Model Railroading > MTH

I have a 10 year old Golden State 4-8-4 from MTH.   It recently stopped running and is completely dead.  I have sent 2 email queries to the service email at MTH with no response.  After that, I sent another to their general information email with no response.  This has been over 3-4 weeks.  I know Mike is retiring, but the website is still up and the business appears to be functioning.  Does anyone know what is going on there?

They never respond to emails. If you actually want service you need to call them.
 

You may have to find one of the shops that is a service center to help you.
I like MTH models but their customer service is terrible.
With Mike retiring, I think it will be non-existant.

Posted from Android

Agree my experience with their customer service is awful.  Purged all of my MTH engines out of my inventory.

Thanks,
Russ

I recently discovered that my MTH UP Veranda Turbine was dead after never running it since buying it years ago.
It took a couple of calls, but I got thru to their service guy who said MTH is not doing any repairs now that they will be closing.
He referred me to an "authorized repair center" in CA.
I sent the engine to him and learned the decoder was dead and that there are no replacements remaining in stock.
He told me that MTH decoders sometimes go dead if they're not used, which sounded odd to me.
I'm having him install a LokSound 5 decoder and a smoke card for $227 total.
I will lose the voice feature, but have a more dependable engine in the end.
Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/20 07:04 by philhoov.

philhoov - do you know how difficult it is to replace the decoder with another brand?  Do you know if the decoder is in the engine or tender?  Guess I will need to go the route you took, but it would be nice if I could do the replacement myself if not too difficult and does not require massive disassemly.

Black Widow ~
I'm not comfortable working on my engines, thus no experience with installing a different decoder.
I've been told that MTH engines are hard to get apart if you aren't familiar and experienced with them.
If you would like, I could PM the contact info for the guy who's doing my Loksound install to you.
Phil