posted and are on their way. They even provided a tracking number but it will be interesting to see how long they take to New Zealand.

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On ‎25‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 8:45 PM, Skodadriver said:

How recently was that?  As I said, I've dealt with F-DCAL since they started in business and not had a problem until now. In fact I've defended them when others have complained about poor or slow service. However the present situation is unacceptable.  I know they have day jobs but if there is a problem such as illness, supplier issues or whatever all it needs is an announcement on their website, we know the reason and allowance will be made. Just to ignore your customers isn't very clever.

 

 

Yes they are certainly ignoring me. I have sent them a second email informing them about the incorrect decals and still no word from them. I think they have just lost a customer!

 

Edited by John Darlington
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1 hour ago, John Darlington said:

May I ask, did you buy the Ascencio decals from Russia? It seems they have been posted and are on their way. They even provided a tracking number but it will be interesting to see how long they take to New Zealand.

Yes, from Russia. Took a couple of weeks I think. Just tried to look up the date I gave feedback, but it's not shown. eBay Seller was:  47ru713

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The seller mentioned above (47ru713) has supplied all my Ascensio decals too. No problem at all with his service. The decals come wrapped in cling film and attached to a cardboard backing. 

I think it takes a couple of weeks for my orders to arrive. They are producing some nice schemes, the most recent ones I've bought are Air India A321 and Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner. 

 

Jeff

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
I'm tired and keep missing words
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9 hours ago, pinky coffeeboat said:

The seller mentioned above (47ru713) has supplied all my Ascensio decals too. No problem at all with his service. The decals come wrapped in cling film and attached to a cardboard backing. 

I think it takes a couple of weeks for my orders to arrive. They are producing some nice schemes, the most recent ones I've bought are Air India A321 and Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner. 

 

Jeff

 

Cheers Jeff, and how have you found using their decals?

 

John

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Thanks Dave, I wasn't aware I actually had to use the decals. Some people build up a stash of kits, for me it's a stash of several shoe boxes full of decal sheets.

 

The ones I've received recently have been very different to the first sheet I used. If you have a look at Skodadrivers lovely build of the Yak-42, I think I mentioned that the first sheet I received was very thick and quite glossy and not very nice to use. But this was a couple of years ago. The quality of their current releases is great. They appear to be very usable and I've begun to consider an A321 Air India using their decals for either another entrant in the group build or as a work in progress. 

I'm looking forward to using them. 

 

Jeff 

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21 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

John, I know your question was directed to Jeff but if you look at my RFI thread on the Yak-42 (link in post 5 above) there is some info about using Ascensio decals which you might find helpful.

 

Sorry, I actually did look at your Yak-42 RFI and was pretty impressed with it. It gave me confidence that rhe decals were giong to be okay, but I just asked Jeff to get his opinion also. A second opinion never hurts, right?  

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4 hours ago, John Darlington said:

 

Sorry, I actually did look at your Yak-42 RFI and was pretty impressed with it. It gave me confidence that rhe decals were giong to be okay, but I just asked Jeff to get his opinion also. A second opinion never hurts, right?  

Absolutely!   Ascensio's Facebook page is worth a visit even if you don't read Russian. It includes numerous photos of models finished with their decals and shows what can be achieved.  It also puts a lot of temptation in your way.  I suffer from the same decal collecting problem as Jeff.

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Useful discussion guys. I have used F-Dcal infrequently, but had perfect service and quicker post to UK than from some domestic providers. 

 

Vintage Flyer Decals, also good service, excellents comms, though, naturally, not a quick service, as decals are printed on demand and had to travel further. 

 

Interesting to hear about Ascensio Decals, having seen a lot for sale on a certain auction site I've been tempted, but searched and found some comments that the decals are quite thick and difficult to work with. Will definitely reconsider now as they do some interesting options. 

 

Darren

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Darren, I may have been one of those people who mentioned that the decals were thick and difficult to work.

 

That was my first sheet from several years ago. It was thick, the carrier film was glossy and didn't even begin to cooperate after I applied it. As I mentioned somewhere else before, once applied the decal gave the appearance of a self adhesive sticker that you often see attached to childrens toys. The edges even started to curl.

 

But I decided that after seeing some of their rather nice decals on eBay, I'd give them a chance again. Although I haven't used any yet, these ones are a million miles away from the early sheets. I'm pretty confident that they'll be much easier to use and the use of hot water and decal setting solutions will assist if required - just like other aftermarket sheets.

 

Good luck, give them a go and who knows you may actually use yours before I do. Decal collecting is so addictive!

 

Jeff

 

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Thanks Jeff, good to know.  With stubborn decals, as well hot water, I cannot recommend highly enough the use of a hair dryer, works an absolute treat.  

 

I strongly doubt I might get to try them in anger before you. Whilst I buy decals and models with the aspiration to build them all one day, I fear I may also just be collecting... ;-)

 

Darren

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