Online Ordering

[UPJohn]

Is St. Aubin Station a safe place to order from?(www.lgbpola.com) The store with the huge add in Garden Railways.
They seem to have great deals on most of the stuff they sell.

Thanks
John

[emipapa]

UP John
Be sure to call "BOTH" stores first to see if the item is in stock. I have never been able to purchase anything from them. If the item is advertised in the Garden Railways magazine it seems that they never have the item nor do they ever update there advertisement. I have NEVER found an advertised item in stock.
Good Luck,
Ron
[:)]

[RhB_HJ]

Ron,

The largest ad doesn't necessarily mean the largest stock or the best service.

I have found that for a few more $$ you quite often buy better service and more predictability.

[grandpopswalt]

John,

I've made several purchases from St. Aubin and had good luck. However, they have been out of stock on a few items.

I've had very good luck with Trainworld/Trainland. They usually stock what they advertise and their prices are competitive with St. Aubin.

Good luck.

Walt

[Tom The Brat]

They're a good outfit.

I try to keep the stock status of everything up to date on my shop. See the "Gardentrack" button on the right. Being very tiny, I have to rely mainly on what I can get from the mfr, and anybody can make a mistake in their inventory[;)]

[Train 284]

I have never ordered from there, I usually order from Trainworld/Trainland, they are a good company. They are usaully a few dollars cheaper than St. Aubin, and because I have a reativly small budget for my RR, I order from Trainworld.

[cacole]

I've ordered several times from them over the past couple of years and always received prompt delivery.

[kstrong]

Important thing about St. Aubins--their online order form is not secure. Call and place your order over the phone. This is especially important to note, since they ask for the "V-code" which is an addidional code that's printed on your card to prevent fraud. You do not want to send that over an unsecure connection. I know I e-mailed them about it a while ago, never got a response, and it's not been changed. So just use the toll-free numbers instead.

Later,

K

[bman36]

Hey there,
I agree with Kevin...use the phone. Somehow orders on the internet just don't sit well with me. Especially with fraud and identity theft type stuff. I too have ordered from St. Aubins and received VERY prompt delivery. My advice is always ask any questions YOU feel is necessary and never assume anything. It's your money! Later eh...Brian.

[Tom The Brat]

Actually, if you order over the phone, somebody (like me) has to write down your credit card number. They they have it for whatever nefarious purposes they have in mind.

If you order through internet, the credit card processing company receives your credit card number and the vendor himself never has to see it. In my case (gardentrack) the credit card number is never seen my by web site or equipment. Skipjack just tells my computer that "This invoice has been paid this amount," and a transaction number to use if I need to credit it back or something.

You're right, St. Aubins seems to be an exception.

According to Visa, 98% of all credit card fraud is perpetrated by somebody at the merchant's location writing down a credit card number and using it.

At gardentrack, I don't store or even see your credit card info. And I don't want to. Too much of a hack target.

[ttrigg]

Do not use your credit cards! Go down to your bank and get a "pre-paid bank card" for the value you need. They work just like department store "gift cards" but in the credit card world.

[cabbage]

The only companies that I buy on-line from are: Tenmille, Garden Railway Specialists (GRS) and Brandbright. Of the three GRS has the most sophisticated ordering system.

However when you enquire the price of an item from their on-line catalogue it 'helpfully' tacks this onto an order... Thus forcing you to clear down until you are finally ready to order!!!

I normally dispatch the order and then ring up GRS with the card details. They are the only people with a Mini-Com!!!

The other two get cheques.

regards

ralph

[UPJohn]

Thanks guys. I'll keep all this stuff in mind.

John

[Anonymous]

This thread started off asking about St. Aubins, and what I have heard negative about them is pretty much what can happen anywhere.

I order a lot online. Checking that it really is in stock, if that is what I want, is imperative.

What I find that helps, is call back in a day or two if they do not confirm when they ship. Following up will tell you what is going on. Businesses that cannot adequately tell me the status of my order, get the orders cancelled. Likewise, if I get "attitude" I also cancel.

After a few orders, I find my favorites.

In my opinion, online ordering, assuming you have a secure server connection, is safer than calling someone and giving them my CC information to write down on a piece of paper somewhere. PayPal is a good alternative, you have to "give" the money, they do not "take" it.

Regards, Greg

[cacole]

St. Aubin's retains your credit card data in their local store's computer, and that's where it goes whether you order on-line through their non-secure site or by telephone.

When I telephoned an order recently, the person who answered the phone asked for my name, looked up the data in their computer, and then read back to me my street address, city, state, zip, phone number, and credit card data.

If your credit card data goes to a processing agency as someone posted above, St. Aubin's wouldn't have it on file, but they do.

The biggest question in my mind from all this is, who has access to St. Aubin's computers and how secure are they? It seems like a definite hacker vulnerabiltiy, especially if the computers in both stores are interconnected over the Internet.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. For that reason, I will not shop at St. Aubins unless it is in person by check or cash. That helps thin down the supplier list!

Greg

p.s with all the cc data theft, I suspect a law about retaining information, or at least required disclosure about it is in the near future.

[Tom The Brat]

QUOTE: Do not use your credit cards! Go down to your bank and get a "pre-paid bank card" for the value you need. They work just like department store "gift cards" but in the credit card world.

Now that's not a bad idea...

[DannyS]

Being in Australia, I have used Internet ordering many times to US on-line stores including St Aubins, and have never had any trouble (so far), I have always found St Aubins to be quick in despatching and always well packed. Notwithstanding the above comments I think I will continue to patronise St Aubins.

[dukebasketballer`]

Hey Guys,
I have found a really good internet ording place up in New York called Ridge Road Station(rrstation.com). They have realy good prices, even cheaper than St Aubin and Trainworld in many cases plus they have a very easy and secure online ordering process. Another good online store is wholesaletrains.com. They have prices that are often cheaper than Trainworld and St Aubin as well. They have safe online ordering and have a rewards program as well. Like when you buy $300 of stuff, you get a % off.
Let's Go Duke,
David

[jebouck]

My local dealer matches any internet price. That's who I buy from. If it isn't in stock, he'll order/get it for me. Even lets me use law-away. I never order from any of the big so-called discount on line stores.
jb

[CandCRR]

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[CandCRR]

Oops, That will teach me not to preview my posting.

[mgilger]

http://www.ridgeroadstation.com/trains.shtml

Ridge Road Station is very good. I've never had a problem with them, and their web based prices are competative.

Mark

[Anonymous]

I usually use Ridge Road Station myself. They have the lowest prices of anyone I have found. I have gotten confirmation of shipping and tracking numbers for every order i've placed within a couple of hours of ordering. I would definitely recommend them.

I just ordered the G-scale Bachmann Hielser. If I remember right, it was like $346. About $50 less than most other places.

[markperr]

Check with your credit card company to see what your level of liability is in the event of fraudulent purchases on your card. Most of the major players now have a 0$ liability. My cards do. Yours should too. Ooooooh, bad rhyme. This removes all worries for me. Side story, on my company credit card I had three fraudulent purchases within hours after I made a purchase from a local merchant. I had not used the card for an entire week prior and a few days later. I spotted these purchases only when it was time to reconcile my card for the month. I purchase thousands of dollars in equipment and supplies every month for my job and better than 95% of it is on-line.

As for the St. Aubin's purchase issue, sometimes, all it takes is one screw up to prevent you from making another purchase with a company. That's what happened with me and St. Aubin's Illinois. I've heard their Las Vegas store is better. Why, I have no idea.

I've used Trainworld on many an occasion and have never been disappointed. When I place an order, they tell me if it's in stock. If it is, I usually receive it in a few days. They've never screwed up roadname, model, make, or quantity, whenever I've purchased from them. One word of caution, know what you want in advance before you call and have numbers available. I suspect, being located in New York City, that they have no patience for those of us out here in "fly-over" country who are calling to do an "inventory check". Keep this in mind and you too will most likely have a good experience with them.

Mark