Poor Bachmann Quailty

[Jack Johnson]

I sure hate to complain but I've been into trains for 30 years and have never had so much trouble with the quality of products as I'm having with the Bachmann On30 locomotives. My NIB rail bus didn't run at all and I sent it back for replacement. The new one runs about 50% of the time. The NIB 2-8-0 with DCC didn't run on DCC only DC so that one went back and the one they sent to replace it didn't work either. The 3rd. one works, so far. Now I just received a NIB Forney with sound and, you guessed it, it sounds great but doesn't move. Fantastic static model. Of course, I have to pay to ship these back and wait 4-6 weeks to get a replacement. I guess I should be happy, the 2-6-6-2, 2-6-0, and the Precision Scale Goose work great!
This kind of quality control problems are going to kill this scale. It looks like HO is the way to go, wish I hadn't sold it all, it runs!
Thanks for letting me spout off.
Jack

[the Bach-man]

Dear Jack,
Sorry you've had such bad luck. I've opened dozens and only had one not work well. At least you know we'll stand behind them.
Better luck,
the Bach-man

[Jack Johnson]

Bach Mann,

  I do know you stand behind them but it sure is frustrating to spend the money for these only to have them not work. From reading the posts here, this doesn't look like an isolated incident with the Forney's. I'm waiting for Customer Service to get back with me and the return process will begin. Take care.

Jack

[MeatBall Sub]

What Dcc system are you using some systems do not have the power to program Dcc and sound, try using a more power full programing station i have never had any problems programing bachmann engines before.   

[Jack Johnson]

I use Bachammn's EZ Command system. I talked to service today and it's on the way back. All my other bachmann DCC and DCC/sound work fine. I guess I am very unlucky with their products. Hopefully they will send out a new one that works.
Thanks and take care.


Jack

[John Tumolo]

I'm sorry to hear that your experience with Bachmann has been less than favorable.  I have a total of 11 On30 locomotives from Bachmann, and only ever had trouble with one. I've got one 0-4-0, two 0-4-2, two 2-6-0 Mogels, one 2-8-0 Connie, one 4-4-0 American, and four Forneys, one of which had problems two weeks into ownership.  It started to growl and really sounded as if it were tearing itself apart.  It was sent back to Bachmann and it was replaced within two weeks.  The replacement had the same problem several days into running, and that one was also cheerfully replaced.  I ran the replacement for several weeks to make sure it was ok before adding all of the replacement parts from Mount Blue.  It's been two years, and it still runs fine, as do all of the others.  Be nice to the folks in service at Bachmann, and they will treat you nice.  Now if they would only come out with a 2-6-2 Prairie.........John Tumolo  [email protected]

[Jack Johnson]

John,

  The folks in service have always been helpful and kind, no problems there. In fact, with this problem with the Forney, Laura, the Customer Service Manager, has been great. I sent the Forney back yesterday to her attention and she is personally taking care of it. My Shay, Climax, 2-6-6-2, 2-6-0, and my new 4-6-0 all work flawlessly. I guess having 3 new locomotives in a row not work is quite unusual but boy, it's frustrating. I'm very glad they stand behind their products. Take care.

Jack

[Mark Damien]

I have had a great run with Bachmann HO & ON30 locos for many years. I was so pleased with the early Shays in both scales, I decided to get some more.

In the last 12 months I've added three HO Shays & two ON30 Shays to the roster. But not without problems. Of the HO Shays, one was DOA, the other two had severely binding trucks - one could only manage a half turn of its wheels.
The two ON30 Shays have binding trucks which prevent smooth slow running.

My original four HO & ON30 Shays were all bought within weeks of their release, & have run faultlessly since.
The ones manufactured & bought recently.....well.

To balance this, I have to add the three ON30 4-4-0s [both types]  bought over the last 18 months are faultless.

I'm expecting two ON30 4-6-0's ;in the mail any day now, with high hopes.

Cheers

Too much Training is never enough

[darryl1936]

I think the problem is quite clear. A good number of engines are failing and to PAY  $$   to return these to the manufacturer is not right. I had three engines that either failed right off the bat or soon thereafter.
Then if you get one repaired and it fails again, would you pay good money to send it back, AGAIN?  Then there is the wait time while it's being fixed or repaired.  Just not right to a lot of us.  I solved the problem, quit buying Bachmann engines.  They do look nice but I want an engine that runs. I'll still buy Bachmann freight cars as I need them.

The heading says it all......

[Jack Johnson]

Darryl,

   That's the problem for sure. In fact, in a post above I made a comment that Laura at Service said to sent the Forney back to her attention and it would be turned around "very quickly". Well, in fact, I emailed her 10 days after it went back to her and now it is just in the system and up to 6 weeks to get it back. What happened to taking care of it personally right away?
If I get one more bad locomotive, it's good bye to On30 and back to either HO or true O scale, that stuff works!

Jack

 

[darryl1936]

 
Jack    No need to give up on On30 as Bachmann has some very good freight cars. I would hope other manufacturers took a look at On30 but probably not as there is just not enough train folks out there that can support the hobby.  I use HO with my On30 since they share the same track gauge.  Actually I have quite a few HO and O buildings but not to close together. It's all a fantasy world anyway.

Whatever turns one's crank.  Cheers  TOF 

[Jack Johnson]

Darryl,

    That's probably the way I'll go, add some HO on the layout and run the On30 locomotives that work. It seems the non DCC/sound locomotives work fine from Bachmann, just not their sound and DCC items. Have fun as always.

Jack
 

[Mark Damien]

My two 4-6-0's arrived today & they run well. I changed one loco to ESU DCC & the other to an NCE. The ESU runs noticeably better at lower speeds than the NCE, so I'll put that in the Connie & dig up another NCE for the other ten wheeler.

I hope these new locos are as reliable as my earlier ON30 locos. I guess time will tell.

[USNavyChiefRet]

I too had problems with the ON30 Forney. I had two of them that I purchased on Ebay, (the dealer's name I won't mention)and they both were bad, one died the first time I put it on my track, one ran fine for about 3 times around my layout and then the sound died. The dealer blamed my track, yet when I purchased a 4-4-0 American from another dealer and put it on my track it ran fine and has run fine ever since. Since that time I haven't ordered another Forney. I'm afraid to try one. I just received a 2-6-6-2 yesterday and tried it for the first time this afternoon and so far so good. I have a Rail Truck that I've had to ship back to Bachmann because the rear gear case screws were stripped, I believe right from the beginning. It ran fine for a little while and then the gear case cover fell off. I'm willing to give Bachmann a chance, I love the ON30 scale, it's just frustrating to receive a loco and then have it die and have to ship it back. The Forney's I was fortunate that the dealer took them back, but everything he sent me was bad. I also had a Climax that died the first day, gears stripped or something, I shipped it back to the dealer as well. The 4-4-0's seem to be strong runners and I have a 0-4-0 Siderod that runs good. I just hope Bachmann see's fit to repair this Rail Truck under warranty, it hasn't been a year yet.

[Lemurien]

I have 9 models (460,440,Porter,Rail truck, rail bus, 280,Davenport,Shay, Climax,Forney) and the run very well.