Model Railroading > Preorder Gone wrong ? your Input please

Last year (June)  I preordered 2 Atlas HO engines through my Hobby shop,  so since the original date passed it's been a steady "not showing yet",, yesterday I looked at  a online Hobby store and they are "sold out", I let my Hobby store know and he say's they show now for May 14, to him, I told him it's May 14 or cancel, something wrong here IMHO. Ed

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Maybe all the models the hobby store ordered are sold. Doesn't mean the manufacture is. I have seen this many times.

Posted from Android

Wasn't Atlas caught in the Chinese AFFA factory closing?  IIRC, they were one of the firs to announce that last summer.  I would guess that put a substantial delay in the release of some planned items.

I am not sure about Atlas but some manufacturers order up a certain amount of a model in a certain paint scheme
from the Chinese builder.  If orders for a particular sku meet the supply it is indeed sold out.  I don’t think the model
manufacturer wants to oversell and then disappoint the customer when sales exceed supply.  It’s not like airlines overbooking
a flight and put the customer on the next plane.  When these are gone, they are gone so if you want to draw a line in the
sand with your vendor, you may be S-O-L when the ship actually sails.

Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be done stateside when the Chinese control the flow of goods.  You should not be charged for as yet undelivered goods, so it’s really not a “preorder gone wrong”.

Have you checked Atlas's Production/Shipping Schedule?

https://shop.atlasrr.com/t-ordership.aspx

 

I think you have to trust that your hobby dealer preordered for you and will provide the goods when they come in. If the product then comes in to the store but he then has none for you, you need to find another hobby dealer.
 

If I read your post correctly you stated that the hobby store told you May 14th and you told them it is May 14th.  Better check your calendar today is May 9th.

Just be paitent. With teh latest Chinese issue that happened, lots of preorders were delayed and most of the manufacturers started up again with cars to "test the system" before doing engines.

I keep track of all my preorders. My oldest is 6/13/2016.

I keep track of the latest "Due by" estimates from the manufacturers themselves (via their sites), not by what the hobby shops says.

It'll get here.

Unless your dealer dropped the ball completely, your order is part of the 'sold out' column. Unless the maker overcommitted and decided to short some accounts, it will arrive in due course.

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think you have to trust that your hobby dealer
> preordered for you and will provide the goods when
> they come in. If the product then comes in to the
> store but he then has none for you, you need to
> find another hobby dealer.
>  

Don't always blame the hobby dealer. I once had a distributor cancel my order, because the dealer didn't order a full case count of the model I wanted, and the distributor didn't want to get "stuck" with the rest of the case.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 07:42 by bioyans.

Anything made in China is in turmoil right now.
Many manufacturers got a blindside surprise when the factory announced it was closing. Under the circumstances I would think most any delayed pre-order is largely due to that event. I'd cut the hobby shop a break but I'm surprised they can't at least tell you what is causing the delay. The manufacturers are pretty darn good at keeping their supply chain notified. 

It is about the end of the day on May 15, how did May 14 work out for you?