[Cheapy 38-2]

I had receieved my New GP 38-2 From USA bought through G Scale Junction In Ohio(nice guy), and the engine was missing a drive wheel rubber. it was never put onto the wheel....that one slipped through quality control i guess.
Ive called USA and dealt with Neal.  Not a great cutomer service representative to say the least..hes really not in a hurry to help me or make sure im happy. very impersonal. i mean ive had this engine for a week and half now and cant run it cause it was sold incomplete..I was instructed to fax a copy of my invoice to Mike in parts. I did on tues, its now friday..nothing, no responce either. so i call Neal again and he said to call back monday..NOT happy with my first USA product USA or having to deal with Neal.

 

[Guest]

Jason,
get on the phone tommarrow with charles from g scale tell him to call direct to usa he will get the part,he like others sometimes trys to get the customer to do his job for him, tell if you don't have part by 1st of the week it's on it's way back and watch how fast your  RUBBERS comes/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif, if not email me i have many as i switched to all steel drive wheels....
Nick S.

 

[Spule 4]

G Scale Junction is a neat place, in the middle of absolute nowhere, but about 20 min from my childhood home....

Did you contact the guy (forget his name) at G Scale Junction to see if he has one?

The reply from USA (lack of just sending the part and wanting you to fax an invoice) are strange, never had to do that with LGB or any other mfgr for that matter!

 

[N.S. Rob]

I feel your pain. I received a broken train and St. Aubins would not even do anything until it got sent back through UPS. They told me to wait until Monday. If no word by Monday, I am canceling the charge on my credit card.

 

[kennywsp4]

Yeah I hate bad customer service also.

 

[W3NZL]

And when U get that sorted out, order Urself a bagful of traction tires, if U run them. U'll 
be replacing them fairly often anyway...
Paul R...

 

[Trains]

USA trains are very slow! You have to sign your life away in blood to get any parts from them. I purchase 10 PFE reefers and there was some small parts missing. Had to send a letter of what I needed, and copy of the items I purchased.
If you order parts the shipping cost more then the part.

 

[Tom Daly]

You might want to call during the week and ask for Mike in USA Trains.
He is the USA Trains "Parts Guy" and will probably sent them out to you.
Also ask to speak to Charlie (Charles Ro) and tell him you are unhappy with the phone service you received and explain what happened.

I have always had good luck with them all whenever I go to the shop. (Charles Ro Supply).

Tom

PS. Neil is a "techi" and not a customer service person, but still no reason to provide poor service.

 

[Johnsop]

I have on occations have had a few problems with my USA Trains equipment and have always found then to be most helpful, though sometimes they can be a little grumpy!! Overal I would rate them as good for service, 


PHIL
UK

 

[Tom Daly]

All,

I think on ANY day we can all be a little bit Grumpy, we're all humans ......  well, most of us are.

Tom

 

[Guest]

HAAAAAAAAA, Speak for yourself i'm never grumpy!!!!!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif just ask a certain employee over on the aristo site...HA Ha/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif
Nick S.../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif

 

[Rayman4449]

Nick:  LOL

Hey Jason,  I have found that some of the mfgs seem to be like that where you will provide information and they don't get back with you or confirm anything.  Your item just shows up 1 to 2 to 3 weeks later.  My guess is that you will probably see a tire mailed to you in the next week or so, but just my guess.  There is nothing more FRUSTRATING than getting a new engine and it blow up or have a problem!   I know that feeling ALL too well.  I hate to be like this but you almost have to expect that you will find something wrong with each thing you purchase and that there will be something you will have to work through.  At any rate, try and stick with each item and keep after them, you will get it resolved and you will get it running one way or the other.    

For what it's worth, my first USA Trains Big Boy had a couple of issues and complained and sent it back.  They ended up sending me a new engine.  I was down maybe 2-3 weeks but they did make it right.  So even an item as expensive as that, they did address it.  So I think for something as small as a tire, I think you will definately see follow-up from them.  

Keep us posted on how you make out. 

Welcome to MLS by the way!

Raymond

 

[Paul Burch]

Jason,
There are a lot of us who don't like the traction tires. The first thing I do is replace those axles with standard wheels, but  that is another subject.   If you want some traction tires, just e-mail me with your address and I will send you a dozen,no cost.  I'll bet I'm not the only one who will donate some.

 

[Rayman4449]

That is a good option Paul just pointed out that you can actually replace the wheels.

It does seem that some have had issues with their traction tires from what I've read in the past.  My experiences with them on the MTH engines are that they last an extremely long time with my Challenger being almost 3 years old and having a ton of hours and scale miles of use and they still aren't worn out or cracking.  Personally, I like them, as you get the maximum amount of tractive effort for the least amount of weight in the engine.  But, I have had excellent life span on mine.  Also, because I pull good loads up a good grade, I need good tractive effort from my engines.  Just my 2 cents. 

Obviously regardless what you decide, USA T needs to make it right and I think they will.

Raymond

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Nick, you're never grumpy! Yeah, you and I have a lot of friends at Aristo! Hah!

Man do some of them take it personally.

By the way, I replace all wheelsets with traction tires with solid wheels. Those tires do give more traction, but less power pickup, and can lead to funny things when you overload the loco, I prefer the wheels to spin rather than the gears to strip or the axles to crack.

Regards, Greg

 

[Cheapy 38-2]

hey guys thanks for all the support..i figured with all these replies since i last looked there might be some Customer service defenders tellin me to take it easy....Nope we all know what its like to wait and get those hopes up about something cool on its way to you..but doesnt there always seem to be a problem like Ray said..Yeah i have to lower my expectations so im not always let down, and that goes with everything ive ever been into. the rubber wasnt the only problem by the way..the spring mount on the front cab door was broken too. the mount was floating around inside the cab when i opened the box..USA Niel said to send it back and they will take care of it..Send the whole engine back? im sure they wouldnt have covered the shipping..AND i didnt get a manual with my 38-2 either which i just realized today(here goes again).

I bought another engine from Charles at Gscale junction(GP9) earlier this week, he knew about the tire so ordered a bag for me..it showed up in the box with the GP9 saturday dropped from USA via fedex..But not the Modern tanker car That was supposedly drop shipped from USA 2 days after Xmas...Ive been asking where is my tanker car for 2 weeks now cause its really over due, and Charles keeps sayin it oin its way..so finally he called USa earlier this week when he asked them to send the tires with the GP and they said the tanker is scheduled for delivery sat and the GP9 would be here next week sometime...so what happened i open the box i got Sat expecting to find my Tanker(3weeks ordered) and find the GP. I emailed Charles and he said he will have to email USA monday to find out whats up.."sometimes they lose orders if you dont keep on them" OMG!...
all i can do is just laugh anymore..ya know.

thanks guys for the help and offers of free goods. Im thinkin i may replace the drives with steel..makes sense, less abuse on the gears, and i dont have the grade to climb like you do RAY..or have 60+ coal cars to drag either..lol

 

[Guest]

. Im thinkin i may replace the drives with steel..makes sense, less abuse on the gears, and i dont have the grade to climb like you do RAY..or have 60+ coal cars to drag either..lol   Right on....
Jason
Jason, give it time, you'll be surprized at how quickly your rolling stock starts to adds up.
Nick S.

 

[Tom Daly]

Hi Jason,

Start looking on e-Bay and sometimes you may find a good buy on wheelsets and axles for USA Trains.
The wheelsets my be either with or without traction tires depending on what you want to get.

Tom

 

[Art]

I just let the traction tires fall off of the USA trains locos and don't worry about them. I have never had bad luck with USA as far as parts, but they do know me and I visit the store quite regularly....

Art

 

[chuck n]

Jason:

I have both a USA SD40 and several USA F3s. When I first got my SD40 I thought that the traction tires were not as tight as they should be, they kept falling off. I happened to have a bag of tires for the F3s. The F3 wheels are a smaller diameter than the wheels on the SD40. I put the F3 tires on the SD 40. I haven't had any problems since. That was 4 or 5 years ago.

Chuck N