MTH Customer Support & Parts departments

I tried to get parts from the web site and it's the same way.

People here have talked about Mige ?  Who does a great job but

is so over whelmed that she can't get to everyone.

When at York during the question and answer sessions, Why doesn't any

one ask Mike Wolf about his parts and service ?

Parts and service is a big part of my buying decisions. I like what MTH does,

in the way of product, but if there is no support I'm looking else ware..

..

.

I have a MTH engine at Trainz for repair, they need a part from MTH, they said it would be 4 - 6 weeks to get the part because that is how slow MTH is.  It has been 4 weeks so far.

BTW  your call being disconnected is call dumping, they do it automatically to clear the lines and not reveal the true hold time.

To be honest...for parts..thats considered pretty normal. Midge is a one woman show and does the absolute best she can.  The issue is the lack of emphasis by MTH to hire more folks to fill this gap and others. The issue goes beyond the manning #s.  I called several months ago to find out if the 249e in the christmas starter set had a whistle.  I was told that "the person who can answer this question isn't here. You'll have to call back tomorrow"  I find it interesting that members on the this forum have made it pretty clear that Lionel has leadership that doesn't understand trains...but the tech support is A+ and MTH has leadership that knows trains but the tech support is in need of improvement.

Sunrise

It does seem that there has been more than enough complaints about the lack of service that a change is needed.

 MTH has leadership that knows trains but the tech support is in need of improvement..........In need of improvement?? That is an understatement. If they put a phone in the mens room there and was able to talk to one of the service/parts people there while doing their business, it would be better service then you get now. This has been going on there for a long, long time and the bottom line is they don't care. Read some of the old threads here. If you really care about something you change it, period. Shame on MTH hopefully at some point it will really start to show up in their bottom line and the funny thing is they will be foolishly be asking themselves ,"what happened here?"

Yep...pretty typical of MTH.  But as Richard says above, this had been beat to death...the complaining has been going on for a long time but it seems nothing has changed.  We have a few folks here on the forum that have really gone beyond their call of duty as far as helping those of us that have not had much luck getting good service and parts....and for those folks, I thank you so very much!! 

On a side note:  I did get a chance to talk to someone in service a few weeks ago and was told that they did not have the parts for the new set that had just been delivered to dealers and shipped to customers.  Further, they didn't expect parts for at least 6 months!!  I asked if this was typical and the answer was an affirmative.  Imagine getting a broken out of the box locomotive and then having to wait more than 6 months to get it repaired and having to pay for the shipping to boot!!....  Hello Lionel...goodbye MTH...

For what it's worth, I believe I got an out-of-office type note from Midge last week when I e-mailed.  I don't recall when it said she would be back, but it didn't seem long - like a week or something.

I've sent emails to MTH and they all seem to go into a black hole.  OTOH, I have called and gotten much better service than Kenn a number of times.  At this point, I don't bother to send email to MTH service, because I rarely see a response.

I suspect the real issue here is we've become used to mediocre service from many firms and as long as it doesn't impact their bottom line, that won't change.

I must say that service from Lionel nowadays is very good, a model the other folks would do well to emulate.

I think it is called patients. its not like you need your train for transportation.

MTH can be a little slow some time's, its hit or miss.

You know, the bottom line is this.....they really don't care at all (MTH) about repairing or honoring your warranty work if they can help it.  No profit in it for them.  They'd just as soon  have you frustrated and give up and buy another replacement than deal with your engine problems. As wages and quality control issues continue to diminish in lieu of more and more profit for some of  these companies, this will always be an ongoing problem.  In the case of MTH, I believe the quality is there, but because of the complicated mechanics and boards involved, there are bound to be problems.  I for one wouldn't mind a little additional cost built in to hire more trouble shooters and better repair policies.  Perhaps at the York meeting this could be impressed on the MTH representative.

Kenn,

I just sent you an email. 

Scott Smith

I always call between noon and five and always get thru.

I believe its not a suggested time but the time operators are there to answer calls.

I've tried the Parts dept from the website, but always get some sort of Problem

message...me or them, I don't care.

Anyway, I shop Lionel's Parts lists like a scratchbuilder's store; buy from them

online all the time, and have little or no trouble getting through on the phone.

I wish that MTH had the same online parts system; I'd love to spend some scratch-

bashing money with them.

Lionel has solved the problem; Mike R., I guess. But is he the only person who could

do this? Of course not. I wish that Mike W. would get his own Mike R. (no cut aimed

at "Midge", BTW - don't know her).

MTH did get my new RS-1 going and back to me in about 3 weeks, but I still buy L

over M (locos only, when there's a choice, like my new CSX Legacy SD-40-2; MTH

was cheaper, but...) because of the parts/service reputations.

Both companies offer such beautiful things, don't they? (But, boy, could we

use some new Big Black Steam Locomotive tooling from both; I'm skipping

the "upgraded re-runs", pretty much entirely.)

That's what their phone message says, and I've always believed it.

Maybe Lionel could buy out MTH.

Maybe Lionel could buy out MTH.

LOL, I think Guggenheim Capitol Management has had its fill with electric trains, could be the other way around when GCM puts Lionel up on the auction block.

why didn't someone at York ask mike wolf about their parts and customer service-same reason you did not ask the top lionel people about quality control issues.

I do not understand why we are so tolerate of these 2 train companys.we complain and yet when the new catalogs come out everyone has a want list.

call mth between noon and five pm-ask for midge-worth her weight in gold-she called me on a Friday nite at 7.45 pm and told me she found the part I needed.it took her over a week to find it-how many companys have a person that would stay that late on a Friday to serve me-

When this subject has come up before the advice has always been, forget email, call Midge directly.  It worked for me but I only had to do it once a couple of years ago.

.....

Dennis

Hi All,

Just a heads up unless this is already known,

MTH'S support is 12pm to 5pm however; just Tuesday to Thursday, unless this has

recently changed.

Well i'll call in the mornings and most of the times i get midgs anwering machince..leave her a measage..she does get back to me in the after noon or next morning..but alittle kicker..If I need her ..i can her have her paged....Got my parts with in the 5 days time..I must be the lucky guy here..

if that happends you better get a fatter wallet because the prices will got up alot.

I have a lot of MTH engines that are 20 years old plus or minus a few years.  Over the past several months I have needed some parts for a couple of engines from MTH.  I have called and have had to leave a message for Midge to return my call.  She has always returned the call.  You have to realize you are not the only customer that needs parts and it may take her awhile to get back to you.  Midge has always come thru and gotten me the right parts for my 20 year old locos.  BTW, she always has sent me emails when the parts were shipped and final totals on cost.  I only wish other people at other companies were as efficient as Midge is.

Rick

I've always had good luck with Midge and my parts needs. Perhaps the turmoil of getting ready for York earlier and the turmoil of returning from York and getting resituated has something to do with your issues. I'm sure York takes a lot of everyone's time both going and returning. Joe

 Why not ask... Maybe they are not aware of the problem or that this part of

the business needs to be improved....