Unless things have recently changed, I have found that some items listed in the on-line catalog are not pictured there, but are pictured in the paper catalog. I’m not talking the major items, but some of the small detail things. And the reverse is also true.
In sticking with the original intent of this topic…
Run Eight,
I’m also an “Old School” guy and probably in your age group. Back in the 1970s and 80s I regularly wrote letters to the manufacturers and did receive responses.
But let’s be realistic.
Those days are long behind us (unfortunately) and the suggestions from fellow modelers to email and call will often yield results.
Four quick examples:
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Within the past 5 years Athearn has answered every email I sent them. The average response time was one week.
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Walthers answers my emails in just over a week. When I left a phone message on their customer service line, I was surprised when a Walthers rep called me back on the same day!
-
I called Stewart-Bowser with questions. A lady (I think she’s a relative of the owners) answered my questions and as a result, I ordered more items than I originally intended to.
-
In the area of online model railroad dealers Dan’s Train Depot and MB Klein are excellent responders.
I would respectfully suggest that you forget about sending SSAE’s to the manufacturers and use the email and/or phone for inquiries. Take advantage of the simple technology. As mentioned, most long distance services on cell phone plans are free.
As talented actor Clarence Williams III stated on a Star Trek DS-9 episode: “It is the way of things.”
Run Eight,
While i see your frustration, here are some things that might surprise you:
in Elementary School:
Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to “sign their name”{usually a scribble of some sort}??
Are you aware they barely teach printing much anymore?
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to address an envelope anymore?
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to write a proper form letter anymore?
Are you aware they park a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer in front of 5 year olds, who really learn to “write” {type-now known as “keyboarding 101”} on them?
Are you aware most of the “millenial” -today’s kids/young adults- don’t know what or how to use a wrist watch? They get their time off the face of their “smart phones”.
Are you aware that same millenials {and those after} don’t know how to conduct a phone call properly? They only know really how to “text” somebody. They also will sit in the SAME room SIDE by SIDE and “chat” with each other via texting as they actually don’t know how to “talk” with their mouths to each other?
Point is, [8]times, they are a changin’[8] - DRASTICALLY.
If it is a small business, they MAY have time for emails, but probaly will take some time “getting to it”, but not to reseach your request, type an answer in MS word, and put in an envelope to mail to you.
If you are looking for a researching topic/information or a pamphlet {milenials don’t know what that is either}, catalog or other item, it is, as mentioned above, easier to say “go to the website” or “go to Facebook page” and say “all your questions will be answered there” these days.
Clark Howard, a Radio and TV personality on all money matters calls the term “customer service” as
I haven’t much to add to this discussion except my own now-nine-year-old experience. I had to write Micro-Engineering, which had no website that I could find easily, because my combination girder bridge that some of you will recall seeing in my images from my previous layout, came with some missing crossbracing. They replied very quickly, and included the missing parts. That is the sum total of my experience having to write any supplier/importer/manufacturer in this hobby. And it was most positive. Every other instance has been via electrons, whether digitized voice modulation or html (phone or email)
-Crandell
Uh, you know that “millenials” are in their 20s and 30s and have kids of their own, right? There’s no millenials in elementary schools.
Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to “sign their name”{usually a scribble of some sort}?? Because cursive is pointless. It doesn
Bingo!
Being in a (non model railroad related) customer/technical service for the last 25 years, it is unbelievable what some people ask for, and if they don’t recieve, complain about lousy customer service. People seem to believe since you are a large company, we have piles of money to throw away in the name of customer service. Things like “Hi, I bought your 20 year old discontinued product on Ebay, can you send me a free technical manual and some parts”
Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to “sign their name”{usually a scribble of some sort}?? Because cursive is pointless. It doesn’t have much use. I’m 32. I haven’t written anything in cursive since fifth grade. Why did they waste that time in second, third, and fourth grade?
Are you aware they barely teach printing much anymore? This is outright wrong.
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to address an envelope anymore? Because this isn’t relevant. I have sent exactly one piece of mail in the last four years. I can’t remember what it was, but I remember having to go buy a stamp for something. Every incoming bill or notification can be dealt with online. And half of those don’t even come in the mail. Verizon and Comcast send me texts saying I have a bill due. The City of Alexandria sends me a letter in the mail saying “go online and pay your property tax.”
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to write a proper form letter anymore? Because this isn’t relevant. They taught us millenials how to do it. Even made us write “live” letters in different standard forms to send out to Congressmen and so on. If you need a properly formatted email. you use the wizard on the computer to do it because that’s how we do it in the real world. College taught me how to write a properly formatted memo. Work has a template that I fill out and it autogenerates the formatted memo.
Are you aware they park a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer in front of 5 year olds, who really learn to “write” {type-now known as “keyboarding 101”} on them? Because this is vastly more important in the world. If a child can’t use a computer by the time they’re five, that’s
[quote user=“hobo9941”]
Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to “sign their name”{usually a scribble of some sort}?? Because cursive is pointless. It doesn’t have much use. I’m 32. I haven’t written anything in cursive since fifth grade. Why did they waste that time in second, third, and fourth grade?
Are you aware they barely teach printing much anymore? This is outright wrong.
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to address an envelope anymore? Because this isn’t relevant. I have sent exactly one piece of mail in the last four years. I can’t remember what it was, but I remember having to go buy a stamp for something. Every incoming bill or notification can be dealt with online. And half of those don’t even come in the mail. Verizon and Comcast send me texts saying I have a bill due. The City of Alexandria sends me a letter in the mail saying “go online and pay your property tax.”
Are you aware they don’t teach kids how to write a proper form letter anymore? Because this isn’t relevant. They taught us millenials how to do it. Even made us write “live” letters in different standard forms to send out to Congressmen and so on. If you need a properly formatted email. you use the wizard on the computer to do it because that’s how we do it in the real world. College taught me how to write a properly formatted memo. Work has a template that I fill out and it autogenerates the formatted memo.
Are you aware they park a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer in front of 5 year olds, who really learn to “write” {type-now known as “keyboarding 101”} on them? Because this is vastly more important in the world. If a child can’t use a computer
Unless a manufacturer also retails their products or offer a spare parts service I see no reason to contact any of them. Apart from, Walthers & a producer of resin kits i don’t remember ever finding the need to make contact with any of them, oh & Rapido also who actually seem to thrive on talking with their customers. I think that perhaps busy manufacturers poor in time & staff numbers seem reluctant to respond to customer enquiries for fear of engaging in a lengthy conversation which they have no time for.or inclination to engage in. Most if not all of these people are pretty busy with the products they sell & probably see letters, emails as an interuption. I suppose questions that may irritate them might be something like, “will you be making this model in the scale i model?” Or, perhaps, "will you be making (my favourite locomotive?) That kind of thing. Or worse, requests to sponsor a club event or donate an expensive model as a raffle prize. I don’t know, this is all off the top of my head, but I can only imagine some of the questions & comments that busy business people may view as frivolous.
Interstingly enough, there is in this thread an absence of examples of the types of questions, or the subject matter that has formed the basis of some of the correspondence some of us have actually written were there ha been no response from the manufacturer
Any posters here so far want shed some light in this regard?
Dusty
They don’t teach this! They don’t teach that! Kids behave like this! Kids do that now!
In the end, whether it is what a kid learns or how they behave, it all comes down to one thing and that is parenting.
If you as a parent think your child is not learning all that is necassary in school, it is up to you as a parent to do something about it. Schools certainly should not have to teach children good manners and how to behave, unfortunately many parents think it is the schools job to do so.
We have a huge sign at the Hockey Rink that reads “put your phone and computer down, your child is playing”.
“Mom did you see the goal I scored?” “No dear I was too busy playing words with friends”
Some parents it seems are not much better than the kids we complain about.
This, This, This.
It’s nice to see though that the older generation thinks so little of us “millenials” though. [#dots]
**
it’s still a pretty necessary skill. Say, sending thank-you notes (especially important after a big event, say getting married.)
Thank you notes, invitations - especially for a wedding … don’t think paper invites will ever be done away with for that. Correspondance with friends (I know several people who’re like “send a letter - it’s more personal” … and they’re mid-30s tops)
[quote user=“Burlington Northern #24”]
BATMAN
In the end, whether it is what a kid learns or how they behave, it all comes down to one thing and that is paren
One of my complaints about the “millenials” is how some mothers plays bumper cars with their overly wide baby buggies its like get out of my way or else! Of course,I stear clear of grocery stores the first 2-3 days of the month…The old hags plays bumper cars with their shopping carts.
Hi,
Lots of thoughts on this, and frankly it all depends on the mfg as to whether they will respond or not. I’ve never been shy about contacting them (over many decades) and found some like BLI or the old Lifelike and Atlas were absolutely outstanding, while some others were horrible (they all went out of business).
For what its worth, I feel an email or a call will get you a response faster and more often than a postal letter, and persistance is the name of the game. I’ve had dealings with Bachmann which yielded very good results, but I had to be a thorn before that happened.
Sadly, while a mailed letter with an enclosed stamped reply envelope should be a positive way of getting results, it just isn’t in todays world.
This is all about not learning useless stuff. This is a good thing! Daughter wished they would not insist on Algebra in college, another worthless skill for most people, I have needed it twice in my lifetime and then it was for hobby reasons. I worked in the trades and never needed it!!!
Useless? Algebra also teaches you larger lessons in problem solving, it’s not just about the nitty gritty of the the particular course. Of course, you can also say that about geometry, trigonometry and calculus.
No doubt we should only teach history to those who would be historians or history teachers. Who cares about that stuff. We should eliminate all literature courses because, hey, I’m a plumber and don’t don’t find the works of Mark Twain or Nathaniel Hawthorne relevant to my job.
For that matter, why force people to take English courses? What plumber or machinist or engineer or whatever (apart from English teachers) cares about grammar, syntax, spelling and clear communication? Well, come to think of it, the teaching of English seems to be in severe decline judging by the number of people who can’t distinguish “there” from “their” from “they’re” and who definitely don’t know that “wave” and “waive” have two (as opposed to “too” and “to”) entirely different meanings.
Andre
Incidentally, pick up a copy of “Shop Theory” by James Anderson and Earl Tatro sometime. It’s basically a primer on the use of machine tools. Interestingly enough, you’d better know trigonometry to understand some of what’s discussed. There are actually entire books written on shop mathematics.
I took 3 years of high school Latin. Do I read books in Latin? No. Do I speak Latin? No. Did I ever use Latin on the job? No. Do I find
Since this thread is drifting off into “Get off my lawn” vs. “Never trust anyone over 30” terrority, let me just indicate that since the OP Run Eight clearly has internet access, he should just e-mail. I have had great success rate with e-mail responses, unlike the dark days of the turn of the century when e-mail was usually a black hole. I only call when I have an active order with a company that needs a correction or update (I’ve done this twice with Walthers in the recent past), otherwise e-mail.
Relevant aside - recently I have been rereading some of my Dad’s old Science and Mechanics magzines from the late 1960s-early 1970s (I read them the first time as a little kid - they ended up stored on a shelf in the basement for all these years), and yes the method of contacting companies was vastly different in tnose days - the SASE was KING, along with those small tear-out cards to mail (which I guess some magazines still have) and similar Reader Service cards (you actually circled numbers on a card for various catalogs like Edmunds Scentific or J.C. Whitney, sent in the card along with 25 cents, and got the catalogs mailed to you). Very few phone numbers listed (the hilarious columnist Joe Gutts would sometimes give out the number of some of the more obscure companies, but usually gave only a postal mail address), and of course no e-mail or web-sites, since Arpanet went live in 1969 and nobody would be blogging* for quite awhile after that…
*Blogging and e-mail as we know it today - not the Victorian Internet (via telegraph) styles
The owner of concor is Jim Conway. There is a phone number listed on their website. I always call them. For the most part have been able to reach them and resolve any issues.