SalukiMB,
Thanks for the clarification of the issues you experienced with Lionel Service. Glad your problem was ultimately solved.
I have to say that experiences like this have several variables that rarely come out in the explanation. (Please don't make the assumption I am picking on you or pointing out something wrong, this just seems the logical thread to post this on!).
For instance, the information conveyed at the "peak of the frustration" period is often time very different from the information conveyed when heads are cooler. I know in the past, when I am fed up (totally frustrated) with a particular item that my temper gets the better of me and I overlook several of the obvious things. I have learned over the years to walk away, come back later with a cooler head, understand the issue and find one or more things I overlooked in the heat of the moment, 9 times out of ten the problem is easy to resolve (but certainly not the first go-round) Just ask anyone who has ever hosted an open-house with 3-rail trains; just as soon as you try to show something off it all goes awry, everyone is gone, works like a charm!
What I am driving at, is on the first call it is possible that "everything" was not conveyed the way it was on the second call. I can tell you with certainty that every CSR's basic instruction is REPROGRAM before anything else is done. No transfers to technicians, no elevated support until the reprogramming sequence is completed FIRST.I know some folks out there absolutely despise this concept, but it works, as proven by your second phone interaction mentioned above (sorry, kinda calling you out here, my apologies).
Clearly something broke down on the first call, if you were not instructed to reprogram the loco, as having Meghan walk you through it clearly corrected the issue, for that my apologies.
The bottom line is that when we try to resolve the issues over the phone, we have to determine if the problem is the product or the operator, then follow through on the resolution that makes the most sense all around. Sometimes products need to come in, sometimes there isn't a thing wrong with them when they get here! Its frustrating for us as well as the customer and would be further exacerbated if it took more than 3-4 days for us to complete repairs.
The service dept is a funny place to work, in any business, especially our little slice of the train world. No matter what happens it always seems portrayed as being our fault! You have to make decisions at every turn, sometimes you make the wrong one. It happens, just owe up to it, resolve it and move on. There is no award for doing it right, but do it wrong just once..........
Anyway, enough of my rant.
Please don't take anything being said here negatively, that is not my intent, just stating some facts, as I know them. Thank you to those out there with the positive comments regarding service, we just hope, that at the end of the day, you are enjoying the time you get to spend with your trains and we can continue to deliver quality and timely repairs when problems arise.
Thanks,
Mike
