Hi,

I got what I thought was a PicooZ helicopter for my husband as a Christmas gift. I ordered it from hobbytron.com on December 7th, after doing research online and hearing that this was the best helicopter. No other place seemed to have it in stock, so I was happy that Hobbytron had them. However, I did find it odd that there seemed to be so many different spellings of the name all over the Internet (the one I received was spelled Pico Z). I also thought it was strange that the one on Hobbytron looked like it had a styrofoam body, and in other pictures I had seen, the body looked plastic. But I was so happy to have found it that I ordered anyway for $39 + $7 shipping and handling.

After ordering, I never received a confirmation email from Hobbytron, which I thought was strange. (However, I took a screen shot of my confirmation screen, so I have proof.)

When I gave the gift to my husband, he was so excited. He got it out immediately and set it up for flying. He got it to go into the air for about 20 seconds. Then he landed it and stopped for a minute, and when he went to start it up again, it wouldn't fly. The propellers wouldn't spin. He tried all kinds of different things to make them spin, but nothing worked. Finally, he squeezed the cockpit at a certain spot, and got the propellers to spin again. But that was the only way it would work, which was unacceptable. It was really hard to find the exact spot to make it work, and it was definitely defective - there seemed to be an electrical short.

I emailed Hobbytron that very night (12/23) explaining what happened and asking for a replacement, and received a reply saying they were closed until 12/26. On 12/27, I received an email saying the following:

"Please contact us at our toll-free number (1-800-494-1778) so that we can further address your issue. We apologize for the inconvenience but look forward to speaking with you."

I asked my husband to call so he could explain his experience firsthand. He tried and tried but kept getting a busy signal. I looked on their website for a different contact number, and found none. Finally, he got through to an automated system the next day (12/28) and left a message with their returns department. They still haven't returned his call.

I read the return policy on their site, and it says that when you get a defective product from them, you must contact the manufacturer. Interestingly enough, there is NO MANUFACTURER INFO listed anywhere on the counterfeit package we received, and I now realize it wasn't from Silverlit, so there is no way we could have contacted anyone.

My officemate ordered the same one (also from Hobbytron) for her son on the same day I did, on my recommendation. While her son's propellers seem to spin, the helicopter doesn't fly well at all, simply spinning in circles and not flying straight to the left or right no matter what they try. So, both of us have had bad experiences with these counterfeits, and I feel terrible since I was the one who told her the copter was supposed to be so great.

I hope that by sharing this experience, I can help prevent others from having to go through this. I have contacted my credit card company and requested paperwork to dispute the charge so I can receive a refund.

My husband would still very much like to try the REAL PicooZ. Do you know when they will be back in stock, and where I could buy one that's not fake? I still believe that the real thing could be a great toy!

Thank you for your time,

Julie Space