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Hi,

Does anyone have any experience buying anything from grzyboskitrains.com? I usually buy a lot from modeltrainstuff.com and love their prices / service / return policy, but they don't have what I want in stock, but grzyboskitrains.com does...but I read if you have defective merchandise, the return shipping is on you, and reviews elsewhere weren't too kind with customer service from them. If I go with them, do they package well? With MTS, your stuff is literally drowning in peanuts, wrapped in rubber bands, always packed well.

I tried Pattrains, but it's out stock and others like trainz and trainworld are too close to MSRP.

Thanks!

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Thanks Hobby and Paul, I think I may try them out. My go to will always be MTS, but these LC+ locos are from Lionel's 2015 Catalog and probably wont be stocked by MTS, so I'll give Grzyboski a try. I can't do Train World even at the same price because of Tax, even though I live a few miles away from them, at their Brooklyn, McDonald Ave location

I've been leaving money at Grzyboski's for about 20 years now. While I can't speak to phone/internet ordering (Grzyboski's is my local train shop and I pick up everything in person), their prices have always been among the best. I have only had one problem in all my purchases there - over the last 18 months or so, I have purchased over 20 Fastrack switches, one of which was DOA out of the box. When I walked in with the box under my arm, Joe just looked at me and said "bad switch"?, I said yes and he took it and replaced it, so I'd give them an A for service as well.

Gigabyte:

I don't know where you in NY are (your profile only says "New York"), but if you're going to the Big E show in Springfield, MA in a few weeks, you might ask Grzyboski if they can bring your item for you to pick up at the show to save on shipping.  Grzyboski has a very large presence at the Big E.  The other advantage is that you could physically inspect your item before completing the purchase.

I'm not sure if they still do it, but I did this with them successfully 3-4 years ago.

I have done business with them since the late 1970s.  No problems here.

Steven J. Serenska

 

Last edited by Serenska

I'm a local guy and often go to Grzyboski's on my lunch. I've never had any issues. I recently bought a legacy diesel and after a few weeks the smoke unit stopped working. I took it back to Joe and he got it fix for me; no issues.  My only complaint ,and it is a minor one, is that I have a hard time navigating their website sometimes trying to find something in particular. I think their search engine could be better. 

I have been buying from them  for perhaps 18 years, since I got back into the hobby. I haven't had the pleasure recently, as my buying has been almost non existent for a few years. They have been great. The first time ever in their old store Joe even gave my wife a Lionel gift. I think everyone now requires buyer to pay return postage ( it is a facet of business I think in the USA ). Time was shipping was cheap.

I once priced them against everyone else and they are within pennies of Ro, Trainworld, etc, etc. I went throughall the Classic Toy Trains and OG Magazine ads for months to come up with my opinion.

I heartily recommend purchasing from them.

Joe Junior is actually the elder, Joe III is his son and an adult in every fashion. ( It confused me at first ).  At the shows other family members help out.

Ernie

Yes, they are a Top 10 Lionel Dealer, well Respected in Our Hobby, and I personally give them a Thumbs Up on their Great Business Ethics's.  Their new store is on my Soon To Visit List, after The York Meet in April. Their prices advertised are very Competitive, Their Shipping Prompt, Their Packaging Excellent, Their Warehouse is Clean and Orderly....If you are looking for older Quality Lionel or other brands of trains, they are an honest source.  I have bought many many trains from them, never any issues....Great Question, Great Post....Happy New Year...Let's run trains.

 

Grzyboski trains has been around a long time. I first started buying from Joe in the early 80's and have always found him to be a reputable and honest dealer. Most of my purchases have been at the train shows but I have placed a few occasional mail orders with him.  His prices have been very competitive, he has a wide selection of new stuff and an inventory that goes back 20 years or more.  An A+ supplier.

They offer new items released ages ago that Lionel's warranty would not cover like the 1989 PRR B6 0-6-0 and the Reading T1 4-8-4 also of 1989. My question is would they repair or replace the item if defected. If they opened and test run the model then would it still be considered new? Maybe going to the store and buying it in person would be the answer but its too far away for me.

They offer new items released ages ago that Lionel's warranty would not cover like the 1989 PRR B6 0-6-0 and the Reading T1 4-8-4 also of 1989. My question is would they repair or replace the item if defected. If they opened and test run the model then would it still be considered new? Maybe going to the store and buying it in person would be the answer but its too far away for me.

IMHO, if they open and test run an item, it would not be considered new to a collector. Any operator might not care.
If you want to know their policy on a new, old stock item that is defective out of the box, I think you need to ask them.

My wife and I just made several purchases from them over the last month. I have purchased from them in the past and never an issue. Very nice and easy to talk with, heck Joe  even carried stuff to my truck for my wife while I was busy browsing which led to a surprise gift for me at christmas time.  At about an hour northeast of me this is now my "local" go to shop.

C W Burfle posted:

They offer new items released ages ago that Lionel's warranty would not cover like the 1989 PRR B6 0-6-0 and the Reading T1 4-8-4 also of 1989. My question is would they repair or replace the item if defected. If they opened and test run the model then would it still be considered new? Maybe going to the store and buying it in person would be the answer but its too far away for me.

IMHO, if they open and test run an item, it would not be considered new to a collector. Any operator might not care.
If you want to know their policy on a new, old stock item that is defective out of the box, I think you need to ask them.

I would consider it new, collector or runner. I have always thought it was downright dumb to never open a sealed box to test run a loco. I probable would feel safer with that behavior if it were an Apple or Sony device but with Lionel that's too risky. Out of say 15 new engines, I guess maybe 5 of them had no issues at all.

After all, we do hope they test run it before they put it in the box at the factory...or is that the problem?

In thinking about it, I think the issues with QC at Lionel or toy trains in general, make it really difficult for any dealer to have a 100% positive review. I have purchased at Ro, Grzy, MTS, Just Trains, Trainz, Nassau, Nicholas Smith, Legacy something or other, and probably a few more and find them all caring and trying to price, ship, and do the best they can while trying to make a living and stay in business. I think it's a tough business and the customers may not always be the most capable and talented in using the product.

Last edited by cjack

Always a good experience with Grzyboski’s and as others have mentioned their Lionel inventory is deep. I’ve mostly bought from them at York (great specials) but have ordered a few times online.

Having said that also will plug Model Train Stuff (M.B. Klein to many of us) and owing to their location they are one of my main go-to dealers. I order online and usually do in-store pick up to save shipping. Inventory not as deep as G’s but they have great prices. And the best web site in the business. Real-time, updated inventory.

There are different ways to look at everything.  Buying new old stock always comes with the risk of something not working as designed.  Most stores will gladly exchange a defective product when it's "current production", and they have extras in inventory.  New old stock is a different animal, and a given store may be the only place who has that item... and they often might have just one at that.

When in doubt, just ask about the store's policy before completing the transaction.    The whole warranty discussion is more a problem at the importer level than any given dealer anyway.  In what other industry does the warranty clock start ticking when the manufacturer or importer ships something to their dealers?  The warranty clock usually starts when a consumer buys something.  And the manufacturer or importer should ultimately stand behind their product. 

BTW, Grzyboski Trains gets high praise from me since 1980.  I sometimes arrange for them to bring something to the Allentown ATMA meets.  And they accommodate to save shipping costs and PA sales tax (if you're paying in cash or check at the show).

David

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with this dealer, I really appreciate it. My concern is their return shipping policy. Let's say the LC+ loco I want cost $12.50 to ship via UPS ground, and if the item is defective for whatever reason (wont start, defective MB, etc...) then I have to pay the return which will probably be higher than $12.50 at a retail UPS center, then pay to have another shipped. I think it may work out well for in-store, but I'm on the fence for mail order. I think I may order the two LC+ locomotives from them and take a chance. My budget is limited to about $800 a year, so I want to maximize every dollar, and these two locos will cost $626 with shipping, the remaining balance to be spent on a few more ME signs, some switches, Lionel Pigtail connectors and some structures.

And specifically to Steven, MA is too far out. At that travel cost point, it would be cheaper to pay close to the MSRP that others are selling the locos at.

Thanks again to everyone, I really appreciate it.

MDuppy posted:

I had nothing but trouble with Grzyboski's trains/ J.TRIPP3. I bought a FEF3 from them that did not work and was out of warranty. In the end I had to buy the parts and fix it myself. I will never buy from them again with the way they treat there Web customers.

Out of warranty are the operative words here.  Why anyone would buy anything with a motor out of warranty by mail is beyond me, but to each his own.  I have been buying in person and by interwebz from Grzyboski since the mid 90s.  Never had a problem until I bought the LC+ Lackawanna Camelback.  HOWEVER, I am fortunate enough to have 3 Lionel/MTH authorized service stations within 15 miles of my home.  That camelback was in and out of the shop for 5 months in 2015.  That's not on Grzyboski, that's on Lionel.   Your mileage back and forth for warranty work may vary.

Gigabyte posted:

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with this dealer, I really appreciate it. My concern is their return shipping policy. Let's say the LC+ loco I want cost $12.50 to ship via UPS ground, and if the item is defective for whatever reason (wont start, defective MB, etc...) then I have to pay the return which will probably be higher than $12.50 at a retail UPS center, then pay to have another shipped. I think it may work out well for in-store, but I'm on the fence for mail order. I think I may order the two LC+ locomotives from them and take a chance. My budget is limited to about $800 a year, so I want to maximize every dollar, and these two locos will cost $626 with shipping, the remaining balance to be spent on a few more ME signs, some switches, Lionel Pigtail connectors and some structures.

And specifically to Steven, MA is too far out. At that travel cost point, it would be cheaper to pay close to the MSRP that others are selling the locos at.

Thanks again to everyone, I really appreciate it.

One issue with the "discount" is that the margin is so low that providing return shipping might not be possible. I was told that it cost about 15% of gross just to pay the bills. Salary, building costs, insurance, taxes, inventory loss, and on it goes. So if the price is really a bargain, then the risk is that you might have to pay return shipping should some issue occur.

Almost makes a dealer say that they charge a few dollars more, but it insures that the hopefully few returns are post paid.

ns1001 posted:

They offer new items released ages ago that Lionel's warranty would not cover like the 1989 PRR B6 0-6-0 and the Reading T1 4-8-4 also of 1989. My question is would they repair or replace the item if defected. If they opened and test run the model then would it still be considered new? Maybe going to the store and buying it in person would be the answer but its too far away for me.

On this, I think the Lionel warranty expiration is a bit to harsh. Seems like they could extend the warranty to cover out of the box issues to 10 years or some such. Of course this doesn't account for lack of repair parts that far out.

BTW, different industry and product, but BMW motorcycles have many, and almost most, parts for models up to 50 years out or more. I have ordered suspension springs for a 1960 model and received one spring, and a back order for the second spring marked "ordered for manufacture by outside vender". Try topping that with Lionel...except for Mike R's efforts on the gears for the Niagara. Good show on that by a true train guy I am learning.

I have had nothing but good buying experiences with Grzboskys. 

Last October York, we bought a new piece of rolling stock from them that turned out to have a defective truck on it.  We called Lionel, but they did not have any replacement parts available yet.

One call to Joe, a mail back, and we had a new truck ("I'll take it off another one in stock") within a week and we were in business.

 

 

Other than this forum, I don't buy things off the internet.  And then, the more it costs, the more I want to see it in person and see it tested. 

I've always avoided Grzyboski tables at York dating back to a phenomenally bad experience back in the 90's.  I think Joe may have thought I was someone else, but he went off on me back in the grandstand days.  I don't need that no matter what you have or what the price is.  This past York I didn't see him on Thursday or Friday so I wandered into the booth and was waited on by someone named Joseph.  This person to me looked way to young to be the person I experienced back in the 90's.  After dealing with him I was convinced he wasn't.  He couldn't have been nicer, more helpful, friendly, etc.  So I bought some things from him and put some other things on my list for Saturday, in case I still had room in the van. 

Went back on Saturday to pick up another couple of items and . . . you guessed, the real Joe I was familiar with was the only one I saw in the booth.

Well I just received a brand new set of Lionel Heavyweight passenger cars from Grzyboski and three of the unopened boxes had cars each with a broken truck on them. Shipping box shows no issues. Rats. I just looked on Lionel parts and the trucks are not available. No surprise there if this is any example of this product's history.

Rats again.

I emailed Grzyboski for a return.

I have been dealing with them for thirty years and always  had excellent results. First class operation. They use newspaper tightly rolled as packing material but it works well (never had a damaged item). They charge actual shipping (UPS or Priority Mail) and so you pay exactly what it costs them. Sometimes it can be a shocker, especially with heavy diecast items like steam engines.  IMO, shipping charges are getting out of hand all over.

Hey everyone, I placed an order from Grzyboskitrains.com and it went well.

I ordered:

Christmas ES44Ac IMPERIAL Diesel & Caboose Set
SKU: 30-20360-1
   
38572 - New York Central Sharknose B-unit
SKU: 38572
   
20-89010 - End-of-Train Device Roller Bearing Freight Truck
SKU: 20-89010
Love these things, in fact, I use them instead of the failed (all 4 of them) Lionel Lighted LED bumpers as bumpers  
34113 - Large Suburban Gray House
SKU: 34113

The only issue I had was with the Lionel B Unit car. The wheel is damaged. I called them, they were helpful, but I contacted Lionel via email today to see if they can send out a replacement wheel set or truck with wheels attached. It's not worth it to ship it back and pay again for return shipping at $10 each way only to discover the next one has another type of issue.

Concerning warranty service, esp. on old models, I hope it's better than MTH!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4z9Xiyw5VU

I assume from that video, any manufacturer would do a production run with a certain % of parts only for warranty service to minimize costs for everyone, but at $150 to replace the DCC board when a comparable new locomotive is not that much more + the wait time and poor CS, I'm rethinking of buying anything from MTH going forward.

Gigabyte posted:
    
    
20-89010 - End-of-Train Device Roller Bearing Freight Truck
SKU: 20-89010
Love these things, in fact, I use them instead of the failed (all 4 of them) Lionel Lighted LED bumpers as bumpers  
 

 

 

 

I agree with you on the lighted bumpers - problematic.  I purchased a couple of postwar aluminum passenger cars a while back - operator condition. I also bought one of the MTH EOT trucks and mounted it on the end of one of the passenger cars.  I wanted it to look correct and thus it took a lot of surgery on the MTH truck to remove parts and the Lionel passenger truck to install. It was one of those things that if I would have known how much work it was going to take, I probably wouldn't had done it. Anyway, it looks and operates great.

Steve

My heavyweight cars are on the way back to Grzyboski's and they are going to send out another new set. The only issue was UPS getting the pickup wrong and having to wait for them for 3 days. Joe Grzyboski is very responsive to emails and helpful. But all's well that ends well...

RideTheRails posted:
Gigabyte posted:
    
    
20-89010 - End-of-Train Device Roller Bearing Freight Truck
SKU: 20-89010
Love these things, in fact, I use them instead of the failed (all 4 of them) Lionel Lighted LED bumpers as bumpers  
 

 

 

 

I agree with you on the lighted bumpers - problematic.  I purchased a couple of postwar aluminum passenger cars a while back - operator condition. I also bought one of the MTH EOT trucks and mounted it on the end of one of the passenger cars.  I wanted it to look correct and thus it took a lot of surgery on the MTH truck to remove parts and the Lionel passenger truck to install. It was one of those things that if I would have known how much work it was going to take, I probably wouldn't had done it. Anyway, it looks and operates great.

Steve

The common fix for the lighted bumpers is to extend the LED's wires down into the bumper to where they make good contact.

I also bought the EOT from MTH and just use them on MTH cars. Quicker that way,

cjack posted:
RideTheRails posted:
Gigabyte posted:
    
    
20-89010 - End-of-Train Device Roller Bearing Freight Truck
SKU: 20-89010
Love these things, in fact, I use them instead of the failed (all 4 of them) Lionel Lighted LED bumpers as bumpers  
 

 

 

 

I agree with you on the lighted bumpers - problematic.  I purchased a couple of postwar aluminum passenger cars a while back - operator condition. I also bought one of the MTH EOT trucks and mounted it on the end of one of the passenger cars.  I wanted it to look correct and thus it took a lot of surgery on the MTH truck to remove parts and the Lionel passenger truck to install. It was one of those things that if I would have known how much work it was going to take, I probably wouldn't had done it. Anyway, it looks and operates great.

Steve

The common fix for the lighted bumpers is to extend the LED's wires down into the bumper to where they make good contact.

I also bought the EOT from MTH and just use them on MTH cars. Quicker that way,

Sorry, didn't see this reply, thanks, I'll try that and see if that fixes it.

Thanks Mark, I'm having a shorting issue on one of the MTH Locomotives I ordered from them as well as another issue with a LC+ Rio Grande locomotive. I was going to send in the MTH locomotive to MTH service, but it looks like if they are not a Authorized Seller, I have to exchange it with them, I may need to do the same with the LC+ [ https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...-shaking-slow-moving ]

Gigabyte posted:

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience buying anything from grzyboskitrains.com? I usually buy a lot from modeltrainstuff.com and love their prices / service / return policy, but they don't have what I want in stock, but grzyboskitrains.com does...but I read if you have defective merchandise, the return shipping is on you, and reviews elsewhere weren't too kind with customer service from them. If I go with them, do they package well? With MTS, your stuff is literally drowning in peanuts, wrapped in rubber bands, always packed well.

I tried Pattrains, but it's out stock and others like trainz and trainworld are too close to MSRP.

Thanks!

My two experiences with them:

First. I bought the Lionel Legacy Southern Crescent set with the heavyweight cars as my first purchase from them. The locomotive was defective. I had to pay return shipping.  Waited weeks with no update. I called to see what was going on with my locomotive and was told by the father he had no idea what I was talking about.  I was eventually connected to the son (he calls himself the "third") who said they were working on it.  A week or so later I called again.  Same story. After this same cat-and-mouse game for 5-6 weeks, I called again and told him I was going to file a credit card dispute. He said he was about to call to tell me he confirmed it was defective and that they would be shipping me out another one. The replacement is fine. 

Second.  I preordered three sets of the Vision PFE reefers cars.  The mother took the order.  I asked if she wanted a credit card and was told no, that they'd be in touch when the cars came in.  Months went by and I saw on this forum that others  received theirs. I called and spoke to the son.  He said their order hadn't yet come in - something to do with a dispute with Lionel over a payment - and not to worry, he had my number and would call me as soon as the shipment arrived. I called almost a month later. The son gave me the same story. He'd call me when the order arrived.  I called again almost another month later. He said the cars were in but he now had no recollection of any of our calls, no record of my preorder and he could do much better selling them online than to me.  At first, I thought he was joking ... he wasn't.  Suffice it to say, it wasn't a pleasant conversation. I've never bought anything from them since, nor will I.  

Peter

 

Last edited by PJB
PJB posted:
Gigabyte posted:

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience buying anything from grzyboskitrains.com? I usually buy a lot from modeltrainstuff.com and love their prices / service / return policy, but they don't have what I want in stock, but grzyboskitrains.com does...but I read if you have defective merchandise, the return shipping is on you, and reviews elsewhere weren't too kind with customer service from them. If I go with them, do they package well? With MTS, your stuff is literally drowning in peanuts, wrapped in rubber bands, always packed well.

I tried Pattrains, but it's out stock and others like trainz and trainworld are too close to MSRP.

Thanks!

My two experiences with them:

First. I bought the Lionel Legacy Southern Crescent set with the heavyweight cars as my first purchase from them. The locomotive was defective. I had to pay return shipping.  Waited weeks with no update. I called to see what was going on with my locomotive and was told by the father he had no idea what I was talking about.  I was eventually connected to the son (he calls himself the "third") who said they were working on it.  A week or so later I called again.  Same story. After this same cat-and-mouse game for 5-6 weeks, I called again and told him I was going to file a credit card dispute. He said he was about to call to tell me he confirmed it was defective and that they would be shipping me out another one. The replacement is fine. 

Second.  I preordered three sets of the Vision PFE reefers cars.  The mother took the order.  I asked if she wanted a credit card and was told no, that they'd be in touch when the cars came in.  Months went by and I saw on this forum that others  received theirs. I called and spoke to the son.  He said their order hadn't yet come in - something to do with a dispute with Lionel over a payment - and not to worry, he had my number and would call me as soon as the shipment arrived. I called almost a month later. The son gave me the same story. He'd call me when the order arrived.  I called again almost another month later. He said the cars were in but he now had no recollection of any of our calls, no record of my preorder and he could do much better selling them online than to me.  At first, I thought he was joking ... he wasn't.  Suffice it to say, it wasn't a pleasant conversation. I've never bought anything from them since, nor will I.  

Peter

 

Thanks for sharing that Peter, I hope it doesn't turn into a drawn out CC dispute with them on my 2 item exchange -- even worse, they are not a MTH Authorized Dealer, so there's no warranty, I didn't notice that on ordering, I just assumed that. I offered them to charge my card again for the same items, and when I get them, I'll re-use the box they shipped it in and return the defective locomotives. This is what I love about MTS, no hassle return policy and they offer a prepaid UPS return, I must have ordered close to $4K from them and only exchanged two defective items in the past few years with them, fast service and no hassles on exchanges. Based on my experience, if I really want it, and it's not in stock from a dealer that accepts returns prepaid / no hassle, I'm going to buy local, in my case, Train World. Yes, they are more expensive (closer to MSRP) on most things and I have to pay tax, but I get what I want and if there's a issue, I can easily drive there to replace it.

cjack posted:

Well I just received a brand new set of Lionel Heavyweight passenger cars from Grzyboski and three of the unopened boxes had cars each with a broken truck on them. Shipping box shows no issues. Rats. I just looked on Lionel parts and the trucks are not available. No surprise there if this is any example of this product's history.

Rats again.

I emailed Grzyboski for a return.

Update...

Grzyboski took the set back prepaid, inspected them, said yes they look damaged in shipment maybe by a hard drop. They inspected another new set which were perfect and shipped them to me. The new set is fine.

So...I'm well pleased with the communications and the service. The set was on sale as well.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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