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Post by richardthomasatal on Jan 23, 2024 10:02:53 GMT -8
Scale Trains has delivery dates that are not right and although better than some companies it's still pretty bad. For example, rolling stock showing due here in 8 days on one area of the website does not even show on the water on their ETA page. They have plenty of staff so I don't know why its so hard to keep this at least matching or up to date when they receive notification something is leaving the factory. So its hard to figure out when are the BNSF refrigerator cars coming actually coming. I see them all the time out West here so I would love to get some once they hit the website. This isn't the only issue. It seems some staff needs to be more into their job to stay on top of this.
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sdevo
New Member
Posts: 22
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Post by sdevo on Jan 23, 2024 10:19:52 GMT -8
Scaletrains isn't the only manufacture with inconsistent dates. Im not defending them or anything, I'm all for shitting on Scaletrains.
But I really think this is a petty complaint.
My attitude of any upcoming release is it will get here when it gets here. Any reputable LHS or website doesn't ask or charge any money till the product is in hand.
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Post by jonklein611 on Jan 23, 2024 10:30:30 GMT -8
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Post by cera2254 on Jan 23, 2024 11:27:07 GMT -8
I would subscribe to their emails. They usually tell you when something is due to arrive and when the window for preorder customers to get theirs is over.
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Post by richardthomasatal on Jan 23, 2024 11:39:57 GMT -8
I just don't understand what's so hard about also updating the date on the product pages that could be easily done at the same time. They have a specific date on the product page of 1/31 but then on another page it's not even on the water yet. Silly stuff but not surprising.
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Post by jonklein611 on Jan 23, 2024 11:58:56 GMT -8
FYI, if they aren't on a boat yet, it's unlikely they will leave before March due to Chinese New Year.
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Post by gevohogger on Jan 23, 2024 12:10:03 GMT -8
Is it that time of the month again, for another "This manufacturer is late!" thread?
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Post by hudsonyard on Jan 23, 2024 16:13:44 GMT -8
Do you guys who are constantly bellyaching about things not being here exactly when you convinced yourself they should be have layouts to work on? If not, what does it matter if the latest release of _____ thats headed for a pile of boxes on the shelf gets here?
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Post by ambluco on Jan 23, 2024 16:13:56 GMT -8
Agree! But was Scaletrains called first?  Is it that time of the month again, for another "This manufacturer is late!" thread? |
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Post by Mr. Trainiac on Jan 23, 2024 16:36:20 GMT -8
As much as I like roasting companies, I think we need to keep things in perspective: these are effectively toys.
We are having shouting matches online over toys. Every day doesn't need to be Super Christmas, and if Santa's cargo ship is a few weeks late, I think we can all survive. Our lives can be a lot worse than they are now. Maybe it's a good thing the Scaletrains shipment is delayed. It gives us all time to leave the basement and see our family for once.
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Post by alcocentury on Jan 23, 2024 16:55:28 GMT -8
Amen
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Post by prr 4467 on Jan 24, 2024 6:12:59 GMT -8
I have pre-ordered multiple items directly from ScaleTrains over the last 2 to 3 years.
Every single time, the items arrived (at my house) within about 2 weeks to maybe 5 or 6 weeks of the date they estimated they would arrive in this country. That's pretty darn good!
I can find fault with things in this life, but honestly, on the items I have ordered, ScaleTrains' record of hitting the estimated arrival dates has been absolutely stellar! Better than any other model train manufacturer.
(Disclaimer: I have not always been any kind of ScaleTrains fanboy, but in online forums have been much the opposite in the past).
I believe in being honest with people, and beyond a few pilots that droop a little bit (and are not always fixed with the washer method depicted in the YouTube video) I must say that ScaleTrains is doing a fantastic job overall, but especially so on hitting their delivery dates.
When I have needed warranty service, they have been excellent with the models arriving back at my house as good as brand new without so much as a scratch or any details damaged at all, which is factually remarkable given the rivet counter details, and their turnaround time is outstanding, typically within 2 months you get the repaired item back.
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Post by ChessieFan1978 on Jan 24, 2024 6:35:37 GMT -8
I just noticed the second run of GP30's has been pushed back to Summer 2024 now.
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Post by richardthomasatal on Jan 24, 2024 7:24:13 GMT -8
Do you guys who are constantly bellyaching about things not being here exactly when you convinced yourself they should be have layouts to work on? If not, what does it matter if the latest release of _____ thats headed for a pile of boxes on the shelf gets here? I have 3 locomotives and 35 pieces of modern rolling stock in my collection and less than 100 pieces of rolling stock and 11 locomotives in my primary modeling era. So it will not be on a shelf in my case. As much as I like roasting companies, I think we need to keep things in perspective: these are effectively toys. We are having shouting matches online over toys. Every day doesn't need to be Super Christmas, and if Santa's cargo ship is a few weeks late, I think we can all survive. Our lives can be a lot worse than they are now. Maybe it's a good thing the Scaletrains shipment is delayed. It gives us all time to leave the basement and see our family for once. I think this forum is bi-polar if these are effectively toys. Because I've never seen so much whining about a small detail being out of place or absent as I've seen here. With steam locomotives with dcc approaching four figure MSRP and several rolling stock items costing $50+ each I think it's safe to say these are more than toys. I don't think it's too much to ask to have two different parts of the website agreeing with eachother. But what do I know, I just have run a successful business for years. If companies want the laid back approach with employees doing whatever they want then that's fine, maybe it's in their mind that they're making toys so it's not a big deal. But if that's the case they should also price them as toys. Lastly, it's not a few weeks late. One insider earlier in the thread said it wont be on the water before March so we're looking at April. April when the website says January is a sizeable difference. |
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Post by ambluco on Jan 24, 2024 9:21:10 GMT -8
If it were Tangent, these would just show up sometime this summer, with no prior warning. Most people on here talk about saving money for there models. When things are late, they talk about more time to save. Personally, I only get annoyed after 5 years of no-show. I just noticed the second run of GP30's has been pushed back to Summer 2024 now. |
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Post by bnsf971 on Jan 24, 2024 9:32:42 GMT -8
I think some people should take up stamp collecting instead of model railroading.
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Post by richardthomasatal on Jan 24, 2024 14:22:39 GMT -8
I find it comical you guys battle it out over the smallest detail, brake positioning and other mild nonsense all the time but I simply ask that one part of a website's date matches with the other and I'm the bad guy who needs to find another hobby. Lordy lordy, the world we live in.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Jan 24, 2024 14:28:53 GMT -8
Paraphrasing Judge Judy, "Late turns into delivery; wrong is forever."
Ed
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Post by prr 4467 on Jan 24, 2024 14:38:44 GMT -8
Some models have features that appear so egregiously bad, that cannot be fixed even with a pair of plyers (some of those brake cylinders are glued on way too well such that I couldn't ever get them loose) that they stand out across a room.
I'd rather completely do without a given model that has noticeably bad features than to accept it as is. There's too many other toys (ahem, models) that can be had instead. I choose to stick to mundane freight diesels instead of some flashy but awful-looking passenger units.
Ymmv.
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Post by gevohogger on Jan 24, 2024 14:40:57 GMT -8
I find it comical you guys battle it out over the smallest detail, brake positioning and other mild nonsense all the time but I simply ask that one part of a website's date matches with the other and I'm the bad guy who needs to find another hobby. Lordy lordy, the world we live in. I hope you're also pestering companies like Best Buy and UPS and Amtrak; companies whose websites can't keep track of stock and delivery times and whatever else. You know, actual BIG companies with full-time IT staff who could be keeping their sites up and running accurately, but for some reason can't. Does Scale Trains even have a dedicated IT person? I doubt it. Even Shane has a day job away from ST that probably takes up most of his time.
You are constantly trying to catch the smallest fish in the ocean.
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Post by oakway on Jan 24, 2024 15:14:42 GMT -8
I think some people should take up stamp collecting instead of model railroading. Leaf collecting was cheap and fairly stress free. Unless you just can’t find that tree you really need. Model Railroading is Fun! |
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Post by riogrande on Jan 24, 2024 15:22:44 GMT -8
I think some people should take up stamp collecting instead of model railroading. Leaf collecting was cheap and fairly stress free. Unless you just can’t find that tree you really need. Model Railroading is Fun! The first year I had to collect leafs at my moms house, it took me and 2 others 6 straight hours and we filled over 90 leaf bags. I found too many trees! |
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Post by prr 4467 on Jan 24, 2024 15:42:02 GMT -8
Ha. Right now packages that normally take 3 business days to arrive here are now taking 10 days--at least that is the current estimate. One of my orders sat still in a USPS warehouse for more than 6 calendar days. They had it in their possession, but never officially accepted it, for nearly 7 calendar days.
I wish I could say that was only one package, but it is not. Another package, a single Kadee freight car, is similarly stuck in a different post office in Texas--I'm not thinking there's all that much snow there to blame it on, either, but who knows.
Update: My one package was picked up by USPS from Spring Creek Model Trains on 1/16, and has now spent 9 calendar days in USPS possession, and has never left the state of Nebraska, having most recently been back to the USPS in Omaha, for a second time!
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Post by crblue on Jan 25, 2024 6:48:24 GMT -8
I think we need to keep things in perspective: these are effectively toys. You're new to this forum aren't you?  I think this forum is bi-polar if these are effectively toys. Because I've never seen so much whining about a small detail being out of place or absent as I've seen here. With steam locomotives with dcc approaching four figure MSRP and several rolling stock items costing $50+ each I think it's safe to say these are more than toys. Adult toys are expensive! Have you seen the cost to build a Lego castle set with an army. That's over half a grand right there, assuming you aren't using any super-rare minifigs. R/C Airplanes are $$$. So are collectable cars. Guitars, wood working, Magic: The Gathering, they're all able to soak as much money as you're willing to put into them. Here's a $511,000 MTG card, for example. |
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Post by richardthomasatal on Jan 25, 2024 9:00:43 GMT -8
I find it comical you guys battle it out over the smallest detail, brake positioning and other mild nonsense all the time but I simply ask that one part of a website's date matches with the other and I'm the bad guy who needs to find another hobby. Lordy lordy, the world we live in. I hope you're also pestering companies like Best Buy and UPS and Amtrak; companies whose websites can't keep track of stock and delivery times and whatever else. You know, actual BIG companies with full-time IT staff who could be keeping their sites up and running accurately, but for some reason can't. Does Scale Trains even have a dedicated IT person? I doubt it. Even Shane has a day job away from ST that probably takes up most of his time.
You are constantly trying to catch the smallest fish in the ocean.
Shane the CEO has a day job? What does he do in this day job? Amtrak has always been disfunctional. I've bothered UPS when something is lost or severely delayed and I haven't shopped at Best Buy in many years. Any company that is severely late or has mixed communication does get bothered yes. There was a piece of anitque furniture being reproduced by a company some years back that I had ordered and they were a year late but they straightened out their communication afterwards and sent an email to everyone that ordered it. Smaller companies are more likely to get simple things like that right imo. I don't get the feeling some staff at Scaletrains are motivated when I talk to them at shows. It's probably the pay or hours or burnout. So I feel some staff quality may be sub par. |
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Post by prr 4467 on Jan 25, 2024 9:37:02 GMT -8
The point was made by others above but perhaps was not clearly understood.
I have worked for a model train manufacturer, who is still around, and they are still smaller than what ScaleTrains is now, despite being more than 60 years old.
The companies directly involved in making HO trains are much smaller companies than one might think. The employees wear many hats, and the hat they are wearing changes literally daily. When new product arrives from China, it is an "all-hands-on-deck" situation to get it out the door to the dealers and customers as soon as humanly possible. They do NOT have armies of people just sitting around waiting on product to arrive. They do NOT have staff on hand to individually open and inspect each and every single loco that arrives. That is impossible, a dream, and would take far too much time. Maybe Intermountain actually did do it for some expensive cab forward steamers after problems with a previous run, but nobody has armies of staff just sitting around waiting for product to appear so they can inspect it.
I have been at the importer on the day that new product arrived (I was notified ahead of time, the day before actually). The truck comes in. It gets unloaded. A relative few models are opened, inspected, verified that everything looks ok and is the right color (sample models were previously approved so this is basically a quick double check). Photos are quickly taken to update the website (replace colored drawings IF they have time). The product starts going out the door within a couple hours of arrival to get it into the hands of all those who bought. Yes, this is "just in time" delivery. There is virtually no stock left over at the manufacturer and importer after a few days. Those few models that are leftover (NOT PRE-SOLD) take a very long time to ever sell (studies have shown).
The same people unloading the truck, filling the orders, packing up boxes for shipment one day are literally the same people supervising research and development, supervising the injection molding of brand-new plastic parts the next day. (It is considered by some to be prudent to make your own plastic parts here in the USA with mostly 100% virgin brand new plastic, as it gives much better quality control and dimensional stability, then to ship those plastic parts over to China for final assembly and painting).
Web presence? Often these companies do not have and cannot afford to pay a high-quality web design person (not full-time). I know at least one local train store that would love to have an online presence, but they do not even know one single qualified person they could trust to maintain that web site. To be clear the OWNER of the train store is paying himself about $400 per week as the owner to run the store. His primary living is his full-time mechanical engineering position. His employees are paid, but he cannot afford to pay a competent webmaster even if he knew one. The train store will be his retirement gig after the full time engineering position is over for him. The store is staffed with part-timers, many either retired, or college students at the beginning of their working career. (Former owner, now 82, is still working part-time to maintain loyal local following).
I do not know Shane personally and have never even met him, but I would bet his story is very similar to the people I actually do know who work in the model train industry today. It is mostly a labor of love. Websites get updated when they can, most likely when the principal(s) have time to go in and do that, after everything else they do during the typical week. ScaleTrains' website is awesome compared to some others, so they are likely paying somebody to manage it--yet clearly not well-enough for some or we wouldn't be having this mostly civil discussion.
I got to meet somebody who owns every single surviving PRR steam locomotive drawing, including the 80 pages that were previously thought to be missing/destroyed. He consults with various importers and the PRRTHS to develop new products. He is actively figuring out how to 3D print new PRR models (passenger cars and mow cars right now). How does he get paid, beyond the occasional free model he receives from an importer for all his work? He works full time as the CADD manager of a civil engineering firm that has multiple offices. The model trains--all of that--is his hobby, for which he'll likely never get much more than minimum wage for the hours he has put in.
No, I don't actually know Shane or even one single employee over at ST, but I bet the way they have to operate isn't all that different from those who I do know. It's a hard business to survive in, and more than 2 out of every 3 firms will fail. The list of firms that have come and gone is so long we couldn't begin to name them all here.
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wictl
Junior Member
Posts: 76
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Post by wictl on Jan 26, 2024 4:25:19 GMT -8
One aspect that some forget is the Covid 19 effect. During 2020/21, while China was shutdown, the company that I work was still open (many of us working from home) for was still t on developing product and sending the designs to the factories in China, hence creating a backlog that they still are working through. We have not slowed down, they did.
Darin Umlauft
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Post by jonklein611 on Feb 15, 2024 14:01:04 GMT -8
FYI, ScaleTrains just posted on Facebook that these have arrived and are in stock.
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Post by edwardsutorik on Feb 15, 2024 14:36:03 GMT -8
"these"  ? My "these" have been shipped. Due to arrive on Tuesday! Ed |
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Post by NS4122 on Feb 15, 2024 14:58:09 GMT -8
Received my BNSF reefer today from ScaleTrains. Arrived in good shape and looks great. I love the little blue LED on the refrigeration unit. Replacing the couplers with Kadees may be a challenge due to the details on the coupler box.
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