So this hobby shop calls with a problem...

[downtowndeco]

OK, so you guys know I have a policy to always replace damaged parts no matter what the reason or how they got damaged. I'm glad to do that, & I mean it too, I never want anyone to be afraid of buying a hydrocal kit because they're afraid it might arrive broken or that they may accidently break it while putting it together. OK. So this hobby shop calls and tells me that a customer returned a kit because the parts were all broken. Fine, no problem. I sent them a new one. Then I got the old kit back & it looked as pictured. I called the store up, you know, to see how in the heck the box had gotten so mangled. "The customer said his dog chewed it.". Seriously : ) But here's the thing, even if I would have known that before hand how the kit got crunched I would have replaced it. Remember that next time you're looking to buy a new kit for your collection. : ). Cheers!

Randy Pepprock
Downtown Deco

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PS. I'll throw in a set of our new extremely deteriorated sidewalks (a $25+ value) with each HO or O Scale order I get over $50 this weekend. Free shipping too (UPS Ground US Mainland)! Either visit the site www.downtowndeco.com, email me downtowndeco@montana.com or call 406-821-0181. Offer good until midnight 8/5/12

[Jim 68cuda]

The dog ate it??? I haven't used that excuse since I was seven year old. Too bad you have to take a loss cause some fool left it out for for the dog to use as a chew toy. The sidewalks look great.

[santafewillie]

I'll back up Randy on this. About 4 years ago, my old train room which was built against the backside of my barn, experienced major damage from either a tornado or just extreme winds. Six months later as I was finally getting to the bottom of the rubble, I uncovered remnants of two of his unbuilt kits that had many broken castings and a totally ruined sign sheet. I was able to repair most of the castings but I was unable to find all of the pieces from two front walls. Within less than a week after I E-Mailed him, I had the two castings and the sign sheet in my mailbox. Kudos to Randy. Oddly enough, none of the five structures on my layout sustained any damage. Let's continue to support a businessman that stands behind his promises; I certainly will.
willie

[RW&C]

So did the kit parts survive the dog attack?

That's a new level of standing behind the product! And it might not even have been left out for the dog... my terrier actually climbs onto tables to get things to chew on.

[jonyb]

I've been buying a lot of discontinued kits from ebay lately - all are new and still shrinkwrapped. What I have found, is that most of them have 1 or 2 castings that are broke. After repairing them, I think it adds character to the buildings to give them the old look.... It's good that Randy stands behind his product like he does though.

[Motley]

Isn't this like the ole My dog ate my homework excuse. Hard to believe someone wanted a new kit after all that damage.

If this was an expensive locomotive, I think the story would be different.

[D&J RailRoad]

It's unfortunate that people take advantage of another person's good will and business ethics.

[Railrunner130]

Good on you for standing behind your product. That hobby shop should never have asked though. That's crap.

Those new sidewalks look nice.

BTW- I didn't see any canine punctures. Maybe it's the photo.