Disgusted


OH boy, I just got my F3A back from MTH, in worse condition than it was in when I sent it. The problems were not repaired, and they physically damaged both couplers and the horns. Oddly, in the middle of the conversation the rep "all of a sudden" found "notes" no one else had referenced that that the horn was damaged and the front coupler broke when they received it, great, so explain the back coupler damage, explain the fact that the noise is still there loud as ever and the remote functions are still screwed up.

But of course they're more than happy to have me send it right back in so they can repair it.

I think it's time to cut my losses and just put it on a shelf and call it an expensive lesson. On the other hand I wonder if the MTH rep will call the store I bought it from and bad mouth me behind my back like he has before when i called to report the problems orginally.

Put me down officially as an ex-MTH fan.
 
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Pretty sad when a vendor like MTH is going to let it's resellers take the hit for their problems.
 
BSVRR said:
I currently have over 2 dozen blue box engines, but even the best runners turned into dogs when converted to DCC so I decided to upgrade to newer models.
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There has to be an underlying issue here. I've got quite a few Athearn BB locos still on the roster. All with DCC. Noisey yes, but without exception they all run better than the did on straight DC. I would still suspect the system.

One suggestion, take one of the dogs to another layout (preferably one running decoder pro) and try a reset there. I had an issue with 3 new Atlas engines last year, thought it was the engines til they ran great on a friends layout!!
Turned out to be a system problem that the manufacturer fixed at no charge!!:)
 
BSVRR said:
Pretty sad when a vendor like MTH is going to let it's resellers take the hit for their problems.
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Say BSVRR,

Being that I'm trying to get a MRR Supply business going to offer the forum members some good deals, I find it very helpful to know who you've had difficulty with and what they did or didn't do as I certainly don't want to be offering items that a manufacturer isn't going to stand behind! The dealer also should get involved in helping to resolve the problem to the customers benefit. Merchandise should always come back in better condition that when it was sent in.

I've had a case too where I purchased a 10 wheel loco only to have it arrive with a missing headlight, and other broken detail which shows the dealer didn't even inspect it before it shipped out and it was packaged well too so that shouldn't have happened. The dealer was good about it and did refund my money.

My suggestion, if your going to send something in always take several pictures of it first to prove it's condition in case it does get back to you damaged.
 
kbkchooch said:
There has to be an underlying issue here
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I have the Digitrax Zephyr DCS51, I believe the issue is the amount of power it actually provides, not sure if i can fix that with a better power supply or not, I emailed digitrax, haven't heard back yet.
 
I don't think so. I have a Digitrax Zephyr DCS50 for bench testing locomotives. It can operate and program 4 Athearn SD70ACes with sound at the same time, without a booster.

The DCS51 provides even more power than the DCS50
 
As for the blue box locos, which brand and model of decoders are you using? If your DC power pack used pulse-power, then it would make the engine run smooth. If your DCC decoder doesn't use pulse-power, then it will make a loud grinding noise. Most modern DCC decoders have this feature, but some of the cheaper ones don't.
 
BSVRR said:
OH boy, I just got my F3A back from MTH, in worse condition than it was in when I sent it....Put me down officially as an ex-MTH fan.
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I have read enough complaints about MTH to know I shall probably never buy one of their products.

Meanwhile,I think Bachmann gets a bad rap, I think. I have 13 of their DCC OnBoard locos, 6 years old or newer, and only one growls at slow speeds. The rest all work great, even when not played with most of the year. Some people replace the Decoders, but I find the decoders work fine with my Bachmann EZ COmmand DCC control system, which many would recoil in horror at owning.

I once bought an Nscale 2 loco set that didn't work when I got it home, and I took back to the LHS {about 45 mins away "local" enough}. They told me-get this- "there would be a 25% restocking fee for returning it". I said "even if it's DEFECTIVE and DOESN'T work???". The cashier went back and chatted with the owner, and came out with another of the same set. She then told me they would just exchange it for the other set. Strange thing is, she put the DEFECTIVE SET BACK ON THE SHELF!!!!!

It's a sad commentary on things in the hobby today, when high priced locos don't work, when customer service fails, and they increase peices to boost profits in a bad economy. Then they WONDER WHY their bottom lines are hurting????!!!!
:confused:
 
diburning said:
A restocking fee for a defective item? That's illegal.
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Illegal or not, that is what she said. I didn't get charged the "restocking fee", they just exchanged the set for another set. The worst part is that she put the defective item back on the shelf!!!
:rolleyes:
 
OK, either I'm just cursed or something else is happening.

For some reason unknown to my concious mind, I decded to give MTH one more chance and buy a RailKing Freight set, SD70ACE /w P2 with 3 stack cars. Got it home, took it all out, read the instructions, set it up on the dining room table to play with it a bit and was quite pleased with it. Went upstairs to calculate how much more track I wanted, came back down stairs and started it up again, it made it halfway aaround the loop and stopped cold like it had caught on something and tripped the breaker. Took it off the tracks, couldn;t see anything, put it back on the track and moved it back and forth to see of something was catching, turned the power back on, started the engine, it moved 6" stoped and tripped the breaker, hit the breaker, it reversed at full speed about a foot and stopped as sparks flew out from underneath.

Brand new set, sealed, not more than a couople months old. Back it went, left with 2 Bachmann McKinley Explorer sets and a Genesis SD75 BNSF. The bachmanns are running smoothly and quietly around as we speak, happily pulling some dead sexy passenger cars.
 
BSVRR
Dude, didja ever get the feelin there was a big bullseye on yer back that everyone else sees but you?:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Well, so far so good on my returned to me (for the 2nd time) MTH DCC Ready SD70ACe. Its only been two weeks though. No blown decoders of shorted out motors.:)

Now, if I can only get the lady who handles their customer service to write me back an email saying she's sending me a new handrail stanchion from where they lost it doing the warranty work. :mad:
 
bigB said:
Now, if I can only get the lady who handles their customer service to write me back an email saying she's sending me a new handrail stanchion from where they lost it doing the warranty work. :mad:
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I think "Peggy" now works at MTH too!
 
BSVRR said:
OK, either I'm just cursed or something else is happening.


Brand new set, sealed, not more than a couople months old. Back it went, left with 2 Bachmann McKinley Explorer sets and a Genesis SD75 BNSF. The bachmanns are running smoothly and quietly around as we speak, happily pulling some dead sexy passenger cars.
Click to expand...

I am not surprised the Bachmanns are doing so well. I am happy with mine. May they serve you long and well, even if not as detailed as an MTH!

:D
 
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