Bachmann Factory visit

[tony@skippystrains]

Over the past winter I had the occasion to visit the Bachmann distribution center and repair facility in Philadelphia, PA.  I had a large scale Pennsylvanian set that was over 10 years old.  The locomotive was not operating properly.  I suspected a faulty drive gear.  I brought the locomotive into the facility; true to their limited lifetime warranty, the folks there replaced the chassis, headlight and repaired the smoke unit.  (All this for a $ 30.00 bench charge).  Excellent service!  Of course they commented on how pristine the locomotive was, thank you!

Folks, the point is, we operate a repair / refurbishing shop and I took my personal train to Bachmann!  They were fantastic!  I just recommended Bachmann to two customers who wanted to reenter the hobby.

What a pleasure it is to find a company today with TRUE customer service in mind and the willingness to stand behind their products!

[Doneldon]

Tony-

Amen to that.

      -- D

[allstate8114093292]

Hi all.  Tony, it is funny that you brought that up.  

First of all, I would love to go through their plant, but being way out West, it isn't practical for now.

However, I must also speak on behalf of Bachmann.  My son gave me a 1996 Monopoly HO train for Fathers' Day last year.  Looking at the box cars, xfmr, and all the other stuff, I could plainly see that the set itself hadn't had any use to speak of.  However, when the person sold my son that set, he either didn't know himself, or had hidden it, because when I lifted the Steam loco out of it's proper place in the box, the underside (right side) had broken wheels, bent pushrods, and a broken part of the loco housing.  

Okay, I find Bachmann and give them a call.  First off the lady says, "I talked to one of our technicians and that part of the housing and the engine are no longer available".  "But", she says, "our head technician did say that he could put in a newer motor and it would match up real well, just send us $15.00".  I said, "is that for shipping"?  She said "no, that is the total".  I still thought she was mistaken, but sent it in with the $15.00, and it came back with a new motor, and they had dug up the part for the housing that they thought they could not get.  Not only that, the $15.00 included postage back to my home.

Now, that is service that I doubt you would get anyplace else with any other manufacturer/distributor.

I realize Bachmann isn't the top of the line, but when my youngest son was little (now 30) we punished the Bachmanns we had, and they kept on tickin.  Still have em.  So, most, if not all of my HO trains will be Bachmann.

Jack

[tony@skippystrains]

It's amazing isn't it Jack!  I am glad you had a positive experience similar to mine.

Tony