Hi David…
The best policy probably would have been to return your GS-4 to the store or individual you purchased it from on Ebay. If the seller did not offer a return period or policy, then buyers should avoid such transactions for this very reason. Did you check with the seller to verify the return policy?
KatoUSA is well within their rights as a manufacturer, to charge a minimum ‘bench fee’ to resolve a problem with one of their products - if you cannot prove the date of purchase or from where you bought the item. Since you just bought it recently(I assume), you probably did not have time to register the warranty, if they still require it, and thus- the charge.
In order to get the model running again properly, and by your own admission, you paid to send it back to them for service and/or repair. It wouldn’t do you,Kato or the model any good,if the problem wasn’t corrected and then returned without being fixed, would you agree?
At any rate, any business can charge a service fee on any unverified warranty service. This is why on new items, if there is a problem found, it should always be returned to the seller - let them deal with the distributor or manufacturer and return it as defective merchandise.
This way, you’re in the clear, can get a replacement with no charge to you and everyone is happier, including KatoUSA- they prefer to handle warranty issues through their dealer network.
I’m sorry that you had this issue with the Kato GS-4 as it enjoys a very high reputation for smooth operation, which is why you most likely bought it to begin with.
KATOUSA is a fine company and has a solid reputation of standing behind their products - you’re lucky to be able to enjoy all their new products as we, in HO scale, envy you N scalers over all the new models they are bringing out - models HO’ers are wi