If you have a "problem" with Kato and the "plastic clip fix" that you have to put on yourself, then take a look at this Rapido announcement....... http://rapidotrains.com/telegraph9.html One paragraph from the bottom they note that they are selling decals for $3 to put over the paint job on a passenger car that they admit was painted too dark!!!!! A different model costs $5!!! Oh....and they only charge you $2 for shipping. What a generous bunch of guys. What the heck?????? Ok....let's talk about Kato's poor customer service now! Poor? I don't think so. I can assure you that I WILL buy Kato. I can assure you that I will NEVER buy Rapido.
Did you read the rest of the page? The impression I got was Rapido is a company that cares about quality and the customer. did they make a mistake on the IC color? Yes and they admitted it and for those that want it, offered a fix. they charged a few bucks for the decals. those that insist on the IC color being right will be glad to have the fix. those that don't care, will go on with their life. I think it is extremely short sighted to condemn a company and say you will never buy a product from them over one mistake on an IC car and a stripe on an LRC. At least they offered a fix. Is that the best way to do it, probably not, but at least they offered the fix. How many N Scale manufacturers put out the wrong shade of a color on a car and offered a fix? None that I know of. I think we should give these guys a chance. If they can do the quality of work in N they do in HO, then we will have a winner. At least they communicate.
I think it is a good gesture when a manufacturer does it's best to fix a mistake. The cars look excellent, and I look forward to see more of their cars. As far as color, I guess I am different in that a little color variation does not bother me. Look at real cars, and even ones painted the same color have some variations.
If you feel that I'm short sighted, then I plead guilty. To admit a mistake and charge a customer for it is reprehensible. Period...
Charging $5 for a decal is not a "does it's best to fix a mistake". If they offered them free, or if the customer was to cover shipping, I would maybe understand this, but to charge for a set of decals when they admit that the color is off...this is not a "best effort".
Yeah, I did see that yesterday, and was wondering about that, too. Intermountain is replacing the Shasta cars because of color, and we are lambasting them for the delay in replacing them. Since the IC cars were "wrong," I wonder how Rapido would have felt if everyone simply returned the cars because the paint was incorrect? I think they should have sent the replacement decals for free. It was their mistake. At the very least, I am not sure why they are "advertising" how they "fixed" this problem. Thats not an acceptable solution to me. If they tried to charge me for a mistake of theirs, I would simply return the cars out of principle, and ask for the cars to be replaced with correct ones. Or walk. Thats just how I am. I did send Jason an email at 5:30 last night with some suggestions, but more for support. He personally replied at 7:30 last night. Pretty good. I like the responsiveness. I will also email him as to how many n-scalers would not take kindly to how they "fixed" the IC paint, and that he may want to rethink their repsonse if that was to happen again. This sounds like a customer-focused company, however. Maybe their HO guys like them so much, they were all willing to pay the extra 5-er to get the paint right, I don't know. I would definitely like to see what they can do, however, and don't want to condemn them before they even get out of the gate. This could be a huge addition to our passenger train market. I told Jason he will get some support from me out of the gate. I will deifinitely do my part to "help" them initially. And that means buying some cars. Very little downside. So maybe I am out a little money if they are really bad cars. But their HO stuff looks pretty good, so I think my potential downside is limited. Intermountain is just vaporware at this point. Their passenger cars are always a month out. Look at their delivery schedule. They have been behind by a year at this point, and now we are to believe that everything they've announced will be delivered within 2 months? Its all June or Jun/July. If true, that's very bad timing and marketing on their part. They are going to expect buyers to all of a sudden, be happy to receive all their orders in a two-month time frame? If untrue, it is yet just another round of delays, which further empahisizes how out-of-sync they are with their manufacturers. The have turned into the industry laughing stock. PCM has already been that and are now just pitied by everyone. Lets give Rapido a chance and see what they will do...
Ok; you do that; you stick with the foobie masters of the passenger universe; Kato ( I give you their GN consist, their pathetic version of the CPR Canadian and the list goes on and on) I, and many others will be giving Rapido our business.... Hey; no one was forced to buy the HO version of the IC car - most bought at the LHS and saw what they were getting - those that pre ordered on the net may have cause to be unhappy but let's review for a minute - who gets the colour perfect everytime ? Answer - no one - because even the prototypes were subject to colour variation so let's not get all out of hand ok.....? Jason is owning up to a situation that Con Cor; Intermountain and yes; even your "paragon of passenger performance" Kato has had in the past ( see the "not so tuscan" on their CP stuff) and is making an offer to help fix it for basically his cost.... Not good enough for you... ok; that's your choice - stick with Kato.... you'll be in the minority I suspect. And just because Kato "fessed" up to their DCC design error doesn't absolve them of responsibility for shipping 1000's of flawed units - so let's not forget that too while we are castigating Rapido for trying to help make right their colour problems........man, people really do defend Kato beyond rational reason sometimes......they are just like all of us; they make mistakes too......
Yes, they did take them back. How long ago was that? Almost a year? I was personally told by people at Intermountian that the reason many of the passenger cars that were due last summer were delayed was because they were redoing the Shasta cars FIRST. So they pushed back everything to "fix" the Shasta problem. At least that was the story they were telling at the time. That has proven to be false as well. Intermountian is a hard company to defend right now. They have fallen down consisitently with their passenger cars. And they didn't stand by their early offerings when the trucks were bad, either. I believe they are the current whipping boy...and with good reason.
IMRC Man I find this difficult - I have been uber critical of Intermountain of late - the delivery of the initial FP7's, the passenger cars that are later than a VIA milk run train; the quality issues with said passenger cars, the B unit shells.... the list goes on and on. Yet I still look forward to their releases; enjoy their products and support them with my wallet....... it's a tough situation to rationalize. It's kind of like supporting a losing sports team ( and as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan I know of what I speak) - you scream and yell at them; you are critical of the players (in this case products) and the management; you get frustrated beyond all rational means and yet, you find yourself brimming with hope with the approach of the new season (or in this case new release) knowing full well that you will probably be once again disappointed. This describes how I feel about Intermountain.... IMRC has so much potential (like Rapido has) yet they seem to find new and unique ways to disappoint me; I don't think I'm being too critical; I admit I'm no appoligist for them but I don't think I'm too tough - I want to spend money with a company that does two things: 1. Supplies quality products 2. Supplies them in a reasonable timeframe ... and if the second is an issue, then at least treats me like a valued client and communicates with me. Communication is easy and cheap in 2008 - IMRC hasn't figured that out yet - Jason Shron at Rapido has figured it out and he's leading the pack in that department - IMRC could learn from Jason; it's easier to "beg forgivness" than it is to suffer in silence. Just like the Maple Leafs; I retain hope that IMRC's next release (season) will be better than the last; will be wildly successful and will make everyone "forget" about the past..... but I am not counting on it... and that's a shame.....
I'd like to spend some money on the passenger cars I want from them....they don't seem to be able to offer me anything in return for the money, however! Some names delayed for a year, and every month they simply push it out by a month on their website. C'mon... Hey, I hope you are right.
Hmmmm.... Is that why I haven't received the Cotton Belt FP-7 I reserved from you? Is the problem... bad color matching... again ?
I find myself in the same situation. I guess we are both looking at the 'glass half full'.... but... when we try to drink from it... there seems to ba a foul aftertaste from whatever we drank. Intermountain has been attempting to create high quality well detailed and accurate models since their entry into N scale in the early 1990's (maybe late 1980's?). I was very impressed with the freight cars and felt they would make outstanding N scale motive power too. They announced FT's and then the FULL line of accurate F units which we were clamoring for (and bashing Kato about for years). Which other company do think would have done as much to create different STYLES of Tunnel Motors and SD45-2 units? While numerous errors have been made... It doesn't seem as though IMRC is trying to 'run-away' from their issues. The problem is the number of mistakes made has progressively delayed their workflow. Many of these mistakes are not at the 'direct' hands of IMRC (although the FB7s were). Their assembly/paint outsourcing has really damaged their image. This is not to say IMRC is without fault for poor oversight. Those internal or external QC issues ultimately fall upon the manufacturer/importer because they are the ones consumers are depending on to deliver as promised. Still... I seem to WANT to believe in them.
So someone please remind me again...If they can't manage/oversee the manufacturing process, what value and/or expertise do they bring to the transaction? These are pretty pricey cars from a low cost producer. So someone is trying to make a pretty nice margin. Thats Intermountian. If they can't manage to handle the oversight and marketing accordingly, they haven't really done anything to "earn" their margin, correct? Kato produces a better product from a higher cost country and sells it for less. How can they do it and make money? Intermountain has used every advantage: lower cost, and higher prices, and they can't make it happen. No clout with the manufacturers...It is completely their fault for not sourcing the product from the right manufacturer. They made a choice: it has proven to be the wrong one. They exacerbate the problem by sticking with a proven troubled manufacturer (unless IMRC is giving the wrong specs to the factory). They further their probelms by not communicating with their customers. The list goes on and on. The smart dealers are dropping PCM from their list of prodcuts carried. IMRC will be next...
...reprehensible manufacturers! tsk tsk So in your opinion, Atlas owes me six new VO-1000s? I can live with that! I'll even pay shipping costs.
I prefer to have matching, prototypically correct passenger cars that allow me to run a complete train the day I receive the first car. Kato gives me that at a very high quality level, at a price per car that is much less than the competition. I suspect I am not alone.
A Sage of Wisdom once said: "You can please some people all the time, All the people some of the time, But you can not please all the people all the time." :tb-cool:
I'm with you on this one for MSRP just a tad under $50.00 each for an N scale car, the decal deal would go over like a lead ballon, an than at an extra charge!!! Keep em!
Then in the age of ""instant rip off" can the manufacturers be blamed? Even Walthers wants proof of purchase for any HO P2K replacement gear for those crack gears that keeps showing up.No proof you pay. Is it fair? No.But thanks to those few that took advantage of the free replacement gear offering Walthers had to change their policy.One could say he would like the replacement decals for his car then after he receives them what's stopping him from using the decals on another car that he painted?
