What Online Hobby Retailers do you do business with?


Their new webpage is so badly designed and the user-interface is so bad that I find that after trying to navigate through and trying to actually find things that I want to order from their new webpage is so time-consuming, tedious and frustrating that it’s not worth using anymore.
My last four orders with them, all placed within 3 days of each other, took between 6 to 9 days to process, not ship just process. 4 or 5 emails asking them for info regarding the orders completely ignored, and a request to be notified of when an item was back in stock also ignored.

Guys: Concerning Kleins, Their new web site makes Walthers website look good. Especially, when searching for new products. However, if you are specifically seeking a specific product, the search filters take you right to what you are looking for. Service performance, has improved, last order processed in two days, and shipped. I opted for USPS Priority Mail, and the PO added a day to the transit time. In all, order Sunday night, product in hand Noon Friday.

Meanwhile, the previous Friday, I ordered six packs of coal loads from a company called Hobbylinc, in Georgia. I still don't have them, They did not even begin to process the order until they had received payment from paypal, and did not ship until this past Friday. Tracking indicates delivery Monday. If that happens it will be 11 days for six identical packages, cost of $43 including shipping. Not exactly pleased with them either, but they had something none of the usual's had.
 
I have ordered from Hobby Inc as well and completely agree with you Boris ... their processing and shipping times are just as appalling. I only ordered 3 bottles of Model Master Acrylic and it has taken Hobby Inc 5 days to take them off the shelf and put them in a box.

I don't know about anyone else but, I place a great deal of emphasis on customer service which includes process and shipping times. If one company can process and ship within 24 - 48 hours of receiving an order but are a few dollars more, then they will get my business NOT the cheaper company that takes a week to process an order let alone ship it.

I've said it before, I ordered a few hundred dollars worth of track and turnouts from Hatton's UK and had them in my hand (literally) 72 hours after placing the order, They were also $175 (US) cheaper than anywhere here and that was an added bonus.
 
Because of the NMRA's Partnership Program, I now attempt to buy through that list of participating partners, so as to reduce/nullify the cost of my NMRA dues. However, I only buy from these suppliers if the discount provides me with the best price. I haven't bought anything from M.B. Klein in a while; so, i have no comment on the speed of their order processing! I have found their website to be different than it was; however, it is certainly faster than it used to be.

Tony, what did Klein say about your review alluded to in Post # 20?
 
Tony - Since MB Klein changed their web site, I have found it a lot more difficult to fine what I am looking for and instead of getting frustrated, I just go to another supplier. I have been dealing with them for years and can't complain about their service, but they are no longer my number one go to outlet,

Along with the ones you listed, I also like Internet Model Trains. I have also had good dervice with them.
 
Tony, what did Klein say about your review alluded to in Post # 20?
The response pretty much focused on them telling me that the review request I received was NOT from them but a third party and they were "sorry that things didn't happen quickly enough for me". There was no explanation for why it took them so long to process and ship the orders, nor did their response address (or even mention) their failure to respond to my inquiries. The impression I got, from the tone of their response, was they were peeved that I gave a bad review and little more than that.

Since MB Klein changed their web site,
Their website is horrendous and it seems as though they have now stopped stocking some things they used to stock. I spent quite some time trying to find Rapido Easy Peasy lighting and Noch N Scale figures on their site without success.

Like you Chet, I find it easier to deal with a company who has a website were things can be found quickly and easily rather than have to endure the frustration of Klein's, or any other similar, site.

I should add a couple more places that I have recently dealt with and had very good, quick, service:

Bragdon Enterprises (for their weathering powders) and
Badger Airbrush Company (for Modelflex paints)
 
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It has been a while since this topic has been discussed and I'm sure new businesses have sprung up that it would be good to know about.

Over the years I have used many different retailers, when I started this layout in 1988, I shopped almost exclusively at Standard Hobby. I'm unsure when they went out of business. All of my track and turnouts on the older portion of my layout were purchased from Standard. Then for a while I was using First Place Hobbies, until they closed their doors. Lately I have been using M.B. Klein's ModelTrainStuff. I do use Walthers, as they seem to carry the obscure stuff I need every now and then. I also buy much of my DCC stuff form Steve's Depot and Tony's Train Exchange. When going out to buy something, I also look at some other places; but, have not been able to connect with them; but, it's good to know the people I am doing business with have as good of prices as anyone.

Because I love to build models, I do a fair amount of purchases on Ebay as few manufacturers of rolling stock, make kits anymore. I find Ebay has a good selection of kits.

So, who is it you likey to buy your Model Railroad Hobby items from?
Who ever has what I'm looking for at the best price.

If all things are equal, plus or minus 10% on the price I buy from MB Klein/Model Train Stuff
 
The last 2 times I ordered stuff from Model Trainstuff they shipped 2 sm. envelopes & charged me $18.00 Frt. I called them up & asked why the high shipping price. They told me I didn't state on the order to ship it the cheapest way, so, they put the 2 small items in a big box & shipped it by Fed-X. I told them I couldn't afford their shipping prices & would shop someplace else. I didn't get an answer. I've been buying from them for many years. I use to buy from 3 other places, but the Customer Service got real bad & the BO's got even worse & a few months later they went out of business.
 
I did not mean for this to become a bash M.B. Klein/ModelTrainStuff RANT site! If you have someone better than them, then lets hear who it is! I am not trying to stop you from posting your bad history with M.B. Klein; however, my history with them has always been pretty good. But, really, who do you go to then if you never have; or, no longer will, buy from M.B. Klein/ModelTrainSstuff? This last page of posts has recommended nobody and has simply been about Klein.
 
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I’ll still use MB Klien, just not as much as I used to because of their site. I also use Trainworld and Tonys Train Exchange, both of which will now take up the slack from Klien.
 
I have bought a lot of second hand stuff on eBay, as the bulk of my collection (locomotives, rolling stock, track and even buildings) is 3 rail Hornby Dublo (made from 1947 to 1964) which is not the sort of thing you often find in a retail outlet. I have also bought three DJH kits direct from the manufacturer in the UK and one locomotive (not available locally) from Rails of Sheffield.

I prefer to purchase over the counter from local retailers if possible. Those I have used are All Aboard at Braemar, Hobbyco in Sydney and Hobbyland at Hornsby.
 
I've bought plenty of Hobby items through Ebay, over the years, as I've stated in Post #1. However, my thoughts in starting this thread where to update the old list started by LogandSawman and find new; or, old retail hobby suppliers that we/I had never heard of; or, bought anything from.
 
I have found an interesting ti-bit about Toy Train Heaven, I looked it over and found prices to be competitive with M.B. Klein/ModelTrainStuff, so thought O.K., I will Bookmark this supplier! Then when I went to save the Bookmark, it said: ModelTrainStuff!
 
I wanted to Bookmark the HO portion of the website, just now when I tried to do this again, it shows the website as "Modeltrainstuff"! I found this to be the case for N, and O also. There must be a connection!
 
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This morning I received one of MB Kleins promotions and managed to get an email through to them. There is no "contact us" link on the web site. I mentioned to them that I really got frustrated using their new sight.

This was the response I got.

Hi Chet,

What are you having issues with in particular? I'd like to be able to help
if I can.

Regards,
Matt Ehrhart
modeltrainstuff.com / M.B. Klein Inc.


This was my response to them,

Using your old web site, I could easily find what I was looking for. Here's a for instance. If I search for HO scale vehicles I get a page with 58 results. A few buses and containers. . If I search for HO Scale automobiles, I get the same results.

If I go to Vehicles, I get aircraft, ships along with vehicles and also all scales. I can't narrow the search down to HO scale.

I get so frustrated that I have been using Internet model trains, Toy Train Heaven among others. I have no hobby shops at all where I live in Montana and had been using MB Klein for years. Your old web site was quick and easy to navigate, the new one is an abortion.

I get your email promotions all of the time and then when I do go look for a particular item, the majority of the time it makes finding what I need a nightmare.

I belong to a number of model railroad forums and I see complaint after complaint about the new web site. Sure hope it didn't cost you much because a lot of people are fed up and shopping elsewhere.

Sure hope you can get it squared away quickly. You are losing business.


I wonder what their response to that will be.
 
Here's the response I just received from MB Klein.

.
Thanks for responding so quickly. You are able to narrow your search using
the filtering options on the left side of the page. You should see an
option there to only display HO scale items. We are planning to add
additional sorting options to our categories, especially for our vehicles,
figures and scenery categories so keep an eye out for that in the coming
weeks. In addition, we're hoping to roll out a roadname sorting option this
summer for our locomotives and rolling stock.

I do apologize that these things were missing from our launch.
Unfortunately, we were having some very serious hosting issues with our old
website, which was causing our load times to spike 30+ seconds for at least
a few hours every day, so we had to make the difficult decision to launch
our new site before we were able to finish putting on the final bits of
polish on the new site. If you have any other feedback please don't
hesitate to contact us.

Regards,
Matt Ehrhart
modeltrainstuff.com/ M.B. Klein Inc.
 
More and more Internet businesses seem to want no contact with their customers, other than by the customer's purchasing of their wares. Many don't have "Contact Links" or if they do, the Contact Link takes you to a form of customer service that has no way to actually speak to some one in charge of Customer Service! Business now-a-days doesn't want to be bothered with negative input! The also lack interest in helping customers out; by providing the least little bit of customer support. The internet shelters them from bad news! It is sad!
 
In fact, my DCC system is Digitrax and Digitrax has the lamest way of conducting help that I have seen. They have what they call the "Help Desk" that you have to log in, to use. You leave a question at the Help desk and must return and log in to see if anyone has answered you! Why they do it that way is putting your customers through more work than is needed if you just emailed back and forth! I don't have clue as to why they do it this way. Also, there is no way to get in touch with anyone who can help you, if you feel the "Help Desk" person isn't all that helpful!

Obviously "Customer Relations" has become far less important to businesses today, than when I was in business for myself. Or, businesses simply have no idea that their "Customer Relations Department" is doing a crappy job!
 
In fact, my DCC system is Digitrax and Digitrax has the lamest way of conducting help that I have seen. They have what they call the "Help Desk" that you have to log in, to use. You leave a question at the Help desk and must return and log in to see if anyone has answered you! Why they do it that way is putting your customers through more work than is needed if you just emailed back and forth! I don't have clue as to why they do it this way. Also, there is no way to get in touch with anyone who can help you, if you feel the "Help Desk" person isn't all that helpful!

Obviously "Customer Relations" has become far less important to businesses today, than when I was in business for myself. Or, businesses simply have no idea that their "Customer Relations Department" is doing a crappy job!

Just another reason not to use the Digitrax system;)
 



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