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It's definitely the Christmas rush. I live a mile from the MB Klein store so I go there all the time. I needed something last Saturday and tried to stop by and couldn't get NEAR the store. I mean literally I would have had to park a block away. You could see from the window that the place was packed full with bodies.
So that's what they are dealing with.
Factor in that they give a 10% discount for in store purchases on days when there is a train show in the area and the place becomes an absolute zoo. I'm sure no other work can get done in the store on those days. So that was a Saturday and Sunday gone for internet orders a week or two ago when the Greenberg show was in town. (Might have been the day I tried to stop by...I can't remember)
Ill also point out that the mail in this area is insane. I tried to put something in a mailbox near MB Klein last week and all 4 mailboxes in front of the post office were packed so full you could squeeze a single letter in. That's how busy the mail is.
Those two things working together are making for very slow shipping from Kleins
All I can say is that I wish I lived that close to them, and yep I do appreciate how busy they are as well. The good thing is that I finally did get what I had ordered, it arrived this morning.
Kleins will always be my first stop if I need anything for the layout/s - that's a guarantee.
This leads to an interesting question: it's only in the past 10 years or so, as I understand it, that they've become so important as a national dealer. Before that, they were a major regional hobby shop, but didn't have much of a web presence -- around the year 2000 I was ordering from Toy Train Heaven (but I was ordering by phone off their ad in RMC). More locally, there was Long's Drug Store, which got rid of the store manager who had the discount train section -- and he wasn't able to make it on his own as a discount dealer. It's only been within the last few years that Trainworld upgraded its web site to make ordering anything like easy.
My former LHS is a major regional dealer, but I quit going there as staff attitudes headed down the crapper, and he seems to have ignored developments in the hobby like DCC -- looks like his inventory is still tied up in $3000 brass locos and $100 books.
What's the ingredient that makes Klein's succeed and a lot of other places not?
MB Klein has been one of my major suppliers for the hobby. I have no hobby shops remotely close to me. I was at a standstill for years on my layout because of not being able get what I needed. I occasionally purchase from ebay, but it seems that for what I needed, many of the sellers were wanting full retail price, and then shipping would have to be paid on top of the purchase price, I shy away from ebay. I have seen numerous times where items were bid up to prices above retail also. Internet retailers like MB Klein have been a big help for me, and I am sure a lot of other people in the hobby.
But at some point, Klein's seems to have decided to upgrade in some way -- rather than being where people drove from Va, DC, Md, Del, etc, they went to a national web site with at least B+ service. Other places that try to be national like the one in Denver don't seem to measure up (I used the Denver place for a while, but after several screw-ups they charged my card for a $700 purchase I didn't make -- I went to Klein's after that).
Seems like there are so-so regional places that, if they gave it some thought, could upgrade -- but even not all national web places have held up. Funny. Maybe some of the guys who know them better have some insights.
I think it has a lot to do with the site. (I have never been to a Kleins in person, so I can not comment on that).
The site is easy to search and navigate. I have been to a few other sites (The ToyTrainHeaven and CabooseHobbies come to mind) that are difficult to search and navigate. The Klein site also has great pictures. I get a newsletter form Bowser, with a list of cars for sale and no pics. I am a complete n00b, so no pictures means no sale. I have no idea what a DS 441000 NS Original 1002 w/sound is, other than I can guess NS is Norfolk Southern. Obviously these people are targeting experienced users, but MB Klein recognizes that idiots like myself are going to looking for something and a picture is worth 1000 words. Finally, they usually get things out the door in 1-2 days. If you combine these things, they become like the amazon of model rail roading and you end up using them over and over.
I would also comment that their service seems top notch. I called in one time about an order that did not go through, and the guy was extremely helpful. He also seemed 500x more knowledgable then I about trains, which was a big plus.
A couple of other Internet retailers I occasionally use is Hobblinc and InternetTrains.com when I can't find what I need at MB Klein, but I will have to agree with number9 about navigating Kleins web site. It is a lot more user friendly than most.
Klein does everything in house. That is one of the keys to their successful business model.
They photograph everything they sell in store (They have a tiny photo studio set up in the back room for optimal lighting and stuff) so as soon as something new arrives they can have high quality photos of it online.
Their call center is right in the store so it's easy to manage. It's not outsourced to a call center company where you have people answering phones about trains, food, soap, or anything else.
Their staff is all train nerds like us. They are all modelers who just happen to work there. Many of older retired guys looking for something to do. So they put a lot of passion into the job that you don't normally get with employees. They genuinely love the work and the business.
It also seems to be a happy place to work. Everyone appears to get a long and be having a good time in the store. That does AMAZING things for your productivity as a business.
I analyze retail small businesses as side consulting work. I look at what they are doing wrong and help them improve their operations. So I just see good and bad things in every store I walk into. But when I walk into Kleins its' only good things. I literally see them doing nothing wrong. And that's unheard of. But it's why they have a jump on their competition. It's not that they sell better stuff. It's that they make it easier to buy their stuff and are efficient enough to be able to offer their stuff as competitive prices.
They have been in business since the beginning of model trains. It's been a family business handed down to I think it's 3rd or 4th generation now. So the owners of the company have just grown up learning how to run the business right. Its' in their DNA at this point. That's another huge ingredient to success. (Not a necessary one, but one that sure helps a lot)
G'day all....Louis often tells me that over many, many transactions for him, MB Klien has been amazing to deal with...If ever being" too good "at what you do is the case then this would be correct with this...By sheer volume of orders BECAUSE of their great customer service and attention to detail , the wait queue is longer than ever but no doubt their usual fantastic service will be back sooner than you know it...The tyranny of distance and expensive postage is the ONLY reason I don't buy from them...both things they can do nothing about...I'd love to buy from MB Klien one day..Louis's recommendation is good enough for me.....Cheers Rod..
I totaly agree with all the comments, I have purchased lots of stuff from M.B. Klein over the last two years and I have never, ever had a problem, always received my goods within two weeks (I to live in Australia) and very well packaged, no damage.
Their web site is also first class.
Rodney as far as freight goes, I save up and place a large order (not just one item) and with their freight calculator you can see what it is going to cost, many times I have added small items to my order with no additional cost in freight.
Unfortunately what is slowing my purchase down at the moment is the Aussie dollar.
I would never hesitate to recommend them to anybody.
Regards
Gary
"Merry Christmas" everybody and have a safe and happy New Year.
G'day all....Louis often tells me that over many, many transactions for him, MB Klien has been amazing to deal with...If ever being" too good "at what you do is the case then this would be correct with this...By sheer volume of orders BECAUSE of their great customer service and attention to detail , the wait queue is longer than ever but no doubt their usual fantastic service will be back sooner than you know it...The tyranny of distance and expensive postage is the ONLY reason I don't buy from them...both things they can do nothing about...I'd love to buy from MB Klien one day..Louis's recommendation is good enough for me.....Cheers Rod..
Time to get the finger out Rod, do the sums, before you buy here and pay Ausposts rates and dealer margins, do a trial purchase. Take it all the way through checkout, including the shipping price and then use a site like this http://coinmill.com/AUD_USD.html to get what you'll pay in $AU (and pay by credit card instead of paypal). You can always empty your cart if you don't like it before hitting the submit order button. Even where you are it should take less than 3 weeks to get your stuff. The $AU ain't comin' back up for a long time, if ever. The only way at the moment that sellers here might be cheaper is if they still have stock bought when our dollar was higher and are honest enough to keep their margins as they were. Once that stock is gone though, I predict a deep sucking in of the breath when hit with the updated prices.
Yeah, considering the xmas rush, that isn't too bad at all.
Glad you finally got your order Ken, nothing worse than sitting around waiting for things to arrive. Seems like things are slowly getting back to normal then.
I just placed an order with them this evening, so we will see how long everything takes now the christmas rush is over.
The one thing I can say is this ... I think the fact that they are so swamped say's something for their popularity and the amount of clientele they have, and that speaks volumes about the service they provide.
G'day Toot....Yep....Looks like we're back down around 80 cents US...remember back a year and a bit ago when we were up at about $1.08...The good thing is with Orient Express Models , Little Caboose Trains , Bonzy69 , and a couple of others , I can get now pretty much everything but one day when I get to the US Got to do this...
. Louis has promised that he'll show me MB Klien..not far from where he lives....something to look forward to...Thanks for the tip on the "Checkout" idea though in the meantime...great suggestion because it would all depend on specials prices ...decent size orders etc....and if the AUD/USD one day begin to get a bit closer again...Did you have a good Chrissie...did Santa bring you anything for the layout ?...Cheers Rod..
Santa (me) got me a DCC ready MTH 'ACe from a fellow club member. Will probably put an NCE decoder in it first, maybe a sound one later, least with the silent one I can run it at the DC club layout with just other DCC/ready locos, and at the DCC only club with my other DCC silent and W/sound locos. Best of both worlds.
My Athearn Genesis MRL 'ACe's may be restricted to only #4312 this upcoming release, and possibly DCC/ready only also. Hope I can sell some more stuff at the Gold Coast Club's buy & sell on the 18th Jan.
Doubt you'll regret it, have found the odd occasion when elsewhere's been cheaper, but no-one packs better or is quicker in shipping, especially for international. And they tell you in checkout exactly what you'll pay for shipping, BEFORE you finally commit and you can empty your cart at that point if you wish.
M.B Klein ,as of yesterday was dealing w/phone hacker. As I called to order stuff i was asked to give info to win a free trip ,i didnt do it and hung up.Called again and voice atuo voice again told me to give info this time I stayed on the line and after 10sec heard voice say "goodbye" after that there lines were busy never got through.
