I purchased a Genesis RS3 in CNJ cost Guard paint scheme and other then install a sound decoder never did much with it. I was using ti to test out a few turnouts that I had been working on and I noticed that when going forward it hops on the track. At first inkling was to curse my track work but realized when it ran in reverse it was much smother. almost perfect but still a clicking noise. As I applied a finger to the top of the shell it smoothed right out. So knowing that there is little to no room under that shell I sat here contemplating what to do. I had Athearns web site open as I was looking for some repair parts. I decided to give their customer svc. department a call and see if they had any answers. The tech informed me that on some of the earlier RS3’s they had an issue where the bearing popped out of the side frame and being as they were square bearings hence the hopping. So the tech was telling me the fix and said ah heck just send it back and we’ll upgrade it with the newer style trucks. You can’t beat that kind of customer service with a stick. On top of that he tells me to include in my note how much the shipping charges were so I could be reimbursed. Thats over the top customer service in my book. I don’t want to hear anyone whine about Athearn. There may be lot of other locomotive out there " better" then Athearn but when I am looking to buy another diesel you can bet I will take into consideration what kind of company they are and how they have treated me.
As a retired Quality Acceptance and Customer Service Supervisor at a very large Gas Company I had occasion to investigate MANY customer complaints about the perceived lack of service that they had received. Most times there was some fault with the service, but it was usually of a minor nature and the customers were happy that someone, (me) had at least looked into their complaint. There would be the odd customer that would call in to commend either the operator taking their call or the Serviceman who came out at 3:00AM on a stormy winter night to get their Gas Furnace working for them. Considering that in the winter, we may have had 3000 plus service calls a day across the city of Toronto we got very few pats on the back from the happy customers but the ones who had to wait an extra hour or so over their priority time because we had to have some obsolete part shipped in by taxi from another area were more than willing to rip a strip off the serviceman because he took so long.
When my reports went in to my Manager, I made sure that all the employees who went above and beyond reasonable service and left a happy customer were recognized and their immediate Supervisor notified. Also, those who left a legitimately unhappy customer were also noted.
I hope that you send an Email to the Athearn Customer Service Department advising them of your great pleasure in dealing with such a quality company who knows the meaning of the words, “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION”.
Blue Flamer.
Allegheny,
I am going to whine anyhow. I have a pair of the Athearn RS3’s. One ran fine out of the box and the other one did just what you described. I put washers between the bearing and the axle gear and that solved the problem with the bearing falling out of place, but the engine with the problem still runs a lot slower than the problem-free engine. Maybe I will call Customer Service. I will agree with you that you really did get first class treatment from them.
Rich
Just ordered one, hope it is the upgraded type, but nice to know that they have a customer friendly customer service department. Have fun,
Rich,
If you don’t ask how are they going to know you have a problem. I think that the route cause of most problems as people would rather rant and rave and bitch and moan about a product rather then spend half the time just simply asking the manufacturer if they will take care of it. By all means they did not have to do anything as the locmotive is more then a year old, but I explained to the guy that it probably has less then 5 hours of actual run time on it being that the layout is still under construction. No sense trying to BS the guy who works on them every day. He could take one look at it and tell that there’s practically zero time on it.
If your buying a new one the problem has been solved as they are going to put the upgraded trucks in mind. I have had power truck issues with Athearns before so maybe unlike Toyota they fix the problem and keep the customer happy instead of sweeping it under the rug. As far as emailing them I have done that in the past but it seems like the guys who answer the phone also read the emails…lol So I told the guy to have your boss check out the forum section of MR.
Did you call or e-mail them? You got really good service, and it seems lots of people do but mostly with RTR products, not the genesis line stuff.
I e-mailed them once about my F45. One of the lift rings fell off (there is a hole where it was), the winterization hatch screen was messed up, and of the side grabs are bent out of shape (are they supposed to be bowed out or parallel with the carbody?). I mentioned that and that I had the original reciept for the unit, but they were trying to charge me for 30 bucks worth of parts. Maybe I’d have better luck if I called…
In this case I was referring to emailing their boss to say how satisfied I was with their exceptional customer service, but figured that a posting on a message board read by literally thousands of model railroaders would show their boss that their hard work is greatly appreciated.
Most of the time I will follow things like this up with an email but call me old fashion. I figure if that person is reading your email why not just pick up the phone and speak to them. You’ll typically find you will get better results not saying you were going to get the parts that were messed up on your locomotive or not but I emailed them and sent in a copy of the receipt on the same locomotive and received the missing widow glass kit. I can’t say for sure or not but quite possible too much time had passed but next time try giving them a call.
I have been a big Athearn customer for all of the 40 years I have been in the hobby. And, years ago I worked in several hobby shops and managed a train department in one.
In all that time I have never had a bad customer service experiance with Athearn. Once they even offered exchange rolling bearing trucks for bettendorf trucks from a group of kits I had purchased. The kits had been packaged correctly, with with roller bearing trucks representing a modernized version of that car, I wanted to back date them. Athearn was happy to replace the roller bearing trucks with bettendorf, only expense, my shipping cost to return the roller bearing trucks.
In my view, Athearn remains one of the top companies in this hobby, offering quality and value consistantly over the years.
Sheldon
My RS3 had cracked axle gears(2). I Emailed and they sent me a package of 6 gears. I asked if they would like the old ones back and they said no. Great service from a great company. Some of my old blue box locos run better than the newer ones. I put an Earnst super gear set in an SD9. Tuned up the motor and added lead where I could put it and it is the smoothest, slowest, quietest loco in the fleet.
Pete