Parts MTH

It certainly isn't her fault. She's a very, very nice person who has helped me on more than one occasion. MTH should hire someone to help her and give her a raise. 

mike should think,,,,,,,product and price gets you customers......service keeps your customers !!!

This is nothing new.  MTH has expanded its product lines but hasn't increased the staff.  Whats even more amazing is that they've heard these concerns over and over and have done absolutely nothing to remedy the situation.

Sunrise

I don't know about you guys, but I received  emails  from midge on sundays,,, I would say she is swamped,,

As for as parts etc,  those can be made here, with all the automated  machines, , I have no cnc stuff, but I can make motor blocks, and turn the flange off for blind wheels, , or someone can make blind wheels, STD ga, 0,,etc,,,

with cnc ,,,you can mill,  turn,  and knock out this stuff  out like nothing, ,, I think kits should be made ,, so you can put these together, , learning experience, ,

Bottom line, , Mike Wolf,  and Lionel,  and others, need to involve people in this country,  to make their products,  this can be done with good pay,  and good parts, , they may find their  profits increase, ,, and,

get prices for good quality,  trains under 100 bucks,  more like 25-50, so that you get the lower income, business,

This is no new issue and been an issue for a long time since our economy  went south.  I sure wish we could have it all as well, but understand something must give somewhere and Lionel and MTH have there own strategies.

Its easy to say hire more people and pay higher wages but we are not privy to the financial viability of MTH.

I wonder if there is a strategic tradeoff decision Mike has made to keep his prices low. In fact it does not seem like prices have risen much at all over the years. Its this value that has made me a MTH fan and makes MTH more attractive to folks starting the hobby. No offense to Lionel fans - great product and great service. Glad we still have choices.

On a positive note this forum is a great source for some parts needs. The service techs have many parts available and are spot on for service. I parts ordering section on the MTH website also is a nice addition.

I'm sure MTH sees these threads and receives the voice of the customer. Time will tell.

Stopped at my local hobby shop two days ago to pick up the new lionel catalogs. My guy and his repairman were both upset with the delay and frustration in getting parts for repairs from MTH. He told me expect a four month turn around for any work dropped off. They were not happy, and Midge is great but the problem is much bigger.

MTH, please  help address this issue.

Paul

Actually, Midge doesn't deal with the MTH techs, she's the retail parts person.  I miss her, she is great!

my two cents

broke a coupler during our christmas show and ordered mth replacement about two weeks ago

received replacement from them last wednesday, and made repair yesterday

not all bad

My post was not critical of Midge, to the contrary, she is hard working but in a very difficult spot. She didn't create the mess, she is doing the best she can do, in spite of it.

The apparent problem is that Management (owner?)  is focused upon new products and sales, but not upon service of existing products and a loyal customer base. That's the problem when there are a quickly diminishing number of  alternative purveyors. Legacy is also a great product, but too pricey for many of us, especially new (young) collectors and many baby-boomers who are now on fixed incomes.

This situation doesn't bode well for our hobby's long term survival.

At least I can get parts in a timely manner from Lionel.

I miss her

Is she gone?

No, Midge is still there, but ASC's deal with the left side of the house.   Midge handles retail sales.  If you go to York, I like to stop by and just tell her what a good job she's doing, I think she single-handed is holding the retail parts sales together!

GRJ, at York, I always make it a point to stop by Midge and thank/compliment her.

I have only ordered parts from MTH a couple of times. Each time I got the parts I needed and it didn't really take that long to get them (IMO). Longest wait was maybe a couple of weeks or so. I always call on the phone and talk to Midge or leave her a voicemail describing the things I need, I have never ordered using email. She usually calls me back within a day or so and gets the order processed. Personally, I have no complaints with ordering MTH parts.

No offense  to mth but the parts department sucks .. Lionel I get my stuff with in a week .. 

MTH parts department is great! 

I placed an order online thru the active parts list last Fri. 2/05 and received my order today 2/10...that is MTH pulled, shipped and I received the order in 3 business days!   

All I can say is...