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Walthers' Repair Service

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  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Posted by GNMT76 on Thursday, January 2, 2020 10:38 AM

BigDaddy

Please pm me with your repair technician, just in case. I was in MB Klein a while ago and saw a sign that they did not have a repair technician.  I didn't notice if that sign was still there on subsequent visits. 

Given Walthers business model of a manufacturer and a distributor, I don't know why they would even bother with out of warranty repairs. 

 

 
Henry,
 
With his pemission, the repair technician to whom I referred is Tom Schwartz, now based at the Train Depot in Mt. Airy.  His e-mail is: tomstrainservice@gmail.com.
 
 

Kerry

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Wednesday, January 1, 2020 6:17 PM

GNMT76
  And since I can't send you a PM, I've asked him for permission to provide his name and contact information here.

As far as I know, only Firefox fails at sending pm's

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
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Posted by GNMT76 on Wednesday, January 1, 2020 12:35 PM

BigDaddy

Please pm me with your repair technician, just in case. I was in MB Klein a while ago and saw a sign that they did not have a repair technician.  I didn't notice if that sign was still there on subsequent visits. 

Given Walthers business model of a manufacturer and a distributor, I don't know why they would even bother with out of warranty repairs. 

 

 
Henry,
 
Since Klein shuttered its doors recently, there is no longer anywhere for a repair technician (the same one I've used in the past) to ply his trade.  He's since moved on to another town in Maryland.  And since I can't send you a PM, I've asked him for permission to provide his name and contact information here.  I'll let you know his reply when I receive it.  
 

Kerry

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Ridgeville,South Carolina
  • 1,294 posts
Posted by willy6 on Tuesday, December 31, 2019 2:10 PM

Back in February I sent back a new Mainline Locomotive to Walthers because the decoder did not work properly. I did not give them advance notice, I sent it with a note inside the box. Shortly after sending it I got an e-mail from them (which I did not save) about what is my complaint and their normal turn around is 30 days. On March 13 I got an e-mail from Dan Thomson (414-527-0770) asking about my locomotive. I replied March 14. He replied March 15 and stated it had been fixed and I need to send $15.00 for a return fee and I did. Got it back shortly there after.

Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.
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Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 8:13 PM
Henry, I tried sending you a PM, but the system won't let me type in any text aside from the the title heading. Send me a PM to see if it works on your end.

Kerry

  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 7:48 PM

BigDaddy

Please pm me with your repair technician, just in case. I was in MB Klein a while ago and saw a sign that they did not have a repair technician.  I didn't notice if that sign was still there on subsequent visits. 

Given Walthers business model of a manufacturer and a distributor, I don't know why they would even bother with out of warranty repairs. 

 

 
Will do, Henry. 
 
Bother with out-of-warranty repairs?  Apparently they don't! 
 
On the other hand, if company "A" makes locomotives, then it should probably stand behind them for longer than one fleeting year.

Kerry

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, December 30, 2019 6:23 PM

Please pm me with your repair technician, just in case. I was in MB Klein a while ago and saw a sign that they did not have a repair technician.  I didn't notice if that sign was still there on subsequent visits. 

Given Walthers business model of a manufacturer and a distributor, I don't know why they would even bother with out of warranty repairs. 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 6:05 PM

rrebell

Out of warrenty, you are lucky they e-mailed you at all.

 

 
Amen to that! 
 
Looks like the two techies have too much time on their hands and prefer playing games to working. 
 
Perhaps another warning sign is the total lack of any practical information on the Walthers website regarding repair of its own locos - beyond the lame statement that it offers such a service, that is.
 
Anyway, I shipped the loco off to a reliable repair technican in Maryland I've used before for another brand of locomotive.  

Kerry

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
  • 7,667 posts
Posted by rrebell on Monday, December 30, 2019 3:34 PM

Out of warrenty, you are lucky they e-mailed you at all.

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Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 11:38 AM

dknelson

The repair department at Walthers consists of one or two folks, and I believe one experienced repair person was re assigned not long ago.  I have this hunch you got caught up in the change. 

They do not have a parts supply - they open boxes of trains and raid them for parts.  If your train is old enough - they may have no way to fix it.  That is just the reality.  I know they have people send in stuff that was last manufacturered decades ago but is only now being opened for the first time.  There is often very little they can do for those folks.

Contacting the President (Stacey) may get attention and even get priority but all that means is that someone else's repair gets put aside.  Or maybe your repair was put aside because someone else tried that approach.

Dave Nelson

 

 
Dave,
 
Thanks for the local insight.  That's telling as to where on the totem pole of "service" product repair lies.  If that's indeed the case, then one would have at least expected a reply in-kind from the repair techs.

Kerry

  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 11:27 AM

Motley

That is not acceptable. Especially when you will be paying for repairs. You'd think Walthers would have plenty of employees to do this.

Find another shop to repair your locomotive. Tony's trains is a good reputable place.

 

 
Motley,
 
Yes, one would think that to be the case.  I sensed I was in for the long haul when the second tech patronizingly wrote in his initial reply, "I would like to help the best that I can."  Translation: The check's in the mail! 
 
I used a certified MTH tech at M.B. Klein a couple of years ago for that loco's repair job after getting nowhere with MTH in MD.  He did a yeoman's job, all the while being ignored for over ten months by MTH for some small, proprietary part he needed. 
 
I'll contact Tony's Trains to see what its techies can do.  I assume you refer to the shop in Essex Jct., Vermont?

Kerry

  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Posted by GNMT76 on Monday, December 30, 2019 11:18 AM

nealknows

Here is who you want to reach out to: Stacy Walthers Naffah 

I would definitely try to call her office...

And most importantly, call - don't send emails. You want action, pick up the phone.. 1-800-4-TRAINS

Neal,

Thanks for the name and phone number!

Kerry

  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point)
  • 11,439 posts
Posted by dknelson on Monday, December 30, 2019 10:06 AM

The repair department at Walthers consists of one or two folks, and I believe one experienced repair person was re assigned not long ago.  I have this hunch you got caught up in the change. 

They do not have a parts supply - they open boxes of trains and raid them for parts.  If your train is old enough - they may have no way to fix it.  That is just the reality.  I know they have people send in stuff that was last manufacturered decades ago but is only now being opened for the first time.  There is often very little they can do for those folks.

Contacting the President (Stacey) may get attention and even get priority but all that means is that someone else's repair gets put aside.  Or maybe your repair was put aside because someone else tried that approach.

Dave Nelson

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, December 29, 2019 7:33 PM

GNMT76
If anyone has direct knowledge of what's going on with Walthers' repair department, I'd appreciate hearing from you.  Conjecture is not necessary.

Call, as Neal says.  Work it our yourself.  Don't come on here demanding "Conjecture is not necessary".

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Denver, CO
  • 3,576 posts
Posted by Motley on Sunday, December 29, 2019 7:29 PM

That is not acceptable. Especially when you will be paying for repairs. You'd think Walthers would have plenty of employees to do this.

Find another shop to repair your locomotive. Tony's trains is a good reputable place.

Michael


CEO-
Mile-HI-Railroad
Prototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989

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Posted by nealknows on Sunday, December 29, 2019 7:26 PM

Here is who you want to reach out to: Stacy Walthers Naffah 

I would definitely try to call her office...

And most importantly, call - don't send emails. You want action, pick up the phone.. 1-800-4-TRAINS

 

  • Member since
    October 2017
  • 104 posts
Walthers' Repair Service
Posted by GNMT76 on Sunday, December 29, 2019 4:52 PM

Who else is having difficulty getting a timely - or more accurately, any substantive - response from Walthers' repair department?

Four weeks ago (on November 29), I e-mailed that unit (via the company's internal system) regarding my Walthers Proto 2000 loco's need for repair.  It's out of the warranty window, so that doesn't apply.  I described the problem and asked about the procedure for sending the loco to them.

It took almost two weeks (on December 9) for a repair tech to respond.  He requested my customer service number, which he needed to set up a return authorization (RA) number.  I sent it in immediately, along with the loco's serial number and another number on the loco's registration card.  I never heard from him again.

A week later (on December 16), a second repair tech e-mailed, stating that he was aware of my request and asking which loco it is (a five-year old EMD F7 "A") and to describe the problem I'm having with it.  I sent him that information the same day.

Three days later (on December 16), that same tech replied, asking for my phone number and address so he could set up a RA. I provided that information right away, as well as requesting the procedure for sending it to Walthers for repair. 

Another week after that (on December 26), having received no followup reply, I e-mailed both repair techs again to inquire about the RA.  To-date, I have yet to receive a response from anyone.  I've avoided calling so as not to get passed around from one staff member to another in "phone tag" and to have e-mail documentation of my communications with the company.

Now, I understand being busy although neither repair tech has implied or stated such.  Whether or not that's an issue is unknown.  To have waited a month now for something as simple as e-mailing a RA number and basic procedural instructions (which are absent on the website for out-of-warranty repairs) is beyond the pale.  Have those two repair techs left the company?  Are they indeed swamped with other repair jobs?  Closed for the holidays?  Who knows.  But this is certainly no way for a reputable company to do business.  Absent a definitive response in the next day or so, my next step is to write the CEO.

If anyone has direct knowledge of what's going on with Walthers' repair department, I'd appreciate hearing from you.  Conjecture is not necessary.

By the way, a look at the company's parts and warranty page (https://www.walthers.com/parts-warranty) shows the following:

"Parts and Warranty can help you with the following:

  • Parts Missing From a Kit
  • Repair of a Locomotive*
  • Status of a Repair
  • Parts Availability
  • Warranty Inquiries

* A repair service is available for Walthers brand products. For all other brands and warranty claims, please select "Customer Service".

If you have not registered your product go here.

Download the Walthers Limited Warranty."

Lacking, however, is any means for communicating repair needs of Walthers' brand products, as in my case.

Kerry

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