I’ve placed several orders in the past with California Roadbed (Homabed) and found that it always takes longer that expect to get the order. This time around has left me wondering if the guy is still in business.
I place an order on Sept. 22nd. The website FAQ states “Normal processing time is 2 too 3 weeks for production of the order and up to 10 days for UPS”. Well, this will will make if almost 8 weeks. The worst part is that they charged my credit card and two emails requesting an update have gone unanswered.
Does anyone else have any recent experience with them?
Their website is still up so I would assume they are still in business. Usually small model railroad manufacturers are one man or mom and pop operations. Since the site mentions item are produced upon order, they don’t stock anything except raw material. Since accepted practice is to charge a customers plastic when the order ships, I think some concern is in order. Check with your card company to see what the time limits are for filing a dispute. Let the roadbed folks know if they don’t contact you by a given date you will dispute the charge. There may be a good reason why they haven’t answered your emails. They have been in business long enough to know that communication is very important. Good luck.
There was just a discussion on the Layout Construction Yahoo Group about this. Supposedly some health issues for the owner, but then it was reported he was at a recent train show so orders should start being filled again. Problem with a one man band operation, but I’m sure there isn;t enough demand to justify additional employees or anything.
The charge on my credit card is definitely one of the things that bothers me. I’ve written three emails over the last 3 weeks and all have gone unanswered. In the last one, I have given them until the end of the week to respond or I will dispute the charge.
I really hate to be like this. If only someone from Cal Roadbed would answer an email just to let me know that are alive and well.
At this point, they are holding up progress on my layout too. I don’t have an alternative source for this stuff.
I saw the discussion you mentioned on the Yahoo Group when I did a Google search. It is a shame when you want to give someone your money for a good product and they screw it up on their end. How can I keep the economy going otherwise? [;)]
Good suggestion - I didn’t think they posted a phone number on their web site, but I was looking at the wrong page. It was at the bottom of their home page if you scroll all the way down. I was looking at the Contact Us page.
Update on this. Yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) I received an email from Richard at California Roadbed. He was indeed sick and said that my order would be shipped Monday. I’m very happy to hear from him.
Ya-know, all I wanted was some assurance that my order was still in progress. I would have waited patiently for 6 months had I known what was up. I guess I should order my next batch now so that I’ll have it when I need it. I’ve been laying up 8 foot Masonite splines at a great rate.