I pre-ordered 6 Athearn SD40T-2 (3 D&RGW, 3 SP) from Caboose Hobbies Friday 22 June, 2007, but they are still not here. I’m starting to get a little worried. I have contacted Caboose Hobbies a couple of times but they say, they should be on the way to you. But they don’t give me the shipping date.
They are all payed and I do not want to miss the chance to get these tunnel motors. I hear rumors that they are nearly sold out. What is the point of pre-order items if I don’t get them?
If you happens to live in Denver and want to help me, contact me and I will give you the order number so you can talk to them and ask them about the shipping date.
You prepayed for 5 locomotives!!! I’d be worried too. We may sympathize with you but this is your problem, not anyone else’s. Call them yourself, get the information you need. How could someone in Denver get the information any better than you could, especially when they’re a third party?
If it’s a pre-order, then not only do they not have them in stock, but the items haven’t even been built yet. Caboose Hobbies has no control over that.
I’d ask them when they expect to receive them from the manufacturer. Caboose Hobbies is a very reputeable dealer, so I’m sure they will send the items when they get them.
I don’t pre-order, but let me see if I understand how this works. I am asked to put down a Thousand Dollars to Caboose Hobbies, whom I really don’t know, for five locomotives that haven’t even been manufactured yet by someone over 8000 miles away and over whom Caboose Hobbies has no control. I’m sorry, but what’s wrong with that picture?
This is one of the reasons I don’t pre-order anything anymore. I’ve been burned on that before. If I can’t find it already available, I can do without it or build it up from a model that is available. When I order through the LHS, it generally takes longer for me to get my items than it does if I order directly. The LHS (at least the one I go to) has to wait until their order reaches a certain monetary amount, particularly when ordering through Walther’s. Sometimes it can take three or four months to recieve something I order through the LHS. If it’s something I want now, I order it directly and get next day delivery, But never do I pre-order anything.
I think you guys are great, but sometimes you are very quick to judge other people.
I did not pre-pay anything. I pre-ordered them. That’s a very big difference.
They are already released, I know lots of people that have them. And they are also on sale on eBay.
It’s 6 engines, not 5. And that really does not matter.
Caboose Hobbies did not charge me until all 6 engines where in stock. But after that moment they are gone.
Shipping to Sweden usually takes 10 working days.
I know that this is my problem. But that can be said about any question on this forum. Does that mean that we all should stop asking other people on this forum for help?
I don’t have a big problem with pre-ordering. Unless you give them a check or cash, the LHS or Internet vendor will “hold” your credit card information until the actual item or items has actually been mailed out. You are not charged anything till that time.
Electro, who is the manufacturer of the locomotives you are buying? Did you check their web site to see if the locomotives have actually been released yet? If they have been released, then you have reason to be concerned. My guess is that Caboose Hobbies is still waiting for them to come in.
For God’s sake quit ******** about pre-ordering at every opportunity. We know how you feel, but that is NOT the issue here. The guy lives in Sweden (“a whole 'nother country” to quote Forrest), and he is just asking for someone who lives close, so it would not cost them anything, to talk to Caboose Hobbies for him.
Dude, I have free long distance, email me the order number or something and I will be happy to contact them for you.
I had a situation a couple of years ago where I had pre-ordered a Spectrum DMIR 2-10-2 thru TrainWorld as soon as they were announced. A year or so later, the models started to show up on the internet and the LHS but I still hadn’t gotten mine. I contacted TrainWorld and they said, well ya you were one of the first to order, but you ordered no. 511 - Spectrum is doing no. 506 and 508 before 511, so yours is still on order. I didn’t really care which number I got, so I asked them to change it to no. 506 and I got it within a few days. Otherwise I would have had to wait like another six months!!
A couple of weeks ago I ordered one of the SP SD40-t2’s direct from Horizon hobbies , it got to me in 3 days . But I do see they are out of stock already. Everyone in the west must be getting these, for them to go that fast. Hope you get yours.
The package could be stuck at customs in Sweden. I would definitely check with CH and get whatever shipping info they have and try to track down the package from your end as well. If they shipped it they would have to have copy of the customs & insurance slips. It’s been waaaay too long. I would ask CH for proof of shipment or demand your money back. Talk to the manager not one of the sales people.
Yes your dealer, be it an on-line place or your LHS, will take Athearn pre-orders which is your best bet on guaranteed delivery.
Your LHS receives color flyers of the new releases each month. These can also be viewed on the Athearn or Horizon website, or you can sign up for the Athearn Newsletter and the new releases will be e-mailed to you each month.
Each new release has an “announced” date…in the case of the KCS Trinity hoppers, 10/23/07.
Then each release has an “orders due” deadline, this one is 11/23/07. Dealers almost always have a full month to get our pre-orders in.
Then there is the “ETA” which in this case is 2/08.
If you pre-order any Athearn with a reputable dealer, you are 99.99% guaranteed to get it. And it’s also almost always on time.
However, if you do not believe in pre-orders…and I really can’t blame you for that…I’ve also noticed that in most cases Athearn makes enough to have a bit of stock on hand for a time at Horizon. If you wait until the item is actually released so you can see it first, there is a good chance that the item may not be sold out upon release like some manufacturers products are.
But in the recent cases of the SP GP40X, the tunnel motors and other things, some of these items do sell out immediately, then you are out of luck until Athearn makes another run of a popular item.
I’ll have to take issue with the prejudging statement. If you will read your original post, the part that I have highlighted, you will see that you clearly said you have paid for them. So my answer was not a judgement of you on my part, but was based solely on your words. But since I don’t pre-order I may be off base with this question, but why would Caboose Hobbies, or anyone else for that matter, ship you something you have not paid for? But I will give you the fact that you are from Sweden and may not fully grasp the nuances of the English language (hey, most Americans don’t). That being the case, if I misrepresented you, I apologize.
I think you may be swapping one burn for another with that approach, Jeff. The manufacturers are adjusting their business models because their advisors and major investors have urged them to do it. That means the supply of locos is going to be much more closely ties to firm orders, and that means pre-order or takes yer chances. If you lose out on the last one anywhere, your election to not pre-order may be your undoing for something desired.
I know how you feel about being burned. That sucks no matter who it is saying that they have experienced it. But I think the manufacturers left standing in 2007 are doing a much better job of providing top quality locomotives and running stock that are RTR than they were doing 15-20 years ago. It’s a safer bet, in other words, and their record of service these days should allay any lingering fears. At the very least, you are likely to get your money back if they can’t provide you with a satisfactory model or a replacement for a defective one.