Matt Makens posted:I think the high end market is a small portion of the Lionel market. Lionel is a household name and I’m sure the entry level starter sets are the backbone of the biz. I’m wondering how bad the QC really is since you never hear from the happy customers and the unhappy ones are continually unhappy. ....................
The starter sets are not immune either.
I recently (October York special) bought a Christmas starter set (the one from 2016, with the Docksider with Lionchief control, a boxcar, gondola and work caboose).
While I dealt with it with my dealer, the 1st one had issues with the couplers on the engine and both the gondola and the work caboose. (Pretty sure the boxcar was OK in the first set - so one of 4 pieces without a serious operational flaw - not great odds)
It took us 3 sets for me to get a full set of engine/cars with no issues. The original engine couldn't keep coupled around curves, it dropped any cars as soon as it entered the curve . And this was not on the O36 curves that came with it either, I have an O72 tubular or O84 FasTrack loop I was using to try it out. The other cars would as mentioned uncouple as well. The other 2 engines had some cosmetic issues with graphics, but I was able to swap out a functional rear coupler from one of them. It took the 2 other sets to find a good gondola and work caboose.
I need to confess I did not even try the power pack or track, as I used my normal transformer and carpet central loop. I am giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming the power pack works and track is OK.
This was for a seasoned hobbyist (me). I can't imagine how a new person buying a starter set for a train for around the tree would have dealt with such a flawed initial purchase. Most likely would have just returned it and forgotten about a train after that.
I will say my recent purchase of the Polar Express (most recent, I think - the Bluetooth one) when an unnamed large department store had them on a good sale in December was very good out of the box. Maybe some very minor cosmetic flaws (minor ones I let pass for the good price I got), but the set works and can pull it's consist (along with 2 add on cars) without the couplers opening.
I know, slightly off topic of what happens to repairs sent to Lionel (since this was dealt with locally), but the starter set reference made me think this initial quality issue might be a useful story.
-Dave
