Shipping and Returns

General Shipping

Radio Controlled Toys Online is based in the US and offers shipping within the US and Canada.  It is our policy to charge customers only for actual shipping charges incurred and not to add any extra handling fees onto our orders, with rare exceptions such as same day rush service for special occasions.  Generally, orders placed with us will leave our warehouse within one business day (Monday through Friday).  Occasionally, due to unforeseen circumstances, an order will take up to three days to ship.  If this happens we will be sure to contact you and let you know when your item will ship.  International orders may occasionally be delayed by a few days.  Although your item may ship out immediately it may take longer than that to receive your tracking number.  Tracking numbers will be sent you via email as soon as that information becomes available to us.  Generally we will ship orders via UPS, but we also ship via FedEx and USPS.  We reserve the right to use any carrier, although for deliveries outside the mainland USA if customers specifically want USPS vs UPS or FedEx to avoid brokerage fees we always honor this.

Expedited shipping

We attempt to honor requests for expedited shipping, e.g., UPS 3 day select instead of UPS ground service to meet our customers' needs for delivery in time for birthdays and other occasions.  However, expedited shipping services are normally only available within the continental US and we cannot guarantee that we will always be able to get shipments out immediately for express delivery.  Ordinarily, requests for expedited orders must be placed and verified by noon EST of the day the order is intended to be shipped.  If you want same day shipping but after 12:00 noon EST, CALL to see if we'll be able to do this.  If you request expedited shipping by noon EST and we are unable to get your item out that day, we will contact you.  We can offer to refund extra charges and deliver by ground carrier service instead, or ship out the next business day.

UPS 3 Day Select, 2nd Day Air, and Next Day Air Saver guarantee delivery on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st business day AFTER the order is shipped, barring unforeseen circumstances including weather related service delays.  "Business days" are Mondays through Fridays, except for holidays observed by UPS.

Bear in mind that UPS and FedEx rules for dimensional weight are different for air vs. ground shipments and for some of our items, the actual shipping costs by air can be higher than you might expect.  For example, a helicopter with a ground shipping weight of 4 pounds may have a dimensional weight for air shipping of 11 or 15 pounds.

Infrequently, we may need to adjust the shipping charges after you have placed an order.  In such an event, we will contact you to correct the billing before we ship any product.

Shipments To Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and US Territories

We are happy to ship to one of these areas but unfortunately additional shipping will be charged.  To see the cost to ship to one of these areas, add a product to your cart and go through the checkout process.  Costs are determined by your exact location.  All shipments to one of these areas should also normally ship within 3 business days.  In most cases, your order will leave our warehouse within 1 business day.

International Shipping

We offer shipping to Canada through either USPS or UPS.  Canadian customers can place orders as usual through the web store.    International orders often ship the next day, but there can sometimes be delays of a couple days with international orders so please allow a little extra time for shipping and handling on these unless you have contacted us in advance of placing your order to make specific arrangements.  Also, as usual the order and shipping expenses do not include any customs duties or other local taxes that you may have to pay, nor does the shipping charged during ordering cover any brokerage fees that may be assessed by UPS or FedEx for international deliveries.  The customer is responsible for any customs duties or other fees assessed by their governments as well as any brokerage fees that may be charged by a commercial carrier.

Non-Canadian international customers must contact us by email to get a custom quote including the shipping cost.  Bear in mind that for some items, such as some of the toy boats and smaller helicopters, the shipping may be more expensive than the item itself.

APO/FPO Addresses

We gladly ship to APO/FPO addresses by USPS to support our troops, although we may limit the dollar value on any orders we send to military addresses.  Also, shipping to APO/FPO addresses may be delayed by an additional couple of days.  We cannot guarantee delivery dates on items sent to military addresses, certainly not into any active war zones, but we can promise friendly service and to provide notification when your order is shipped.

Damages & Defects

Your satisfaction is our top priority. We sell only the finest quality products from reputable manufacturers, so we rarely have problems with any of our products. But if your item is damaged or defective in some way, we'll make sure you're taken care of.  Most of our products are backed by a manufacturer's warranty. If your item may have a defect, you may consult with us and/or contact the manufacturer as instructed in the paperwork that came with the product.  In general, the manufacturer is responsible for and will be happy to, replace defective or broken parts provided that the toy has no signs of damage from misuse or play.  Examples of damages not covered by warranty would be that someone stepped on it, modified the electronics himself, or crashed the radio controlled toy.  In practice, warranty claims will usually be resolved by the replacement of any defective parts, but not wholesale replacement of the original product.  For example, it is very unlikely a manufacturer will provide a new $200 truck on account of an isolated problem with a $2 part, but they will gladly replace the $2 part.  In some cases, though, a whole replacement may be given.

Please take photos of the damaged shipping materials and/or parts before contacting us.  If you believe the item has suffered shipping damage, send photos to us first and do not attempt to operate the vehicle.  At least one of our manufacturers will absolutely refuse warranty service if you operate a vehicle after any shipping damages have reportedly occurred and we have to follow the same policy.

Some manufacturers, including Redcat Racing and Megatech International, prefer to handle warranty claims themselves directly with customers rather than working through local dealers.  Luckily, issues are often resolved without need for the customer to ship their entire product to the manufacturer.  We are happy to help you deal with these manufacturers should you encounter any problems.  Communication problems that do occur are often the result of issues that are easily solved, such as an response to you getting stuck in your email spam folder.

Also bear in mind that manufacturers will respond to your needs, but there is no guarantee of instant service-especially right after a holiday weekend.  Manufacturers generally promise to respond to warranty tickets within 2-3 business days where business days are Mondays-Fridays, excluding holidays such as Thanksgiving and Independence Day.  If a manufacturer has not responded to you within this time frame, by all means be sure to let us know and we will assist you with your claim.

Returns

Please find your specific situation from the list of scenarios below to learn how we handle that particular situation:

1. You decided to cancel your order

If the order hasn't been shipped yet, we may be able to cancel the order and issue you a refund with no penalty. If you do not cancel the order until after it has already been prepared for the shipping carrier, your situation will be handled according to situation 6 below.

2. You received the product but the product is not working correctly, is missing parts, or is visibly damaged or deformed

If the item isn't working correctly, and it does not appear to have been damaged during shipping, please first check our troubleshooting tips.  Next, contact us and review the paperwork that came in the original box for instructions on how to file a warranty claim with the manufacturer. The manufacturer is responsible for any manufacturing defects or deficiencies with its products including missing items not included with the product, e.g., a factory box missing a battery. (If the item is damaged or defective due to shipping damages, please see situation 4 below.)  ** All product returns require an RMA number.  This is why you need to contact us and/or the manufacturer before attempting to return any products by mail.**  Manufacturers may require the customer to pay for all shipping charges to return an item to them for service.

For new items not covered by a manufacturer warranty, a customer must contact us within 10 calendar days of receiving it to request an RMA or replacement parts for an item that arrived with a defect.  Please allow a few business days for us to respond to an RMA request.  Once an RMA is given, customers are responsible for return shipping charges and these returns must be postmarked within 30 calendar days of receiving the product.  Returned vehicles must be sent with all original packaging, instruction manuals, radio, batteries, etc. that were included with the purchase.  Once we inspect the product, defective merchandise will be repaired or replaced at our discretion.  We will pay return shipping charges to ship a repaired product or exchange under our warranty provided that the customer is in the US or Canada.  Note: crash damages will generally not be covered under warranty.  For planes and helicopters, pre-flight defects such as lack of servo response must be reported before flying.  For situations that are resolved by providing replacement parts, we will pay the shipping cost to get parts to customers in the US or Canada.

Customers may also be responsible to pay shipping fees to have the item returned to them if the returned product does not meet warranty conditions, i.e., it was returned with ineligible crash damages or was postmarked too late to be considered for warranty service.  In these cases, customers have 30 days after notification that their item is ineligible for warranty to pay for return shipping or the item will be considered abandoned.  In some cases, warranty claims with us may be resolved with photo evidence rather than a return.  In these cases, customers should provide required photos within 30 calendar days of receiving the product except if the claim is for incorrect order fulfillment or shipping damage.  If the claim is for an incorrect fulfillment or a claim for shipping damage (sections 3 and 4 below), pictures must be provided sooner.

3. You received the wrong product or accessory

This applies if you believe you received the wrong product, e.g., you expected to receive a battery with a Tamiya plug but you got one with a banana plug instead.  Fulfillment errors are rare, but if you believe this has occurred contact us within 7 calendar days of receiving the product and please provide clear pictures of what you received.  Pictures must be provided to us within 10 calendar days for fulfillment error claims. 

4. You received an item that appears to have been damaged during shipping

If a package appears to have been damaged during shipping, the item may still be okay.  If the packaging for your item appears to be damaged, be sure to keep all the original packaging until we've determined whether or not a shipping insurance claim needs to be submitted. Take pictures of the box; we and at least one of our warehouses require images to decide how to proceed with any insurance claims.  Pictures should be provided within 3 days of receipt of the shipment.  If any of the original packaging is thrown away, we cannot file a shipping insurance claim. Discarding shipping materials or box contents waives your right to get your product replaced or repaired. Please contact us regarding any potential shipping damages before testing the item's functionality; at least one of our manufacturers will refuse warranty service on items that have been operated or loaded with fuel after shipping damages have possibly occurred.  Once we have confirmed that you still have the original shipping materials and that the item was damaged during shipping, and after we have officially filed the shipping insurance claim forms, we will send out new parts or a new product at no cost to you.

5. You've received the product but you've decided you want to return it

If you receive an item and decide to return it, you can do so if and only if all of the following requirements are met:

1) The item must be unopened, unused, and still in the original packaging.

2) You must contact us to notify us that you'd like to return the item within 10 calendar days of receiving the item.

3) You MUST contact us to get an RMA Number and return instructions PRIOR to returning the item.

If you return an item without all three of the above requirements being met, the item will be refused and come back to you and no refund will be issued.  If you meet all three of the above requirements, your refund will be issued in one of the following two manners:

1) You can receive the full amount you originally paid for the returned item (less our actual cost for shipping and handling) as a store credit, OR

2) You can get a cash refund for the amount you originally paid LESS a restocking fee (up to 20%) and our actual cost for shipping and handling.

In either case, you are responsible for return shipping charges to return the product to us.  Returns eligible for refunds should be postmarked within 20 days of receiving the item.

6. You refuse the delivery of your order, and it comes back to us

If you refuse an item and it comes back to us, you will be issued a refund LESS a 15-20% restocking fee and our actual cost for shipping and handling.  If the item is damaged during the shipping process, no refund will be issued until the shipping insurance claim process is complete. Once the shipping claim process is complete, you will be issued a refund in the amount we are reimbursed by the shipping company (minus the amount the shipping company charges us for the shipment to you and back to us). If the shipping company does not approve the claim, we are unable to provide a refund.