Every time I try to contact the magazine about something I cannot get the e-mail to send. When I get to the end where you enter the “secret word”, it keeps going back telling me that I entered it wrong. This is a security feature but obviously is not working. Even when I come back the next day and try again it keeps bringing up the same thing.
This is the only thing that seems to work to get things through. Is it wise to post a letter to the editor here? Or is there a simple solution such as a direct e-mail address to get through. I am having problems getting answers from some of the advertisers in the magazine. It would seem that they are not really interested in my busines.
An answer to this query would be great.
Thank You
Try just sending a regular e-mail to cswanson@classictoytrains.com.
I sent in the e-mail and have not heard anything back, good, bad or otherwise.
I guess as usual the business of producing products is so good that neither the Magazine nor it’s advertisers need my business. What ever happened to “Customer Service” or are we all so many sheep that we will follow and buy without question no matter what, and when the Lemmings jump to their demise we will be there following and hopefully land on enough of them to cushion our fall.
There is a lot of talk of Merchandisers ripping people off in these columns. I think that the Publishers should take an affirmative stand against advertisers who continually just pay for add space but provide no further services to the customer of both the Magazine & Advertisers. It is all well and good to question other hobbyists on certain aspects of the hobby, but the Advertisers should take on the responsibilty of at least replying to queries about their products. Time was not so long ago that just a note to an advertiser would result in a plethora of information and possibly samples about what they were selling and it would be done in a very timely manner. Now with “instant messaging” it takes longer and the efficiency that once flourished is tottally absent and dead, at least with “Snail Mail” you could expect a response in an average of about 10 days, now a month or more is normal and by that time the need for the item has been circumvented or is just no longer needed.
All of this equals a lost sale, but I am guessing with the economy doing so well sales are secondary to most companies that have the bucks to advertise in your magazine and their adds are just something to spend corporate dollars on to get government rebates and write-offs and no intention of a sale exists, just promotion.
Thank You
Hi, I’m sorry to hear you cannot get through. Why not give me a quick call and maybe I can answer your question or concern. We at CTT want to be accessible to our readers. Roger Carp Senior Editor 262-796-8776 ext.253
I live in Canada so it is a long distance call. The main reason I wrote is because of the lack of response I am observing from some of your advertisers. One was for shipping info to Canada for 2 cases of product from Flexxbed, never heard back and it is over 7 weeks. Another was Trainworld, enquiring about an MTH set of cars as well as shipping, never heard back so that I could order it. One other was Side Track Hobbies. I was asking for a confirmation of stock and what their shipping practices to Canada involved.
As you may or may not know, even Toy Trains can get held up at the border crossings and these confirmations are important information for me to assess how much it is going to cost me. We only have 2 good hobby shops in the Toronto GTA area, so competition is lacking. Sometimes it is nice to get a deal elsewhere and that usually means the USA.
These advertisers keep the magazines going. As I mentioned the “Customer Service” aspect of many of these businesses is severely lacking. I may as well deal through private sellers through e-bay and take my chances. The people I have dealt with there seem to support Customer Service as they get the information back to me very promptly and therefore the business is pleasing and easy.
Thank you for your time.
Don L
Oshawa Ontario Canada.
Don L.
Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having with the correspondance. I’m sure the staff from CTT will be more than accomodating. I cannot speak for any of the advertisers that havn’t provided the information you needed and requested.
I will comment regarding the lack of responding to emails. I have a small business myself, and we do have a website, and receive orders from the website on a daily basis. Speaking ONLY for myself, I prioritize the significance of customer inquiries by Direct Contact, Telephone, and finally email. This may not be consistent with a lot of peoples priorities, but it is ours. Emails, require a lot of resources to support, and very seldom does it conclude in a “querry then response”, it usually ends up being a dialog. And a written dialog is usually not very effective. If the customer has a problem or concern regarding our products or service, and they have included a phone number in their email, we will call them. If it is a basic product inquiry I will provide a answer (typically very brief), and a reference to the appropriate web link. With the statement, If you have any other questions please call us.
When we get inquiries regarding shipping to Canada, it always ends up where the customer gets too frustrated with the additional costs, (which are pass through only) and cancels or doesn’t place the order. The customer has access to the same information as the supplier usually, just by going to Fed Ex, UPS, etc., and entering the origination point zip code and destination information.
I really don’t mean to sound offensive or derrogatory, but today so many people expect that if they send an email, they should get a response within the hour. And, that isn’t reasonable. Sometimes the emails don’t even get through with all the filters that some of the providers are now imposing. And then, having to filter out the valid ones from all the sp
Thank you for your response. I am one who is resonable when expecting a response and I understand your plight with all the filters and such as well as the "Dialogs"that ensue. That being said, I still find that dealing through e-bay seems to be the quickest to get answers.
I have had questions and queries answered in a matter of days from a couple of the advertisers and they have put me onto Canadian distributors of their product. If the Canadian ditributors could be added to the listings in your magazine it would circumvent a lot of the problems you listed above. A simple extra line in their advertising of where their product can be obtained or the Canadian distributor would be all that is required, then the Phone number would be accessable as well as a prompt sale.
These companies would do well to at least give us the chance to purchase their products locally, or at least avoid customs charges as that would already be built into the price. Some of us want the good product at a reasonable price and don’t mind spending a little extra for the right product for our needs as well as the products listed in the magazine articles.
As I said above, I live in Oshawa and the nearest O Scale hobby shops are both in the west end of Toronto, a time consuming and gas consuming 3-4 hour drive, each way, during the daytime hours that they are open. They both have mail order available but sometimes you just want to see what you are buying and touch it and maybe see it run.
I wish that more Canadian consumers would send these sentiments to these suppliers so that a broader range of excellent products would be more readilly available.
You have a new President today and hopefully he will straighten things out in the world and try to bring all our troops home safely.
Don L
I want to take this time to say that I did get a reply to one of my queries. The people at Flexbed Products were kind enough to e-mail me about a glitch that may have been overlooked. They are the only ones to take the time to address a situation and get together to bring about a solution.
I am very happy with their response and I will be doing business with them as soon as time and money provides. I want everyone to know that there is a company out there that does care about their future customers and is willing to take that extra step to provide information to those who request it.
There are far too few companies with this attitude and thus “Customer Service” is becoming as scarce as an FM C-Liner. I know who is going to get my hard earned dollars and for those companies that believe that they can survive on what customers they have are living in a dream world. Without fresh and new people coming into the hobby able to get what they need when they want it, all is lost and these companies will whither and die.
This is a powerful medium, and people who are not willing to go that extra step in looking after new customers, well we will know and not deal with these people. However the ones that are willing should be acknowledged and promoted so that their good name will be heard. It is still often said that bad news will reach everyone but good news is only seen by a few, that take the time to read everything between the bad.
N’uf Said for now.
Don