Roger, I have filled out your survey. I have to say that I am far more likely to place a reservation when I have a pretty good idea as to the actual release date and when pre-payment is not required. If pre-payment were to be required I would probably stop placing reservations altogether except with a very small handful of companies that appear to be able to deliver consistently close to their projected release dates and with consistent quality. Adam
I've said the before, I think there needs to BE a system because right now there is none. You are left at the mercy of any number of variables, the primary one being...did your dealer actually place your order? Outside of trusting your dealer, there is no way to guarantee you get what you intend to purchase. At my LHS, (where I no longer preorder items, that business now gets handled by a reliable e-tailer) they will accept preorders but it's very much a crapshoot if you get the item or not. Part of the problem is that "bird in the hand" trumps preorders in the bush. If someone comes in wanting an item and the "store stock" is out, guess where your preorder sitting in the back goes? Yep, you guessed it....out the door with someone else. If it is an item that I absolutely know I want, I place preorders just as a courtesy to my dealer, and because I get a small discount for doing so above and beyond their standard discount off MSRP. I will continue to do so as long as everything I order continues to show up.
Roger- I've responded. And took advantage of that area allowing comments. I do hope more than one manufacturer is listening. There is a great cross-section of the N scale community here. Boxcab E50
SURVEY RESULTS Hello everyone, I would like to thank all of those who responded in this thread, to those who completed our Survey and to the number of you who wrote me privately. I am always impressed with the way that the majority of model railroad folks want to help one another and I appreciate the time all of you took to express your thoughts on this topic. After 21 days, our poll is closed and the results are now posted on our Survey Page. While the Survey is obviously not scientific, the results are interesting when you look at the numbers in total. The comments that we received at the end of the Survey were detailed and insightful with a common theme of frustration with the Pre-Order system, primarily with a building lack of confidence in manufacturers and their ability to deliver as promised. As we look further into adding an Advance Reservation service to our retail business, I would welcome any additional thoughts any of you have and ask that you direct them to my private mail or use our Contact Us page if you prefer. Again, I’m grateful for the responses. Roger Bernhardt RailroadMerchant.com
