I’ve searched in the archives and couldn’t find anything, but thought I’d ask anyway…
I recently purchased PCM’s DB BR01 (Pacific steam engine) from Factory Direct Trains (FTD) and mine arrived in perfect condition. With FTD’s current sale, many of my colleagues here in the US and Germany are snatching up the models, some in multiples. At $150 hard to beat…, and the detailing is exquisite.
The concern is that many of these (here and in Germany) have arrived with broken off parts, including some in critical areas for operation such as the pivot (not right word) for the rear bogie on the Pacific, so the “2” in 4-6-2. I found the factories packaging on par with anything else I’ve purchased from other vendors, FTD’s packaging was great, the box the engine comes in was well padded with good support, the box was sealed, … So, is this a problem at the factory itself?
My colleagues are in the process of contacting FTD and PCM to try to get replacement parts…, but that really shouldn’t be the case on a brand new model.
So my question is, has anyone else had problems with PCM’s engines arriving damaged?
One of my Big boys arrived severely damaged from BLI themselves so I’ve seen this as well. There was no damage to the packaging or the box so I was quite puzzled by it. They did send me the replacement parts straight away and I had them in less then a week to Sweden.
But I also wondered about the damage?
Several other BB had small parts like the bell and light boards damaged but I so assume that such delicate parts can be damaged just by bumping in shipping. BLI replaced those to immediately.
Fellas, the way I see it, unless BLI or the factory (as opposed to Factory Direct, themselves), is repackaging damaged goods, this must be from some other cause. If the boxes are pristine, you can be sure the engine should be, too, unless it were packaged in damaged condition at the outset.
I have only 12 engines, and they came from as far away as Alaska. None of mine was damaged, including two from Outlet Direct, BLI’s off-sales department where you can get returns, refusals, and acknowledged factory seconds. In fact, I can see no cosmetic damage to any of mine, no matter from where they came.
It is a puzzle, and I am sure very disappointing to European modellers. BLI is probably not too thrilled, either.
The damage is possibly occurring in transit from China to their warehouse, either aboard ship or during rail transit across the country. I’m sure they don’t open and inspect every item before sending it out. I received an item from Factory Direct Trains with a missing coupler box cover screw. I removed the shell and inspected the entire mechanism under a strong magnifier, thinking that the screw may be somewhere within it, to no avail. It was nowhere in the packaging, either. I had a suitable replacement on hand, so I never bothered phoning them for such a small item, but it did appear as if the screw had not been applied at the factory.
My PCM F3 was fine when I opened up the package. However, I found after I plopped it onto the tracks that the front rail wires were binding the front truck and keeping it from making righthand turns. I contacted PCM and sent back the unit. It was repaired and returned in under 2 weeks. Works like a champ now.
That is mysterious about the damaged goods. Does customs open up the boxes to inspect the contents? Maybe this is a possible reason for why some of the delicate parts might be getting damaged. Some custom workers may not be as suitable for the job as others.
This is not an impossible scenario. They do open packages to check the content. If one of them drops something I would be surprised if they said something. I worked for the post office for ten years. A lot of the times when stuff got busted up they where just passed along to the next station. No one would claim responsibility.
But what are tho odds of claiming something from them. NOTHING!
If the package is perfect and the engine is damaged, call BLI and return the thing. Dont settle for a damaged engine. Make noise until you get satisfied with the item.
I dont know if there is a pile of second hand factory production or accumulated back water piles of previously returned engines or just plain careless and sloth in China.
If they cannot do it right there in China, then someone needs to build a production facility here in the USA and do it right.
Just points to a increasing feeling that this import production model for getting and selling model products from overseas just isnt working well.
I had no problems what so ever with BLI. They where going to pay for the shipping back to the US for the damaged engine and send out a new one instead. I choose to get the parts and fix it. It took me five minutes or so. Rather that then driving to the post office for half an hour sending it back and so forth. Accidents happens, what matters to me is that the company stand by their product and fixes it. The parts took less then a week to get here.
Do you think it is better than the TRIX models? I have a TRIX BR 01 and it runs SMOOOTH at low speed. Though I did pay more, but I wanted to try some German made stuff to see if it was all that. Just wanted your thoughts on the BLI engine. I love my BLI engines but Have not bought the German types yet.
Bob, you’re right, that was kinda lame, wasn’t it?
I should explain myself better. My Siblings-in-Law took an Alaska cruise two summers ago. They took in the WP&Y run up to Skagway, and found an IHC WP&Y Mike in a store there…imagine that! Anyway, it went from Slovenija to an importer, thence to Skagway, and finally ended up in my hands after a return cruise to Vancouver. I received an unblemished and undamaged engine after all that. So, I guess I am suggesting that the packaging has to be adequate for all but the greatest extremes, even for IHC. If the box is intact and unmarred, something was amiss at the time of packaging.
I hadn’t thought, though, about Customs taking a look. Who knows how that goes from time to time. [xx(]
On the east coast I take box off ship and drive to the yard.
Sometimes the dispatcher has me go to a inland Customs office with a redball seal and have him or her check the number. If both match the box goes straight to customer to be unloaded without further inspection.
Now down south by the Rio Grande, you cannot move very far without REAL inspections.
Up by Buffalo or Winsdor they check it all, worst case scenario unload all of it and check again before you are allowed to proceed.
The only other times boxes might trigger closer inspect is if it should trip one of the scanners at the Knoxville Weigh scale or something exotic.
Oh ya, all are inspected. But very few are opened.
If I may get back to the original topic, I found it interesting to hear that others had similar problems with BLI/PCM products. I had an ATSF 4-8-4 with a broken handrail, an RSD-15 with a crack in a footstep, and an SD-7/9 with several broken handrails/brake levers etc. At least in the two later cases, the problem was an over-tight cellophane wrap, which apparently was squished when the engine was put in the styrofoam of the box. I think all these problems resulted when the engines were put (or put back) into the box. On the other hand, I found the BLI/PCM customer service (Bob Armitage) very helpful in correcting these issues.
Hard for me to determine as I run AC analog. Don’t have any Trix engines. I find the is smooth, but not quite as smooth as the Roco or other non-Märklin brands that build for AC. When I took it to a LHS to use their DCC to shut off the speaker the slow speed operation was very nice and smooth. Part of that is the high current draw required to get the engine moving. It’s ok to control at slow speeds. High speed is no problem. While I generally “hate” sound, I was impressed with this, especially since the speaker was set to full. What was surprising is that the sound worked in analog operation, something not present with my other sound-equipped enginges. SWMBO was in the basement when I first tested the engine and there was no hiding it after that point. Can’t tell an 01 from an 01.5, but does know none made any noise…