Poor Packing from Trainz ?

I have found Trainz shipments to be exceptionally well packed.  The actual item, outside packing material, packing material between items and packing material between the items and the sides of the box.  Textbook packaging.

Perhaps the regular shipping person was out that day and you got a sub that obviously needs more training.  JP

The two models I've bought from Trainz were packed extremely well although they were not in their original box. I have no complaints about how Trainz packed the models that I have bought from them. They were packed tightly in lots of bubble-wrap and brown paper. No damage upon arrival.

MELGAR

this is good news.  The problems were recent, and from different customers, me being just one.

Have never had it happen, from the $10 die cast truck, to a $1000 Brass loco.  what i have had is poor handling from ups , usps, and fed fed ex, where I have seen them toss  , drop , and yes run over one of my packages (yes tire marks and all)  , but havent had an issue with the packaging from Trainz

e

I've bought probably half my collection form Trainz over the past 8 years. I can recall only one problem in that time and it was rectified by them immediately. Unfortunately when old parts are broken or go missing, it's not a simple fix.

I know that Scott is a sponsor and does follow the forum. Look him up and send him an email. He takes this stuff seriously and will make it right.

I've experienced both with Trainz.  Great packing and poorly packed resulting in broken parts. 

Only once out of many many shipments was there a problem and it was with a die cast loco.

@RSJB18 posted:

I know that Scott is a sponsor and does follow the forum. Look him up and send him an email. He takes this stuff seriously and will make it right.

I agree with Bob.  Contact Scott.  He made it right when I had a problem as well.

John

Had a problem one time over many shipments. Was a postwar  track cleaning car. Had the usual brown packing paper.  Then car had bubble wrap very tight and scotch taped. Had very hard time getting bubble wrap off of car. When I did get it off found a broken part. Don't know if they broke it or I broke it getting it out of bubble wrap. After many emails with many different people at all hours of day and night . Had  them send me a replacement part. Like I say was only one problem over many shipments. Have since bought from them and have had no problems.

Multiple shipments with things packed safely, but I do recall once a locomotive being shipped with light packing and the locomotives box had damaged ends , not a bid deal .I’ve come across a lot of good deals with Trainz and will continue buying  with them.

I had a run of bad packaging from Trainz a few years ago, I bought four different brass locomotives, and I only managed to get one that was relatively intact.  The others were each just in a large box wrapped in paper and then loosely packed with packing peanuts, but they had plenty of room to roam around in the box and beat each other to death.  One box had the back of the tender sticking out of a hole in the box, a brass Shay had the cab completely broken free from the boiler shell, and an Atlantic was just crushed.  All were packed very poorly, and the results showed.  However, I had no problem getting a full refund from Trainz including return shipping, so they did stand behind the purchase.

OTOH, more recent purchases have been fine, so I have to wonder if that packer has moved on to a new job where he's screwing up someone else's merchandise!

I bought a new plastic military vehicle from them. I opened the outer box on arrival to verify it was what I bought, and set it aside since I wasn’t quite ready for it. Six weeks later I opened the plastic bag and one of the wheels was missing!  I notified them and their initial response was ‘Sorry, it’s out of warranty.’.  I wrote a polite but firm reply that their response wasn’t acceptable, it was only 2 weeks after the ‘warranty’, and it wasn’t a warranty problem anyway, they did not ship a complete product. I pointed out they they didn’t catch the problem either. I suggested they pull a tire off any damaged vehicle they had. They agreed to look for one but came back and said there were none.

I haven’t bought a ton from them, but what I’ve gotten has been well packed.

Over the last 35 years and bearing in mind I only acquire ‘modern’ locomotives, in an attempt to minimize the chance of damage occurring during shipping from ANY shipper, my own policy has been to only purchase an item if it has the ORIGINAL box from the manufacturer.  The outer shipping carton is an extra bonus if it exists, but over the years my policy has served me well as I’ve never received a locomotive with any major damage from either the post office or any of the couriers.

With respect to Trainz specifically, my experience has been that their packaging for the ‘high end’ locos, passenger cars etc. which I have purchased has been very good; so perhaps they take more time and care to pack their more expensive items - but that’s only a guess on my part.

the problem area seems to be used items that are unboxed.  In the last couple months or so.

Diecast parts bang into other diecast parts, in spite of the brown paper, and break.  Being old, they are irreplaceable.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

OTOH, more recent purchases have been fine, so I have to wonder if that packer has moved on to a new job where he's screwing up someone else's merchandise!

OR someone at Trainz FINALLY taught that person HOW to CORRECTLY PACK O gauge trains without the O.E.M. box!

I have only one experience with Trainz and it was not good.   I bought 4 freight cars and they came poorly packed and had bounced around and broken a bunch of detail parts off.    there was simply not enough packing in the box.    The person packing apparently has no  understanding of what he is doing and no one seems to explain it to him.   I complained and got some of the parts replaced.

But now I have misgivings about ordering again from them.

About 2 years or so, Scott posted about changes being made based on customer feedback.  Prior to that I had stopped being a customer due to issues with shipping and the difficulties in contacting customer service.  Since he is a sponsor of this forum I decided to give him a second chance.  I've placed 6-8 orders with them since the pandemic started and the only issue I had was having incorrect scenery items sent to me. I submitted an email to them as instructed on their website and was contacted within 24 hrs.  I was offered 3 different options including a complete return and refund, including return shipping.  I ended up keeping the items with a more than fair partial refund.

I echo others advice to reach out to them to resolve and provide feedback.  I do believe it will be acted upon.

-Greg

I had a major issue with their packaging back in June. The attached photos show part of a Golden Gate articulated diner set that were wrapped as shown. Two cars wrapped together in one piece of bubble with nothing in between. The paint and lettering were destroyed so a professional repaint is needed to make these beautiful again.

Trainz issued me a full refund and their customer service was easy to deal with on the matter. I would prefer that they take better care in packing and also handling of their products. I don’t want a refund or a credit, I want the item in the condition it should be in, especially if its hard to find item like GGD Lark cars.

On a related note, the remainder of the cars in this set, I purchased in an earlier transaction at the beginning of June. Since they were unboxed, I put a request on the order to insure they were packed with adequate protection. Those cars were expertly packed and arrived with no issues (at least none that were caused by shipping/packing). I did not make a similar request on the later order for the dining cars since I assumed they would arrive packaged in the same way.

In the future, I will be very cautious about buying high end items from Trainz, especially unboxed. I have strong reasons to believe that handling of merchandise can be quite careless at times which causes needless damage to the models.

It’s so silly having an item incorrectly packaged. People need to use common sense. I have no patience for that. For right now I won’t even use this company.

I first read this thread yesterday, relieved that I had yet to experience any of these packing/shipping woes. Then today dawned, and boy did that thought turn to . . . . . !!    

I received my first loco, a MTH NKP 0-8-0 from Trainz, wrapped in a single layer of brown paper, both pieces nestled together and bubble wrapped on the outside only, leaving loco and tender free to smack the **** out of each other at will inside the bubble wrap cocoon. Bent parts, broken parts laying loose inside - not exactly the “like new” condition I had purchased. And TOTALLY preventable with a little bit of bubble wrap between the two pieces. .

Then my second loco arrived, a Weaver PRR 0-8-0 from Stout Auctions that looks like it was run over by a truck. Literally, complete with tire tracks on the carton!! Thanks UPS!! Incredibly, the styrofoam insert, crushed and broken beyond belief, protected the locomotive from serious damage. The only casualty I could find was a bent bell mount and missing bell (which begs the question “where is it” - was it broken off before packaging?)

Tough day for small steam around here!

Stout charges a premium for shipping, speaking from experience!!!

Well, I've had the worst shipping from Nicholas Smith ordered 4 new passenger cars atlas they only use FedEx and FedEx lost them $1226.00 bucks have called them Nicholas Smith at least 4 times in the last couple of months and they have not done a darn thing to give my money back! every time i call them i get a different person and they say I'll look into it!

Nothing has been done and they never call me back! FedEx should be put out of business, in fact I talked to a FedEx driver near my house, and he told me they are the Worst company of all, and that FedEx does not care whether I ever get my money back!

Anyone have any ideas how to get reimbursed@

Sincerely disgusted!

Alan Mancus

@Alan Mancus posted:

Nothing has been done and they never call me back! FedEx should be put out of business, in fact I talked to a FedEx driver near my house, and he told me they are the Worst company of all, and that FedEx does not care whether I ever get my money back!

Anyone have any ideas how to get reimbursed@

Sincerely disgusted!

Alan Mancus

After having an issue with a fed ex guy i asked a different fed ex guy for the LOCAL distribution center supervisor's number and he was nice enough to oblige (probably because i assured him it wasnt about him). The corporate number people were useless to deal with but the local guy took my call, was courteous and listened to my complaint.  Perhaps your local distribution center manager can navigate you thru some red tape and help get the issue resolved.

Alan Mancus,  call your credit card company and do a chargeback.  That will get their attention and will get your money back immediately.  

Bryan H, you described what I see as Trainz problem exactly:

I received my first loco, a MTH NKP 0-8-0 from Trainz, wrapped in a single layer of brown paper, both pieces nestled together and bubble wrapped on the outside only, leaving loco and tender free to smack the **** out of each other at will inside the bubble wrap cocoon. Bent parts, broken parts laying loose inside - not exactly the “like new” condition I had purchased. And TOTALLY preventable with a little bit of bubble wrap between the two pieces.

The good news is that this is perfectly fixable with some instruction to the hired hands.  (the office must get tired of dealing with damaged items.).

@Alan Mancus posted:

Well, I've had the worst shipping from Nicholas Smith ordered 4 new passenger cars atlas they only use FedEx and FedEx lost them $1226.00 bucks have called them Nicholas Smith at least 4 times in the last couple of months and they have not done a darn thing to give my money back! every time i call them i get a different person and they say I'll look into it!

Nothing has been done and they never call me back! FedEx should be put out of business, in fact I talked to a FedEx driver near my house, and he told me they are the Worst company of all, and that FedEx does not care whether I ever get my money back!

Anyone have any ideas how to get reimbursed@

Sincerely disgusted!

Alan Mancus

Did you try filing a claim? It says it should have filed a claim within 21 days: https://www.fedex.com/en-us/cu...-support/claims.html

As far as the driver goes. He may be part of the problem. I had a FedEx driver mark me as not home at residence even though I was sitting in my front room watching for him. There was no FedEx truck in sight.

I watched the tracking closely.After the second time I called FedEx customer service.

The driver was heading back to the terminal  and I eventually got dispatch to tell him to turn around and actually make the delivery.

FedEx says the claim must be filed by the person who shipped the item.   The recipient can not do anything but wait.  
    Do a credit card chargeback as soon as possible, you get your money and the credit card company can battle it out with the hobby shop.  

I have received over (20) orders from Trainz in the past year.  Of those i have had issues with (4).  First order was a nightmare, but decided to try again.  Then went about (15) orders no problem.  Recently had (2) orders in a row with problems.  Then one good and one bad.  Customer service though is excellent!

I have experience exactly what was stated in the original post as far as packing method!

Just so everyone knows there has been a change during that time, they no longer answer the phone.  You must leave a message, but much quicker response if you E-mail.

Hate to challenge other posts, but I would NOT recommend doing a "charge back."  Just E-mail customer service, they will Help you Quickly.  I have been on the receiving end of Customer Service and that is why my recommendation.

The chargeback was not for Trainz, if you had read the former posts you would know that the poster had tried multiple times to rectify the problem with Nicholas Smith and was being ignored.  Do you have a better solution ?  My wife works for a credit card processor and she says the customer is always right.  Do the chargeback.

@Keith k posted:

FedEx says the claim must be filed by the person who shipped the item.   The recipient can not do anything but wait.  
   

According to their guidelines.  " The sender, recipient,  or a third party can file the claim".

However, as I stated before. It also states the claim must be filed within 21 days.

Alan mentions he's been calling NS for a couple of months. The 21 day window may have closed.

I tried to file a claim with FedEx last week after the seller refused a return. The box looked like it had been run over by a truck and my home security cameras showed that it came out of their truck that way.  FedEx said I could not file and it was the responsibility of the sender.  Contacted PayPal and had my account credited in less than 48 hours.  
  The window for a credit card chargeback is much greater than the 21 days FedEx gives you, I believe it is six months.

Sorry Keith.  I thought you were referring to Trainz.  That was the topic, but should have read more carefully.  I know topics can evolve into other issues as the post developes.  BTW when I posted only saw your first reply, your second one makes things much clearer.  I do agree with you and your wife and have used this myself as a last resort.

No problem MainLine steam, sometimes people don’t realize that your credit card company is working for you and they want you to be satisfied with your purchase. They will do whatever it takes including chargebacks.    By the way my purchases from trainz have been packed very carefully and I have been very Happy. Especially the oddball stuff that I couldn’t get anywhere else.  

Thanks Keith!

I know what you mean about the oddball stuff.  Initial bought a lot from eBay, but now getting down to the last few "must have" items, Trainz seems to be the place to get them.

Straying off the subject somewhat, I have mixed emotions about how they break-up "sets".  I have bought a number of K-Line Passenger Cars.  If I want a complete set and they list individual cars, especially not all at the same time, it can be frustrating.  On the other hand it allows me to create the consist I would like.

Jim, in light of the thread, you might use the words  break-up  cautiously!   

John

@MainLine Steam posted:

Thanks Keith!

I know what you mean about the oddball stuff.  Initial bought a lot from eBay, but now getting down to the last few "must have" items, Trainz seems to be the place to get them.

Straying off the subject somewhat, I have mixed emotions about how they break-up "sets".  I have bought a number of K-Line Passenger Cars.  If I want a complete set and they list individual cars, especially not all at the same time, it can be frustrating.  On the other hand it allows me to create the consist I would like.

Sometimes they break-up passenger sets in the most moronic of ways. In the case of the GGD Lark set I purchased (most of), they broke up the 3-unit ARTICULATED diner/lounge. 1 car was listed weeks ahead of most of the set and then the last 2 pieces were listed a few weeks later. Somebody had purchased the single piece a few days before I had seen the bulk of the cars listed. So I have 9 of the 12 cars, some joker out there has 1/3 of the diner/lounge and Trainz still has the other 2/3 of the diner/lounge which has been ruined due to poor packaging when they shipped them to me.

All other instances where I’ve seen articulated passenger cars, they’ve at least kept the articulated portions together but when they get one of the rarest GGD sets ever made, they went and did this.

I've only bought from Trainz 3 times, all in the past 6 months, but nothing in the past 4 or 5 weeks. All shipments were received with no outer damage. The first shipment was fine (other than it wandering around in the FedEx depot for week, but that's not Trainz's fault), but it was also just two boxed items, relatively light, and both were shipped in their boxes, with those bubble wrapped.

The second shipment was prewar Lionel 800 series freight cars. These were G to VG condition and were shipped by placing 4 or 5 side by side together, then tightly wrapping the group in bubble pack. No doubt the handles on the box car doors marked up adjacent cars, but considering the starting condition there was no way I'd know which scratches were new. I was going to restore most of them anyway, but a couple were early versions still in particularly good shape, so that was a nice surprise and those were spared the bead blast cabinet.

The third was a combo of prewar lamp posts, some with plastic tops, and other miscellaneous trackside signal items. The packing method appeared to be: make a nest of crumpled up packing paper, pour (and I did picture them actually pouring the items out of one box and into the shipping box), and then seal it up. Again, the condition was G-VG to start with, but I was shocked at the minimal effort and surprised that none of the plastic parts had cracked, although I'm sure they had more scratches when I got them than they had just before packing. I also got a small replacement part in a bag that I didn't order.

I took a photo of the bagged part (I should have photographed the packing as well) and sent an email describing my last two shipments. I mentioned that based on what I have received recently that I'd be hesitant to purchase anything in nice condition because I didn't think it would make it to me unscathed. I got an email response that my notes would be forwarded to the shipping manager and that no one had complained about a missing part, so they weren't going to issue a call tag for it. The part was probably a dollar, so I understand that.

Based on what I've read above, nothing has been addressed since my email to them. Oddly, the best packing I have seen in the past 3-4 months has been from individuals on da' bay. I had one that would have survived an airdrop delivery and it was one of the most economical charges of the past few months. Go figure!

John - I hope you get ahold of someone to to talk to and they actually make changes, because I'm sitting on the sidelines when it comes to ordering again unless I think additional dents and scratches are O.K.

Got a 3rd Rail PRR H-6 from them. Was packed well and had the original box and inserts with it. When I unpacked the smoke deflector on the cab roof was bent and partially loose from the roof. As it wasn't like this in the photos who ever put it back into the box must have done it. Got a reasonable partial rebate from them.