I was warned that stuff bought over the internet the manafactors will not stand behinde there warranty by my LHS. In othere words let say you buy a NIB PK engine from a E-bay store. If there is something wrong in the warratty period and you contact Walters they will not stand behinde the engine. Just wondering if that is ture?
I don’t think Ken from my LHS is trying to get me buy just from him, he trys to talk me out a stuff when I get the total and let out a groan while writing out the check.
I bought two P2K GP-9’s from M.B. Klein, a reputable internet vendor. One immediately showed the classic Life-Like “cracked gear” problem. I contacted Walthers, which had just bought Life-Like. It took them a while to “digest” Life-Like, but once they had the parts pipeline in place, they shipped me the replacement parts free of charge. So, if the manufacturer is Walthers, I guess the answer is “Yes.”
In general, as long as it’s a legitimate on-line store and the product is “new”, the manufacturer’s will honor the warranty. You might have to show them a receipt, showing where and when the purchase was made.
I would say, if you have a problem with a product, contact the manufacturer and explain that you recently bought the item and describe the problem and they will usually take care of it with no questions asked about where it was purchased.
Recent experience. Had a problem with a GP7 DCC/Sound unit that was almost a year old. Decided to do the QSI Upgrade on the unit and found a cracked socket on the Chip. Tried to do the R&R of the chip and the new chip would not seat properly. E-Mailed Walthers about it and they said send it in in the Original packaging and we will see what we can do. After about 14 days I received my engine back whith a new board installed. Works fine now. Walther’s never asked for a receipt or proof of purchase. I was very pleased with this quality of service. Chris
I’ve had a Bachmann spectrum Shay AND Climax replaced under warranty, and they were both purchased online. So, a big YES for Bachmann. Blatently not covering a warranty simply because something was purchased online would be illegal anyway. Sounds like your LHS guy didn’t know what he was talking about.
A member of our local HO scale club has returned two steamers to Broadway Limited that he purchased from e-Bay sellers, and BLI repaired both. Shipping costs were his only expense.
In another instance, he lost a screw when he took a BLI locomotive apart to check for a broken headlight wire (per BLI’s telephonic instructions) and they sent him a free replacement. This time they paid the postage.
The internet certainly is doing that to those business that don’t change and adapt to the business climate. There are store fronts though, that continue to do pretty well. I wish we had some around here. OneTrackMind, when are you gonna franchise, buddy???
[:)] Yeah, I’ll be getting right on that franchising idea Robert! Hard enough to run one store! (Fun and satisfying at times, too) I can count on you for some investment money on these other stores, right???[;)]
All kidding aside, let me get one store running right before I go to two.
At the risk of blowing my own horn or opening myself up for criticism, I might put forth the idea that the very reason my store has been a semi-success in the internet era is that indeed by concentrating on my own local customers and doing the best I can…that’s the reason I’m still in business, because I can offer some personal service and knowledge of my own customers that they can’t receive from the internet.
Just my own theory. Not bashin’ the internet guys.
Well maybe Ken was trying to keep me away from buying on line, or could be the manufacturers see the internet become a bigger pices of the bussines and are changing there thoughts on customer servies.
Only reason I buy on line is due to the hours I work and the hours K-10 is open. I rather buy and support K-10 but if I happen to see a good deal on the internet it is good to no it is not a leap of faith.