I just called to follow up on an unreceived order from 4/10 only to hear a message that he will be out of his shop until October 16th???
Any input on this???
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Is this the same JD Trains that closed a few years back?
I received a confirmation of an order on 4/10 specifically listing my product and price extension Seems like his automatic order taking system is alive and well. It would be interesting as to who has access to my cc info!!!
Just read the previous discussion link above. This is crazy nuts. I will call my credit card company to cancel any potential charge
Good thinking Tom, I think he's off in the islands sitting on a beach with a Pina Colada and waiting for more receipts from web purchases. 
Out of the office until October 16th?
Did it say what year?
When I called his office phone that is the message I heard. He instructed to text him which I did and I cancelled my order. Tomorrow I'll call my CC company.
As far as a business model I truly understand his statement that the business turned out to be a minimum wage job.
No real markup, lots of tire kickers, steady overhead and cut throat competition. Easy to understand the dwindling numbers of LHS.
Join the club. I ordered an Atlas Trinity hopper from them a year ago and later learned on this forum its an abandoned business.
Their site needs shut down by someone, somehow.
Who keeps paying to keep that website up?
Hey guys.
Just my opinion but any Atlas products I either buy or order from Steve ( Mr. Muffin) or Beth. Both of them are very reliable Atlas dealers and have product (especially Beth).
I also bought a lot of Atlas product from JD but stopped years ago when we had a disagreement over an order.
Again, just my option.
Donald
@Tom Tee posted:When I called his office phone that is the message I heard. He instructed to text him which I did and I cancelled my order. Tomorrow I'll call my CC company.
As far as a business model I truly understand his statement that the business turned out to be a minimum wage job.
No real markup, lots of tire kickers, steady overhead and cut throat competition. Easy to understand the dwindling numbers of LHS.
Few O Scale shows I saw him at he arrived late and once/twice may even have arrived the short closing day. Tough gig for sure.
@Surefire posted:Who keeps paying to keep that website up?
Hosted by yahoo! small business, which offers five-year prepaid plans at low rates. May be leaving the site live in hopes of reviving or allowing the term to run out since it's already paid up without realizing the effect on his reputation.
What, me worry?
Jeff Dobslaw was a crook and a jerk when he was in business
- It was posted many times he was out of business and has been out of business for at least 5 years.
- Why anybody would order from the website when nobody has heard from him in such a long time. There are many websites still up and running that have been abandoned, do your homework first, know who you are ordering from.
- There are many honest dealers on the OGR site, I pick those first.
- Dave
To add to what David said above.
It's pretty obvious on the website. The last time any updates were made was June of 2015.
Hopefully your money wasn't sent to India.
The most disappointing aspect of this hobby shop for me was that it took over Bob Thatcher's customers when he retired and Bob was such a standup person all around. His multitude of custom runs in the roads I collect was always enjoyable. Unfortunately after the transfer all the wonderful Anthracite road special runs disappeared.
If your card was charged and no product received, wouldn't that be a reportable case of internet fraud? If you submitted your credit card info but no charge was ever made, I'm not sure what your options might be aside from procuring a new card and cancelling that one to prevent any undesired charges in the future.
@bluelinec4 posted:Jeff Dobslaw was a crook and a jerk when he was in business
Boy do YOU have stories to tell!
@bluelinec4 posted:Jeff Dobslaw was a crook and a jerk when he was in business
I could never do business with someone named, Dobslaw ?
Arthur,
I agree. Sounds like something that should have be left out of salad.
I bought from Jeff before and never had an issue. His prices were great and so was the service.
It's easy to pile on a guy who isn't here to reply. Nice job.
There have been a number of threads on the Forum regarding JD's Trains and its owner Jeff Dobslaw for nearly five years. I bought many trains from Jeff over the years and always found him to be a first class guy. He and his father used to drive from St. Louis to every York Meet, pulling a trailer full of trains. He had a booth in the Orange Hall. I recall that they got into an accident just before arriving at York the last time they attended, which caused considerable damage to the trailer. I believe that was the April 2015 York Meet.
In 2015, Jeff took a new job and his website indicated that he would be scaling back his train business. It was announced around that time that Andy Petersen had taken over his Atlas business, but there was never any announcement about his Weaver, Lionel or MTH business. Shortly thereafter, Jeff essentially dropped off the face of the earth, although I have reason to believe he still lives in the St. Louis area. I made innumerable attempts to contact him through various media for the next couple of years, as I considered him to be a colleague, but eventually gave up.
How and why the JD Trains website remains up and running after five years remains a mystery. And, I have never been able to figure out what happened to his inventory. For all I know, it may still be in the store he had in University City, MO, although it is likely he moved it elsewhere.
All in all, a very strange story.
Pat
Mr. Dobslaw should have the wedsite removed so those who are not in the know, that he has been out of business for years, aren't sending their credit card info to who knows where.
I bought a lot from Jeff and thought he was a good guy with fair prices. Definitely frustrating here didn't take the site down though.
The Host tucows.com is listed as the registrar. Look it up on Whois.net Was updated 2020-03-08T05:17:25Z Will expire 2021-04-06T21:15:04Z
It looks like JD abondoned his domain name and the Host company continues to renew it.
It has been common for hackers to buy the host domain and recreate the website in its original design. You go there, the site looks authentic; unknowingly you "buy", send your credit card info and payment to a criminal in China for a product you will never receive. Next the criminal does everything to delay the shipment ("out of the office") and to allow the charge to go beyond the 30 day or 60 day point where it cannot be contested. While I have never been caught in this scam I've seen scam websites many times. Sometimes you can tell by a slightly changed web address that the page is on. Point is that criminals purchase expired web domains and rebuild them to look authentic. They often steal graphics, logos and even the entire page design. Buyer beware!
Normally we would take down this thread but in this case something is amiss and has been for years. The website should have been taken down and the phone disconnected a long time ago if he is no longer in business. Not everyone is aware that Mr. Dobslaw apparently does not return calls and his site to the uninitiated appears to be working. Perhaps it would be appropriate to contact the state of Missouri's Attorney General to see if he still has an active business license.. In any case, Mr. Dobslaw left OGR with many thousands of unpaid invoices....no return calls. Topic closed.
