@Lionelski posted:I've had (one of the reasons why I stopped pre-ordering) the reverse hosing from a major dealer, twice.
Pre-ordered, received email confirmation, never received the product when I noticed that others who did not pre-order received the item in question. Called the dealer and was told, basically, sorry, sold out.
These happened to be popular items that were going for full price or higher - coincidence??
If the dealer didn't want the risk. he shouldn't take pre-orders. It hurts the customer.
If a dealer did that to me I would file a complaint with the state department of consumer affairs, with the better business bureau if they are a member, and probably also would write a letter to the train company letting them know how Joe Dealer treats their customers, if this is the full story then that dealer doesn't deserve the business. In a sense it is kind of like bait and switch tactics, the unit at your price isn't available, but they have this nice one at X dollars more; in your case, if you were buying it at his asking price, he likely would have it. I agree being a dealer is tough and I sympathize if a dealer pre orders, pays for it, then the person backs out, but then again how many of these guys act like they are doing them a favor? I made a somewhat sizeable purchase from one of the vendors who supports this board, and it couldn't have been better, they let me know how long they expected it to take to get it (they have a backlog apparently), when I recently inquired about the timing they let me know the eta,very nicely.
Gonna get some people mad on here, but just based on my own experience, a lot of the LHS's and small dealers I have dealt with forget that the customer in a sense is doing them a favor by buying there. No, it doesn't mean customers have the right to be abusive, or act like a ****** (substitute your favorite aphorism for nasty things), but often when I talk about bad service I get "you know what they face from customers?" Well, I am not those customers, treat me with respect and honesty, and if I am a bad customer, then treat me like that *shrug* Had a store recently when I was looking at something that was NOS (and therefore not under warranty) who was trying to charge me pretty much the full price for it, and when I mentioned it was not new, had no warranty and they basically said they didn't have any responsibility, his snotty response was "take it or leave it,buddy"....and I left it. That same guy in a couple of years will moan about the unfair competition from the internet, with the way he was selling his stuff I could buy from the shadiest place on the net and not be treated any worse.
