A couple of months back I acquired a Roundhouse 2-8-0 off Ebay & in the process of it being shipped to me the the draw bar connecting the Loco to the Tender was busted. Even though the packing was thorough.
In casting about for a replacement I emailed Athearn but they replied that sorry, they didn’t have one, but they would see what they could do.
In the meantime I fashioned a repair which was structurally sufficient but aesthetically a disappointment.
However, in today’s post out of the blue, a new drawbar arrived from Athearn, gratis.
I, too, will commend Athearn for their customer service department.
Several years ago I picked up a number of cheap kits, including an Athearn tank car kit. All collected dust for quite some time before I decided to assemble them. One piece of the Athearn tank car had failed to be included. A quick e-mail to Athearn saw the arrival, postage pre-paid, of the missing part – no questions asked.
Contrast this with Sunbeam, who when I inquired about replacement of a broken cord on an electric blanket – which I assured them was not under warranty – they wanted my receipt, the broken cord, the blanket itself, and more money than the cost of a brand new electric blanket. Sunbeam could learn quite a bit about customer service from Athearn.
I too have had good service for the Athearn/Roundhouse steamers. They answer email also.
I have two 2-6-0’s with a Wild West livery that I want to install DCC/sound. Athearn had the loco wipers, the clear plastic windows for the cab, new tender frame ready for a one inch speaker and tender trucks with all wheel pickup. The windows fit right into the cab. The original cabs did not have “glass” windows.
I recieved two new Amtrak P42’s from Athearn that each had one of the four bulbs burnt out. Like the others have said, all it took was one quick email and the replacement bulbs came a few days later. Great service!
I pulled an SD50 out of the box that I purchased 4 years ago, The front handrail was broken. I wrote Athearn and within a week, an entire new handrail set arrived at no cost… They are fantastic.