Wow, I just wrote a very long explanation to the eight page thread I posted about the Lionel Vision Line GG-1 production issue and between the time I started writing and the time I clicked "post" the thread was deleted. I am happy that thread came to an end. I will try to summarize Lionel's response and, very briefly, take time to thank all of you.
1) I thank all of the OGR Forum members who responded to the thread and, though I regret the posts that came uncomfortably close to personal attacks, I understand your anger. A free exchange of opinions is what this Forum is all about. I'm still thankful all of you took the time to respond. I hope all of you who were upset or disappointed with the positions I took were able to read everything I said about life and priorities as well as my complaining about production quality.
2) I love the fact that we can freely exchange ideas about trains on this Forum and I accept the responsibility to report and comment upon what is good about Lionel and the folks who work there. I know complaining about trains is negative but I also believe positive results come out of those rough spots in the road. If no one ever complained about poor quality there would be less incentive to improve. For those who feel I should have simply contacted Lionel instead of discussing the issue here on the Forum, I respectfully disagree. We have all been down this road before and I believe higher quality and more transparency will be the result.
3) I have been contacted by Ryan Kunkle who wrote a very warm and positive e-mail to me about some personal things he wanted to communicate to me and my family and also about the Vision GG-1 issues I complained about. We also had a wonderful conversation about trains as well as the difficulties of getting things as perfect as people like me would want them. Let me say this as clearly as I can. The folks at Lionel have been VERY GOOD to me. My complaints about production issues are mixed with my praise for what is done well. Ryan Kunkle, Dean Brasseur, Phil Hull, John Zahornacky and others whose names I have missed have all had a hand in improving my Lionel experience and doing everything reasonable to make my trains more enjoyable. Mike Reagan personally interceded on my behalf on more occasions than I can count to make certain I was happy. If it were not for all of these people, I would have gone away quite a while ago. I thank them for putting up with me and I hope they know I care about all of them as much as I do the trains. Ryan is trying to help me exchange my GG-1 for another without parting lines. I thank him for that, for reaching out, and for listening. Lionel, in my opinion, is intent on tracking down the causes of all of these issues and is intent on resolving them and making things better. I believe Ryan is dedicated to that and I thanked him for his efforts. Lionel has offered to exchange a Penn Central Vision GG-1 for mine if one can be found that is better. It may not be a perfect resolution but I know he is trying.
4) Lastly, and most importantly, though I can be a pain in the ***, I always hope it is the result of trying to contribute and make things better. It may not seem that way to everyone, but I am trying.
Thanks to Rich Melvin, Alan Miller, Alan Arnold, Ed Boyle, and the entire OGR Forum crew for being incredibly supportive. I hope I said all of this well.
Happy New Year everyone !
Eliot
