George, neither FedEx or UPS are doing any pickups from shippers on Christmas eve, they are fully concentrating on deliveries. It has been that way for years...
And I hate to twist the knife even farther, but this illustrates my dictum: Never buy just ONE of any critical item. I use Digitrax also. Normal setup is a control station and three boosters. I have a spare DCS100 control station and a spare booster. I have four throttles - two of which have never (yet) been used. If I have a problem, it won't be a problem for long. The killer for me is when a wheelset shorts. A real bear to find. Close to 1,000 cars on the layout. But findable. Just wish it wouldn't happen when you need it. But that's Murphy.
my 2 cents worth I feel for you George. I'm sorry to hear that you are going to scarp a system that you have been using because of someone out of your control dropped the ball. After the time I had to send my throttle back, I picked up two of the Digitrax Utility Throttles. I too was not happy not being able to run trains. :angry: I am a single operator so why do I need three throttles? For a few reasons: Back up Sometimes I want to run more then one train at the same time and have a dedicated throttle for each train Sometimes my grand kids come to visit and sometimes they want to run (read PLAY with) the trains. The Utility Throttles have some limitations, they can't be used for programing. They work just fine for running trains. That being said, make the best of your situation and have a Merry Christmas. Gary
True... I HAD a UT4 Utility Throttle . I would use it to run Lucky Penny Yard...and when THE Wife was out there...she used it to run her excursion train. Unfortunately it met its fate when I left the door to the RV open to run inside the house for a few minutes. One of the dogs found the utility throttle sitting on THE Wife's seat in THE RV and decided it would make a good chew toy. :crying:
Did they promise it back to you by Christmas? I would be very surprised if they did. MRR shops aren't Amazon, and MRR repair depots aren't NASCAR pit crews. IMHO, anybody that sends a model railroad item for repair the last week in November and expects it back by Christmas just doesn't have their expectations lined up with reality very well. And expecting them to ship the same day they're asking you about a debit card...same deal. And being shocked by them taking time off during the holidays....same deal. And not knowing about Fedex/UPS pickups around Christmas...same deal. AND if you really were in a hurry, you would have made sure the payment info was good. AND on top of that, you don't have a plan B? How about post in early December: Folks, I have my Digitrax throttle in the shop and it may not make it back by Christmas when my grandkids are coming. Anyone have a throttle I could borrow? I would have been glad to loan you mine...still would, but it will probably be Monday before it gets there if you are interested. I get it...it's a rant, and you're blowing off steam. That's fine. But dogging Digitrax for this is not fair, and "selling all your Digitrax to teach them a lesson" is cutting your nose off to spite your face. Just chalk it up as a bad decision and bad timing and move on. Life's too short.
Yup.... Just blowing off steam. I appreciate that most understand that. This whole ordeal has been a comedy of errors. I am sure I will calm down by the time its over. I also appreciate all my train friends here understanding and allowing me to bend their ears with my tirade. Merry Christmas ALL !!!
Dissin Dgitrax for taking 12 straight days off for the holidays seems fair. I dont know of any other company that locks the doors and forgets their customers for nearly 2 weeks. Personal opinion...I think thats bad bussiness practice...JMO. As far as possibly selling the Digitrax stuff and...."cutting your nose off to spite your face"... In the late 70's I had a Ford pickup. I was unloading something in the back. The truck was running and in Park. The shuffling movement in the back of the truck caused it to slip out of park and into reverse ( Proved later to be a known problem with their transmissions at the time). The truck slammed into the shed...throwing me over the tailgate !! I swore off ever buying a Ford again. Did Ford go out of bussiness because I sold that truck or never bought another...NOoooooooooooooooo. But do I feel better to this day not buying another Ford...YESsssssssssssssssss.
I appreciate the offer Doug. You're right...I never thought to ask anyone. I'll just wait for mine to finds its way back home. I have other things to do till then. I have a laser cut motel to build. This thing look like its going to be loads of fun...being made from really small WOODEN parts that I am sure will be easily breakable :frustrated:
Day late and dollar short. Lou, My condolences. I spent many a Hoiday Season working as a Funeral Director helping families through the most difficult of Holidays. I can only wish you and yours the best and although time is supposed to be an eraser it only removes you further from the event. The pain remains. I can do a vent, rant, lament with the best of them but this is one of the first Christmas's I haven't been on call, didn't have some sort of train problem to resolve or family issue to deal with. Just sit at home and wait for approval for a surgery. Nothing but fun. Grin!:startled: Have a good Holiday.
I'm not surprised about Digitrax.. When I first thought up ZugDCC a decade ago I planned on programming it to run Digitrax systems, not Lenz.. But Digitrax's licensing terms were just over the top from the point of developing for it. Including paying an recurring licensing fee and THEY would get final approval of any software made to run it. So I returned the Digitrax system and went to Lenz. I started recoding ZugDCC a couple yeas ago for NCE systems, but with my health issues I eventually put the project on hold even though it's 75% complete and mostly operational.. I've seen other places take extended holidays around Christmas and New Years, nice for them, but they clearly don't care about the problems it will cause their customers.
This is one reason I am all for the Bluetooth DCC. if your controller breaks just head over to Walmart and pick up a smartphone or a tablet with Bluetooth connectivity and BAM you are back to running trains.
I would not get too enamored about bluetooth anything, it is a communications protocol that is dying quickly. Cheers, Bill
That is not quite correct. It should read, "Afterall...whats Xmas without Digitrax!!!" And the answer is, of course analog DC. I understand that people have been running trains with analog DC for quite some time. I still do when I don't want to fire up the MRC wireless.
I do have my TechII...but...the power from the digitrax command center runs thru a PM42 and splits to 4 power districts from there. I am NOT wanting to nor up to pulling the 4 bus lines off the PM42 to jury rig them to a DC power pack. I'll wait. I'm fine. I didnt even exhibit road rage when I had to drive to Wal Mart this morning. I didnt even have thoughts of killing the idiots in front of me in the checkout line...LMAO !!!
Every company I've ever worked for took at less a week and sometimes more off at the holiday. Digitrax is a manufacturer, not a retailer. Nobody should expect them to be open.
You could have had my situation like I with Atlas several years ago. I had just got into DCC and bought an Atlas system for my little switching layout. I had it all wired and had just installed my first drop in decoder. I tested the loco on a single piece of flex track that was hooked to the controller. All of a sudden the magic smoke came out of the controller. When I sent it to Atlas they told me there was no way possible for this to have happened other than to have wired it wrong. I explained to the Atlas rep that I know how to read a EWD and that it was virtually impossible to hook the controller up wrong to just a single piece of flex track. To make matters worse this happened 2 weeks before the show where I was to debut my layout at. After a couple phone calls back & forth to Atlas they FINALLY gave me a new controller, but they show had already been done and over with by that time.
