L.H.S. In Stock - Not! Frustrated.

That's not good or acceptable.

You want to hear frustration from a local hobby shop owner I talked to? How a major O gauge company telling you that you must order $5,000.00 worth of merchandise before they will honor any order, and you get what the company is selling and not always what you order. For some large mail order places that is nothing but some smaller local hobby shops can not always do that.

I have to agree with you about the computer age, you would think that would help with inventory but it only complicates things as it don't always show up correctly as you have seen.

Lee Fritz

I had the same thing happen with a tinplate set I was ordering for my brother for Christmas. According to their web site they had it, called them and yes they had it in stock. Ordered it and got a call a couple of days later telling they don't. I then cancel it. Order from another dealer. I then get a call a day later from the first shop telling me they got it and shipped it. I told them it was cancelled. They finally cancelled it but charged me $100.00 for the trouble and shipping. 

I then lodged a complaint with my CC company. I'll let you know what happens. 

Btw, it is a ogr sponsor. Not that has anything to do with it. 

Bet they were in the Pennsy boxes. Several folks have reported them in Pennsy boxes on this forum. 

Bob,

I bought those Pennsy units from one of our forum sponsors (Nassau), and my boxes as well as a few others here were marked "Texas Special".

In fact, from the same Neil Young Series, vice versa for the TX SP units.

I dont even bother driving the 10 miles to my LHS anymore, because the traffic where they are located is so bad, I would rather order it online, while drinking coffee,  and get in 3 days.

It takes an invasion from Godzilla or King Kong for me to drive anywhere to do any kind of shopping.'

I would rather click and buy.

This is why if I'm unsure about them having it, when I call, I make them go put their hands on it and put it behind the counter before I go anywhere anymore.  This saves me the hassle of the drive and then waiting while they look for it.  I do this with not just my LHS, but just about any retail place.

Worked for a company one time that just had to have a new computer inventory system to track their inventory and ordering of new items for projects we worked on. They spent millions on it and turned a 2 minute order with a hand written purchase order into a 3 day process! I left, but I think they finally abandoned it after a year or two.

Making them go look and put it behind the counter sounds like a good plan!

I must admit that an "inventory" system that reflects things that "we are going to have"

and not things that we, uh, actually -do- have should be thrown out the door along

with whoever bought or designed it.

Wait, no, I'm wrong: what it is is VIRTUAL inventory, so that's OK. We live in a Virtual

World, do we not? It's a world of Gimmies, like in some peoples' golf games.

Catch up with the times; you don't expect things to actually exist, do you? It's all

pixels. 

Is the real problem here that the PRR items are actually in the LHS, but in boxes marked "Texas Special"? If so, are the LHS personnel aware of that? I'd be frustrated with this scenario also, but shouldn't BIG L be putting items in the correct boxes? 

I agree with the idea that if you're going to spend time and money driving to the LHS, make sure the personnel know where the items actually are, and not just that the computer shows them as being in inventory.

I purchased a B&M gp9 w/LEAGACY ,on line from Lionel dealer ,6-38877 cab no 1705 , when I got it , the box said BALTIMORE & MARYLAND GP9 DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE #1705 6-38877, MY HEART STOPED , I OPENED THE BOX , INSIDE WAS B&M GP9 #1705 ON THE CAB , I SENT LIONEL A EMAIL , RESPONSE "thank you we will notify the correct people" never heard about it again

techman

Western Depot has, hands down, one of the best -- if not THE best -- real-time shopping carts around.  And when it says quantity = 1, they actually have it!!!    MB Klein's is another good shopping cart experience also.

Seriously though... Nothing is more frustrating when you think you've found something you're searching for, only to find it's not REALLY in stock when you get to the store.  When in doubt, call the store and have the person taking the order check stock VISUALLY before driving any serious distance.

David

Relax Bob, if you are long liquidity be of good holiday cheer. That vendor (businessman ) actually did you a favor.  We are heading into the best toy train purchasing season of the year (February-March). Further many different vectors are likely to begin converging after the new year returning cash to its rightful & respected status.

BTW I solved many of the those same frustrating (supply) issues in the late 1990s by buying forward, thus bringing a defacto hobby store within our own home. Under the tree will be a MTH specialty subway set first announced in the MTH 2002 Toy Fair brochure, purchased & back filled in the latter half of that decade. Mama will be receiving an addition to her Lionel mint car series acquired a couple of years ago in the Orange Hall. Developing such a practice can completely change one's experience of gifting in the Holiday Season!

Enjoy ; it only comes around once a year.

Actually, believe it or not... I think NOW is a pretty darn good time to be shopping.  I've NEVER seen the kinds of deep discounting at some very reputable dealers that we've seen this December.  Usually December is pure take-it-or-leave-it pricing, but dealers are hurting too much this year and are VERY willing to move merchandise at great prices (for December).  

David

Sounds like the way a Delaware dealer, once of national prominence before its owner's untimely death, operates.  If you order an item, they write your name, phone number & the item number in a LOOSE LEAF NOTEBOOK... then never call you when it becomes available. 

A local hobby shop would be within a 15 mile radius of your house. That sounds like a regional hobby shop if you have to drive about 60 miles away.  

Andrew

Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes, i will now make sure that the item is fiscally located at the L.H.S. Thanks Greg for identifying the fact that in my area I do have to travel an hour to L.H.S.

David: I am hoping that you receive the $100.00 back. That is just not right for them to charge you.

Chipset: Thanks for your note of receiving Pennsy packed in Texas Special cartons.

I found my items listed on a online dealer and sent them an email checking to see if they indeed had the items available to ship now and told them to check the boxes to be sure they are in correct cartons. Interesting response is, yes they will ship now, they will check the boxes before shipping. That tells me they want my purchase finalized and not overly concerned what box I receive.

i should explain to Lionel the system I have setup at my workplace. We have signs placed in all departments that are printed in multicolor P. A. T. D. This has worked well. Just for fun, Who can tell me the words of the letters on the sign?

Bob

Bob, just an fyi, i have been using the MTH product locator for the past few days and in almost every case where it said a particular shop had my item, when i called or went totheir site, they did not have it.

Oh....and 50% didnt have online ordering, and 90% of the website were horrible.

So frustrating!

I'll guess Pay Attention To Details.

-Dave

The MTH Product Locator can be very helpful at times.  But it's like the old addage... A chain is as strong as its weakest link.  And lots of dealers simply don't take the time to update the MTH database when they sell something.  It doesn't take too many bad apples to completely destroy what is essentially a good idea.

On the flip side, I know a few large dealers that don't even use the MTH Product Locator, so they have stuff in stock that doesn't show up when you search online.  That can be equally frustrating.  

Don't throw away your telephone just yet!!!  

David 

I just used my phone to verify if the item shown in stock was indeed still in stock...."they did not know"...

Based on that experience, I will be striking that dealer off my list of who to check on products with online or by phone.

What good is a phone if the person on the other end is clueless?

I will stick with good old artificial intelligence, i.e. online ordering even if it contributes to SkyNet taking us over.

That's what I was going to guess. 

--Greg

Here is an update the OGR sponsor, I called this morning, called me back later to tell me it was in stock,and left me a voice mail with a great price!

However, by then I had spent the money on something else.

I called back as a courtesy and the person had no clue what I was calling about even after I gave the name of the person who called me.

DOH!

Seriously...this would have never happened with online ordering and/or email...