Heljan Customer Service

[Sir Madog]

After I had taken delivery of my Heljan Class 26, I found out that both spruces of detail parts were missing. I contacted Heljan in Denmark via e-mail the same day and guess what - not an answer until today - 6 weeks later!

 

I doubt that I ever will buy a Heljan product again - to say I am miffed, is a gross understatement.

[Trebor]

That is bad luck i suspect, did you not think to contact the retailer that you got it from in the first instance, or failing that the uk importer/distributor (Howes Models Ltd) they would have been able to resolve the issue somewhat quicker i suspect.

 

 

[Mod6]

That is bad luck i suspect, did you not think to contact the retailer that you got it from in the first instance, or failing that the uk importer/distributor (Howes Models Ltd) they would have been able to resolve the issue somewhat quicker i suspect.

 

Quite so, even if Ulrich is in Germany the first port of call should be to the retailer and/or distributor who will have far better lines of communication to the right department at Heljan (or any manufacturer) than any individual. This point has been made many, many times. Firing off an email (whose precise content we do not know) is never likely to be the most efficient means of contact.

[reevesthecat]

Hi

I thought the first port of call on the instructions was howes models but prepared to stand corrected!

mark

 

(mod beat me to it)!!

[Stubby47]

In the OP's defence, as he lives in Hamburg, he might have thought that direct contact with the manufacturer, in Denmark, was the quicker, more logical and geographically closer option, rather than going through the unspecified retailer.

 

However, I think the non-inclusion of the sprues is a one-off, and perhaps not a reason to reject the whole range of items Heljan makes.

 

(usual disclaimers, etc)

 

Stu

[M Graff]

But don´t forget how many "Lemons" they have made during the years. The two latest Swedish releases is on the verge of being total crap (the F1200 steamer and T21 diesel). In those cases it didn´t matter if you went through the right channels, there wasn´t any service anyway. And if you sent it back for repair you didn´t get any locomotive back as "they are sold out"! If they can´t fix their own products, how good service do they have then?

[Andy Y]

When firing off criticism can you please be mindful of the relevant forum rules:

 

Forum Rules

 

 

2. Please do not post unsubstantiated or inaccurate criticism of any individual or organisation. Any criticism should be presented in the same manner as would be appropriate for a face to face conversation.

 

 

"Total crap" is not objective or even much use to another potential buyer.

 

 

[johnd]

Think that instead of contacting Heljan, contact with the service agent for the country involved is a better way to go.

 

On the occasions I have contacted Howes service as been nothing but superb either by phone or on the odd occasion that I have been in the area. Suppose have been lucky but in the end they should be the first port of contact.

[The Stationmaster]

When my D95XX arrived I had one or two 'minor parts problems' and contacted Hattons. Had to wait several weeks until their stocks of spares arrived but then got a 'phone call asking which bit(s) I needed by part number and had two single footstep pieces (because I didn't know which 'hand' I needed) sent on with an order I placed at the same time.

 

I had to wait purely because Hattons were waiting but that apart the service, to supply something which would look lost sitting on a postage stamp, was exemplary.

[two tone green]

Cannot praise Heljan Denmark customer services enough. Prompt and FREE service for replacement motors burnt out during ZTC runaways.

 

Happened twice, separate requests for motors with offer to pay. Motors sent to me quickly with no fees. Al handled by e mail which were answered quickly and accurately.

 

All good stuff. Have and will buy more Heljan. Bring on the O Deltic

[Bernard Lamb]

 

 

 

 

"Total crap" is not objective or even much use to another potential buyer.

 

Not in this context, but if you are looking for garden fertilizer it might be of value.

Never had a problem with a HJ loco and found Howes very good re the supply of HJ spares to use on other projects.

Bernard

[vac_basher]

Lucky you got a response at all, even if it did take 6 weeks.

I'm still awaiting a certain manufacture's (not Heljan) response to some defective PCBs my models have, I've contacted them several times over the past 3 years or so and have never received a reply

[Mod6]

Lucky you got a response at all, even if it did take 6 weeks.

I'm still awaiting a certain manufacture's (not Heljan) response to some defective PCBs my models have, I've contacted them several times over the past 3 years or so and have never received a reply

 

Why did you not go through the retailer?

[M Graff]

When firing off criticism can you please be mindful of the relevant forum rules:

 

 

 

"Total crap" is not objective or even much use to another potential buyer.

 

 

 

Oh where do I start, The F1200 has many flaws, some are:

Faulty driveline that causes many of them to wobble.

Wheels that aren´t NEM compatible, causing derailments.

The front bogie is balanced but derails as well.

Many of the delivered loco´s had reverted to kits due to badly designed boxes.

The DCC sound version has many issues with decoder troubles.

There is actually so many issues with this Locomotive that the Swedish magazine AoH made a series of articles with how to fix the problems.

 

The T21 ´s major flaws was that it was almost impossible to disassemble without breaking it (remember, no spares!). And as it was sold DCC ready, you had to disassemble it in order to install the decoder.

Other problems was that some of them had badly quartered blind wheels.

Some even had parts assembled on the wrong end and so on.

 

As I said, too many issues and not a response to the distributors regarding what they are doing to help.

The latest "news" was that Heljan refunded the wholesale price of the Loco´s to the dealers who had returned the customers locomotives for service!

So now the dealers have to repay the customers the full price.....Many small shops had problems with that I can tell.

So I don´t think it´s unfair to say what I said earlier, but I didn´t elaborate then.

[Sir Madog]

Whoops - I did not mean to start a flame war.

 

The reason why I did not go through the dealer was quite simple - Denmark is much closer, and Heljan needs to honour the warranty acc. to EU law. At least they should have answered my e-mail, but apparently they don´t care for their customers. Theyare not going to see any of my money again, and that´s my own personal choice.

[Mod2]

 

So I don´t think it´s unfair to say what I said earlier, but I didn´t elaborate then.

 

Unfair - possibly not. Unhelpful - definitely, so thanks for the clarification.

 

 

The reason why I did not go through the dealer was quite simple - Denmark is much closer, and Heljan needs to honour the warranty acc. to EU law.

 

Again, thanks for the clarification Ulrich. The point stands though that for most of our readers, under UK law, the first recourse is the retailer.

 

Cheers.

[vac_basher]

Why did you not go through the retailer?

 

To be honest I don't know.

 

I had heard on the Internet that the manufacture was issuing replacement parts, so I got in touch with them and they sorted the problem out. So far so good.

 

Over the following few months I then bought a few more of the affected locos, but this time when I contacted the manufacture I never got a response, even after several attempts.

This was all about 5 years ago, so quite a while back really. As I probably bought them online, through the retailers website that is, I suppose I never really thought of going through the retailer, as I don't have a face to face relationship with them....

[Roddy Angus]

I emailed Howes at 8:55am this morning about a broken pantograph on a class 86. Within 45 minutes I had a response saying that they would send me a replacement. To me that is excellent service.

 

One thing about Heljan models is that at least Heljan produce spares, with Bachmann you seem to have to rely on them having had a returned model from which they can source the part. That having been said, I have no complaints about the level of service that I have received from Bachmann in the past either.

 

Roddy

[Pixie]

That having been said, I have no complaints about the level of service that I have received from Bachmann in the past either.

 

Whilst this thread primarilty concerns Heljan, I've got to give a big thumbs up to Bachmann for spares. I gave them a call yesterday about some bits for some 47 conversions - chap at the end of the phone was very helpful, confirmed they had what I needed in stock and after a quick exchange of details, told me they'd be with me by the middle of next week.

 

Pix

[charliepetty]

Sounds like the problems with the UK Class 17's was 'Nothing' in comparison, the current Class 86's are overpriced and are not brilliant, wrong buffers, terrible pantograph, bits broken before they come out of the box, bad paint finish (Electric Blue Ones).

 

Sadly Heljan's quality control seems to have gone on a long holiday somewhere, shame because it all seemed so promising.

 

From a trade point of view there flexible pricing is stupid, Rails of Sheffield are selling them for £10.00 Cheaper than smaller retailers bought them for! Not good for any companies long term quantity sales via shops, unless Heljan only want 10 Big dealers.

 

At school my report once said, MUST TRY HARDER, AND PAY MORE ATTENTION!

[Captain Kernow]

I can only praise Heljan in Denmark.

 

A few years ago, I masked off the windows of my Hymek, prior to spraying it with a weathering mix. I used masking tape cut exactly to size (yes, yes, I know, I now use Maskol), and the tape managed to fog some of the glazing. It wasn't the end of the world, but I e-mailed Heljan directly to ask whether there was anything that could be done, and by return of post I was sent TWO spare sets of Hymek glazing, absolutely free.

[M Graff]

Well it´s hard to have customer service when they don´t even have spares for the NEW stuff they produce!

Due to European law all manufacturers have to keep spares for 5 years!!!

A friend of mine recently bought the SJ T21 diesel and one of the plows was missing, not a big deal if they would have any on the shelf. As it is they told him to return it for a refund as they won´t manufacture anymore of them.......Good service anyone?