Since when did M.B. Klein become so slow?


Bruette said:
I've been dealing with M.B. Klein since I was 11 years old. Most of the people working for M.B. Klein are modelers, many are our age. I know the GM, Dallas, I know the store Manager, Andy and I know many of the staff.

Most recent problems are probably due to the remodeling they have done to expand their warehouse. Most of us know what happens when we remodel and rearrange, things don't go to smoothly around the house. Imagine trying to keep up with the world's busiest train web site.

Dallas told me his goal is to ship like Amazon, fast! The reality is nobody can yet compete with Amazon when it comes to shipping. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon has invested a fortune of his own money to build the huge infrastructure that powers Amazon's shipping. Amazon even has it's own drivers and contractors along with all the other shippers; USPS. UPS and FedEx. Even Walmart can not yet compete with Amazon in shipping speed.

Amazon is willing to lose money to keep growing. M.B. Klein is not and I don't blame them. Ted Klein was going to close the store when he sold the store property in downtown Baltimore. The only reasons he did not were to keep his staff working and to keep serving his customers. I am thankful they are still open. I wish they had a bigger Lionel inventory, but I am glad they sell at a discount. They keep their inventory as low as possible to avoid "dead inventory", again to keep their prices low.

Amazon's investment is not to survive today, they are looking long term and they sell a lot more than trains! I am a contractor for Amazon and even Amazon has customers that complain. Anybody that works in retail can tell you no matter how hard you try there will always be customers who complain.

It's not arrogance, it's not indifference and it is certainly not incompetence. Some days are busier than others, that's all. No matter how hard you try or how much staff you have there will always be days when you have to many orders to process.

When M.B. Klein says your order has shipped it only means the box is packed, a tracking number has been generated and a label has been affixed to it. If the carrier has already been to the store for pick up the package will wait until the carrier returns on the next business day. The same as with most vendors.

What do you expect, they run to the post office with each order? How much do you think that will cost? Even M.B. Klein's shipping rates are lower than most. We can't have everything, to keep cost low their has to be trade offs.

M.B. Klein was built on keeping costs low so that they can sell at a discount. If you want something consistently faster order from Amazon, but don't expect consistently low prices across the board. In addition if you do order from Amazon keep in mind that not all the items will come from Amazon. Many specialty items will be coming from 3rd party vendors and their shipping times are usually much slower.

We need to keep things in perspective. We are buying toys, hobby items. I doubt your life or lively hood depends on getting things from M.B. Klein a few days sooner.

Like Ken of the D&J said "If ya need it sooner, order it sooner and pay for overnight delivery." otherwise be patient and wait for your discounted item/s to arrive.
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Well reasoned, and I thank you for that pragmatic approach to online purchases using discretionary income. No animals are hurt during order filling and shipping.
 
So here is an update I received an email back earlier this morning from them.

[FONT=&quot]Gerard Dembeck (ModelTrainStuff.com Support Portal)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Oct 13, 11:05 AM EDT[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mr. Leeth:
Good morning.
Our shipping department is finishing up orders placed on the 9th today. Your package should be sent via USPS tomorrow morning. We have been delayed in shipping due to a large numbers of orders that have been placed. We are still catching up.
We apologize for the delay in shipping your order.
Thank you for your business.
Gerard Dembeck
http://support.modeltrainstuff.com
Toll Free Phone: 1.888.410.2672
Local Phone: 1.410.229.9995
MB Klein, Inc.
243-A Cockeysville Rd
Cockeysville, MD 21030, USA
[/FONT]
 
Louis - You know MB Klein first hand and I appreciate your input. I have been ordering from them and other internet retailers as there are no hobby shops at all where I live. MB Klein is probably my first place to go, but even as large as their business is, they can't stock everything. I do order from other internet retailers, but as far as I am concerned, their customer service is fantastic. I have an a number of instances not being able to find what I needed. Their web site can be difficult to navigate some times. I have called them and talked to customer service and they were really nice and most of the time had what I needed.

Another thing that has to be considered is the amount of orders they must have. I am sure that they don't have an army of people filling orders and I can see where it could take three days to get an order off.

I have also ordered a lot from Amazon. Some vehicles, scenery items, and on and on. I am on a few on line survey sites and they offer amazon gift cards. BINGO. Free train stuff. Delivers is fast needless to say being involved with Amazon. Most of the items are discounted fairly well, coming from smaller hobby shops.

As far as I am concerned, I am just happy as hell that there are internet retailers like MB Klein or I couldn't move forward wit my layout. Years ago, before internet retailers, the only time I could get hobby supplies was when we took a road trip and were lucky enough to find a decent hobby shop.

I can handle the three days to get an order shipped.
 
Looks like they are backed up this week. No email yet for my Tuesday order. I notice ld they got a ton of Athearn warehouse find stuff prob generating lots of orders. Mine is from that.
 
Looks like they are backed up this week. No email yet for my Tuesday order. I notice ld they got a ton of Athearn warehouse find stuff prob generating lots of orders. Mine is from that batch of recent stock.
 
I'm sure Klein's is happy to know that they have a loyal band of supporters, no matter what they do. As for me, I've just placed an order with Hatton's in the UK for ALL of my needs.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Did you ask for overnight delivery?
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Hattons is really really fast both in processing orders and actually getting them out....I lay money that if Tony placed his order before 5PM UK time yesterday he has a good chance of receiving his order between next Wednesday and Next Friday.
 
I have read this thread over the last few days with interest. Klein's web page clearly states that shipping is 2-3 days for most items. So what are we after here? Instant gratification or long term satisfaction? A glitch here and there doesn't warrant some of the statements that I have read here. Andy & Tony, you're doing what you feel is best by taking your business elsewhere. Will Klein's notice? Probably not because they appear to have many, many more satisfied customers. I think that Louis stated it very well, reread his responses. And as Gene posted, "But come on guys, it’s just a hobby...so what if it takes a week to arrive, nobody is going to die." Yes there may be occasional "emergencies" that require speed, but I plan ahead and rarely have any "immediate" needs.
I have looked at the Hatton's (UK) website and see a very limited offering and it appears that shipping to the US is costly. They too offer 2 day shipping just like Klein's. Don't know if they can get the product to you any sooner than Klein's.

Disclaimer: I have never purchased from Klein's or any other online model railroad retailer. I am fortunate enough too have numerous LHS's (all discounters) within an hours drive; and I support them as well as I can to help ensure their survival. I realize that many others do not have LHS's any more. Of course if more people felt the way I do in past years, maybe more might have survived.

Willie
 
wombat457 said:
I'm sure Klein's is happy to know that they have a loyal band of supporters, no matter what they do. As for me, I've just placed an order with Hatton's in the UK for ALL of my needs.
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You are, as my wife would say, are a cheeky monkey.

There is a good reason why Kleins has a loyal and happy band of supporters, and btw its because of good prices, reasonable shipping, great service. Obviously it does matter what they do, duh. But what they do is consistantly give good all around service. I know cause I'vd been using them for the past 15+ years. But crack on...

Just curious, how much is the shipping and how long will it take? I regularly order from Kleins and actual shipping is 2 days, and cost is normally under $7. I have on a few rare occasions bought somethings from England and shipping is always a good deal more and time is probably double. btw I'm married to a Brit.
 
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"...Just curious, how much is the shipping and how long will it take?..."
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Shipping is $22, which is cheap for international) and I will have the order in under 7 days, a day quicker than what it took Klein's with my last order with them.

For the record, Hatton's prices are a lot cheaper as well. Klein's wants $107 for a pack of 25 Peco Code 80 Flex and $19 for turnouts whereas Hatton's wants 65 BP ($85 US) and only 9.50 BP ($13 US) for the turnouts. The shipping maybe a bit more but the product prices are much MUCH cheaper. So shipping maybe more but when it all adds up, it's a lot cheaper to buy from Hatton's.

At the end of the day, regardless of whether I approved or disapproved of Klein's (and many other business') processing and shipping times (which is what the OP was asking about), I'd still buy from Hatton's until they prove to be unreliable or not cost effective.
 
Just for information gentlemen, here are the "Factual" price differences in US Dollars for the identicle order:

Hatton's $340.06 (including shipping)
MB Klein $505.78 (PLUS shipping)

I think I can tolerate an extra $15 for shipping with Hatton's.
 
Tony, that is a huge difference! For me 10% or more is enough to order elsewhere. Your deal is well over a 30% difference, making it a no brainer!

The current strength of the dollar versus the pound helps. In the last 5 years the pound has fallen drastically. By more than 30% to yesterdays exchange rate of 1 GBP - $1.3283 I can remember no too long ago the pound was almost double to the dollar.

Loyalty begins at home, in this case your wallet. Regardless of any factor (short of fraud or theft) a savings that big should not be passed up.

Great find, well done my friend!
 
Just been on Hatton's site to look at Peco code 83 HO track. Flex X 25 lengths worked out at US$86.38 currently and AU$ $110.30. No shipping price. Klien's was US$135 currently, but that would have included their shipping cost from the UK to the store. I found Hatton's website a bit strange in some ways, no page reverse/forward buttons for some reason, made it cumbersome to use. Looks like Klien's are still making a good profit ,,unless the price on Hatton's is a Wholesale price.
 
Quite obviously, the exchange rate makes a big difference in Hatton's prices, vs. MBK's prices, for British made (PECO) product. Makes perfect sense to me that you would order from them. My wife, just ordered some yarn from a vendor in the UK, at a good price. How are their prices for other products? Klein's has its flaws, everyone does, but they remain my go to, for many reasons.
 
Louis,

To me it was a no brainer. Saving $165 (US) is a lot and now allows me to buy something else that I otherwise may not have had the money for.

Granted, the exchange rate does come into play and will make a difference to the end cost. A couple of things to consider as well - Peco is made in the UK; therefore, buying a UK made product in the UK "should be cheaper" than buying the same product outside of the UK.

Toot'n,

Their site is a little strange and some of the "buttons" don't seem to work as displayed. That is something that Hatton's has acknowledge though and is (apparently) working on to fix. That is also something I can live with when you take into account the savings.

An update to this though ... I placed my order at 9:30 pm last night and have already received the Shipping Email from them AND DHL (the shipper). The time I received that email was 1:05 pm this afternoon. From the looks of it, I'll have the order this Friday.
 
Genetk44 said:
Hattons is really really fast both in processing orders and actually getting them out....I lay money that if Tony placed his order before 5PM UK time yesterday he has a good chance of receiving his order between next Wednesday and Next Friday.
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My comment from from a few days ago...
 
Gene,

Must have missed your post mate, sorry. I placed the order at 9:00 pm last night - 3:00 am London time. I got the shipping email at 7:00 am London time this morning. That tells me Hatton's had the order ready to go the same day I placed it and was picked up from them first thing this morning their time.

One of the other guys said they got their order with in 7 days of placing the order. That being the case, I should have it this Friday or maybe Saturday depending on who handles it here in the US.

All in all, I am very impressed and very happy with Hatton's.
 
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