Hi Kimbal,
I am pleased you recieved such excellent service from Marklin, and that the charges were reasonable. Perhaps this shows the commitment from Marklin that they want to look after their customers.
However, it would be interesting to have a breakdown of what repairs were done to rectify your locomotive. Was it quite an envolved repair or just some minor maintanance?

Regards,
Brian.

That is good news and what was postage rates 18 euro ?

Looks like a very good sign that Märklin is still ready and able to service older equipment.
I personally witnessed the dedication and "customer orientation" of the people at the service desk at the Museum in Goeppingen..they are just enthusiastic and seemingly put their pride in solving customers problems.
If this trend and type of service continues to materialise, it demonstrates that there is no need for "wise guys" from "investment funds" to run a company.
Way to go Märklin, just keep it up!

Ditto here.

Cookee,

I think Kimball made the right decision although you have some valid points.

For Euro 50 you don't get much for repairing a loco.

I've installed a sound decoder recently into a second hand BR 03 and at the same time made a slight improvement by adding Led's. I've charged the client A$ 50.00.

It depends how well the loco has been maintained before and buying second hand locos cheap on ebay sometimes can, as Kimball described it, not every fault is declared.

From a repairer point of view it is sometimes, your client doesn't appreciate the work you carry out beyond the agreed terms.
In some cases the loco ran perfect before it was handed over to you and when testing the loco it runs erratically.
From my point, as repairer, you would like to return the loco in its best condition.
Handling locos in a correct way, regardless new or second hand is, I assume, not everyone has the same touch and experience, to know how to.
The above loco has one actual wheel(cog) while the rest is driven by side rods.
If you for example push the loco manually forward because the loco doesn't run for what ever reason, you can finish up with the wheels being out of alignment.
My point is, repairing a second hand loco can be expensive and owners sometimes do not know the time it takes to look, observe, disassemble and assemble and repair a loco.
In my case it was more than 4 hours with another visit 3 days later.
A good repairer will be able to outline faults, bad designs (manufacturer) and faulty assembly by the manufacturer.
In some cases, Marklin is god, the client is god and the repairer has to cop the rest of it.
in other cases, buyers buy, in their mind a cheap loco on ebay, can't fix it themselves and it appears, they don't want to spend too much money to repair it otherwise their cheap deal wasn't so cheap after all.
Some buyers have a mental attitude by not being able to admit, they've scored a bad deal and we as repairers have to make up for their shortfall.
This particular 03 has wires going past the last driving wheel and as I opened up the loco and fitted a new sound decoder I've noticed it, the wires actually touching the wheel.
Over time the plastic insulated wire would have exposed the core wire and a short or damage to the decoder could take place. (manufacturers bad design).
Another point I like to make what is maybe trivial to a client is a major concern for a repairer (above scenario).
All I can advise potential second hand buyers to be aware and if repair is needed, it isn't cheap.
Not knowing the problem with Kimball's loco and what had to be fixed, Euro 50.00 is still cheap.
I've had clients in the past, turning up with the most rusty 3000 steam loco I've ever seen and expect the repairer to fix it because the loco has a sentimental value to them.
Some clients like to see what repairs you've done and open the loco again and by doing this damaging the loco and returning it to you by explaining, the loco doesn't run any more.
We as repairers have an eye what has been repaired and who fiddled with the loco afterwards, some modellers just haven't got the gift to do this sort of work or repair but will always try to do this themselves with constant negative results. In the end I refused to repair locos for this client.

And than there are the sneaky ones, they know your reputation but try to put the wool over your head by giving you loco for repair, e.g. change brushes, slider, rubber tyres or other minor repairs but don't tell you the loco doesn't actually work and than you hear the same line of words, it was working perfectly before I've handed it to you.

I've had locos, completely new coming from the marklin factory with a cogwheels teeth missing on one side.
The official Marklin repairer at the time was based in Sydney and returned the loco with a note saying: there is nothing wrong with the loco. He didn't want to have the postal expenses to send the loco back to Marklin.

And there are cases when train enthusiasts try to repair locos themselves and don't realize the time and effort and experience you need, to take on such a job and you can finish up paying twice the amount the loco was originally worth and you no where near a finished repair work.

So all in all.

Advise when buying second hand locos:

only use known ebay sellers with a good feedback score
be prepared to be able to repair the loco
if you can't fix it yourself, don't think your repairer will do it for nothing or the same amount Marklin will fix it for.
Don't try to fix it yourself if you know you're not able to do so
Ask the panel of experts for advise.
Don't ever think because it is cheap you've scored a bargain every time.

It is cheap to climb Mt. Everest but it is hard to get your life back, so don't try to be a hero.

John

Hi Dale,

15 Euros was all they charged me.

regards
Kimball

Hi Kimball,
congrats that you're happy with Marklin's service and with your newly repaired lok.
Nice change from the many horror stories that we've heard from Marklin's service.



John,
Thanks for your (repairer's) point of view.

And for your good advice also in regards on second hand locos.

Having also been in the Märklin repair business for more years than I care to remember, I can only agree with Steve.
Time + consumables often amount quickly to more than 50€, so I think the Goeppingen trip for Kimball's loco was worth it.
I haven't seen yet a Märklin loco that couldn't be repaired...but it's all a matter of what the customer is ready to pay for it.
My specialty has been the repair of pre-1960 M locos, for which spares are often no longer available.
So repairing and revalidating "old" parts is the only alternative, this means complete dissasembly, some parts machining and complete re-assembly.
It implies also owning a lathe, wheel press and quartering device and a flurry of small tool, plus a milling machine and cutters if you want also to manufacture obsolete gears.
The (in)famous "drivers loose/ wheel slipping/out of quarter" on steam/ rod driven locos is a very frequent occurence.
I have fixed dozens upon dozens of these "basket cases": to do it right takes minimum 1 hour per axle...e.g. at least 5 hours for a TT 800.
For a complex loco like a CCS800/ 3015 one can easily spend the whole day.
You can extrapolate from there when zinkpest starts complicating the matters.
So, in short: 50 € for a factory "tune up"?
Money well spent!
Cheers

I would love to help...but it is hard to say anything without at least witnessing and "hearing" what the "problem" is!
Is there a chance you could post a video with sound... (You know: a bit like when the MD listens to your heartbeat...)

Cheers