Yet another Rapido baggage car replacement program

[Rapido]

Hi all, We just received word that our Chicago and North Western baggage cars have the same problem as the Illinois Central baggage cars. The lettering is reversed on one side. These were proofed at the same time as the IC baggage cars and as we were not aware of the IC problem at the time we did not catch the problem on these cars either. In the rush to get these cars out to stores before Christmas, we did not do a full inspection of the shipment before sending them out. A full shipment inspection adds two days to the turnaround time.

We're now instituting a policy of doing full shipment inspections every time to ensure that this doesn't happen again, and if this causes us to miss Christmas next year, so be it. In the meantime, we will do the same baggage car replacement program as the IC cars.

For those of you with C&NW baggage cars on order, please accept my apologies for this screwup. I've checked all of the artwork for our upcoming passenger cars, and I can assure you this won't happen again.

Full information on the baggage car replacement program can be found on our web site:

http://www.rapidotrains.com/scl01-news.html

The headaches of being a model train manufacturer.....

Thanks,

Jason

[mobilman44]

Jason,

  Thank you for the honest and candid announcement - while some of us are very disappointed in your news, we do thank you for letting us know what's going on.  Having been a buyer of model trains since the '50s, I can tell you that some manufacturers would either say nothing, or place blame or see how many were returned.

While I have you "online", when will the IC baggage cars be available at Walthers and/or major retailers?  And, will you be putting out some IC RPO cars in chocolate/orange anytime soon?

Thank you,

Mobilman44

[MisterBeasley]

Jason, the ads for your cars make me wish I had wider curves on my layout, so would be able to run them.  Well, maybe the next time I build a layout...

Thanks for doing the right thing and replacing the defective cars.  I like the way you and your company do business.

[Anonymous]

Now THAT'S good customer service!

What's the roadname say on these? North Western & Chicago? I remember the others were Central Illinois.

[Fergmiester]

MisterBeasley

Jason, the ads for your cars make me wish I had wider curves on my layout, so would be able to run them.  Well, maybe the next time I build a layout...

Thanks for doing the right thing and replacing the defective cars.  I like the way you and your company do business.

 

Funny you should mention that The MESS is under going "Curve enhancements" due to that very reason, Thanks Jason Yes once I got bitten by the Rapido cars and Larger 10 Driver Engines 30" curves was a given. I've got my eye on "The Canadian" though pricey it will definitely be a winner.

[Rapido]

8500HPGASTURBINE

Jason,

 

  Thanks for letting me know. Although it is great for the letter you sent, the fact that you are sending out huge shipments without proofreading the cars makes me think. Other big name cars don't let this happen, at least I never heard of it. You make very fine cars and I hope that you continue to do it, but your careless quality control needs an adjustment. Was it worth getting out the cars before Christmas only to have to recall them all?? That's huge $$$ out of your pocket. And while we are on it how about some UP Ovservation cars, HUH. I'll still buy your cars, but some better QC work ok.

 

Take care

Mike

 

Take care

It's not an issue of quality control. It's an issue of Dan and me being complete nincompoops.

The problem is not at the last stage, when the shipment arrives. Yes, we are going to do a better inspection before shipment, but that is only to stop a wrong shipment leaving the door. It's much better if we catch these problems at the sample stage, before the cars are actually made.

The problem was in the way that Dan and I were checking samples. We were checking them separately - he would look at them, and leave them for me. Neither of us caught the lettering mistake that was on both the IC and C&NW cars. It's the same mistake on both, and both samples came at the same time back in August. We've been so concerned about getting our colors right that we missed an even more obvious problem!

From now on, Dan and I will be checking the samples together in the office lounge. That way mistakes like this won't happen again.

Best regards,

Jason