Slot Car Architect? - Printable Version

Slot Car Architect? - Printable Version

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Slot Car Architect? - CMOTD - 21st-May-26

Hi folks, has anybody had any dealings with this firm? https://slotcararchitect.com/

They do NASCAR truck kits which look interesting but I have never heard of the firm before. As it was a link from Facebook and they are South Africa based I wanted to check before sending any money.

RE: Slot Car Architect? - chrisguyw - 21st-May-26

While I have never dealt with them,..they do get very good google reviews.

Cheers
Chris Walker

RE: Slot Car Architect? - Anthony B - 22nd-May-26

First I have seen them as well - checking in the S.A. group for references

RE: Slot Car Architect? - Anthony B - 25th-May-26

Seem to be ok Brian - well known and used in S.A. circles

RE: Slot Car Architect? - CMOTD - 25th-May-26

Yes they seem reputable but ordering is a nightmare! Signed up for email newsletter and got 10% discount voucher for first order. Tried to place order, it refused to accept the discount code and the pricing immediately reverted to SA Rand instead of GBP. Emailed them for help without response but I keep getting email nudges that I have left something in my basket!

Seriously unimpressed, doubt I will pursue it further.

RE: Slot Car Architect? - CMOTD - 24th-Jul-26

An update on this firm for anybody interested in their products.

Despite my misgivings I bit the bullet and ordered a couple of NASCAR truck kits from them. Without doubt one of the most bizarre and unsatisfactory experiences of online ordering I have come across. Let me walk you through the process:

Added 2 kits to the basket. They were priced in GB £.
Went to checkout, added my 1st order 10% discount code and it refused to accept it.
Paused purchase and emailed them to ask about the problem. No response.
Received email about items "left in basket" with a 5% discount code.
Went back to checkout - that didn't work either!
Paused purchase again for a week or so and continued to get email nudges about my basket on a daily basis.

As I really wanted these kits decided to do without discount and proceeded to check out again.
Price immediately switched from GB £ to SA currency so I was now at the mercy of PayPal currency conversion.
Carriage costs worked out at £50 plus. OK, long way to come and they should use a reputable carrier at that price.
Paid by PayPal for security purposes in case the whole thing went tits up which added another £4 to the bill due to currency conversion.

Order acknowledged immediately (which was a good sign) with promise of update when dispatched.
No further communication for 10 days so I emailed asking about dispatch. Got a reply this time which simply said parcel had been sent.
Emailed again asking for tracking number which was grudgingly provided two days later.
Carrier was UPS so happy with that as they are decent. Followed tracking, 8 days to travel from Cape Town to Johannesburg and a further 3 days to reach customs at East Midlands airport.
Passed customs and was delivered safely - to an address in Wales. I live in Norfolk! Tappingfoot

Lost patience at this point and sent a somewhat snotty email asking for refund, with PayPal complaint as back up.
Lo and behold I receive an email from their UK distributor saying my kits were due to arrive at his a day later and he would forward them on.
So their deliveries are sent to their distributor in the relevant country rather than direct to the customer - no mention of this at time of ordering. How weird a delivery system is that?

Anyway things improved a bit as their distributor was actually on the ball and much more forthcoming with communication and he did send my parcel asap.
Downside - he sent it with Evri, quite possibly the worst carrier 'IN THE WORLD'. Until recently we had an excellent local Evri driver who gave a top notch service. Unfortunately she quit recently as they did their usual trick of trying to cut her wages.
So we are now in the lap of the gods as regarding accurate deliveries and the village Facebook page is full of complaints about lost parcels. My parcel did arrive safely, sort of, it was thrown from a van onto my front lawn! Why send stuff halfway round the world with UPS and then use Evri for the last leg?

I now have my kits and they are pretty good so no complaints on that score. Will do a review once they are built up. I would happily buy more of their stuff if they actually stocked some of it in the UK but no sign of that at present.

To sum up - yes they are a reputable company with some excellent products but their online ordering systems leave a lot to be desired so prepare for a degree of frustration if you buy anything from them.