I really want my LHS to survive and be there in the future, but...

hello Jeff T...........

SIGH, i would really get mad if they did that to me but in this case take the engine back and show them what you found out and never go back again.  That would teach them a lesson.  Maybe they will give your money back if they don't want to lose you as their customer.

the woman who love the S.F. 5011

Tiffany

But that would cause a burn on the top of the batting, right?  Jeff's post indicates it was scorched on the bottom, meaning at some point in time it was flipped over.

Of course if the shop did not indicate what they did to fix the problem on the repair slip, it's possible something else was wrong that they did fix.  But based on what has been posted, someone flipped the batting at some point.  Unless it is a used engine, it would seem to have happened during this repair.

-Dave

Ninety Nine percent of what I buy outside of train shows I buy at my LHS which isn't really that local but I get great service there. Recently, I bought a GGD E7. The shop owner insisted I open the box and inspect the locomotive before I left the store. The road name is NYC and what I ordered was supposed to be one of the 2nd Run units. I opened the box and the first thing I noticed after the front truck fell off the engine was that it had the incorrect silver stripes (which should be white--this is a well known mistake the company made). My friend was there when I opened and he noticed that one one of the side grills was smashed. I thought I was going to have to ship it back but Jan the shop owner said,"Just leave it there we will take care of it." About 3 weeks later she called me and said we got a new E7 for you. This one was perfect and said right on the box "2nd Run". I really appreciate the fact that Jan took the time to contact GGD, send it back, and get me a new one.

I've yet to deal with a LHS that is so dishonest they would charge someone for a smoke repair and just turn over the wick but it certainly could happen. If I were you I don't know what I would do. I might give them one more chance but I also might not send them any more repairs.

Jerry & Dave - Yes the locomotive was new to me. I've already pitched the batting. My point is LHS lose business to the internet every second. I really don't think they can afford this type of service as well.

Frank - I never said I'll never step in there again so this isn't one of those posts. I would buy more at my LHS but he won't budge one red cent on price. I purely can't afford to buy everything there. If he gave in a little I would feel better about the situation. (This particular engine did come new from him at list price) In my case, older, wiser...

It's disappointing at best, but in my case now I know what I'm dealing with. I really dislike painting with a broad brush and blasting the entire store when it could be just the handiwork of one disgruntled employee...

Like I said in the original post I'm happy for OGR and what I've learned that's enabled me to do some of the simple repairs myself.

Give them a chance to make it good and be nice.If they do it again we will come and help you set up the PICKET lines.Good luck.

So depriving yourself of the convenience of a local hobby shop, which are few and far between these days, would teach them a lesson??? Sounds like that old saying "Cut off your nose to spite your face."

..what Frank said.

Jim

Hi

 from being one that our family has a hobbie shop. What you got to rember is

 the repair shop had most likey put in a new element in. If the batting was slighty browned thay may have fliped it being there was probly nothing wrong with it.

 Just rember most of the hobbie shops bend over back wards to help there coustermers. you find thy become your friend and will help you out.

Harry - I couldn't agree more, but the wadding was just charred black on the underside. I'm sure for $65 they could have stuffed a new piece of wadding in there.

I've pitched the wadding and will not take it up with the owner. However I do know a couple of the counter guys that work there and will mention it to them if I can pull them aside.

Thanks for the clarification!

They should have replaced the batting while they were in there.  Of course then you would have had an additional cost for the part.   I just repaired/rebuilt a smoke in tender American Flyer unit and I spent a few hours on it, from disassembly, cleaning, rebuilding and adjusting.  Just feeding the nichrome wire up through the two holes took about 15 minutes.  

You can learn to fix your own stuff to save money, I have, then you see all the issues the hobby shop has doing repairs.  Sometimes it's not so easy!

Before: wick removed

After cleanup but with wrong inside insulator box. Had to wait for the right one. Then I had to still reassemble and put new wick in. Sorry I get so involved I forget to take the after pictures!!

Great discussion on here.  Sad but true about the shoppers that use the LHS as a catalog then go buy off the internet.  Perhaps a way to approach would be to return with the unit and ask if they can tell or show what they did to fix it.  If the owner, who is ultimately responsible, has no interest or accountability then it could be time to write it off as a destination.  I know owning a musical instrument store all my staff are self proclaimed guitar repairmen.  I also know that i DO NOT allow most of them to work on customer pieces as I am the one at the end of the day that is held responsible.  

Today i am off to my LHS with a Lionel steam engine that is not running.  I have not got the skills or time to learn right now how to even approach it so I am now willing to pay to get it fixed.  I imagine down the road if I find out later it was a 5 minute repair I could have done I will have to take that in stride but today it is my best option to pay to get it repaired.  If I add shipping both ways then if it's $64.95 local I am doing pretty good and will be able to use my train again!  

Just some thoughts from a store owner albeit non hobby perspective

Sean - Lets say someone hits your car fender and it has to be replaced. You take it to a body shop and they replace it with a used fender and do not paint it to match the color of the rest of your car. Since the dent is gone it's fixed so that would be OK.

I'm a very reasonable person and I find their service unacceptable. Like I stated I'm glad I found OGR and have learned to do things myself.

I think your compairing apples to oranges, if a body shop puts on a used fender and doesn't paint it, the car is patched and repaired.  Nobody on this forum knows what was done to the engine and everyone is just speculating so were all just guessing anyway.

As the batting has been flipped over so that the other good side can be used, does it really matter? The charred side is not going to impact on performance any more regarding smoke output. I have done this several times on my engines and I just see it as a bonus that I can get two uses from it. There is no good reason to scrap the batting on its fist burn, that is just wasteful?

I get the feeling that you feel a bit cheated that you got charged a tad too much for what is a normal repair. I'm sure most of us have been in that situation and for a lot more than your cost. It's events like this that make us more adventurous to do repairs ourselves and rewarding in the knowledge " I fixed it!"