David and Wendell, and no doubt others. You want to open the boxes before you buy? Have you worked in a hobby shop and picked pieces off the floor because somebody opened the box? I have. Then the next customer wants one that hasn’t been opened. That is common. My opinion, if you want to take it out of the box, buy it. That’s my opinion from time spent working in the train department of a hobby shop. If this post angers you, sorry about that.
What Bill said is absolutely true. I worked in a hobby shop as a teenager, and customers opening boxes was a no-no. Pieces get lost, things don’t fit back in the box correctly, pieces get broken, and customers want an unopened one. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
Yes, I agree that customers should not be allowed to open the boxes at will, and out of site of the store personnel. I also believe that folks should not handle the merchandise.
I don’t usually want to open the box when I buy something, and if its still factory sealed then I am happy with buying the item still sealed in the box. I am not sure where you got the idea that I want the box opened before I buy the item. The exception being, if the box has visible damage to it, or rattles when I pick it up. Then I want the store personnel to open it in front of me to verify that the product is ok. Wendell asked what labels are on the new LGB items so they can be identified as to country of origin. Before I took pictures of the underside of the Olomamna, I stated in at least 2 posts that the county of origin is on the box. So if that is of concern to someone they merely need to look at the product label on the box, no opening required.
No one I read advocated on this site the product box be opened - the point was IF the product origin was NOT identified on the box then either the store clerk or the customer, with the courtesy of permission, would need to make that discovery on the product itself. Fortunately, the product origin IS identified (at least this one sample) on the box end. So mail order staff can be assured when customers want the “latest” production, this identification is easily made. That cuts out sending old stock if not requested.
The following was posted June 28, 2016 at 7:39 PM EDT.
“I agree, a dealer who does not approve of opening a product box for inspection is not completing a sale.”
Specifically the poster says “opening a product box”
“And if the dealer, LHS, or whoever, will not let me examine what I want to buy, up close, then I guess I just don’t really want to buy it then, now do I?” was posted slightly earlier at 7:12 PM EDT. No one objects to someone examining the box, but “examining what I want to buy” strongly infers the product in the box.
And if the dealer, LHS, or whoever, will not let me examine what I want to buy, up close, then I guess I just don’t really want to buy it then, now do I?
Bill, you are right, I did say that. But most hobby shops do have display models that we can look at. If I haven’t seen the item up close before, and I am not familiar with it, then I would like to see what it looks like. So you did catch me saying 2 opposing things.
Most of what I bought is because I saw one up close and I liked what I saw. Conversely, I did not buy some items I thought I wanted, because when I saw it up close I was not impressed. But seldom do hobby shops have RTR items in a box, with no display example to look at, and expect to make a sale. The manufacturers know this, so they put windows in the boxes of many items so the prospective buyer can see the item up close, in the box.
But I do stand by what I said, in that if I am familiar with the item, then purchasing one in a factory sealed box is ok with me. And I also do not think a customer should open boxes without the store personnel right there, and with the store personnel’s permission. In fact, at the LHS, when Tobey told me I could open the box to see the product, I handed it to him to open instead. It is his store, and his property, until I pay for it.
I will say that any major purchase in any scale, be it HO brass, or pretty much anything in large scale, the dealer opened the box on any new item for us both to inspect it prior to leaving his shop. This protects him and the buyer. If the model has issues, then it can be taken care of before the buyer goes home. This is just good business. I live an hour away from the shop I deal with most of the time, I know him well enough that he could care less if I open up boxes to inspect models. When at places like RLD hobbies, Robbie has taken models we are purchasing out of the box for inspection prior to the long drive home. The live steamer I bought there, got ran on the store layout before I headed home(was during the fall open house a couple years ago). Obviously just opening boxes in a store you have never been to or do not have a personal relationship and level of trust with the owner is a no no. Mike
The box is opened by the sales person, store manager, or the customer IF given an OK.
End of issue.
The point is:
Making a who-opens-the-box issue out of this identification process loses the focus – LGB boxes now have the data on the box end for those clerks AND those customers seeking and choosing LGB products that are not old issue and are accurately being sold as recently manufactured. Yes, they now have an identifier.
Wendell, What makes you think most customers believe they need permission to open boxes? They don’t.
I’m not the one who raised the issue of opening boxes. I kept quiet for days before responding, but felt the store’s side needed to be presented.
Customers who want a product unopened don’t care who opened it. No matter who opened it, they don’t want it.
When are several folks in the store, one or two clerks can’t give each one personal attention at the same time.
Mike, after you have bought something it is perfectly fine to open it right then and there, before you leave the store. It makes perfect sense to do so. What I object to is browsers who open boxes, lose small parts, etc., then walk away.
I hope we can agree that both sides of the issue have now been presented and move on.
Wendell Hanks said:
The box is opened by the sales person, store manager, or the customer IF given an OK.
End of issue.
The point is:
Making a who-opens-the-box issue out of this identification process loses the focus – LGB boxes now have the data on the box end for those clerks AND those customers seeking and choosing LGB products that are not old issue and are accurately being sold as recently manufactured. Yes, they now have an identifier.
You say they “now have the data on the box”, implying that they didn’t have that data before. I have some old LGB boxes that have the made in west Germany label on them. The boxes were always labeled. I think that is a requirement to sell a product in this country, labeling it with the country of origin.
Today I ran my Olomana with my Chloe. They are both small LGB 0-4-2 locomotives. The Chloe runs noticeably faster then the Olomana at the same voltage. After an hour or so of running, the Olomana started stalling on the one switch. The lead drivers had cleared the plastic frog, but the locomotive was acting like it wasn’t getting any power. It turns out that the power pick up on the fireman’s side (if it had a fireman), for the lead driver, had gone bad. I opened the locomotive up, and rotated the metal pick up holder in the frame, so a different spot on the holder would contact the power bus. Then I put 2 drops of conductive lube on the contact itself, and put the Olomana back in service. She ran for about a half an hour before she started stalling on the switch again.
Since I remove the skates on my 4 coupled LGB locomotives, so that they can actually climb my summit, the only power pick ups are the drivers. Since the Olomana has metal trailing wheels, I am thinking of adding power pick ups to those wheels to help improve her performance. So when I take her into the shop to replace the bad power pick up on the driver, I may try and work out power pick ups on the trailing wheels.
Total run time so far, under 5 hours. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)
It was also a selling point for LGB vs most of the others. They took pride on where LGB was made, just as my Hartland and Kalamazoo trains have “made in the USA” on the box as we as a people are rightly proud of what we still make here in the USA. From what I know from my late uncle, who was German and who got me started with LGB trains, was that Germans are a proud people as well and take pride in what they produce. But your correct, it is nice to have easy to find and read labeling on the box for where an item was produced. Either way, its a global market, whether we like it or not. I am just thankful that LGB survived and is still being made by someone. Mike
Yea, I like some of the LGB stuff, and I am glad that they have survived in one incarnation or another. Its just a shame that I have to repair my nearly new LGB Olomana. Shades of Aristocraft.
David Maynard said:
Yea, I like some of the LGB stuff, and I am glad that they have survived in one incarnation or another. Its just a shame that I have to repair my nearly new LGB Olomana. Shades of Aristocraft.
Why not just contact the dealer and let them know it has failed? It’s my understanding (and I could be wrong) that LGB no longer does repairs, they will just replace the defective item. At least that is what they did with my new reversing control I purchased. I even admitted I burned it up, the dealer had LGB send me a new one and also sent a UPS call tag to take the bad one back.
Vincent I could, and I would for something more serious then a flaky contact. But, really, a bad contact? I have some in my spare parts bins…somewhere. Its going to take more time to find the darn part then it will to replace it. Once I get off my butt. Besides I am going out of town on Wednesday, so I wont be here to deal with return tags and such.
David-
Please report the outcome from the repair or replacement of your Oloama loco.
As I recall LGB America’s previous location in San Diego, CA., any problem first meant resolution by a phone call to repair. If the call didn’t bring a solution, mailing the loco was next and the repaired or replaced loco came back in reasonable time – with frequently no charge.
So your experience may define what are the expectations and limitations for what customers can expect from LGB.
Thanks,
Wendell
Wendell, like I said, I am not sending it back to Trainworld for a bad power pick up. I am leaving town tomorrow for a business trip (more training), so it will probably be 2 weeks before I tear into her and replace the pick up.
On the regular track (not the one switch), she runs well. There is still some gear noise, but I do not expect that to go away. Bevel gears tend to be noisy.
I had purchased the LGB New York Streetcar. Two years later it developed a short in one of the modules in the rear set of wheels. This trucks controlled sound and motive power in both trucks. I had tried to get it fixed but no one who could say that it was repairable. A $700 Shelf Queen, very disappointing to say the least. Dennis
Dennis, that doesn’t sound right. If its a machine, it can be fixed.
Calling Dr. Pierce