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.