The lady mentioned in my post, is the head of the repair/replacement shop. Often times she is on the "floor" following up on the repairs and making sure they're being done quickly and correctly. IIRC, she, (I wish I could remember her name) also has stated that since she is the only "office personnel" of that department, she doesn't often get a chance to answer e-mails regularly. This I read on some forum, or thru the industry contacts that I and another friend have. I talked with Lee Riley, (and although I have known Lee since 1988, he is definitely one of my friends contacts), at the Atlanta train show last summer, and I was looking at the pilot models for the NS heritage units, 2 brand new models, and I asked him about the warranties, and asked if they came with the standard lifetime warranty. He pointed out something that had not registered with me concerning Bachmann's warranty, (considering the number of Bachmann locos that are waiting to be painted here), and that is, the current warranty policy was implemented JANUARY FIRST, 2003.
I wasn't even aware that the warranty policy changed that far back. Lee explained that it was changed from a lifetime warranty to a 1 year warranty, because policy then was send in any loco to be repaired, and if parts weren't available, the loco would be replaced with a comparable refurbished model or a new one for a small "service charge". He explained that many people were sending in the older Bachmann 2-8-0 which hadn't been in production for many years and it cost less than $25 new, and were getting in exchange a brand new Spectrum 2-8-0. Although he didn't say it, my conclusion was they were apparently giving away more 2-8-0's than they were selling. So when I got home, I glanced at a copy of the warranty and said "Wow, that's quite a change".
I read my warranty statement that came with my 4-4-0 that I bought last year. The warranty states, " In order to register the date of original purchase for all customers (and validate the warranty for US and Canadian purchases ONLY), the accompanying Owners Registration Card must be completed and mailed within ten (10) days of purchase of the product to the address listed below."
[What follows is word for word from the warranty statement. It's sometimes amazing to me what a scanner and a word processor can do to save a lot of typing.]
"If warranty service is required WITHIN one year from the date of original purchase by a US or CANADIAN resident, please send the product, postage prepaid to: Attention: Service Department; Bachmann Industries, Inc.; 1400 East Erie Avenue; Philadelphia, PA 19124 USA. Also, please write a letter explaining the nature of your difficulty and enclose it with the product, and be sure to include your return address, DAYTIME phone number and e-mail address (if available).
If service is required AFTER one year from the date of original purchase by a US or CANADIAN resident, or if service is required ANYTIME BY ANY OTHER PERSON WORLDWIDE, please contact the service department to determine the postage and handling fee and applicable service charge in effect at the time the repair is required. Then send the product, postage prepaid, with a check or money order in the amount specified, or complete credit card information (including credit card number, your name as it appears on the card, and the card expiration date) to the service department. (No C.O.D.s will be accepted.) Also, please write a letter explaining the nature of your difficulty and enclose it with the product, and be sure to include your return return address, DAYTIME phone number, and e-mail address (if available)."
At the top of the warranty , next to the implementation date, it also says that, "this warranty supersedes all previous (and/or concurrent) warranties"
Given the "changes" in the warranty from previous versions, now a set of questions pop up in my mind.
What are the ages of the locomotives? If under one year, did the OP forget to include something on the package, like the "Attention; Service Department"?
If they are older than a year, did he contact the Service Department, for charges, prior to sending them in?
I'm not saying the OP, Brad, did anything wrong, especially after reading exactly what the warranty states. I just don't think that we've been given enough information to bash Bachmann this badly, considering all the posts highly praising Bachmann's warranty work, and speed of turn around, not just on this forum, but just about all the forums I am a member of as well. (This forum is my "home", and for any 1 post by me in another forum, there are 15-20 posts here). I know that there are probably many forum members here who at least peruse other forums to see what they're saying or said about the same subject.
IMHO, I think the bashing should be toned down a notch or two.
Still have a parts drawer full of open-frame motors, too.)