Broken Athearn Genesis right out of the box

[UP 4-12-2]

This is the main reason why I inspect items at the store before paying for them (a reputable shop will have no problem with that because they want the customer to be happy).  That way, if there is a problem with something broken, they will take care of it (as they still should).  They should be able to return the item to Athearn for replacement, or obtain free replacement parts from Athearn--which may or may not take some time.

However, openly criticizing Athearn and/or UPS on forums such as this without first giving Athearn a chance to fix the problem does not normally endear the customer to them.

Packages and giant containers get damaged in shipment.  How is UPS to know the damage didn't occur during shipping from China?  Those giant containers get a lot of jostling before ever hitting American soil.  If the Athearn box the item was in appears to be perfect--ie no corner damage--how can one realistically blame UPS.  If it was UPS damage, the individual item box would normally show some kind of damage.  Given that in most cases locomotives are shipped in case lots they can actually have damage and breakage inside the individual item box before UPS ever sees them--and the individual item box can still appear to be perfect.  Now, if the moron at the distributor filling the order dropped the boxed model on the floor, normally one corner will show some damage--and if you do see that, it is likely it was dropped on a floor by someone.  That is all the shock it takes for trucks to come apart.

As we modelers have demanded even more detail all the time, the job of safely getting the items from Asia to our country becomes more challenging all the time.

I have worked in the mail order model train industry--and unfortunately it is all too easy for the people filling the orders and handling stacks of items to drop a few.  It happens more often than you think--and I'm sorry to say they don't bother to open up each item they drop and do an inspection.  I also very much doubt that any "importer" or "manufacturer" opens up every single item from Asia to do any inspection before shipping them out to dealers.

My 2c.

John

[BRAKIE]

So,You are blaming Athearn for UPS damage?

Did you know UPS times their sorting employees and they have to handle so many packages a minute or get wrote up?

Why not contact Athearn so, they will make it right?

[Aaron safioles]

good job UPS, or Athearn. good job. the back part of the trucks is broken, You see, on the CSX SD60! ATHG67272 there are a set of rear trucks, on the bottom of the trucks is a big long black clip. And on the top, there are 3, one to the front, and one to the back. And finally one in the middle. the ine in the middle has a little nub on it, that fits into a hole in the chassis, and keeps the rear wheels in-line. I KNOW that i did not break this. I lifted the loco out of it's box when it was mounted to the piece of wood, and placed it down gently o the table, and i noticed that the trucks were broken right then and there. it was shippeg via UPS. And it was delivered at my hobby shop on thursday. ( it came with a shipment for the store, as i ordered it thru them. Than pisses my right off, a 180 dollar engine, gone. although i did steal a clip, the exact same from my RTR AC4400CW ( CP 8546) Great job athearn, just freaking great.