Do not shop here!
Problem 1: When I called by phone, the customer service rep did not announce her name.
Problem 2: I ordered the 38 O gauge Train Display Case, #clc4838, and the acrylic case arrived cracked. There was no evidence to rough handling due to the condition of the box. The customer service rep said Hobbylinc ships the cases out in the manufacturers original box and packing; therefore, the case had to have been cracked when it was originally shipped from the manufacturer to Hobbylinc.
Considering Hobbylinc KNOWS that these display cases get shipped from the manufacturer damaged, Hobbylinc SHOULD be PRO-ACTIVE and open the product box BEFORE shipping the unit to its customers.
Problem 3: The 38 O gauge Train Display Case, #clc4838, DOES NOT come with a display railroad track. Hobbylinc SHOULD have such a disclaimer clearly stated in the website products description. A disclaimer of this type would alert the consumer that if they want the train to sit on railroad track as shown in the illustration, the customer will need to order one (1) piece of straight track and one (1) package of track screws in order to mount the railroad track to the natural oak display case base. This would be a superb business practice for the consumer and for Hobbylinc.
Problem 4: After specifically specifying that my person name be shown on the shipment and after specifically requesting that Hobbylinc open the box and inspect the product before shipping, Hobbylinc did none of these. The second train display case did not arrive cracked, it arrived broken. This shipment had no protective packing inside whatsoever and the product was once again not shipped with my personal name on the package.
Considering that the customer service representative was aware that these cases come poorly packed, you would THINK that Hobbylinc would open the product BEFORE shipping, inspect, re-pack to prevent damage, and mark the package FRAGILE. Second alternative would be for Hobbylincs Buyer to call the company Hobbylinc purchases these cases from, inform them of the packaging problem, and request that the units be shipped with better protection, otherwise Hobbylinc will purchase the cases from another manufacturer. Third alternative would to be purchasing the cases from another vendor. Forth alternative would be for Hobbylinc to discontinue sales of the product.
As a side note, I ordered my one piece of straight track from Model Train Stuff on the Internet and it was not only wrapped in protective bubble plastic, but was submerged and surrounded by a box full of packing peanuts.
Note: HobbyLinc before 11/02 allowed customers to post their praise or condemnation of their services. This information was once displayed on the home page within a Rolling Marque. Evidently, HobbyLinc was receiving such negative publicity; HobbyLinc has now buried the customer reviews in a section called Reviews within the Help Section of the website. Although HobbyLinc does show some of the negative reviews, all the reviews are now heavily edited in order to obscure the truth of HobbyLincs poor customer service.
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