# USA Trains defective out of the box



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I just received a USA Trains 44 tonner, undecorated, from WholesaleTrains. When I took it out of the box and tested it, it was clearly badly defective--it ran extremely unevenly--surge, stop, surge, stop. I flipped it over and applied power directly to the pickup shoes, and it did the same thing: Surge, slow, surge, slow. The wheels wobbled badly on the axles and the trucks moved up and down with the surging. 

So I want to return it, but it looks as if wholesale trains won't accept returns, only exchanges, and it might not accept even a return fo exchange if the loco has been removed from the box and run! How would I know it was defective without trying to run it? I really don't want another one of these, I want my money back 


Sigh--why do all the Large Scale makers seem to suffer from such bad quality control?


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## ShadsTrains (Dec 27, 2007)

Did you try calling them about it?


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

The advice always given over here in the UK, where someone has a complaint - whatever it relates to - is to contact the person/place where you obtained it. 

I don't know what the Stateside laws are but often I see Forum complaints posted. Third parties are not usually the folks to deal with it, only if it reaches a stalemate situation, so always go to the folks who can, or should, sort it out: that is the supplier. 

I do believe that it is most unhelpful not to do this: in fact I would think that many dealers could be somewhat aggrieved over the public airing of an issue that may well not be their fault.


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

I would call them and talk to them. I have never had any problems with USA train. 
Except broken axles on a used engine I received. If they won't do anything for you call Mr. Ro. I think I would not buy from Whole Sale Trains anymore.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I guess I'm not sure which "them" to call. I haven't dealt much with wholesaletrains, but their return policy seems to be stating that I can only return it for exchange. It says, in their return policy, that trains which have been opened and run cannot be returned. And according to their website I can't reach them to ask them about it till Monday--has anyone here had any dealings with them on returns? 

The USA trains website says nothing about returns or repairs, but the printed manual that came with the train says I have to send it back, insured, to get it repaired. It seems to me that USA Trains should be paying that cost, not me. But neither USA Trains nor wholesaletrains is reachable till Monday, so if anyone has any relevant experience I'd appreciate hearing about it


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

They are open Saturdays.. 
in fact, EVERY time I have ever been there, its been a Saturday! 

their page says: 

Mon-Fri 10AM-6PM EST 
Closed Weekends* 
(*Except Retail Store) 

So wholesaletrains, the "mail-order business", is closed saturdays. 
but the store, Lantz train shop, is open on Saturday. 

Give them a call today (Saturday) and ask for Gary. 
Gary Lantz is the owner of "Lantz train shop" in Horseheads, NY and "wholesaletrains.com" 
they are one and the same, he just chose a different name (wholesaletrains.com) for the mail-order portion of his train shop. 

unlike say, Ridge Road Station, who uses the same name for the physical store and the mail-order business..Lantz is the same thing as Ridge Road station, just with different names for the webpage and the store...but its all one operation. 

607 795 5038 
607 795 1731 

Scot


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Scotty, I just did call them and got an actual human being who said bo it up and ship it to us and we'll fix it. 


That's great, but really, it's the least they can do. A responsible manufacturer would not have left old stock merchandise with known defect sit around on retailer's shelves. A responsible retailer would not ship defective merchandise. 

I'd like to say I won't do business with either company in the future, but the reality of the large scale market is we have little choice--ALL the manufacturers seem to have serous quality control issues. It's up to us as consumers to demand better 

In the meantime, I'll mentally add the cost of shipping and insurance to the purchase price of the loco, and grumble and complain


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## Guest (Jul 26, 2008)

What you should do is call them back and ask for a call tag they should pay shipping, if not tell them you will call your CC company and have item refunded to your card. me personally i wouldnt pay any return shipping on somthing that was not working when you received it, but hey thats up to you.. 
Nick..


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## Skip (Jan 2, 2008)

Interesting. This thread led me to look at their website since there is a particular engine I'm looking for and it turns out he has one. BUT. His international shipper is one of the worst in the trade (and not an option in my area), and he apparently deals only in "collectible" locomotives according to his policies. The fact he has what I'm looking for is not enough for me to bend to his "sales policies", unfortunately. Oh, welll.... _ Caveat emptor..._


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I am willing to bet that they would make good on this due to it having a problem out of the box. I have run into the same thing with assorted models and dealers and have had luck with returns/exchanges. Most often "no return" policy is to prevent buyer remorse, something that a lot of vendors have to deal with these days.


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## Chucks_Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

I called Wholesale Trains awhile back about ordering 50 of these http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?ID=20011924 and was told they couldn't sell me that many..only one per customer../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif 
Nowhere in that advertisement does it say "limit one per customer" /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif 
I'll just spend my train $$$ elsewhere thank you../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I boxed it and sent it to USA Trains this afternoon, with a request that they refund the shipping costs. I sent an email to wholesale trans but got no reply. 

Today I decided to order an aristo slopeback tender. Wholesale trains had one, so did ridge road. Guess who I ordered from?


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## ShadsTrains (Dec 27, 2007)

The forums is not the place to grind your ax with vendors. I'm locking the thread.


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