Pig in a poke, or just go for it?

Email them. They have always been quick to respond to my questions.

It's sort of a crap shoot with them. I have bought a lot of stuff from them and a lot needed work. Sometimes the cost to fix was reasonable enough because I still came out on the better side of it when it's all said and done.

They have been fairly good at issuing refunds and accepting returns on stuff I didn't want to put the effort into repairing or didn't want to spend the money on to repair. I have inquired about repair parts for some broken items I received from them a few times in the past and it didn't work out to get the parts. Sometimes they had the parts and didn't know they had them and I had to buy them from them to get my stuff fixed.

I have found in most instances, if something says "not tested", "tested to power on", "as is", etc. you are going to have to repair it. I bought some stuff like that knowing full well I was going to have to repair them and was prepared for the worse case scenario when I bought them. I don't know if $800 is something I would be willing to spend unless the total cost including a worse case scenario repair cost is a good bit less than full MSRP of a known working model.

Email them. I've asked the same and they said you have to cover shipping (both ways) if returning an "as is" item, but they'll take it back no problem. In my case it was an MTH engine which required a battery, so I understand they don't put fresh batteries in every one of those to test.

That said...$800 is a chunk.

@CALNNC posted:

I like Trainz, I have gotten some good deals from them, and they have had parts that the Train Tender did not have.  But, on some of their locos they give high ratings to, they will then say they did not check them for function, and are sold 'as is'.  There are a couple nice locos currently for sale that are this era technology full of computer and IC's, they look good, appear to be in their original packaging, but Trainz says, not tested.  I just can't pull the trigger on an 800 buck unknown.  While they do say there is a 30 day return policy, they do not say if that applies to 'as is' item that arrives at you home in fine shape, but does not work when they say they don't know if it does or not.

Scott addressed this issue in response to your post five months ago (see #3): https://ogrforum.com/...0#175990811272053000

@Training Wheels posted:

Scott addressed this issue in response to your post five months ago (see #3): https://ogrforum.com/...0#175990811272053000

I did go back to the Search function and I could not find it.  Tried several words and combinations of words, but 'no results' is all I got. Something in th eold noggin said I asked this before, but that is then and this is now on the consideration of another high dollar purchase.   Thanks for the link back to the first post.  The Search function can be a little broad at times, and when trying to find something and it comes back with 49 pages of stuff, usually easier to ask the question again and get new insight.

The Trainz return policy is pretty decent.

https://www.trainz.com/pages/return-policy

It seems other than the return shipping, you get your money back unless you don't return it in the original condition it was shipped in.  FWIW, I've received a few items that were damaged in shipping, some quite severely, and there was no issue of returning them and Trainz paid for the return shipping.

I think shooting the dice is probably reasonably safe here.

@CALNNC posted:

I did go back to the Search function and I could not find it.  Tried several words and combinations of words, but 'no results' is all I got. Something in th eold noggin said I asked this before, but that is then and this is now on the consideration of another high dollar purchase.   Thanks for the link back to the first post.  The Search function can be a little broad at times, and when trying to find something and it comes back with 49 pages of stuff, usually easier to ask the question again and get new insight.

If you click on the 3 lines upper left corner, your screen name will drop down, and you can then click to see every post you’ve ever made, in last to first order. Never have to use search feature  for your own posts or replies.

Back when I was alive, er, buying things, I had generally good luck with the things I bought, used, new, tested, untested. There were failures, but not many, and rip-offs, but, honestly, only 3 or 4 - and I bought a lot of stuff, at one time. Or so it seemed to me.

My selection process was not unique - it was a cocktail of seller rep, manufacturer rep, photos (good ones required for medium and above price level), the way that the item was listed (this was mostly daBay stuff), the seller's apparent honesty and intelligence (really bad grammar was a no-go), sellers country of residence (essentially, foreign sellers need not apply).   It worked pretty well. Most people and companies are not trying to rip anyone off, most of the time.

I've bought a good chunk of my collection from Trainz. I've only sent back one engine that was repaired and returned quickly. Their train tech even called me to go over the issues I was having to make sure he fixed it.

I recall a youtube video that was floating around that mentioned how many pieces Scott's team inspects each day (it was a lot).
If you aren't sure, email them and I bet they will offer to pull it and inspect it for you.

@CALNNC posted:

I just can't pull the trigger on an 800 buck unknown.

Then don't.

For me, anything that says untested or as is means it probably doesn't work. So I don't even consider the item.

If the engine is a 1 of 1, go for it.  If not, there will be another one coming along shortly.