A little disappointed with Soundtraxx


kbkchooch

kbkchooch

"retired" conductor
I'm a little disappointed with how Soundtraxx handles potential warranty issues. :mad:
I purchased several sound decoders this year, from my LHS and one by one, have been doing the millwork on the chassis of several Proto GP9's. I started the last one at the end of summer, purchasing the Tsunami for that one at the same time. Well, as things go, life got in the way and I was forced to wait for cold weather to resume. I would have had it done by November 30 (more on the signifigance of that date later) but on November 15th, as some on this forum know, I suffered a stroke. This kept me out of the basement until Mid-January. When I finally got to install the Tsunami (millwork was completed prior to the stroke) it installed normally, but when on the program track the readback was "Manufacturer 255" " decoder version 255" then my NCE was unable to read back any other CV's.
Knowing Soundtraxx decoders have problems sometimes programming on NCE, I place the engine on the main and called up address 3. The chassis started up, moved about 6 feet, reversed fine and came back, then released a large puff of smoke from the top of the decoder and died~!:eek:
Back to the workbench the chassis went, out went the decoder and just for giggles, I installed another (non sound) decoder and tried it. The chassis performed normally!!
So off to Soundtraxx it went, with the obligitory receipt, description of problem,etc. Weeks went by, finally I recieved a call from a nice young lady starting there would be a $45.00 charge for repair, because the decoder was out of warranty.:eek: See, I bought the decoder on August 28. The warranty is for 90 days, so November 28th the decoder went out of warranty. No buts,no if's, no excuses.:mad: Every day it just sat in he package on my workbench was another day of warranty gone. I tried to explain the chain of events, but to no avail.:eek: No amount of pleading would get me any help.:eek:
Well I got the decoder back today. Actually they sent a new decoder, saying the other couldnt be repaired... :cool:
Lesson learned?
#1 Treat sound decoders like fruit, don't buy one til you are ready to use it.
#2 The warranty cards you mail back are a joke. They are for market research, not warranty. If I would have mailed it in when I opened the package, it would have been covered.
#3 Loksound is not a bad alternative.:D

Rant over!
 
I have had the same problem and not just with soundtraxx or decoders but all model railroad equipment and even local hobby stores. I have just learned to immediately try things out when I get them not let them sit in a box for 2 years before I get to "that project".

I do however see their point. They have no way of knowing if right after the purchase I put the unit into very heavy use or if I let it sit on a shelf for a year. It is a catch 22.
 
It would have been cheaper to just go buy another one of the same type and have it for a future project using that receipt to send the old one back. Might not sound right but in reality what does it cost them to replace a decoder? Digitraxx, NCE, and TCS have good warranties for their products but that doesn’t say much when you want sound.
 
kbkchooch said:
I'm a little disappointed with how Soundtraxx handles potential warranty issues. :mad:
I purchased several sound decoders this year, from my LHS and one by one, have been doing the millwork on the chassis of several Proto GP9's. I started the last one at the end of summer, purchasing the Tsunami for that one at the same time. Well, as things go, life got in the way and I was forced to wait for cold weather to resume. I would have had it done by November 30 (more on the signifigance of that date later) but on November 15th, as some on this forum know, I suffered a stroke. This kept me out of the basement until Mid-January. When I finally got to install the Tsunami (millwork was completed prior to the stroke) it installed normally, but when on the program track the readback was "Manufacturer 255" " decoder version 255" then my NCE was unable to read back any other CV's.
Knowing Soundtraxx decoders have problems sometimes programming on NCE, I place the engine on the main and called up address 3. The chassis started up, moved about 6 feet, reversed fine and came back, then released a large puff of smoke from the top of the decoder and died~!:eek:
Back to the workbench the chassis went, out went the decoder and just for giggles, I installed another (non sound) decoder and tried it. The chassis performed normally!!
So off to Soundtraxx it went, with the obligitory receipt, description of problem,etc. Weeks went by, finally I recieved a call from a nice young lady starting there would be a $45.00 charge for repair, because the decoder was out of warranty.:eek: See, I bought the decoder on August 28. The warranty is for 90 days, so November 28th the decoder went out of warranty. No buts,no if's, no excuses.:mad: Every day it just sat in he package on my workbench was another day of warranty gone. I tried to explain the chain of events, but to no avail.:eek: No amount of pleading would get me any help.:eek:
Well I got the decoder back today. Actually they sent a new decoder, saying the other couldnt be repaired... :cool:
Lesson learned?
#1 Treat sound decoders like fruit, don't buy one til you are ready to use it.
#2 The warranty cards you mail back are a joke. They are for market research, not warranty. If I would have mailed it in when I opened the package, it would have been covered.
#3 Loksound is not a bad alternative.:D

Rant over!
Click to expand...

Karl, they cut you a little break...it's normally $60.00. I feel your pain, but the time is the time. Every company I've had to deal with typically does not extend the warranty time for any reason. I have been lucky enough never to have had issues with Soundtraxx decoders out of the box, and I've installed quite a few. I did make a boo boo or three which cost me $60.00 a pop. They were out of warranty when it happened. :eek:

I have tried Loksound...it's great if you buy their programming widget, otherwise not so much (at least in my experience). They are not nearly as flexible as the Tsunami, or at least they weren't when I tried them. To each his own I guess!
 
MGWSY said:
It would have been cheaper to just go buy another one of the same type and have it for a future project using that receipt to send the old one back. Might not sound right but in reality what does it cost them to replace a decoder? Digitraxx, NCE, and TCS have good warranties for their products but that doesn’t say much when you want sound.
Click to expand...

Thought about that too!:rolleyes:
 
Espeefan said:
Karl, they cut you a little break...it's normally $60.00. I feel your pain, but the time is the time. Every company I've had to deal with typically does not extend the warranty time for any reason. I have been lucky enough never to have had issues with Soundtraxx decoders out of the box, and I've installed quite a few. I did make a boo boo or three which cost me $60.00 a pop. They were out of warranty when it happened. :eek:

I have tried Loksound...it's great if you buy their programming widget, otherwise not so much (at least in my experience). They are not nearly as flexible as the Tsunami, or at least they weren't when I tried them. To each his own I guess!
Click to expand...

Alan, With the new Slect line, you only need the widget it you want to change soundfiles, say from a light steam to an EMD 567. You can tweak volumes, reverb, etc with any DCC system or JMRI.:)

I guess what really set me off was there was no apology, no adjustment made, or no real explaination of thier actions other then "its over 90 days" given. Being in the auto industry for 30 years and being asked every day to cover some "gray" area item under warranty, I feel I deserved at least that. After all, that is what is expected of me!:rolleyes:
 
Karl, Saturday I bought a new Athearn GP15 from my LHS. It had been put on the display layout there for a day. One of the headlight bulbs was burned out, and two lift rings were missing. Biggest problem, the rear truck makes a grinding sound. I called Athearn, and the warranty guy there, Chuck, told me since the hobby shop had run it before I bought it, it was used, and tough tamales. And yes, I paid full price for it, because I wanted that road number.
He said to send it in, and he would "see what he could do".:mad:

Of course, the Tsunami in it works great...:rolleyes:
 
Yep' feel your furstration. Ijust tried to exchange a airbrush at harbor freight...no recipt of course:eek:
Was told because it was used they would not exchange it without said recipt
now the darn thing had Harbor Freight marked all over the packaging besides how was i suppose to know it was defective without using it first :mad:

aah well just bought another'n for 18 bucks:D
 
GN.2-6-8-0 said:
Yep' feel your furstration. Ijust tried to exchange a airbrush at harbor freight...no recipt of course:eek:
Was told because it was used they would not exchange it without said recipt
now the darn thing had Harbor Freight marked all over the packaging besides how was i suppose to know it was defective without using it first :mad:

aah well just bought another'n for 18 bucks:D
Click to expand...

Yeah, whenever I need something I'm going to use once and throw away I always get it at Harbor Freight! I hope the next one lasts longer for you, but if you have no expectations, you won't be disappointed! ;):D
 
bnsf971 said:
Karl, Saturday I bought a new Athearn GP15 from my LHS. It had been put on the display layout there for a day. One of the headlight bulbs was burned out, and two lift rings were missing. Biggest problem, the rear truck makes a grinding sound. I called Athearn, and the warranty guy there, Chuck, told me since the hobby shop had run it before I bought it, it was used, and tough tamales. And yes, I paid full price for it, because I wanted that road number.
He said to send it in, and he would "see what he could do".:mad:

Of course, the Tsunami in it works great...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Hopefully they'll make good on it.

When I bought a Dash 8 at a train show a few years back, I didn't notice the hairline crack in the shell until I took it out of the box. The vendor I bought it from seemed like a fly-by-night outfit as they didn't have a website or address when I googled it(I don't remember which one it was). They also didn't give me a receipt (I paid cash)

I called Atlas and pleaded my case. I was told that if it looked like it was dropped, then it would not be covered under warranty. The problem is... it DID look like it was dropped. The pilot was bent in. I was told that if it wasn't covered, they would repair it for a fee providing that they had parts or a replacement shell available. If none were available, it would be sent back to me at no cost, so it would be a good idea to send it in anyway since it would only cost me postage to send it to them.

So, I sent it in, and after not hearing back for two months, I found a package on my porch from Atlas. They swapped the shell and sent it back!
 
The "repaired" decoder arrived Tuesday, put it in Saturday. Hooked up every single wire exactly as it was, and put it on the programming track. Everything went normally, ran the chassis on the layout ok, then back to the programming track for some fine tuning with JMRI. Perfect!!:D

The reason "repaired" was in quotes is because it wasn't repaired, it was replaced. It took a second phone call to confirm this. Replaced because it "couldn't be repaired" according to Soundtraxx. This further confirms my suspicion that I did not cause the decoders demise, but it was defective from the get go.:( My only failure was in delaying the install.

So where does this leave me? $45.00 in the hole, but smarter for it. Soundtraxx will never catch me with my pants down again. :p Also I will continue to explore possibilities with QSI and Loksound, and throw off these Soundtraxx blinders!!:D
 
diburning said:
Hopefully they'll make good on it.
Click to expand...
They didn't.
Saturday I took it back to my LHS, showed them what it was doing, and they told me it was "normal".
I then took it home and fixed it myself using some old parts I had laying around. Turns out one of the wheel/axle sets had an incorrect diameter set of wheels. The other three were fighting it. So, that's where the funny noise came from, and if the LHS' repair guy had turned it over and looked at the wheels, he would have seen the kerfing marks on the wheels like I did. I replaced all the axle sets with used ones out of a Genesis F unit, and it works fine.
So, I paid the "hobby shop premium" price so I could get "hobby shop service", and I got "mail order service" at hobby shop prices. I'm seriously rethinking my purchasing options after this.
But the Tsunami works great...:rolleyes:

This one is sort of way far off topic, but I bought one of those MTH F unit train sets. You know, the new, improved, Proto Sound 3 that's supposed to be DCC programmable. It isn't. I took it back to the other "LHS" (2.5+ hour one-way). I got "preferred LHS service" from them. They took another set off the shelf, tried programming it to verify my complaint, confirmed my complaint, and kept my set for return or repair. Repair if it can be sent in and programmed, return if it's a design problem.
 
bnsf971 said:
...
This one is sort of way far off topic, but I bought one of those MTH F unit train sets. You know, the new, improved, Proto Sound 3 that's supposed to be DCC programmable. It isn't. I took it back to the other "LHS" (2.5+ hour one-way). I got "preferred LHS service" from them. They took another set off the shelf, tried programming it to verify my complaint, confirmed my complaint, and kept my set for return or repair. Repair if it can be sent in and programmed, return if it's a design problem.
Click to expand...

I was going to say something really nasty about mth.......then thought better of it.

Let's just say, I'm not surprised.
 
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