Lionel are out there

I was just going to post this very question. Am awaiting a callback with info on 4 warranty returns from a few weeks ago. After not getting a call or email I called again last week and it would just ring and ring before eventually disconnecting.

Called yesterday and it rang without an answer for 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 42 seconds before I hung up. As bad as it seems, rather than us dealing with Lionel it might be time to return all the defective items to point of purchase for credit.

Bet there'd be a massive change then.

@BobbyD posted:

As bad as it seems, rather than us dealing with Lionel it might be time to return all the defective items to point of purchase for credit.

That doesn't help the droves of folks that have out of warranty parts orders that they can't place.

I'm trying to play the game correctly, and by the rules.  But it is getting frustrating.  Can anyone at Lionel chime in here please.

Game? Customer service shouldn't be a game.

Oh, I agree.  Game was probably not the correct word.  But it feels like it while you waiting on the phone listening to their little music ditty.

Reading RR: Did your dealer not find the defect before they sent it to you or did this issue only occur after your initial test run? I would probably let your dealer take care of the issue, be it a credit or a repair.

Charlie

It helps if you use the @ function of the forum if you want to alert someone at Lionel that is a member of the forum but I suspect they know about these threads.

@MartyE posted:

It helps if you use the @ function of the forum if you want to alert someone at Lionel that is a member of the forum but I suspect they know about these threads.

The irony being. Its best to take issues up with the manufacturer but they don't answer their own contacts, so folks end up back here......go figure

Remember when Lionel was in Canfield Ohio Marty?  Those were the good ole days for sure.

Less than a week ago, I read somewhere here, that Lionel claims this is the busiest time of year for them.

Although not specific to Lionel, a number of years back I tried to get an engine repaired a few weeks before Xmas, from a train repair service. They apologized and asked me to wait till after the holidays. They were overwhelmed. Although many of us have permanent layouts in some form or another, many bring out the trains at Xmas. That's just a bad idea if you don't have a backup plan if the most important item, probably an engine or transformer, isn't functioning properly.

It's not fair to expect repairs & parts orders to be fulfilled this close to the model train hobbies busiest season! One other thing worth mentioning, many businesses are running even leaner due to Covid19.

My suggestion, if you are a once a year train runner & can't afford to have a backup in case the unthinkable happens, test your trains a couple months in advance. If all is working as you hope, pack it away carefully & hopefully when the trains are set up around the tree, all is well.

@ironman1 posted:

Less than a week ago, I read somewhere here, that Lionel claims this is the busiest time of year for them.

Although not specific to Lionel, a number of years back I tried to get an engine repaired a few weeks before Xmas, from a train repair service. They apologized and asked me to wait till after the holidays. They were overwhelmed. Although many of us have permanent layouts in some form or another, many bring out the trains at Xmas. That's just a bad idea if you don't have a backup plan if the most important item, probably an engine or transformer, isn't functioning properly.

It's not fair to expect repairs & parts orders to be fulfilled this close to the model train hobbies busiest season! One other thing worth mentioning, many businesses are running even leaner due to Covid19.

My suggestion, if you are a once a year train runner & can't afford to have a backup in case the unthinkable happens, test your trains a couple months in advance. If all is working as you hope, pack it away carefully & hopefully when the trains are set up around the tree, all is well.

This is crazy!  While things may be busy at this time of year, bring totally non-responsive is not acceptable.  I am not even sure that a toy train manufacturer is super busy at this time of year.  It's not like a factory in the US is churning out starter sets to make it to store shelves.  Coming from China, planning must take nearly a year or longer.

I also detect a bit of train and even plain old snobbery in this post towards those who just bring out trains at Christmas.  Most of the toy train business was built on this type of customer and the sentiment towards trains and the Christmas holiday.  I understand that repair shops are busy, but we are talking about the manufacturer being unresponsive and this should not be excused nor should any of the blame be directed towards the the consumer.  Why should the consumer be blamed if they expect a toy train to run a few circles around the tree once a year or they can't afford to have spares around?

I do not want to stir up a hornet's nest and I sincerely hope that I am wrong about the thought behind this post.  If so, I am sorry.

Tim

Try calling your accountant for your taxes a couple weeks before April 15th, see how quickly they answer the phone.

Before MTH, Lionel's product was unacceptable and frequently sad at best. Lionel may becoming less responsive with MTH soon to be out of the picture. I hope not.

There was a thread earlier about this and it was probably removed. Lionel service is terrible now! I had a issue with a warranty Legacy loco, Lionel could not fix and told me to take back to the dealer. The dealer said no, its now in the hands of American Express!!!!

Perhaps it's because I work in a hospital, but I'm focused on the fact that we are right in the middle of a catastrophe of significant proportions nationwide. And my area is amongst the least affected.   About 25-30% of our beds are filled with COVID-19 patients (the national average is much higher), we've got plenty of ICU beds still available,  but as a caution we are starting to slow down on elective in-hospital surgeries.  We're fortunate that we have very few key staff who are sick and no one has been laid off, for obvious reasons. I'm pretty certain if you call one of our practices, they'll get back to you within a day or two, but then again we have about 200 times the staff that Lionel does.  However, if you want to finally have that elective surgery on your knee or elbow, I'd think about planning on doing that in March or May of 2021.  Just not going to happen right now due to this minor unpleasantness that is killing 3,000 or so citizens per day.

Lionel may not be so fortunate as our place,  in that their area has a higher proportion of sick people, filled ICUs, and I'm sure they have lost staff due to illness or layoffs,  and not yet replaced them for economic reasons.  Cannot be a great time for a train company.  Check out the non-sale of MTH if you have doubts.

So I'm not surprised that they don't have enough people to answer the phones and field emails and deal with the overwhelmed phone mail.  I also suspect they are focused on getting new product out the door to dealers right now as this is everybody's retail peak season and lifeline, as in the run up to Christmas. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if some staff who normally perform the customer service functions are being conscripted to get product to dealers.  Just was billed for two items from Charles Ro, the Area 51 set and extra packs of lighted Fastrack.

So I'd guess one can either get mad or get patient.  Empathy and forbearance are what's called for at the present if one can manage it.  The alternative is blowing a gasket on top of all the other misery that abounds.

I just a few days ago waited 30 min to talk to service. I needed a ra# for my visionline challenger to fix the sound set. I finally got to talk to some one and got the ra# and was told they were extremely busy. The man on the phone took my email and said he would email me the a.r.s. ups lable for free shipping back to them. I have yet to recive the email so I cant print the ups lable. Tried today to call back and was on the phone listening to the music for over 30 min. I Finally gave up and will have to try again to get a hold of some one to get the email sent to me. They first person probably got my email address typed in wrong. I feel your pain. It is wat it is. Due to covid they are probably short staffed.

Charlie, no the item was not run before, the box was sealed, also being BTO they may not have a second rambles.  I have already removed the item from the tender and secured the wheel on the axle with super glue.  If I can have the part sent from their stock it is a simple replacement fix.  Also I would rather not send an expensive engine back through the shipping system for an easy and inexpensive fix, that I can do in 5 minutes, anything can happen in shipment.  Also if Lionel is very busy, who knows how long they will have it.

@Reading RR posted:

Also I would rather not send an expensive engine back through the shipping system for an easy and inexpensive fix, that I can do in 5 minutes, anything can happen in shipment.  

Can't speak to the part number, but I totally agree that sending any engine back for service is the least desirable action. I'm thinking you still get the dealer involved as this was their sale, BTO aside, they still have to stand behind the product they sold.

Charlie

I agree 100% with Lionelsteiner

@Landsteiner posted:

So I'm not surprised that they don't have enough people to answer the phones and field emails and deal with the overwhelmed phone mail.  I also suspect they are focused on getting new product out the door to dealers right now as this is everybody's retail peak season and lifeline, as in the run up to Christmas. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if some staff who normally perform the customer service functions are being conscripted to get product to dealers.  Just was billed for two items from Charles Ro, the Area 51 set and extra packs of lighted Fastrack.

Indeed! Charles Ro just hit my CC and it is the Area 51 Set. Very happy to see that at least one of my several "December arrivals" will make it by Christmas. Maybe this portends well for some other Lionel items (0-6-0Ts, hint, hint).

@Landsteiner posted:

Perhaps it's because I work in a hospital, but I'm focused on the fact that we are right in the middle of a catastrophe of significant proportions nationwide. And my area is amongst the least affected.   About 25-30% of our beds are filled with COVID-19 patients (the national average is much higher), we've got plenty of ICU beds still available,  but as a caution we are starting to slow down on elective in-hospital surgeries.  We're fortunate that we have very few key staff who are sick and no one has been laid off, for obvious reasons. I'm pretty certain if you call one of our practices, they'll get back to you within a day or two, but then again we have about 200 times the staff that Lionel does.  However, if you want to finally have that elective surgery on your knee or elbow, I'd think about planning on doing that in March or May of 2021.  Just not going to happen right now due to this minor unpleasantness that is killing 3,000 or so citizens per day.

Lionel may not be so fortunate as our place,  in that their area has a higher proportion of sick people, filled ICUs, and I'm sure they have lost staff due to illness or layoffs,  and not yet replaced them for economic reasons.  Cannot be a great time for a train company.  Check out the non-sale of MTH if you have doubts.

So I'm not surprised that they don't have enough people to answer the phones and field emails and deal with the overwhelmed phone mail.  I also suspect they are focused on getting new product out the door to dealers right now as this is everybody's retail peak season and lifeline, as in the run up to Christmas. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if some staff who normally perform the customer service functions are being conscripted to get product to dealers.  Just was billed for two items from Charles Ro, the Area 51 set and extra packs of lighted Fastrack.

So I'd guess one can either get mad or get patient.  Empathy and forbearance are what's called for at the present if one can manage it.  The alternative is blowing a gasket on top of all the other misery that abounds.

Landsteiner, it sounds like you are a physician or otherwise in the medical field and work at a hospital. As such, you are on the front lines. Thank you for your good service.

May your trains be a haven of happiness.

For all other Forum members in the medical field or who are on the front lines in other ways serving people these days, may your trains be a haven of happiness for you too.

As Alicia Keyes sings in her new hit song, Good Job, Good Job. Arnold

I certainly understand people’s frustration when this happens.  These threads have certainly caused me to shy away from Lionel products, although I did buy a Lionchief plus 2.0 engine this year that has run well.

Don't know how many of you guys are retired... but the Covid thing has whacked every company big or small.  Here at our group of radio stations, we've operated without a receptionist and at least three other key personnel since March.  That means the skeleton staff that still comes in answers the business lines, the studio lines, accepts parcels, reconciles the logs, programs the five radio stations, plans the promotions, executes the promotions, produces the ads and promos, wipes down and disinfects the surfaces, and does shows on multiple differently formatted stations to fill in for those who are sick or quarantining in other markets.

The good news is: we haven't missed a day of work.  The bad news is, we can't miss a day of work.  Not much time to play trains.  But that's what it's like out here in the trenches.  My brother works for Pfizer, and my wife creates monoclonal antibodies for a small biotech, so we're all in the same boat.

Jon