Very disappointed with MB Klein


Klein's is doing so well, due to an exceedingly strong work ethic and customer loyalty, not to mention strong references, that they are processing a lot more clients' orders these days with a lot more stock throughput. I think we have become spoiled the past six years with their excellent response. Maybe we should ease up on the 'gotta-have-it-yesterday' mentality.
 
Klein's is doing so well, due to an exceedingly strong work ethic and customer loyalty, not to mention strong references, that they are processing a lot more clients' orders these days with a lot more stock throughput. I think we have become spoiled the past six years with their excellent response. Maybe we should ease up on the 'gotta-have-it-yesterday' mentality.

I have no problem waiting a few days for an order to ship, but exceeding a week is not acceptable to me. If they are that busy then perhaps they should look at hiring additional people to process orders.
 
I had two recent, (January), orders with MB Klein, one for Decals, Track and other misc. items, the other for a pair of closeout Reading GP30s. The orders were a day apart, the first took five days, the second nine days. based on all the new products showing up on their web site, and the volume of orders, they are still a bit behind. During the "off" season, I sometimes get my order within 48 hours of placing it. Other times It takes longer. BTW: Trainworld has delivered within 24 hours of placing the order, and has also had delays on occasion. I do my pre orders with them, as they discount the most for advance orders, and honor the original price. My experience with Walthers is receipt in 7 to 10 days of placing the order. My comparisons are all based on standard shipping.
 
MTStuff.com will, as far as I can see, will always be my first choice of "goto". Can't beat their packaging for international. I had 2 orders sent over the holiday period, bit of a delay, but not much and they did apologise. Taking on extra, untrained staff to deal with a short term spike, would probably be counter productive to efficiency anyway. Too much time would be waisted selecting and training only to have to sack them when demand fell off.
 
I placed an order on New Year's Eve using a gift certificate I got for Christmas and it shipped using the USPS. It shipped out two or three days after they came back to work and the Post Office delivered it in the promised three days. The box arrived in excellent condition and with enough shipping peanuts to feed Ringling Brothers elephants for a couple of days. I've ordered from them multiple times and have been very happy with the service.
 
Okay, I just received an email from Model Train Stuff regarding my order. This would explain why I have not received any information prior to today. I understand 'stuff' happens, and will continue to order from them in the future.

Hi Gary --
Your order was shipped: Thurs, Jan 14
Tracking / ID number: #########
It passed thru the clearinghouse in New York on Jan 16 and is now on its way to you.
We are having difficulty with the system that "should" send out tracking notices and update the order status. Sorry for any inconvenience or aggravation this may have caused you!
 
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That's what happened to one of mine, no update till it was nearly at my door, figured the system was overloaded.
 
What? I thought I was the only one having problems with MBKlien!

I placed an order on 1/7 for a few items. I barely just received it on the 18th. I called them a few times. They claimed they had problems with their shipping system. WELL FIX YOUR SHIPPING SYSTEM THEN!

What really irratitates me, is they charged my credit card right away, and it wasn't just a hold either. They really shouldn't charge your card until it actually ships. Several places do that.

Looks like I'm gonna have to order from Trainworld. Better prices, and they ship right away. Sometimes the same day!
 
As far as taking your money immediately, I would say that's because, to my knowledge, they are the only online seller that has a realtime stock inventory that shows exactly how many of any item is in stock and immediately adjusts that stock amount when an amount of anything gets bought. That would require that orders are paid for immediately in order to do that to ensure you get what you've ordered. Trainworld is one that I have ordered from in the past in multiples of an item, only to get told there wasn't enough stock available. I find that more annoying and frustrating than a few glitches that might occur, especially around this season. I hate that sort of guesswork when I want something.
 
Michael: The down side to on line purchases, is the instant charging of the CC, the wait for the product, and the hope that the parcel delivery doesn't lose or destroy the package. But of course, you know that. MBK has been my go to for many years now, and other than the usual seasonal delay, they are extremely prompt.

For me, Trainworld is better only because of their proximity to me, vs. MBK, and because the USPS keeps changing their Priority Mail routing, which adds to the delay if one uses USPS.

The worst delivery situation I ever had was with Fast Tracks, I took the cheap way out, and accepted standard shipping, and waited 35 days for delivery. I also had a bad experience dealing directly with kadee. FWIW, some of my wife's craft vendors are even worse.
 
It seems we've all become accustomed to today's fast paced world and when it doesn't happen "now" we think something is wrong.

I've placed hundreds of orders with dozens of companies. Occasionally somethings goes awry.

I think it's called "life" but I could be wrong.
 
I really can't complain too loudly. I have been ordering from MB Klein for years along with many other internet retailers and for the most part I really can't complain about the service. I usually use MB Klein at my first choice as I have found that they usually have everything I need in stock. My last order went in just about the same time as Motley's order and if they had problems with their shipping system, that's life.

The world has become so dependent on technology that if there's a problem with it, nothing happens. Ever got to a store that had a power outage or computer problem? They can't do anything.
 
I have no way to buy local where I live. No decent shops for hundreds of miles. The closest decent hobby shop to me is Caboose Hobbies in Denver, over 700 miles away.
 
People can say that delays, "problems" with software, and so forth, are part of "life", and we're somehow supposed to think this is all OK. But think about the conventional prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Some things you can change, some things you can't. Shipping problems with an on line hobby store, it seems to me, fall into the category of things you can change simply by switching on line hobby stores.
 
Things do go wrong, sometimes with the vendor, sometimes with the supplier, sometimes with the shipper.

All of these businesses are run by humans and, believe it or not, humans make mistakes.

Sure change vendors if that makes you feel better.

Or perhaps you could just relax and smell the roses.
 
That, of course, is entirely up to the individual -- but why the implicit judgment that those who don't agree with you are somehow wrong?
 
I think the point being made here is that a harsh judgement of a known excellent performing company because of some seasonal glitches to it's delivery/tracking system is an overreaction. Sure, go buy somewhere else if you think the same thing won't happen to them also at some time. Sometimes s**t happens.
 
Other than the fact they are almost local, I like that they usually have the best or 2nd best price. I met one of their employees through a train club and he was cool.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
 



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