I have been trying to reach Lionel customer support on several different occassions and was on hold over 15 minutes each time without any body picking up.Has anyone else had similar experience? Are they still in business?
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No
Yes and Yes.
You need to realize that, at least for right now, they only handle warranty work- no repairs of out of warranty (OOW) items. This might change- but who knows? The OOW repairs need to be handled by their authorized service dealers.
I have dealt with them three or four times- 2 times because I was puzzled setting up wiring for my switches, and two for loco warranty repairs.
Eventually (maybe 20 minutes) a very nice person will answer and listen to your issue, and (in my experience) not transfer your call all around or lose you. He (as often "she") will ask you some questions (I think) in order to weed out the obvious mistakes we owners do make.
In my cases, they issued a label for me to return my loco via FedEx, at their expense. In one they fixed it (Legacy) perfectly- and found and replaced a couple things that I didn't even know about, and returned it again at their expense. In the other they examined the loco, and made some adjustments- since it did run better- but they did not explain exactly what was the issue.
Except for the long wait for an answer- I was happy.
I imagine that this time of year the phones are very busy. Right after Christmas there are a lot of people who bought a train set and didn't bother to read the instructions and need help as well as those who need a repair. In the summer, the line isn't so busy.
About a week ago I tried several times to reach customer support for warranty work. To be honest, I didn't have time to wait on hold the first couple of times. The last time I called I was on hold for quite awhile, maybe fifteen minutes. The person I spoke to handled themselves well. Although I was supposed to receive an email with a return label the next day, I had to call two additional times in order to finally get the email.
Well, this situation is certainly not specific to Lionel. I have to wait on hold for often long periods no matter which business I call for service.
They all say by recording that “We are experiencing unusally heavy call volume at this time” every time I call anybody. What a crock.
Times are changing at the speed of light fellas. There are Credit Card companies that charge an extra fee now if you expect a real person to help you on the phone. I don't like it either but we don't always have a choice.Were going to have to accept it. Nick
I called yesterday around 1245EST, waited about 5 minutes and ordered my stuff; so yes they are still in business; and yes they will answer; I put my phone on speaker and do other things until I hear their pick up; see no purpose on my part to come on this forum and vent about no pick up; as some one noted, you wait everywhere if you order by phone. Patience is a virtue; Falcon 70
