MTH Authorized Service Center Wants $25 Fee Per Item For In Warranty Service

Report him to MTH, or to your local BBB.  That sounds a bit unethical to me.  If he didn't want to be in the game, he should have tried on the uniform.

Yup.  Makes me wonder if you are talking of the same store that I've had experience with.  They'll do warranty repairs for MTH stuff, but charge you if you didn't buy it from him.  As for Lionel items and this store, unless you buy it from them, they'll flat out tell you no if you need warranty work.  Anymore, I avoid the store at all costs.  I still will get MTH stuff, but just won't deal with this LHS unless I have too.

Perhaps you all should read the MTH warranty

 The following is right on the bottom of the page

* Authorized Service Centers (ASC) are only obligated to provide warranty service for any consumer who has purchased the specific M.T.H. item from them that requires service work.

 

Under the ASC terms they are not required to work on items not purchased from them. You can ship it to MTH but that will probably cost you more than $25.00. MTH only supplies parts under warranty to the repair shop,  MTH does not pay for the labor so the repair person would be working for free!

 

Next time support your LHS and they will probably support you. In the meantime tell MTH they should ay a minimum to their field techs.

Some items take only a few minutes to repair while others take hours. 

 

Would you work several hours for free?

 

This is how MTH warranty works, kinda of a suprise the first time you learn the details but that is the way it is folks...

 

Jim

The problem probably has something to do with the fact that MTH does not pay Authorized Service Centers for doing Warrenty Repairs. Too many people buy their trains mail order to save a couple of dollars over the local hobby shop but then expect the same shop to fix their problems when they arise. Instead of asking a fee he could have politely explained this and told the customer he would have to send the trains back to MTH or the store he bought them from. Now if the trains where bought at his store then he has an obligation to do the warrenty repair at no cost to the customer.

I agree as many LHS are going out of business due to the internet and our ability to shop for discounted prices. I'll accept that risk if I buy from discounters or send it back to the importer. Yes, $25 is a bummer but like said previously, postage is that costly or more and the $25 will help keep that LHS in business so you can return for other goods and services. I don't have but two HS and they don't carry much in O scale but one does repairs. Like now I need plaster cloth for scenery and to mail away could be costly as to buying it at LHS now. The only qualms I do have today is the LHS is 24 miles away and that is almost $10 in gas there and back. Front door del. some times isn't that bad at all,   sort of like christmas

Wow! this is a wake up for me. Thanks for the information. I can understand why they would charge.

Thank you for the clarification as it has been a couple of years since I have needed MTH service.  The last time I had warranty service done was by a different MTH authorized service center who kind enough to do the needed repairs and was not the dealer I bought the item from. 

 

M.T.H. products manufactured within five years from the date of purchase are warrantied for one year against defects in material or workmanship, excluding wear items such as light bulbs, pick-up rollers, batteries, smoke unit wicks, and traction tires.

Which is why I never reported it, because if figured they were covered in fine print somewhere.  Still lozey if you ask me.  Guess I feel this way because most other industries I've either worked in or had warranty work done it was covered, parts and labor, even if you didn't buy from them.

As for supporting LHS, I'm all for that, if they were more competitive in their pricing.  Mine only sell at list/M.S.R.P., never under, only over.  Where I've been able to get things mostly $100-200 USD off or more at times online.  Therefore it makes no economical sense to buy local.  If it was only a different of $50-75 then I'd buy local.  I'd have to give up on the hobby if I could only buy local.  That's just the sad facts of the economy right now and how it effects my life.

Other industries pay local techs, MTH doesn't. So that is why you can take your vehicle to any authorized dealer and get it fixed. I don't blame the dealer at all, I blame a crummy policy from MTH. Lionel is only slightly better, they pay about $12 plus parts to the warranty guy

 

But for whats it's worth it's not just them, I had a friend who was a Toro repair center. He finally gave up when he had one too many people buy their Toro items at Sears or other big box dealers yet rip him a new one when they walked into his store to get it repaired because the guy at the big box store put it together wrong.

Old saying: Some people want their cake and eat it too.

Maybe MTH's policy is a good thing

Sounds like people need to read the warranty information and not just assume they are entitled to "free" warranty service.  The fine print always gets you in the end.

 

Larry

 A National MTH Service Center has to take any MTH train no matter where you bought it,new. Plus, MTH will take your train for warranty service. 

That is true, the ASC's are pretty much there as an added service for the dealers to provide support to their customer. They can also do out of warranty repairs for a fee if they choose. The national centers are to support those who buy from a authorized dealer, meet the warranty requirements and need warranty repairs that cannot be done locally or are from a MTH dealer who is not an ASC

[I've been able to get things mostly $100-200 USD off or more at times online.  Therefore it makes no economical sense to buy local.  If it was only a different of $50-75 then I'd buy local.]

 

For the $100-$200 Dollars you saved, you should be able to handle the $25.00 service fee. It will still be cheaper then the Postage to ship it to MTH. I just returned a repair, MTH Premeir steam, from Pa. - Va. insured $1000.00. Cost of postage $30.00 Fed Ex. The owner saved $13.00 by not buying Insurance when he shipped it to me. That $13.00 would have seemed like a bargain had the engine been damaged in shipping.

MTH don't pay the labor for repairs. This might be hard to believe for some of you, but it cost money to run a store. Try supporting your local train store next time.

 

Kurt

I believe this is why NASCs (not ASCs) are rarer than hen's teeth. 

 

I think there were all of 2 nationwide when the program started.  Not a good benefit to the store undertaking the responsibility.  I know my dealer had zero interest in becoming an NASC (though he is of course an ASC so he can easily serve his loyal customers).

 

-Dave

 

How does the man making a living if you didn't buy the train there and now you want him to service it for free?  It's $25.  How much do you make for a living?  Do you work for free?

 

The one thing nobody has mentioned is that this is for the repair for a defective item that the importer/manufacturer should be responsible for. If the LHS isn't paid for the repair they shouldn't sell the stuff.

Other than MTH, my LHS is NOT an authorized Lionel Repair Service Center, because the owner did not want to spend the money and time for Lionel's training course, but the store is an authorized Lionel dealer!

For a slight nominal fee they will check the item for the problem and inform the customer of such.

And for another slight nominal fee, they will repair and/or replace the part after the customer first orders the part from Lionel.

To check for the problem was $25.00 and depending on the part needed, cost of the part and the location in the item, where the part goes, the cost can vary from $35.00 and up!!!!!!!!

The cost of one of my newer diesel locomotives, out of warranty, was cheaper to pay for S.&H. and repair to the Lionel repair center, when they were in Michigan.

I had to wait about two weeks, total time and the return freight cost me nothing, compliments of a-la Lionel and with a year warranty on the new part.

Ralph

 

MartyE,

My Lionel diesel problem happened way before I saw your Web.-Site on another forum.

If, I knew about your services, back then, I would have asked you first.

You do some great work.

I especially liked your service tips on Lionel's TMCC smoke units.

Thanks to your on-line advice, my Lionel TMCC smoke unit is up, running and smoking like a chimney!!

Ralph

I don't know the ins and outs of how warranty repairs are reimbursed by MTH but frankly, not my issue. I buy a $1,000+ engine with warranty and I expect if there's a problem MTH or it's ACS will fix it. No questions asked. I'm the customer. No customer, no MTH. I think I dealt with this guy too -$25 for a warranty repair. I told him that was the last time he'd ever hear from me. How's he supposed to make a living? Maybe through competitive pricing and good customer service? With respect, maybe we should be less concerned with the poor dealer and more concerned with how the customer is supposed to feel about spending a fortune on a pricey engine that's defective and now inconvenienced by needing to get it repaired - and getting stuck with a fee to return it to the condition it should have been in to start with. He's the only MTH ACS I have ever run into that charges the poor customer a fee. Maybe if he didn't my next sale or ten sales would have been made at his store?

If it's true that these guys do not get paid for their work, then I take back what I said in my statement above.

 

I believe that if a person performs work for someone he should get paid for it, period.

 

If this is the case (so far I haven't seen any "certified titles" under anyone who's posted) then MTH needs to change their policy so these folks get paid.

Bob - yep, if true, MTH should be paying these guys.

Does Lionel pay their shops for warranty repair?

Look! If you expect loyalty, than buy from your local hobby shop. If you bought it elsewhere, than you have the responsibility to ship it back to MTH (or Lionel) for any warranty service. Repair out of warranty is another story. But I will tell you that expecting an estimate for a repair based on simple bench tests are over and to even do a complex estimate for $25 is fair if you decide not to fix it! If you decide to fix, then the $25 is applied against the repair.

 

If you think it is fun to compete with mail order or bang out prices at YORK and then do even the handling, never mind any labor for a stranger's convenience, you misunderstand your responsibility in the situation.

Yes, but only like $12

Actually at least of of the people who responded is a certified MTH tech

Actually its a sliding rate depending on the repair but its close to minimum wage and assumes you are as good and lucky ( correct initial diagnosis ) as the the guys in Ohio.

 

Pete

 

My understanding is that Lionel requires people to spend a week in Ohio in training.

In terms of the "responsibility" of the poor slob who just dropped $1000 or more on a defective loco and is looking at a fee to get it fixed under warranty - this is an MTH issue to rectify.  Or, to put things in perspective, you should also be OK if your new car that's under warranty has defects and your local dealer tells you that he charges a $500 fee for every warranty visit. Same goes for your toaster, refrigerator, oven, etc. Please...

BINGO!

Some hobby shops have strange policies and employees!

Years ago, I took one of my uncle's steam locomotives for repair to a hobby shop, which has been long out of business. 

Inside, I noticed hand printed signs, attached to shelves, reading; " All sales of items by appointment only!"

Right then and there, I should have realized that I was in for a real ordeal, worst than working in dangerous areas of my former profession!

I showed a 'Gentleman!,' behind a counter, my uncle's loco. and asked if it could be repaired.

Without saying a word, the fine 'Gentleman' points to a label affixed to the underside of the loco's., cab's inner side, overhang, it stated; "Madison Hardware."

I said; "Yeah! My uncle bought the loco. years ago and the place is in the City and difficult to reach, now-a-days!!"

He just stares at me and I give him a mean stare back, which I have learned to use, due to my profession, at that time! You know, a standoff!

Nothing got accomplished, because I left the store with my uncle's still defective loco., never to return!!!!!!

Ralph 

Sounds like a good deal to me.  25.00 to fix a broken train is cheap

I fully agree with what Chris said above. The dealer is entitled to make some $$$ somewhere. I think that it is very wrong for MTH not to pay the dealer for repairing the item that they produced and is still uner warranty.

The savings when buying on the internet is big. I can only speak about the NYC subways. The saving can be a hundred bucks or slightly more. I've bought over three hundred four car sets on the internet over the past eleven years and only had to eat the repair on two. So on that rare occasion that I need a repair, the savings is more than worth it.

 

* Authorized Service Centers (ASC) are only obligated to provide warranty service for any consumer who has purchased the specific M.T.H. item from them that requires service work.

As is often the case, that's only half the story. Unless the rules have recently changed the following sums up the warranty repair scenarios:

• National ASC's (NASC's) are obligated to repair any in-warranty claim, regardless of where it was purchased.
• NASC's are compensated by MTH for labor and MTH supplies parts at no charge. (ASC's also get parts at no charge.)
• Every MTH tech goes through an intensive training course at MTH headquarters in Columbia, MD.

When I had an MTH engine that required repair I sent it back to MTH.  To me, I'd rather deal directly with them.  Total "turn-around" time was about one week, and I think it cost me $12 or $13 to send the engine back to MTH.

 

Now, as for the ASC technician charging $25, I don't know all the details, but with my other past-time, bowling, the shop has a large, and I mean large sign posted, stating that bowling balls purchased from them will be drilled free of charge, all others are charges a fee.  So I think, based on the economy/loyalty/etc. the reward for purchasing from your local shop is free repair work, but the down side is higher costs.

 

I think it is just a matter of deciding what is best for you and dealing with your decision, pay the higher costs and have them repair it, or shop on-line or elsewhere and have to send it back to the manufacture for repair.

 

Darren