Post by ztrack on Mar 23, 2014 8:14:14 GMT -5
Funny thing. I just wrote the Trackside Perspective for the upcoming issue of Ztrack. The topic is how select dealers tell more than the a few mistruths about Ztrack, including that we have stopped publishing instead of being honest and telling their clients that they decided to no longer carry the magazine.
But the same thing is happening to AZL. Just yesterday, we had a very nice gentleman come by the Ztrack office for a visit. He was shocked at the number of AZL items we have. See, he had recently purchased an AZL SD70M from a eBay seller who told him that AZL is no longer in business. Wow really?
While we at Ztrack and AZL can't control the eBay sellers and what they tell customers, we can at least try and keep our own dealers to a higher standard. Even if this means dropping a dealer.
Last year, we had a customer with a problem GP38. He contacted us and we found he had purchased it off of eBay from what appeared to be an unauthorized AZL dealer. We told him to let the seller know of the problem since he would be responsible. Long story short, it was an authorized AZL dealer. And the story gets better.
- The dealer was selling on eBay under aliases (not allowed by AZL dealer terms)
- The dealer was selling via auction not 'buy it now' (again not allowed by AZL dealer terms)
- The dealer refused to work for the customer on his service and support (Yet again, this is part of dealer agreements)
- And this is the best one, the locomotive in question had been returned to the dealer not once, but twice before for a defective truck. He just kept reselling it instead of contacting us for a repair.
Guess who is no longer is an AZL dealer? We happily took care of the customer since this was not his fault.
Another issue played out on the forums in January with a customer who had a loose GP38 board. The customer was getting no where with his dealer who had been providing information on how to reseat the board. The dealer continually blamed AZL. The customer went to the forums for help and we stepped in. At this point, he had already returned it to the dealer. We contacted the dealer (with no response) to resolve the issue. After two weeks the customer is being told by the dealer that AZL refused to return his phone calls. Really??? What phone calls? The dealer never even attempted to contact us. The client was left hanging. Only after I called out the dealer with the customers on the email string did the dealer finally reseat the board (2 minute process) and give the loco back to the customer.
Again, guess who is no longer an AZL dealer?
The fact is, we are seeing nonethical dealers deflect blame and not live up to their terms. We would expect this from unscrupulous eBay sellers who live the shadows. But we don't ever want to see this from people who are suppose to represent our company.
There are MANY trust worthy dealers out there. And we at Ztrack are working to expand the dealer base. We encourage each of you reading this to establish a good relationship with your dealer. You are protected by purchasing through authorized dealers. If you have questions on your dealer or what they are telling you, then contact us. We are happy to help sort it out.
If you do buy from eBay, be careful. AZL products are only covered under warranty if they are purchased through authorized dealers. If something doesn't sound or seem right, ask questions and contact us. Also be prepared to do your own research. That super rare, out of production eBay item many very well be quite common and still in stock.
And if any one hears that we are no longer in business. PLEASE let me know… we left the lights on in the office. We really should turn off that 'open' sign.
Rob
But the same thing is happening to AZL. Just yesterday, we had a very nice gentleman come by the Ztrack office for a visit. He was shocked at the number of AZL items we have. See, he had recently purchased an AZL SD70M from a eBay seller who told him that AZL is no longer in business. Wow really?
While we at Ztrack and AZL can't control the eBay sellers and what they tell customers, we can at least try and keep our own dealers to a higher standard. Even if this means dropping a dealer.
Last year, we had a customer with a problem GP38. He contacted us and we found he had purchased it off of eBay from what appeared to be an unauthorized AZL dealer. We told him to let the seller know of the problem since he would be responsible. Long story short, it was an authorized AZL dealer. And the story gets better.
- The dealer was selling on eBay under aliases (not allowed by AZL dealer terms)
- The dealer was selling via auction not 'buy it now' (again not allowed by AZL dealer terms)
- The dealer refused to work for the customer on his service and support (Yet again, this is part of dealer agreements)
- And this is the best one, the locomotive in question had been returned to the dealer not once, but twice before for a defective truck. He just kept reselling it instead of contacting us for a repair.
Guess who is no longer is an AZL dealer? We happily took care of the customer since this was not his fault.
Another issue played out on the forums in January with a customer who had a loose GP38 board. The customer was getting no where with his dealer who had been providing information on how to reseat the board. The dealer continually blamed AZL. The customer went to the forums for help and we stepped in. At this point, he had already returned it to the dealer. We contacted the dealer (with no response) to resolve the issue. After two weeks the customer is being told by the dealer that AZL refused to return his phone calls. Really??? What phone calls? The dealer never even attempted to contact us. The client was left hanging. Only after I called out the dealer with the customers on the email string did the dealer finally reseat the board (2 minute process) and give the loco back to the customer.
Again, guess who is no longer an AZL dealer?
The fact is, we are seeing nonethical dealers deflect blame and not live up to their terms. We would expect this from unscrupulous eBay sellers who live the shadows. But we don't ever want to see this from people who are suppose to represent our company.
There are MANY trust worthy dealers out there. And we at Ztrack are working to expand the dealer base. We encourage each of you reading this to establish a good relationship with your dealer. You are protected by purchasing through authorized dealers. If you have questions on your dealer or what they are telling you, then contact us. We are happy to help sort it out.
If you do buy from eBay, be careful. AZL products are only covered under warranty if they are purchased through authorized dealers. If something doesn't sound or seem right, ask questions and contact us. Also be prepared to do your own research. That super rare, out of production eBay item many very well be quite common and still in stock.
And if any one hears that we are no longer in business. PLEASE let me know… we left the lights on in the office. We really should turn off that 'open' sign.
Rob
?