Haven’t seen an ad for National Hobby Supply for a couple of months. Some friends are having problems getting merchandise they ordered. Seeing they are connected with a former company in the New York area that went bankrupt in the 70’s, when addtional friends got burnt. Is this happening again? Anybody have the straight scoop?
You know like with the government low bid process, you get what you pay for. An we model railroaders are a cheap bunch! Let’s be honest!
Mike
While I am saddened by your loss of railroad building capital, I feel compelled to congratulate you for striking a blow against Weasles wherever you find them!
I got mildly goosed by a dear sweet woman in Kansas who had a “Bachmann Desire Street Trolley” for sale. I paid 17+ bucks for it only to find that it was NOT a Bachmann, but a Chinese NON-Powered copy with Andrews freight car trucks.
A cute item for about five bucks. Return was refused, and EBay was pleasant but unhelpfull.
Again GOOD FOR YOU! the Postal Inspectors are FIERCE! (as they should be!)
Doug
sounds like hobbys for men they done the same thing.
Here’s an up-date.
http://forum.atlasrr.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8283
I lost a small amount of money with them twelve years ago.Back then it was known as Crazy Charlies Discount Trains.Too bad there aren’t laws against theft in Georgia.I guess I should have known better though.
I visited National about 2 weeks ago and everything seemed normal. I’ll be back in the area next week and if the question is still before the forum I’ll give you an update.
ps: Crazy Charlies had no connection with National. They went under when they lost their source of credit.
Terry (Ohio)
Did you purchase via US Mail or UPS?
If so, the laws of Georgia do NOT govern mail delivery. All you have to do to show postal fraud, is show proof of payment to said company. There are forms to fill-out for the process, but the Postal System does prosecute for fraud.
I just went through that with an Ebay seller. I produced $50+ for HO scale cars, and she produced nothing, not even a reply. Now she is facing federal charges of mail fraud.
Good luck!
-Wolv33
Well, as promised I was in their store this week while on a business trip. It seemed pretty normal except that their in-store stock was pretty thin. Lots of empty spaces on the shelves, etc. The model airplane side of the store looked normal with what seemed like plenty of stock.
Terry (Ohio)
Decades go by, and discounters go by too.There are so many discounters who started out with one or two pages in MR, or RMC, then went to three or four pages, then up to six or even eight pages…they are all gone, but more will come…yes we model railroaders are price conscious people, but you know, we should probably stay with our retailers…price a bit higher, but there when you need them, and way less hassles…you may not get everything you wanted,[same as the discounters], but you never pay for what you don’t get, either.Back in the 70’s I shopped at three different discounters…Hobbied
Decades go by, and discounters go by too.There are so many discounters who started out with one or two pages in MR, or RMC, then went to three or four pages, then up to six or even eight pages…they are all gone, but more will come…yes we model railroaders are price conscious people, but you know, we should probably stay with our retailers…price a bit higher, but there when you need them, and way less hassles…you may not get everything you wanted,[same as the discounters], but you never pay for what you don’t get, either.Back in the 70’s I shopped at three different discounters…Hobbied
I have had no problems with this company with 3 transactions over the last couple of years. Phone to check stock, place order, await delivery, open package, be delighted! Perhaps they try harder with overseas orders. USPS and Royal Mail{UK} have done a pretty good job as well.
I’m an Atlanta local nd I frequently visit National. The first worry was when Mike said he was moving, and he had a huge sale to try to thin out the stock. Last word I’ve heard he has resecured the lease for another year or so. I believe he’s getting in more stock pretty soon. It’s a great shop, and if you havent ben, I advise you to go ASAP just in case…
Walk-ins are one thing but out of towners are very cool to this firm. Of all the shops out there
this firm ranks at the bottom for tel/on-line orders. Go to
http://discussion.atlasrr.com/topic.asp?TOPIC-ID=9249
Here’s a 8/16/02 quote from another site.
“I tried to call & the line is busy or the phone will just keep ringing”
I would have to go back through my time machine to about 1982 when things like this were happening accross our trade. Way back then, Kalmbach got involved and made it clear to all it’s readers that they will no longer stand for companies cheating their customers.
They helped clean up the mail order industry by refusing to run advertisements for companies which have cheated customers using advertisements in MRR magazine and set up a complaint dept.
That was the last straw for me. They stood up for my hobby!! That was the month I cancelled my subscription to RMC. In these past 20-years, I have not seen a retraction of that article from the early 80s. Therefore, I believe MRR still has a department to assist you in resolving losses due to fraudulant advertisers.
Thomas
www.stargrazer.net