I recently emailed Bowser about the C628 I recently bought (in January). It ran like crap & now one of the driveshafts have broken.
This was almost 2 weeks ago.
I haven’t heard anything from them.
Has anyone else had situations like this with Bowser?
I bought the Alco in January, brand new from my LHS as I was curious about Stewart as a few people highly recommended the companies offerings.
It had sat in the showcase for a while( more than a year) , no one had touched it, I took it home, lubed it up & it ran ok, a bit noisily though.
If this is typical Bowser/Stewart customer service I will not buy another one. [B)]
ANY time I had an issue with Athearn, they always fixed the problem. No questions asked. [^]
Use the telephone instead of e-mail. I have heard that Bowser offers top-notch customer service if you speak to them first-hand instead of trying to converse via computer. There are too many instances of e-mail messages disappearing into the ether if you type one character wrong in the address, and sometimes they just disappear even if you do type it right.
Bowser is first rate for service. I suggest more investigation before posting a rant like this. Most manufacturers have very heavy anti-spam on their computers, so if you mail from something like hotmail, they will never get it. You wouldn’t email your auto repair man so why do it to someone else?
Your LHS made most of the money on your purchase. He’s in the business to give service, so bug HIM.
BOWSER bought STEWART, but only is responsible for items he sells - or those in Warrantee. If you buy a car off an independant lot and have a problem, do you call the manufacturer?
I bought a Stewart F7 A-B set on eBay a while bak. When I got it the B unit had a broken step. NOT from the eBay seller, the package was SEALED and the broken piece was NOT inside. I called Stewart (try CALLING - in these days of excess spam, depending on how you worded your message it can easily be deleted. Kill the spammers please, so we can go back to normal use of email) and told them right out that I bought it on ebay and that the pieces was broken and not loose inside the box or anything. They shipped me a replacement shell free of charge. That’s pretty darn good service to me.
You bring up an excellent point. Many anti-spam programs (as well as many network administrators I’ve talked to) automatically block out emails from domains such as yahoo and hotmail as they tend to be the domain of choice of spammers and phishers. Yeah you might have to pay few cents to make the phone call, but it is worth it.
I had some brass parts missing from a loco kit I bought from Bowser. I emailed them as per my LHS recommendation as he thought it might be quicker. Two days later, parts in the mail box. No questions asked. They never did ack my email though.
I can say nothing but good about my Bowser experiences.
I agree that the shop that sold it should support it for the problem you relate.
Well Don, having worked in a new car dealership for the past 10 years I know how auto manufacturer warranties work thank you very much!
If I bought a car off of an independant lot & the car still had the munufacturers warranty on it, I would in fact go to the dealership aka manufacturer, to get it fixed as the independant lot guy would send it there anyways to get it fixed so in my actions contacting Bowser directly is correct.
Is it the LHS’s fault that they received a faulty product from a manufacturer? NO IT IS NOT. They have no idea if it’s faulty.
I had no idea that Bowser has had problems in the past with email. This is the first time buying anything from Bowser or Stewart. I’ve never had a problem getting a response from Walthers, Athearn, IHC, Proto or anyone else.
I had sent it from my personal internet providers email acct & not a “free for all” such as Yahoo or Hotmail.
Having several people mention that I should call, I shall do that. I might even send them a fax as well.
If they indeed fix the problem then I will be more than willing to openly apologize in this forum for my post.
email is ‘newspeak’ for “I am cheap, and not really serious”. Like it or lump it but that is the way a whole, whole lot of people look at it and treat it.
Call them direct when I bought my locomotive kits from them it was on the phone. I had some questions about them my call was transferred to the company president himself(I couldn’t believe it myself)! I got all my answers and world class customer service that would embarass many of the LHSs in my city. CALL don’t email.
Seems to me that “almost two weeks ago” isn’t really a very long time to expect an answer. If you had said “almost two months ago”, I would agree there would be a reason to be concerned, but 10-14 days? Patience is a virtue.
I find it interesting that just how far I go to service my customers!
I’m sorry, but you don’t know me. I’m not sure how you are able to group everyone in thre automotive trade together.
I have delivered parts on my way home, I’ve gone out of my way to drive customers home in my own vehicle after work just so they wouldn’t have to take a cab or public transit.
I have properly installed countless automotive child retraints on my own time.
I’VE BEEN DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC FOR 30 YEARS.
DON’T TELL ME THAT I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Email, phone or fax, if any company, no matter how big or small, advertises anyone of the three for a source of contact, it should not take more than a week to return a message.
I faxed them last night.
Lets see how long it takes them to get back to me.
I would like to encourage you to be more responsible with your posts. Remember, many of these model railroad manufacturers are mom and pop business to some degree. Giving a bad review over these boards could affect their business in some way. E-mail is convenient but the phone is more effective and gets results.
I know that it’s true that spam is killing email, that filters can block legitimate mail as well as spam, and that you can be ignored when you email. But I also think that companies who are not going to take the time to sift through their e-mail should not provide an email address to their customers. (I don’t know if Bowser reads their email or not – I’m speaking of companies in general. Bowser does, however, have an email address on their web site). If you offer your customers an email address, and you take your customers seriously, you have to sift through and answer your email. Email does not say “I’m cheap.” It says, “I’m using modern communication techniques which allow me to avoid being placed on hold, gives you a written account of my needs as a customer, and allows you to receive my communication at your convenience rather than interrupting you.”
I agree. Why post phone numbers and email addresses under the link “contact us!” when they don’t bother to answer the phone or read their emails?
I have had success with BLI using both means a number of times over the past year. If Bowser won’t respond to emails, why don’t they remove their address from their website?
I personally think bowsers customer service went down the tube. Last year I bought 3 Roadrailers one was short of smalls crews they sent them without a problem. This year I bought another road railer and it was missing the parts that held the railroad truck to the trailer I got an answer contact your LHS cause it would cost 8.00 for shipping for the two parts. I said screw that I aint paying for a part that was missing. Now that trailer sits off track in a yard. I recently purchased an undecorated trailer which actually has everything. Now I buy a lot of bowser rollingstock lately so I would think they would be kind enough to send me these parts but nope nothing.