I recently had a BLI 4-8-2 come in for repair of a cracked drive axle gear. I contacted Broadway and explained that this was not my engine and was fixing it for a customer. Broadway was very helpful and sent me the part for free. I didn't even have to pay shipping.
They explained that they try to support anything that they have ever made. Sometimes they just do not have the parts though.
Anyway, a shout out to BLI and their customer service.
I have had excellent service from both BLI and Rapido.
Having an issue with a product doesn't bother me, how the company responds and addresses the concern is what determines whether I will be a repeat customer or not.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Likewise with a pair of PRR I1sa drivers that had split gears. Broadway gave me three options:
BLI 2-10-0 split gear by Edmund, on Flickr
They offered to send me the gears and I'd make the repair myself or if I sent them the drivers they would press the new gears on and return them at no charge. Or if I chose they could repair the engines at their flat-rate repair charge.
I opted for option two and within three weeks I had the drivers back and the engines have been running fine ever since.
Several other occasions I've needed odd parts and they've come through nearly every time. I recently repainted a pair of their P70 coaches and practically destroyed the window glazing in trying to remove it. BLI offered new glass pieces which they charged $4/side or $8 for each car. I thought that was an OK deal.
Regards, Ed
Nice seeing/reading kind words about a vendor.
That's good to hear. I was surprised to hear they are located in Ormond Beach FL (think Daytona) when Ken Patterson interviewed the CEO on his latest What's Neat on Youtube.He (the CEO) was told nobody wanted sound locos. He thought differently.
They did not ask him about decoder issues.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I have always had good luck in dealing with BLI. Same with Atlas and Bowser. Bachmann? No so much.
Rich
Alton Junction
I have done well by BLI. They only declined to help me one time, about 18 months ago, and that was because they simply no longer carried the part I needed for an early Paragon Niagara. That very same locomotive has been to BLI twice. The original owner must have shipped it back, they fixed it, and placed it in their Refurbished section. I purchased it, fiddled with the innards of the tender for some forgotten reason, but I reversed at least one axle and fried the decoder. They asked for it back, fixed if for nothing (that means a new decoder, and reversed the affected axles for me), and all it cost me was shipping. Every one of my 12 BLI engines from three different series still runs, some with their original QSI decoders.