drt7uk Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Apologies if this isn't the place to post it but thought I'd warn people about purchasing from Trainz.com, a fairly big American model train retailer who sell a number of things on eBay and directly from their website. I've got a very expensive brand new Athearn Big Boy I bought from them a year ago which suddenly stopped working. Their (Trainz.com) warranty only works for 30 days, and whilst I appreciate this is fairly standard (I wasn't asking for a refund just advice on repairs etc), I was pretty appalled that they were unwilling to help in any way. Especially when it cost over $300! Luckily Athearn are helping but to warn others - don't buy from these jokers their customer service is a [insert expletives here] disgrace! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drt7uk Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 (Contrast to Ellis Clark Trains in the UK who were nothing but extremely helpful when I bought something faulty from them recently) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire2865 Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Youre asking a foreign reseller to fix your items? Or how to fix your items? I can assure you, whatever customer service representative you spoke to has NO idea how model trains work and would NEVER offer advice on repairing it yourself. Thats something the manufacturer deals with. The Trainz CS is to deal with business and basic product questions. Now if you wanted a warranty, then their policy is fairly clear. 30 days since purchase, or its not their fault. Youve had the product for a year, and presumably used it for that year. Whos to say you didnt do something to make it stop working? After a year, thats not the fault of the reseller. They didnt sell faulty goods as it worked after you received it and continued to work through the warranty period. Youre asking some random CS rep information that they dont know, NO WONDER they couldnt help you. Frankly your complaint is ridiculous. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinTrucks Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 On 02/05/2019 at 14:58, drt7uk said: Apologies if this isn't the place to post it but thought I'd warn people about purchasing from Trainz.com, a fairly big American model train retailer who sell a number of things on eBay and directly from their website. I've got a very expensive brand new Athearn Big Boy I bought from them a year ago which suddenly stopped working. Their (Trainz.com) warranty only works for 30 days, and whilst I appreciate this is fairly standard (I wasn't asking for a refund just advice on repairs etc), I was pretty appalled that they were unwilling to help in any way. Especially when it cost over $300! Luckily Athearn are helping but to warn others - don't buy from these jokers their customer service is a [insert expletives here] disgrace! I tend to agree with Spitfire2865's comments. I have purchased three US n-gauge items from Trainz.com and had no problem with their customer service when one order was short one item. Trainz.com are Okay! - but they are only a retailer, like Hattons, RoS, Model Railways Direct etc. in this country and not a 'supplier' as inferred by this forum. Would one expect, say, Model Railways Direct to accept a return and/or repair on a year-old Hornby loco? Of course not, one would take it up directly with Hornby. You do not state what scale the loco is? With US stuff, it is always best to look on railwire.net to discover whether there are any inherent problems with the model. I know that there have been problems reported with versions of the model, but cannot tell you offhand what they were. Another route is to find and join a Facebook page related to UP modelers (note US spelling!) and ask a question there. Best of luck! Trainz.com is Okay!!! Martin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drt7uk Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 (edited) On 06/05/2019 at 15:07, Spitfire2865 said: Youre asking a foreign reseller to fix your items? Or how to fix your items? I can assure you, whatever customer service representative you spoke to has NO idea how model trains work and would NEVER offer advice on repairing it yourself. Thats something the manufacturer deals with. The Trainz CS is to deal with business and basic product questions. Now if you wanted a warranty, then their policy is fairly clear. 30 days since purchase, or its not their fault. Youve had the product for a year, and presumably used it for that year. Whos to say you didnt do something to make it stop working? After a year, thats not the fault of the reseller. They didnt sell faulty goods as it worked after you received it and continued to work through the warranty period. Youre asking some random CS rep information that they dont know, NO WONDER they couldnt help you. Frankly your complaint is ridiculous. No need to say my complaint is "ridiculous". I really don't think it's that unreasonable to expect customer service to at least be polite, understanding and point me in the right direction (e.g. the manufacturer). They were instead nothing but dismissive, rude and obnoxious. Most retailers are polite and helpful. Trainz.com aren't and I shan't ever use them again and I merely post this to warn others to beware in the spirit of being helpful. Edited May 17, 2019 by drt7uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drt7uk Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 6 hours ago, MartinTrucks said: Best of luck! Trainz.com is Okay!!! Martin Thanks Martin, I'll certainly check out railware.net site in future. This is the first time I've had an issue with a model that I couldn't repair myself and all I wanted was the retailer to be helpful. On this occassion Athearn were very helpful, it has been repaired and I'll recieve it next week. In future I'll go direct to the manufacturer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinTrucks Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 Railwire: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now