Periodically, there are comments as to the service given by the remaining mailorder houses for large scale.
Do you, as readers, have any personal confirmation whether our posts are read by those same mailorder house managers/owners? If so, any comments made as to refutation, agreement, or plans for change?
My guess is there are readers of this post who actually communicate directly with owners.
Wendell
I’m sure there are prolly friends of the owners whom lurk here and then forward the comments on to them.
They would never respond directly. It could lead to thread locking, name calling, etc., and it is not good for business.
If I owned an Internet store, I would not respond.
jb
One did on the Kalmbach MR forum last year, and it wasn’t pretty.
No matter who was right, everybody has an “opinion”.
Wendell, All:
Good question.
There was a recent thread discussing the Bachmann K-27 pricing that prompted a subsequent short exchange between a vendor and a couple of equipment purchasers over on MLS. It was very short (3 or 4 posts) and quite pointed on both the customer’s and vendor’s parts. That doesn’t happen very often.
I believe that some vendors do read the forums. I personally know of a couple of smaller ones that do. They generally don’t comment. I also know a few others that specifically say they stay away as they just don’t want to hear it. It mostly just results in unwinnable arguments that go nowhere and as John Bouck wrote “. . . is not good for business”.
Just look at the current thread here on LSC that totally trashes Wholesale Trains. Wendell used the term “critique posts”, but that “critique” thread (from a person who appears to have joined LSC just to write it) starts by blasting WT’s billing, delivery and shipping policies. He then gets several ‘I hate WT too’ responses with some ‘you should buy here instead’ advice thrown in for good measure. The OP barely mentions that he originally went there because he found the lowest advertised price anywhere and that his only ‘damage’ appears to be a wait for something that possibly wasn’t even available from the manufacturer. In fact, the OP could even be a first time LS train buyer who doesn’t have any idea of how the LS train supply chain works. We now have ~12 posts telling the world how rotten Wholesale Trains are. I’m not at all defending Wholesale Trains, but this is a prime example of how most of the supposed internet “critiques” wind up. How can any vendor or manufacturer, right or wrong, respond to that kind of ‘pile on’ mentality and treatment?
A more important question is whether vendors pay attention (privately) to real problems and complaints (forum based or otherwise) and do something (also privately) to help prevent future problems. Hopefully this happens, but we can’t see what goes on behind the scenes.
p.s.: I just noticed that the anti-Wholesale Trains rant is now carried over to the LSC Live Steam forum. It says “They are dishonest” there! That makes 13 posts and counting.
Happy RRing,
Jerry
Yes - Trainworld.
Several months ago, when attempting to place a phone order, I was told I’d have to eMail my credit card details, including CVC, before they’d do business with me. I politely demurred, and posted a warning here and on GSM about the dangers inherent in eMailing credit card details.
Part of my job it to be informed about web security issues. I have no problem sharing my concerns about a practice that is, at best, silly. It’s the ISSUE that’s important, not the fact that the demand came from one of the owners, or that TrainWorld is in Brooklyn, or that today is Thursday and the wind is blowing from the south.
Subsequently, Trainworld has implemented a secure web site, TrainWorldOnline. Another Australian who posts on GSM and this forum advised me about it. I checked the site out, and ended up placing two orders with TrainWorld over the next few months that worked fine.
I doubt TrainWorld responded to me personally. I know, from replies to my post on GSM, that other overseas customers have had similar experiences with TrainWorld. If those posts are to be taken at face value, some of these folks registered their opinions with TrainWorld more emphatically than I did.
TrainWorld recognised the need for a secure web ordering system and did something about it. Did customer complaints have anything to do with it? I’m betting they did.
Keep in mind that shipping is a big deal for overseas customers. Any info about how best to minimise these costs is extremely helpful. Retailers who insist on shipping overseas via UPS - about the most expensive way there is - can’t complain if the word gets around.
Because GSM is a UK-based forum, this topic gets more attention there than it does here on LSC. That said, it’s the specific issue of shipping charges that’s on the table, nothing else. FYI, two items of similar weight and dimensions, both shipped from New York State to Perth earlier this year, cost nearly triple the price via UPS compared to DHL.