Is there a Forum here or on any other site to discuss Internet vendors? I am wondering if anyone has experiences buying online. I want to buy an engine online from http://www.modeltrainpro.com but am hesitant without a recommendation.
You can talk about here, TD. I’ve never heard of nor dealt with ModelTrainPro.com personally. By their area code and phone # they are in Claremore, OK, which is NE of Tulsa. Looks like they have decent prices.
Tom
Best prices are MB Klein and Trainworld. Be wary of run of the mill operations. David B
Have you bought from them before and are they ‘reputable’?
I know a place that I will never ever buy from texNrails.
M B Klein already has a lot of my money and will continue to get more of it in the future.
If you are going to say anything negative I suggest you explain why you will never buy from that shop?
No, I don’t want to sound like a jerk, so I will refrain from going any further. I will leave it at what had happened, I ordered somethings that never came it was a 100+ purchase so essentially I lost money.
I’ve bought on line from Trainworld and MB Klein to name a few, with absolutely no problems. I would suggest you look at shipping and handling charges as they can be quite a surprise if you are no aware of them before you buy. Being Canadian I always ask the US vender to ship USPS as UPS has a lot of hidden charges, which can triple the shipping cost.
Fergie
I have ordered from MB Klein many times over several years and always been happy. I have also ordered from Trainworld and Micro-Mark and had no problems with either one.
As mentioned above, do watch the shipping and handling. I batch my orders so that I have at least $100 each time and always choose the cheapest - all of three of these get orders out very fast.
Good luck
Paul
Most recently it seems MB Klein and Toy Train Heaven have gotten my business, mostly because of past dealings and the fact they had what I needed at a good price. I’ve also bought from Caboose Hobbies in Denver (both online and in person), Micro Mark, Tony’s Train Exchange (DCC related stuff, mostly), Brooklyn Locomotive Works (N-scale only), N Scale Supply, Blue Ridge Hobbies (both in person and online) and Empire Northern, and have nothing but good experiences with any of them.
I have dealt with Tex N Rails, but that was at the Great Scale Model Train Show. I have not ordered from them online or by phone.
Unfortunately, in my purchasing history there are also a few “fallen flag” places, may they rest in peace.
That fella gets 90% of my hobby dollars due to his great prices and service.
Micro-Mark is also a great place to pick up tools and have been getting Christmas gifts from them the past several years! And they were bought by my wife [bow]
If you search the forums, you will find a fair numbermof discussions of various on-line vendors. As with every other specialty, there are good and bad ones, and everyone’s experiences can be different. I too, place most of my orders with either Trainworld, MB Klein, or Micro-Mark. I have had one bad experience over shipping charges and lengthy delays in shipping ( same company, same order), and they have forever lost my business, but I can’t say I’ve evrr been ripped off. And for every person who actually has been ripped off, there is another (maybe more) who hasn’t actually been ripped off, but is the victim of unrealistic expectations or doesn’t understand how credit cards actually work. Or has gotten lousy customer service because they went in with an attitude. I recently had a Prodigy Wireless cab that was on backorder at Micro-Mark at a hugely dicounted rate. I subsequently saw them on sale again by Micro-Mark at a price significantly higher than the one I got. When I enquired where mine was, they promptly shipped on (which I’m sure they took a loss on). So, while I wouldn’t order from some Fly by Night yutz, ordering on line is pretty safe.
I will always buy my locomotives from my local train store for the following reasons:
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I want the locomotive to be checked out on their test track to make sure that it is operating properly. What is the cost and agrivation of having a defective locomotive and having to return it?
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My local train store is a great source of advice and information which is worth much more than the few dollars I might save by buying online. This is my way of supporting them.
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Unless it is an established business with an A+ reputation, you can never be sure what you are getting. Is it used, was it returned as defective and repaired, are there missing pieces?
Hi
I live in England meaning all my stock is mail order. I use internet action sites (ebay) for insurance and feed back from other customers on companies.
I’ve never had a bad sale to date. checking for feed back is a great idea on here and I’ll the following other peoples comments for future serplys.
remember people are more likely to post a bad experiences then a good one.
chris
I have had very good experience with Model Train Stuff /MB Klein, Trainworld, and ToyTrainHeaven/Bowser .I have also bought on Ebay with no issues both new and used.
Ron High
If I had to chose, Model Train Stuff, Trainworld is great but sometimes because they specialize in closeouts, they can be out of stock.
Has anyone had any experience with http://www.modeltrainpro.com?
I second (or third) that opinion.