Introducing… Broadway Outlet Direct. Get BLI refurbs/seconds at dramatic discounts.
On the BLI WEB page, they are advertising for sale refurbs and seconds with no warranty.
I looked at the prices and I really don’t think it is worth the saving to be stuck with something that might not run correctly and have no warranty.
What do you think about this offer from BLI?
Broadway Outlet Direct (BOD) offers refurbished Broadway Limited Imports products at significant discounts. Products sold through BOD may be customer returns, have packaging damage, or are factory refurbished units / factory seconds. BOD products carry no warranty of any kind, are sold AS-IS and are non-returnable. Items that are in need of future service can be serviced by BLI at the standard repair rates.
This following statement was added to the BLI page after I wrote the initial Page on this story.
***A 5 day product evaluation period is provided on all BOD purchases (5-day period calculated from date of receipt of product). Products that do not operate properly may be returned within this period only. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the purchaser. ***
Does anyone have any idea how the “seconds” run, I mean do they run ok or not so ok?
I purchased some used locos from a forum member and they turned out to be a pig in a polk. Saving money would be nice but not if they didn’t run well. From my recent “lemon” experience I am kinda gun shy. [:(] [V]
“May be” is a problem…there’s a big difference between those four categories:
-customer return,
-packaging damage,
-factory refurbish,
-factory second.
Your risk factor is very high.
IMHO…No warranty of any kind means you should be paying accordingly, if you wi***o take a chance…maybe 30% of list price…???
Years ago, we used to buy Black & Decker appliances & power tools at a B & D "direct outlet ", which claimed the same “maybe” categories as above… BUT …the stuff all had warranties of the same duration as their NEW product warranties. The prices were 25% to 50% off new list prices, and were often for discontinued models. Good deals, and the warranties were real…I needed to use one once, on an 18v cordless drill after nearly two years of use…no problem…the unit was replaced with their newest model.[:)]
regards
Mike
Until QSI (BLI’s sound decoder supplier) resolves the inrush current overload problem with their sound decoders while running under DCC, I don’t plan to purchase any BLI or other QSI-equipped motive power, no matter how much it’s discounted. It’s just too much trouble.
QSI is said to be making an effort to address this, however, so there’s hope. In the mean time, I’ll sit it out.
If these units came with a good warranty I would say “go for it” but if no warranty is provided give it a wide berth. I won’t dea with anyone which won’t back their work as I’ve burned before.
It depends on what’s wrong with the engines. I’ve got two of the BLI USRA heavy mikes, and they’re engineered like any traditional steam model. If the problem is with the “brain”, it’s no big deal to rewire the engine for conventional DC control without the sound.
From what I’ve been hearing, most BLI engines suffer from different engineering issues, most of which can be overcome with only basic modeling skills. The 4-4-4-4 had a weak retention pin for one set of drivers, which caused them to fall apart. Easily fixed. Many of the E units came with bad or incorrect paint jobs. Again, easily fixed. And “factory seconds” doesn’t mean the engine is a POS. If the finish is bad, the engines will not go up for sale. Likewise, if the packaging is REALLY messed up, the manufacturer won’t sell it. This is the way things work in retail. BLI is just trying to sell off some of it’s faulty merchandise (ever heard of an outlet mall?)
100% of the BLI locos I have purchased have had to go back for warranty repair. My guess is that they have been burned so badly with warranty claims that they can not afford to cover these already known lemons. I will be staying well away from these as well as new ones with a warranty.
IMHO They are not offering enough of a discount to take the risk: Example: The cab Forward at $300 is close to dealer cost on the loco and it has no warranty??? I don’t see how they are giving up much here…
That is exactly what I think. For that price, I can do without the sound. In fact that was my original plan when I ordered my first BLI locomotive.
With this outlet thing, I more worried about mechmanical issues. Like if I got an A class from them and the darn valve gear falls apart. Or the motor is ready to burn out. I wouldn’t want to end up spending as much for an outlet engine + repair cost as I would a brand new one + warranty.
Looks good but i would hate to be stuck with a flying piece of junk. The NO warranty part is really bad. I don’t think they would sell you a bad product because they want you to buy a new one but you never know.
So far I haven’t seen anyone who is interested in steping up to the plate and buying one of these. It will be interesting to see if BLI sweetens it deal.
Some of the stuff is just bad packaging, some of it may be bad finish. Others may be bad mechanicals. Unless I can lay hands on it prior to purchase and rule out one or more, I won’t touch it.
FWIW, I’ve bought a gas string trimmer and cordless blower as seconds. No problems with either. I’ve done the outlet mall thing. But buying seconds sight unseen? That’s asking for this: [banghead]
The BLI website now indicates a 5 day allowed return for Outlet Direct items that do not operate properly. So it looks like they at least think the item works well enough. However, they do not indicate that the return policy covers unsatisfactory appearance items. My experience with BLI has been excellent. I have 6 of their engines and all are excellent. Only 2 required chip replacement to correct the number of chuffs per wheel revolution and that was easily accomplished without having to return the engines to BLI.
I noticed that BLI added this to their outlet store web page:
“***A 5 day product evaluation period is provided on all BOD purchases (5-day period calculated from date of receipt of product). Products that do not operate properly may be returned within this period only. Return shipping costs are the responsibility of the purchaser. ***”
Reading some of the other threads on steam locomotive manufacturers and the never ending thread on the Digitrax yahoo groups list about the QSI power surge problem, it is clear that the BLI luster is fading fast. Dealers are reporting failure rates in the 35% range. My own experience has been very dissapointing. BLI have stired up the modelling world with the introduction of the sound equipped DCC locomotive, but it seems that many of us that have tried them are somewhat unhappy with the resulting product. I don’t know if they are rushing too much to market to try and beat out the other sound equipped entrants coming on stream later this year, but they are damaging what was a huge surge of popular support and interest from the modelling community.