Bad Experience with Lionel

[Anonymous]

Has any one had trouble with returning a Loco back to Lionel?
I bought a NEW 2-8-0 UP, The sound and the magnetic coupler did not work. I sent more E-mails than I can count with NO response tried calling with some response, I finely sent it back (Still under Warranty) they keep it for THREE Months, sent it back and said nothing was wrong. The loco still does not work, and this has left a very BAD taste in my month. Has any one els experienced this?[:(]

[Kooljock1]

I'm surprised. The only time I've had slow service from LIONEL is around the holidays, when their service department gets swamped.

The 2-8-0's are around four or five years old, so I'm surprised they're still covered by warranty. Are you running TMCC? If so, how are your other engines performing?

What are this engines issues?

Jon [8D]

[Anonymous]

This happened about 4 years a go. I am running TMCC (Atlas & Lionel) with no trouble from any of my other engines. I my opinion the problem is a loose connection, as it is somewhat intermittent, but when you pay $200.00 to $300.00 for a Loco you would like it to work or be repaired in a prompt manner. It seems to me Lionel is not very costumer service oriented, just my opinion. I have not bought a diesel or Steam Loco from Lionel since, Just cars and accessories.

[ben10ben]

Lionel's service gets pretty high marks by most today. I personally have dealt with them once in the last year, and found them to be very helpful and polite. I did not, however, send the item in for service.

[dougdagrump]

My only experience has been questions that I have asked via e-mail. Generally the questions have been answered but the impression you come away with is that they are being extremely generous in answering a silly question and taking up their time. [2c]

[Anonymous]

The Issues:
The Sound is VERY intermittent, or just does not work all together.

The Magnetic coupler takes more than any other loco I have to engage, More then just a gentle push and will not DE-Couple without some intervention from me.

The loco was sent back soon after the purchase well within the 1 year warranty.

Its hard to tell but I am still a DIE HARD Lionel Fan, All but the Engines.

[Anonymous]

You better call before you send it back and find out if anyone is there. They fired a bunch of people a couple of weeks ago.

[Buckeye Riveter]

When something Lionel breaks around here, I take it to Davis Trains in Cincinnati, a 2 hour drive. Everytime perfect results.

K27 Jeff, if we had the general location of where you live, others on the forum might be able to suggest a good service center.

[railfan23]

I had a bad issues (same problem with 2 cars) with a post war cel series car with the rubber stamping coming off . It took many calls and emails (a whole lot of run around) and then telling them I was taking the emails and car to the TCA show at York and telling Lenny Dean how unhappy I was with Lionel and the Service Dept . Man did I get a quick ref. number to ship it back.

[Anonymous]

You're writing about a bad experience you had with Lionel FOUR YEARS AGO??!!

[V]

[Kooljock1]

That was EXACTLY my point Steve!

Besides, there's not all that much to go wrong with those 2-8-0's other than a bad R2LC. Order a new one, slap it in, and get on with it!

Jon [8D]

[Anonymous]

You are still peeved with them from 4 YEARS AGO. Come on, this has to be a lame excuse to bash Lionel. If you still are pissed, then dude, get some help. You really need to let go. These are just toy trains. Bill

[Anonymous]

Looks like to many "Richard Craniums" to me, if you don't have any thing worth while to say then DON'T RESPOND TO THE QUESTION!

[ben10ben]

The sound problem is either a bad tether or a loose pickup roller wire. The coupler problem is likely a spring too tight, and it needs to be replaced. Both are things you could easily fix yourself, and Lionel would probably still send you the parts to do them.

[Anonymous]

Just send it to Bennie and let him fix it for you.

pax[C):-)]

[Anonymous]

Thanks Ben

[Anonymous]

How about you stop crying about something that is 4 years broke and acting like it happened yesterday. It seems to me that your original post had everything to do with returning a loco to lionel, not us helping you fix the problem. Your whole tone of post was inflamtory, so what did you expect. If you wanted honest help with the repair you would have asked for it.
So to bad, i will respond to it,and i will call you on it. BIll

[Anonymous]

Not crying and not trying to step on toes, I was just asking a question. If my perceived tone was BAD I apologize!

[3railguy]

QUOTE: How about you stop crying about something that is 4 years broke and acting like it happened yesterday. It seems to me that your original post had everything to do with returning a loco to lionel, not us helping you fix the problem. Your whole tone of post was inflamtory,.

Why don't you bite off, Troll. I saw nothing inflamitory in his post. He said he got bad service from Lionel four years ago and ditched them. Now he wants to make amends and but is questioning their service.

[Bob Keller]

I'd like to remind forum members about throwing firebombs at each other...

[Anonymous]

See why it's great to be on THIS forum? Look at Mr. Keller's post. WHAT on God's green Earth do you think would happento this thread on the 'other' forum? *POOF*
C'mon guys, play nice. We're all adults~ or at least try to be. ;-)
Jeff, I'd try to follow the suggestion of finding a local authorized repair station; and I'd also make sure the track is clean. Intermittent sounds and poor operation can be caused by dirty track.
Don't be surprised if you gotta dig a bit into that wallet, though... a four-year-old train prolly isn't going to be warranty-covered.

[macdannyk1]

I've had the same problem with my Consolidation. It turned out the wires leading to the pick-ups on the tender had disconnected. If you have the skills, a small soldering iron will do the trick.

[Anonymous]

[2c]
This is why I stick with postwar. Easy to fix IF something ever breaks. I had a similar problem with e-mail, it took a while for them to get back to me. You could probably fix that yourself though; However it seems to be that it is just the whole principle.
Good Luck
Angelo

[Anonymous]

k27,

let me tell you what happened to me. this was about six years ago.

the front coupler on my "crayola engine" fell off due to a most spectacular train wreck. this would be covered under warranty because lionel should anticipate a customer like me. my local hobby shop operator was sympathetic to the issue and warned me that it may sit on a shelf at lionel until it was my turn. all things considered; i gave him the $1.35, ordered the new frame, and went back to the business of building my empire. in this case, exercising my warranty rights would have been too expensive.

when the smoke unit on my "starter set atlantic" passed away, i simply called lionel and told them about it. they gave me a choice: send them the locomotive, and wait my turn, or they would simply send me a replacement smoke unit. i chose the latter because i wanted to play with the train without smoke instead of wait. with all due respect to lionel, they have never asked me where or when i bought their products.

the smoke unit on my "railking berkshire" died. a call to mth and a new one was in the mail that day. they also neglected to ask for a receipt.

k27; what you are dealing with is the company that produces the lionel coal loader. the day all that "coal" ends up where it is supposed to be will be the day i expect lionel to act in a like manner.

electric shop 101: open up the unit. look for the loose wire or the origin of the fire. reattach the loose wire, or if nothing jumps out and grabs you, consult somebody that knows what they are doing.

the good news: you don't have to deal with the warranty.
the bad news: if it's just that wire, you could have had four years of wear and tear on that engine by now.

with all due respect for your frustration, i too might have just put it away and played with the trains that did work.

-richard cranium

[grumpygolfer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Kooljock1

That was EXACTLY my point Steve!

Besides, there's not all that much to go wrong with those 2-8-0's other than a bad R2LC. Order a new one, slap it in, and get on with it!

Jon [8D]

[grumpygolfer]

Evidently I hit the wrong button (quote) and sent off something rather erroneous,sorry.
If we are talking about the same engine Lionel 6-28015 I too had a runnability problem with it 2 years ago and Lionel fixed it right around holiday time in a 3 week turnaround time, outstanding. They later ,when I burned up my smoke unit sent me another one gratis.
Have had nothing but good things to say about them.
Now to my question what is the R2LC board mentioned ?