Problems with internettrains.com

[SeadooChooChoo]

I didn't read all 8 pages of this forum.  However I did see some posts that mentioned that they liked internettrains.com because they had a "wishlist" & other net stores did not.  There was also discussion about when credit cards were charged.  I would like to mention the GREAT experience that I have had with rrtrains.com, also called Caboose57.  I paid $50 to be a Preferred Member for one year (it just ran out yesterday & I will be rejoining whenever I get ready to order again!!!).  I find that they "usually" have REGULAR prices that "most of the time" (NOT ALWAYS!) beat other sources.  Add to that the savings by being a Preferred Member, & they can't be beat.  I have placed 4 orders this year (which I consider to be pretty sizable orders $-wise).  I have saved a net $150 after the $50 Preferred Member price.

There were a few items which were backordered.  I was not charged for them until they were shipped.  (I order a BLI AC6000 probably around September or October '06.  I just received it about 3 weeks ago and was charged 3 weeks ago!)

Customer service has been outstanding.  I placed one order that included an Athearn NS Operation Life Saver Dash9-44CW.  When I received the order, the shipping list had "Out of Stock" written beside this item.  About 1-2 weeks later, I received a FedEx tracking notice e-mail.  I checked the rrtrains.com web cite & the NS loco was not listed & one car was still showing as backordered.  I called them on the phone (I always get to talk with a PERSON immediately; no computer-operated phone tree).  I said that "I had a question about an order.  Actually I received a FedEx e-mail and I haven't ordered anything."  The gentleman said, "Let me guess.  This must be "my first name goes here."  He explained that the loco did in fact become available from Athearn.  He knew enough about what was going on to know my name by what was going on & that REALLY IMPRESSED ME.

I don't know if this post is in the right spot or not, but I CAN'T RECOMMEND RRTRAINS.COM ENOUGH!!!!!

That's My $0.02 worth.

[Dallas Model Works]

What's PayPal got to do with it? Internettrains doesn't use PayPal.

No? The following is lifted directly from their "policies" page:

Payment Methods:
We accept Master Card, Visa, Discover, American Express, PayPal and eChecks. We do not charge your credit card until your order ships.

Sorry - What I meant was, they don't use the PayPal shopping cart. Sure they accept PayPal but who on the 'net doesn't?

But judging from the line you've highlighted -- and the other posts here -- their policies are somewhat optional...  ;-)

 

[SeadooChooChoo]

I forgot to point out that rrtrains.com DOES have a "wishlist" in addition to NOT charging credit cards until an order is shipped.

Speaking of Customer Service and caring about the customers:     I sent a copy of my last post to rrtrains.com (I didn't include the company name that this post was originally about "********trains.com).  I sent the e-mail to rrtrains.com at 6:24 PM and received a reply from them by 7:30 (TODAY IS SUNDAY!!!) thanking me for my comments!!!

Again, I HIGHLY recommend them.

That is my $0.03 worth.

[pturvill]

But judging from the line you've highlighted...

The highlighting is theirs, not mine. While my order was never processed, I will say that they did NOT bill my credit card (although they did run the usual validity check). At least one other participant in this thread said, however, that they DID charge his PayPal account on the day his order was placed, at least 20 days before they *claimed* to have started processing his order. Thus, my previous comments. Now, having placed internettrains.com on my never-Never-NEVER list, I'm outta here.

[flyalan]

Well as I suspected my order did not ship on the 24th as Steve indicated.  UPS tracking indicates it did not leave Internettrains until yesterday (29th).  So it appears that Steve is not forthright or is totally clueless.  I guess "order has shipped" just means it's in a box somewhere in their building. 

Just wish I had read the forums first.

 

Cheers... 

[stebbycentral]

Wow!  This is certainly "the thread that will not die".  I placed my last order with Internet Trains in the fall of last year, and was so dissatisfied with their performance that I have not ordered from them again.  Every time I see this thread ressurrected my decision is reinforced.

In contrast let me offer this story about my recent dealings with another Internet retailer, Micromark.  I placed an order with them that included a couple of their new On30 turnouts, plainly advertised as "not in stock".  They shipped the part of my order that they could fill, and only billed my credit card for the merchandise that they actually shipped.  I still don't have my turnouts, but I haven't paid for them either.  That's the honest way to do business.

 

[milwrd4634]

Gotta revive this. Ordered the Walthers Milwaukee Road full subscription from them. They pack badly, horrible customer service and they charge your card weeks before they ship (if they do at all). Stay Away from them - PLEASE !

[CAZEPHYR]

Gotta revive this. Ordered the Walthers Milwaukee Road full subscription from them. They pack badly, horrible customer service and they charge your card weeks before they ship (if they do at all). Stay Away from them - PLEASE !

I thought every one must have read about the problems shared last year and stayed away from dealing with them.  Sorry about your experience.  

There are so many dealers that offer extrememly low discounts that are trust worthy over and over.  

Trainworld, FDT, Grayline and about one hundred other dealers that ship when they say they will.   I tend to use Firsthobby and Caboose Hobbies most of the time.  They discount a certain amount, but are not the lowest price.  The have never disappointed me in any way and I would recommend them.

 

 

 

 

[cacole]

There are too many web sites with similar sounding names, and it's easy to forget who is who.

I made the mistake of ordering some Grand Central Gems trestle bents from them way back in mid-January because their web site said "available."  To me, that meant that they had them in stock.  I used PayPal and they immediately charged for the items.

After waiting until early February and checking their web site every other day and seeing no indication that anything had shipped, I phoned them to see what was going on.  I was told that "available" just meant that they could order something, not that it was in stock.  I cancelled the order on February 7th, but it took until March 11th, repeated phone calls and e-mails, and a complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau before they issued a refund.

Never again will I do business with them.  In my opinion, they use misleading terms on their web site and they lied several times about the refund.  If the BBB had not intervened on my behalf, I might still be waiting to get my money back.

[hobo9941]

They will issue a refund........eventually......., if you keep after them......., threaten them.............. I always got the same guy, when I called. For some strange reason, I got the impression he was operating out of his basement.

I finally demanded a refund, after waiting months for an item, that was no longer available from the manufacturer, but was still listed as Available on their website. He said, "No problem", he would cancel the order. But he didn't credit my card back. When I called a month later, he said the guy in the "accounting dept" was off that day. A couple more calls finally got me a refund. This guy seems to be operating one step ahead of the cops.

[MisterBeasley]

Another resurrection.  Must be springtime.

Two quick things - if they have charged your card, and are not delivering the goods, you have the right to contact your card company and "dispute" the charges.  It would be common courtesy to contact the dealer first and request that the charges be cancelled, but it sounds like they weren't doing that.  If a company gets the reputation of having a lot of charges disputed, they could have trouble doing business.  You might let them know that when you first ask for your money back.

Thing Two:  When this first surfaced, this company was actually trying to hijack another company's business by registering a very close mis-spelling of their URL (the www name) and re-routing it to their own web site.  I just checked that spelling, and discovered that the hijacking is no longer taking place.  I'll give Internet Trains credit for backing away from an unsavory business practice.  That's a good step in my book.  Thanks, Steve.

[paulney]

Should have read this thread earlier... Yep, I did order from them without looking at resellerratings or any other site. That will be a lesson to never lower your guard. Cancelled the order after waiting for 3 weeks for it to ship and calling them up to see what's going on. Naturally, one week later after the cancellation - no money refunded either. Luckily I used a credit card, and not PayPal. So, I called them up today and let them know that unless I receive the refund by Monday, I'll start a charge dispute. But after reading these threads I think I'll start the dispute tomorrow first thing in the morning.

[hobo9941]

We need to keep this on page one!

[Anonymous]

I now see that I am not the only one having problems with internet trains....they did cancel my order that they wouldn't fill after 3 weeks....that was feb 20, it's now mar 16 and haven't gotten my money back yet...  I have written model railroad magazine asking why they let this company advertise with them and also filed a complaint with the California better business bureau....They hardly answer the phone and you get a run around from some lady named Bea and nothing gets done.   My money has been tied up since fef 29th.   I would suggest that anyone wanting model railroad equipment, don't order from internet trains.   I've been reading all the complaints and saw only one person say they had success with this company.   I had ordered track and switches mostly, they should have that in stock.   I fear that this company is a ripoff, getting peoples money and using it while never filling orders.  I for one will NEVER order from them again and would offer that advise to everyone else.   I found discounttrainsonline and also hobbylinc to be very good, took 8 days from order to delivery from both of these companies.  Pass the word to friends....avoid internet trains or you will regret it, they really stink and not pleasant to do business with either.

[New Haven I-5]

 I have had sucess with www.Internettrains.com . I also have not had sucess with them. www.WholesaleTrains.com  is what I highly reccomend over internettrains.

[hobo9941]

Back to page one!

[chatanuga]

I first ordered from Internettrains back in 2002 when I ordered some Walther's autorack kits that I hadn't seen elsewhere.  The service was very fast.  Over time, I've ordered some more items from them, and they always seemed to arrive rather promptly with no problems.  That was until late 2006 when I preordered two Walthers autoracks and two Atlas articulated autoracks.  The Walthers autoracks were released and became available on the site.  They were shipped to me with the two Atlas cars on preorder status.  Atlas then released those cars.  However, on the Internettrains site, my two cars were no longer preordered.  One came up as on backorder.  The other came up as discontinued.  I e-mailed them at least twice to inquire about the cars.  I never received any response.  I hadn't been charged for them yet and found the cars on another site for $15 less per car so I e-mailed them and told them to cancel my order for the two Atlas cars (this was in either December 2006 or January 2007).  I never heard a word from them, and the last I checked, the one car was still on backorder.  I've never been charged (thankfully), but I will never order from them again if they're going to take preorders for items and then not fill them.

Kevin

http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html

[Steve_F]

My first order with Internet Trains took a few months to arrive, I put this down to me ordering items that weren't in stock and they had to order in, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and placed another order making sure everything was shown as available. This order arrived in good time so I figured this way worked and ordered again, this was ordered 7-6-07 I received it today minus one discontinued item. I do expect to wait a bit longer being an overseas order but I think 9 months to wait for an order a bit excessive... at least I got it!

[CAZEPHYR]

My first order with Internet Trains took a few months to arrive, I put this down to me ordering items that weren't in stock and they had to order in, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and placed another order making sure everything was shown as available. This order arrived in good time so I figured this way worked and ordered again, this was ordered 7-6-07 I received it today minus one discontinued item. I do expect to wait a bit longer being an overseas order but I think 9 months to wait for an order a bit excessive... at least I got it!

When items are advertised, they should be shipped or back ordered when you place the order.  If you don't want the back ordered item, it should be cancelled.  Waiting up to nine months is just out of line without your approval.  If you really want or need an item, nine months is not realistic in any way.   I have not ordered from Internet Trains since they have been on the problem list for some time now on our forum.  

All they have to say is, we don't have it.  Do you want me to back order it??    You might have done yours on line, but my policy is this.   If I can't talk to the store directly and ask if it is in stock, I don't order anything. 

If they have it, I will buy it.    

[Chuck Geiger]

My post sounds like the one that started all of this years ago. My wife ordered several items for Christmas 2007 in November. After several calls talking to the lady that runs the order department, Her name was Bea; I finally got my order. I ordered the N scale Walthers ADM Grain Elevator. They said they had it in stock. I knew *** well they didn't (it's out of stock at Walthers), but it finally showed up aftere the first of the year. The other items never showed up. The other items ordered where from BLMA *they said they were on back-order* when I called. Now understand the georgraphy here. Brea is next to Fullerton (Where BLMA is loacted). They don't seem to care if they backordered products ever get in your hands. They didn't return calls or emails. I was told several different stories each time I called. These BLMA items are sitting there with no home. One would think when they came in they would call or send them and bill the credit card on file. These clowns are listing these products as IN STOCK and when they get an order from us, they order it and wait for it to come in. I do business with Feather River Train Store in The Bay Area now.

[Chuck Geiger]

Here's something else to chew on...They have a first time buyers program they never offered any information on it and $10 off your next order. Never any information on it with the order.

[Big Ugly Waz]

Firstly, this is a bump.

As I live on the lower end of the earth, and 99% of my modeling purchases are from online sellers, it's vital for me to know about reputable online stores who have good customer service, good shipping and last of all good priced quality products.

I have had one dealing with internettrains and suffice to say it will be the last. No point in going over what the majority of the posters have complained about in the last couple of years. It achieves nothing.

What might achieve something is if we could have a thread dedicated to listing reputable online sellers. Bergie might be able to clarify if that would be against forum policy, but from what I read as long as it was not the sellers themselves advertising it would be ok, or perhaps a poll system where we could add "votes" to sellers listed as we have dealings with them ?

It would be extremely beneficial to All of us to have a quick reference list at the top of the threads as to who we can trust with our modeling dollars, especially if your away for a few days and miss a thread like this one because it has slipped back a few pages. 

It's just a thought, it may be something that's not feasable due to the number of online sellers or difficulty in policing, but as this forum is about helping everyone, I believe it would be an asset.

What does everyone think ? 

Cheers,

Warren

[wrmccall]

Anyone else experience bait and switch with Internet Trains?  I ordered a Blackstone K-27 on their preorder price only to have them charge me a higher price when shipped.  After my emails were ignored, I contacted my credit card company.  Then I heard from IT.  Boy was he mad and would not listen to me and wanted the merchandise returned.  So, I sent another email detailing the problem.  He then said they made a mistake pricing it and their cost was higher than the price that I had ordered it at.  He agreed to refund to the difference, but that was January and no refucd has shown up.

I will not use them again. 

 

[SleeperN06]

I also had trouble getting an order, but I did finally receive everything I ordered within hours of canceling it. I

know this maybe hard to believe, but I'm actually thinking of trying to make another purchase. Its not because I want to wait a long time but they are they only place that I can find the MLR N Scale Track Tool Set and I don't want to pay multiple shipping charges by buying one piece at a time.

[selector]

Just thinking to myself, but if there are so many complaints about this outfit/guy, you'd think the credit card companies would close their accounts with him since he seems to have trouble keeping customers due to his practices.  Doesn't seem to be the case though.....

[jbinkley60]

I also had trouble getting an order, but I did finally receive everything I ordered within hours of canceling it. I

know this maybe hard to believe, but I'm actually thinking of trying to make another purchase. Its not because I want to wait a long time but they are they only place that I can find the MLR N Scale Track Tool Set and I don't want to pay multiple shipping charges by buying one piece at a time.

Walthers has them in stock.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=&scale=N&manu=479&item=&keywords=track&instock=Q&split=300&Submit=Search 

So you can either order direct or go to your LHS and they can order from Walthers.  I see no reason to do business with these folks. 

 

[gatrhumpy]

I'm having problems with them right now. Won't answer e-mails, phone calls, nothing. I placed an order for some stuff to superdetail an N scale locomotive on MARCH 3rd, and the order has not been shipped yet. I'm ***.

[CAZEPHYR]

I also had trouble getting an order, but I did finally receive everything I ordered within hours of canceling it. I

know this maybe hard to believe, but I'm actually thinking of trying to make another purchase. Its not because I want to wait a long time but they are they only place that I can find the MLR N Scale Track Tool Set and I don't want to pay multiple shipping charges by buying one piece at a time.

 The question you have to ask youself is:   So you feel lucky!!

How do you know they really have the N Scale Track Tool Set???

Most of the late shipments are probably due to their ordering items from the distributer and the distributer is out of the item.

Anyone can list old past items that other do not have in stock.  It is a cleaver way to get a new order, charge you for that item and make you believe you are going to get the product.

Check real close, they probably have the Brooklyn Bridge also.   

 

 

t

[gatrhumpy]

I also had trouble getting an order, but I did finally receive everything I ordered within hours of canceling it. I

know this maybe hard to believe, but I'm actually thinking of trying to make another purchase. Its not because I want to wait a long time but they are they only place that I can find the MLR N Scale Track Tool Set and I don't want to pay multiple shipping charges by buying one piece at a time.

 The question you have to ask youself is:   So you feel lucky!!

How do you know they really have the N Scale Track Tool Set???

Most of the late shipments are probably due to their ordering items from the distributer and the distributer is out of the item.

Anyone can list old past items that other do not have in stock.  It is a cleaver way to get a new order, charge you for that item and make you believe you are going to get the product.

Check real close, they probably have the Brooklyn Bridge also.   

 

 

t

 

I just paid $13.43 for the Empire State Building! Now you can throw paper airplanes off them! Woot!

[Anonymous]

Yes to add I too had problems with internettrains in the past and as a result do not do business with them any longer.