Has anyone else had a bad purchasing experience with Internettrains.com recently? Their phones are ALWAYS busy, they don’t update their order status info, are slow at responding to email queries but don’t hesitate to charge a credit card. Is this normal operating procedure for them?
In a word, yes.
There is a second Post which is several pages long and the owner has tried to answer the reaons they are months behind, but does not seem to get it right.
Some have waited months with no answer.
Read the Post below and order at your own risk!
The other post is below.
I like your answer " YES "
Very simply but to the point.
I would add, they have mastered the art of not responding up to the time the other Post came on this web page.
To maybe put a different spin on this …
Yes, sir, this sounds like a hobby that’s shrinking fast … too many online orders to keep up, growing so fast they are severly under staffed.
Or maybe they’re going down the tubes fast and are laying people off right and left?
More than likely, it’s growth related rather than shrinkage related, though.
I have heard alot about the problems but I don’t order online usually, but I guess I can use my imagination and say that Internet Hobbies is just like every other large company, unreliable AND cheap!
*beegle55
Joe, my take on this and other threads is that this one company is having real issues, and I think it probably relates to their philosophy and practises. FWIW, I understand your tongue-in-cheek response, and gleefully acknowledge what you mean, but in this particular case the problem comes from what in the banking world would be characterized as akin to “kiting”. I know this is a strong statement, but so many have described the same modus operandi for this firm that this duck quacks and walks just like you’d think one would.
Finally, after all these months, we’ve found a new whipping boy. Mike at MTH, consider yourself relieved. Y’know, all that stuff with the UP trademarks really did earn a lot of good will here, I think.
And now we return to our regularly-scheduled railroading…
Beegle55
The topic is about Internet Trains, not Internet Hobbies. I have dealt with Internet Hobbies with absolutely no problems, and would not be hesitant to deal with them in the future. If you have had a problem with them, then that’s one thing. But if you made a mistake with the name, that’s another.
Tom
I don’t agree. I have had only two dealings with Internet Hobbies, but have found them to be quite reliable.
As well, I can’t support your last inference about all large companies…such as our hosts, Kalmbach, presumably you would include them? Cheap, in what way?
You are correct about Internet Hobbies.
Internet Hobbies is not a problem, but this Post is trying to get Internet Trains to either ship the orders or give back the money to several forum buyers.
Yes, that is clear to all but the most obtuse. What is still not answered is the categorical proposition that “all large companies are unreliable and cheap.” That was the point of my post.
If they have experienced great growth…and they’ve had months back logs of orders…I would think they could have hired some people…even if only temporary to get caught up. I don’t know what is happening with them but if it is due to growth…there are some reasonable solutions.
underworld[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
I think it’s more a case of incompetence. They’ve been in the business for years so you’d think that they would get things right at this point, but i guess not.
And I don’t think they have any great amount of people to layoff (why can’t people just say fired when they mean it? ). I think it’s just something Steve Guccione runs out of his house.
I read the President of Internet Trains’ responses on the other forum and while I appreciate his acknowledging the fact that they are having some “problems”, I think he fell somewhat short of the mark in completely telling us what he’s doing to solve the problems. In my humble opinion, I think that entire company needs to work even harder to rectify their internal problems. On a positive note, I did receive a few emails from one of their customer service reps. In one of the emails he explained that items that were listed as available, were, in fact, not, and he wasn’t too sure if they could fill the order. Seems to me that they need to readdress their billing practices. I’ve NEVER dealt with an online merchant who charges you the full amount of an order BEFORE they ship the items. This whole business transaction seems dirty to me. Needless to say, I will never do business with these folks again. I sincerely appreciate the feedback from other concerned model railroaders on this issue. Thanks!
It is a way of getting money to buy your merchandise before they ship it. Their inventory seems to be non-existant or at the very least, only some of the items are in stock.
Anyone with a store front could start a Discount Model Train Sales on the Internet and list the Walthers Catalog. That would make you seem like you are the biggest and lowest priced place in the world. The problem with that action is even Walthers does not always have all items in stock.
Internet Trains used to have some kind of disclaimer on the web page saying something like most items available in 3 to 5 days. If that was true, all orders would go out in a week or so, not six months later if ever…
Most highly respected Customer Service groups keep you updates on back orders and will cancel you order and notify you if the item is not av
The two posts here will continue to help the customers that are not being treated fairly and ignored.
Jack - I looked up the address ( 113 Viking Ave, Brea, CA ) on Google earth and it zeros in on a building in an industrial park.
I also hit the Los Angeles area Better Business Bureau web-site (Internet Trains is a member). They don’t have a record that was really that bad. But they are only rated BB (AAA is the highest rating). Go here to see the report:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13133848
Over the past 36 months they have had 21 complaints filed.
This is not a internet phenomenen. When we had only snail mail we had the same problems. Only we had no where to complain. Anybody remember “Hobbies for Men” and their big ads and no product at our end in the 1970’s.
Just a thought
Harold
How about Cheap Trains, got caught by them but they doing time now for mail fraud.