On a similar note (as above) I just received an order from M.B.Klein in a very timely fashion I might add; however, the Bachmann 2-6-0 I purchased was damaged - essential one of the wheel linkage was flopping around in the wind, it had become unattached from where it should have been making the engine a "non goer".
I have emailed Klein's with the issue and asking how I can return it for another engine. We will see how they respond and what they propose.
As for Mikes problem being an Atlas one, yes I do agree it is an Atlas problem; HOWEVER, Mike did not buy the engine from Atlas he bought it from Klein's and therefore, that does make it Klein's responsibility to remedy the problem. The simple solution would have been to simply return the engine and wait until Klein's had the same engine back in stock OR, accept a different Cab Number or Road Name if having that particular engine was that urgent.
To be honest though, and after re reading Mike's post, I can't think of any company/business who would take another engine apart so as to "fix" the faulty one. Klein's responsibility is to replace the engine, not repair it - repairing it is Atlas' problem.
They were completely out of that road name. Not even another road number was available. If you're buying NS, replacing it with a BN doesn't quite work. I'm sure for some people the road name might not matter, but I think for a majority of model railroaders it's not like you can just take whatever paint job happens to still be in stock as a replacement. BTW, if you read, I wasn't asking anyone to do an actual repair job, I was asking to swap a body out. On those N-scale Atlas it's as simple as pulling if off. No screws, no tools, nothing. Just grab and pull and done. It's not like HO, where I understand it might be a bit more difficult. I can swap bodies on an Atlas loco in less than 30 seconds, and that includes having to take it in and out of the box. And yes, I've had a retailer do that in the past. Like I said, the chassis itself is absolutely and completely and exactly the same indistinguishable part. It's not in any way ripping off Atlas or putting the "wrong" pieces together. Another one who couldn't do that offered to pay my return postage, get a replacement from the mfr., and mail the new one back no charge. Klein's only solution was: Send it back and end up with nothing. That's the difference between being willing to help a customer out instead of doing an assembly-line business. Other large retailers, I'm sure, might also refuse to be helpful, but they also tend to have items in stock for more time than it takes to find a fault and initiate a return. With many items, Klein sells out within just a few days, or even the same day they're made available. I'm not completely knocking them, and it's not like I'm refusing to ever do business with them again, but I've discovered that doing business with them carries more risk than other established retailers.
And yes, I do think that because of the volume they do, they do have somewhat of a Wal-Mart mentality. Sure, they're always courteous, but they do have an assembly-line business. In and out, no deviation allowed. I'd just prefer to do business with people who might be a bit more flexible or helpful, and willing to go to a little more trouble than just the default "return it" response to everything. Strangely enough, considering how often they get bashed on here, I've had a better buying experience with established sellers on eBay than with most anyone I've dealt with. Note that I did include the word "established"
As for returning it to the manufacturer, I know from bitter experience that it can easily take a couple of months to ever see your loco again, not to mention having to eat the postage costs. I shouldn't have to go through a turtle-esque warranty repair process on something I just bought. If that were supposed to be the way it worked, these places wouldn't accept returns at all. And some of them don't. I got a defective Kato unit from Fifer Hobby, and their response was basically that it wasn't their problem and good luck with Kato. So at least Klein is much better than that. I'd pretty much figured I was done with Fifer after that, but was at least going to honor the pre-orders I'd placed with them until they also tried to rip me off and overcharge me on those. I may be whining a bit about Klein, but I would seriously stay far away from Fifer.
