An Open Letter to Jerry Calabrese, CEO Lionel, LLC

Yikes! One would think that they would send you a brand new set (that has been tested to make sure all is ok). Over the years, dealers often replaced any defective items with a new tested one. Things change.

We lost our dial tone on our phone line a couple weeks ago on a Sunday evening. The call to Verizon was taken by a "robot". We had to call back the next day and they were supposed to send someone Wednesday. We called Wed. and they said that the service call had been cancelled! They finally came and repaired the problem on Friday. 4-1/2 days later. It was a problem in the outside box.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

Wow! What a mess...

Just curious, did you contact Charles Ro? I'd be interested to know what they can do.

Kel

I suggest that you forward your experiences to CLASSIC TOY TRAINS and MODEL RAILROAD NEWS too. Will they print it? Dunno.

Peter Rohrman wrote:

Well, Peter, this is a horrendous experience all right. How the mighty have fallen! Lionel used to be known for making toy trains built like Mack trucks. Oops, now someone will tell us that Mack trucks aren't built like Mack trucks anymore, either. :-(

My advice: ask for your money back, and invest in a good quality G gauge or HO scale set instead. AFAIK, Aristocraft and LGB are the toughest G gauge trains, and their prices are comparable to Lionel O gauge, with LGB somewhat higher. Bachmann is cheaper, and runs well enough, but their track is hollow, and doesn't stand up to repeated assembly and disassembly. But then, if you're serious, you will build the set on a table anyhopw - repeated operation on the floor is not good for trains (and it plays h**l with your back :-)

Good HO starter train sets are made by Athearn, Walthers, and others.

HTH&GL

Kel,

I did contact Charles Ro about the same time I contacted Lionel for an RMA number. They gave me an RMA number over the phone (unlike Lionel). The said that they could fix it under warranty quickley. Charles Ro didn't propose to send me new set. I didn't think to make that proposal either. Charles Ro said that I was responsible for shipping it back to them. Charles Ro said that they would pick up the shipping back to me. I decided to take it to the local Lionel Service station first for these reasons:

(1) Lionel's turn around time was a joke. (2) Both Lionel and Charles Ro wanted me to pay for shipping to them. (3) I assumed that Lionel kept a close eye on there Service Stations' training and stocking needs wich lead me to belive that Larry's Model Trains in Midland Park, NJ was just as competent as the tech's working for Charles Ro. (4) A local drop off and pick up shaves 2 weeks of shipping off of my return time. (5) Lionel's RMA number was in transit to me, and I didn't know when I would get it. (6) I got a strange feeling about Charles Ro while talking to the person that gave me the RMA number. It was like he dreamed up the number. As soon as I asked him for it, he gave it to me without a fraction of a second of delay. I didn't hear him make a single key stroke on a computer to generate an RMA number. He said to attache the number to the shipment, and include my information in the box. I don't think that he took down my information. I was a little scared that my train would get lost. (7) The local guy said that it would take about a week if he didn't have parts. And a few days if he did have the parts.

In hind sight, I should have sent it back to Charles Ro, or proposed that they send me a new set. I didn't have the image of them in my head that I have now of them. I didn't have much interaction with them, and I had no input about them at the time. Now, I think they are a solid, well run company. If I had thought that well of Charles Ro back in late December, I might have my train by now. I plan to use Charles Ro for all of my future train needs.

Pete

Kel Cruise wrote:

Bill,

Thats ironic that you use Verizon as an example. I lost dialtone at home yesterday, and it hasn't been restored yet. Want to jump on the Verizon bashing newsgroup with me?

Pete

Thanks for the idea. I did just that. I also started a discussion on trains.com and ogaugerr.com's 3 rail forum under the same subject, but I think that the thread was bounced off of the ogaugerr.com forum. I think about 600-700 people saw my postings.

Dear Mr. Calabrese & Lionel Staff,

I so wish that I had waited another day before I started publicly posting my experiences with your company and repair chain. If I had waited, there would have been no reason for my postings. My boys' engine, tender, transformer and caboose were delivered to my home today while I was at work. Your repair time was much faster that I expected, and still fell within the 4 week time frame that I was told back in December by your customer service staff. I should have sent it back to your team in Chesterfield, MI the day I discovered that there was something wrong with it, or I should have allowed Charles Ro to handle the issue. I should have never brought it to the local dealer for repair. Please accept my apology for dragging this issue onto a public forum. Some of the responses to my threads were humbling. I regret doing what I did. It wasn't right of me to do to a company that is doing it's absolute best to bounce back from a tough verdict.

After an hour session with the engine, tender, and transformer, my boys and I found nothing wrong with them. All functions work up to specification now. It is very relaxing to watch my boys play with a train in perfect working order. After seeing and listening to how the train set should work, I no longer have issue with the amount of money I spent on it. The train set my boys have now is well worth the money I spent on it. I'm now considering putting a deposit down on an Acela set.

If there is anything I can do to assist Lionel in the future, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Peter Rohrman

Peter Rohrman wrote:

Pete replied: Thats ironic that you use Verizon as an example. I lost dialtone at home yesterday, and it hasn't been restored yet. Want to jump on the Verizon bashing newsgroup with me?

---------------------------------------------------- The wound has heeled now, Pete. I've already moved on the the next series of problems.

I hope you fare better than we did. We had to call Verizon numerous times to get the "quick" service! I was nice when I called and it would have taken a day longer. My wife talked to a supervisor and wasn't very nice. That brought 'em here a day sooner! That's why it only took 4-1/2 days to get here and about 1/2 hour to fix the problem.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

Peter=A0Rohrman replied: Dear Mr. Calabrese & Lionel Staff, I so wish that I had waited another day before I started publicly posting my experiences with your company and repair chain. If I had waited, there would have been no reason for my postings. ***

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I'm pleased that things worked out well for you, Peter. Maybe Verizon will restore your dial tone tomorrow.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

Bill,

By the time I walked into my house, they had restored the service. My wife said that it took 5 field tech, and they climed almost every pole in the neighborhood.

It was a good ending to my day.

Pete

Bill wrote:

Pete,

Charles Ro would have been the way to go.

Since I work in a train store, I'll give you my spin on it. We do test run everything before we let it out the door, so we can know it works. And if it's a major problem, we just replace the part. But if they bought it from someone else, unless it's an easy fix, we'll advise you send it back from who you bought it from.

CR probably had the RMA numbers on a sheet in front of them. It's not like they get a ton of returns, so they just issue a number and then fill out everything when they get it. And paying for postage to send something back happens alot. If you'de like to avoid the postage, best to buy it locally.

Kel

You were correct on all counts, they were wrong.