Based on this thread as well as others, it sounds like Lionel doesn't want to be bothered with turning out anything that resembles good quality.
Blue,
No. What we can tell is that many of us like to complain about things, and others seem to be satisfied.
Why can we tell nothing else? We have no numbers.
Q1: How many opportunities does Lionel process (per month, per year)?
Q2: How many are delayed, or handled incorrectly?
Do you have access to these figures? I don't.
Now, if you believe, as many seem to, that it doesn't matter, i.e. that everyone should be perfectly satisfied regardless, you're definitely expecting too much. It doesn't happen in the real world; with anything you buy. It's not just trains.
Companies that are good at quality tabulate the numbers, monitor them closely, and work aggressively to make sure they never go south. But, they have the numbers to use for the purpose.
We need the figures to go any further.
Mike