Unhappy with trainz.com

[rack776]

I am at my witts end with trainz.com, Anyone know how to get a refund out of them?

I saw a used original Lionel Z  transformer nameplate on their site listed as instock ready to ship for $12 it came to $21 with shipping I paid by paypal.

I waited 4 days for a tracking number, nothing, I called customer service and was told it was ordered but had not shipped yet it was boxed waiting to be picked up that day, I waited 2 more days, I was told the item was on back order from lionel?!?!

A 65 year old part on back order from lionel....OK  I figured they had to get the used original item from another train shop who was selling on their website it I'm OK with a mistake.

I called 1 day later to see if trainz.com had the correct item on order and approx how long it would take to get it, I was then told the item was not available and was already sold, disapointed I accepted a refund.

The order screw up I can understand the total lack of customer service and willingness to send a refund is what has me mad, If they treat someone like this over a $12 part,  I cant imagine having a problem with an expensive Locomotive.

I wait 2 more days no paypal refund no answer from customer service I left 4 messages and 3 emails.

Who can I complain to? I feel I have either been scamed or the company has no money to issue a refund.  Should I contact the local GA better business buearu, TCA club,   I already filed a dispute with paypal, and I still got no response from trainz.  I have to wait a few weeks to ask for a judgement from paypal.        

Sometimes this hobby is great and sometimes its frustrating

-Jason

[cwburfle]

IMHO, you are just going to have to work through the Paypal process

[rack776]

AMAZING! After posting on here and sending the 4th email today demanding a refund or I would send a complaint to the BBB & TCA my paypal account was credited right away.

Way too much hassle for a $12 part.   Buyer beware with this place.   I'm sticking with the Local Hobby Shops or Train Shows from now on.

Thanks for letting me vent my frustration.

-JAson

[rtraincollector]

every once in a while things get out of line and it can become real frustrating to the customer. I have dealt with them numerous times and have great dealing with them. I hope and feel you were just a rare happening this time. I even bought from them in the middle of moving and then wasn't able to test the item and 2 months later did called them told them what happened and they told me they would send a return shipping voucher and repair it and then return it to me which they did and thats what impressed me with them.

Think you may consider giving them another chance down the road. I have gotten some good deals from them including like new standard gauge switches and ended up selling them for better than double what I paid for them.

[rack776]

Well I did just get a refund but only after some screaming & yelling in some emails.

Trainz.com PLEASE stop advertising that you have 24/7 customer support.....you do not and it is false advertising.  I got NO resonse or replys from trainz UNTILL I threatened legal action and reporting them to the TCA, thats Hell of a way to treat a first time customer over & $12 plus $9 Shipping,

I dont think I'll press my luck ordering from them ever again, if they treat customers that bad in this ecconomy they wont be arround too much longer anyway.

My $12 sale might be chump change to them but I have to skimp & save every extra penny I put into my trains, I'll fight over a $12 postwar part as much as if I spent $1200 on a modern loco.

  An apology and promt refund on a mistake would be appreciated & expected , a small discount on a different item or a coupon would be the classy way to say "we're sorry"....   But making a first time customer FIGHT for a refund on an item you do not even have listed for sale says "we are a bunch of screw ups and we dont care about you or your money."  

I bought a new Bachmann plasticville O scale police dept at a train show as a cash sale with no recipt, The plastic police car was missing one of its wheels, I asked Bachmann if I could buy a replacement wheel set because I had no recipt.......They mailed me an entire new kit and said to pass along the other kit to another model railroader,   That is what Customer Service is.   Helping the customer and making things right to the best of their ability, Bachmann went above & beyond to help me and they did not even have to!

-Jason

[tjl0824]

These guys are definitely a well respected business, I have gotten quite a few good deals from them. But when you have to deal with their customer service, make sure you have a hard surface nearby to slam your head against.

Trevor

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I can understand your frustration. I too have to save up leftover change month to month to get things I want for the layout. Most of my locos are built from parts I got from here and there. I have only three NEW locos that I bought during the past two years. The other twenty are old ones from the 70's-80's or junk box rebuilds. You think you have a tight budget? My annual income is $8,376. That's just under $700 a month! From that I have to pay the electric bill, pay the internet and satellite bills, pay for my car insurance, buy groceries, pay on a loan, buy gas for my van, pay for my meds, etc. Fortunately my home and van are paid for. After all is said and done I MIGHT have $20 left. I certainly don't need to be jerked around by a companies bad business, intentional or otherwise.

[Joe Hohmann]

I've had excellent service from Trainz...but I guess no one is 100%.

[Bob Keller]

For the record, I edited the titled of the thread since the refund was made by the seller.

[dougdagrump]

I had purchased quite a few items from them over the years with no problems in the transaction or the product. However about six weeks ago that changed, I won a railsounds boxcar at a great price on E-Bay. About a week later I was informed by PayPal that the transction was canceled by the seller. A little perturbed, by lack of info by Trainz, I rejected the cancellation and requested that the transaction be completed. The final explanation was that the item was "not available" but lo & behold one week later the same item shows up on their own auction site with a minimum bid in excess of my winning bid on E-Bay. Coincidence, hmmmm.  

[Penny Trains]

Generally speaking I've been happy with them.  However I have had an issue or two over the years.  Most of the time,( I think) my real problem has been with FedEx.  I've watched at least 3 packages take a whirlwind tour of the states east of the Mississippi before they ever got to me.  And usually only after returning to the point of origin at least once.  Whether or not that's FedEx's fault or a problem in Trainz own shipping department I can't say.  The only other incident I've had was when they sent me the wrong MPC catalog.  I ordered the 1980 consumer cat and got a 1980 collector series cat.  But, since I collect catalogs I didn't make a stink out of it.

Anyhoo, since my annual income has been zero dollars for the last 8 years I'm not exactly their #1 customer.  In fact I haven't ordered anything from anybody in the last 9 months.

Becky

[Anonymous]

I have only had one transaction with Trainz, I bought an engine that when it arrived did not function properly. I contacted them, they paid to have it shipped back, repaired it, and shipped it back to me.

In the future if you give a company three tries to correct a transaction just email them and inform them you are contacting the TCA with their name. That typically will get their attention because if the TCA gets too many complaints about a company they will prevent them from appearing at the York Train meets.

Glad it worked out for you...

[submmbob]

I have only had dealings w/ this company once and wasn't impressed. I won a train set off of Ebay w/ them. The locomotive and cars still had the original boxes, but the packing inserts were missing. In the long shipment from east to west the heavy locomotive slid back and forth and suffered damage. They did give me a full refund and sent the postage to return the item. But I was very disappointed w/ the lack of attention paid to the packing and the fact that this damaged an item which is no longer made.

[cwburfle]

In the future if you give a company three tries to correct a transaction just email them and inform them you are contacting the TCA with their name. That typically will get their attention because if the TCA gets too many complaints about a company they will prevent them from appearing at the York Train meets.

This is not correct.
In order to lodge a complaint, one has to be a TCA member.
The most the TCA will do is moderate the complaint.
If there are enough valid complaints against a member, their membership can be terminated or suspended.
It is my impression that it is very rare and difficult to have a member terminated or suspended.

While no TCA member wants a complaint lodged against them, I'd guess that it was the Paypal complaint that got the issue resolved.

[stebbycentral]

I have to say that I have had good results with the company.  My first transaction with them  I ordered what was described as a Flyer train transformer.  In the picture it looked similar to a transformer I had with a Flyer set as a child.  But when it arrived, it turned out to be the power supply from a Gilbert auto racing set.  Completely useless for controlling trains.  I sent them an email describing the problem, and they sent me a return receipt right away.  Money refunded, no problem.  Of course, I used a credit card for the purchase, which may have given me more leverage.

I fault the company for not describing the product correctly, but they did take the action to correct their error when it was brought to their attention. 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I've bought a number of things from Trainz, I had some issues with one item, but they worked to make it right.  It did take several email exchanges, but eventually it all worked out.

My only comment is sometimes their grading of items is a bit optimistic, at least IMO.

[arkady]

I've only had one bad experience with Trainz.com.  I ordered a part from them and got the usual confirmation message.  Then a couple of days later, I got a second email, stating that the part in question had been sold some time before.

I have no problem with something being out of stock; that can happen to anyone.  But the part in question continued to appear on their listing for days after I was told it wasn't for sale any more.  After about a week, I sent them an email pointing this out.  But it still continued to appear for yet another week before finally disappearing.  I sometimes wonder how many other people tried to buy it in the interim.

Trainz gave me a credit for free shipping on my next order, which I eventually used, so I'm not unhappy with Trainz.com.  But whoever maintains their website needs to do a better job of keeping the display up-to-date and reflective of their actual inventory.

Other than that, my experiences with them have been entirely satisfactory.

[71835]

I have bought many things from Trainz via E-Bay, and have only had a problem with one item.  It was a K-line twin alco set of locomotives with both powered.  K-line used a wire connection between the two units so they ran off of a single E-unit.  Only problem was when the first unit wanted to go forward, the trailing unit was going in the other direction.  Contacted them by e-mail, they said to return it for repair.  In no time at all, I had it back and it worked like a charm, it was perfect. ( at least untill they took a trip to the floor due to excessive speed caused by an untimely coupler separation in a very long freight train)

Tranz also credited my paypal account for my postage.  The service was quick and very professional.

[LL675]

I've had several dealings with Trainz thru ebay. Bought one item, them got a message from them that the item was out of stock. This was before I had paypal. Got a refund within a couple weeks.

[David Barker]

Since they apparently switched to auction only in their e-mails, I have not had any transactions.  However previously I had bought two Lionel TW transormers and one had a cracked case which they promptly repaired.  I have bought rolling stock from them as well and it was as described.

 

I do not like auctions as it is always seems I am paying more than it is worth.