Hi,
It would seem strange that Maerklin does not prioritize the service of warranty items before all others.
Yours is clearly a warranty case.
It also seems strange that they would not simply replace it, within a week or two.

Was the cold smoke ever working?

Kimball

hi Kimball,

Thank you for your comments, and this is what I am being frustrated for..
It is not like a song "Last Christmas", but I bought a Marklin and very next day I gave it away..

The dealer didn't dare to put water to perform the cold mist as it was gonna mess up inside box after putting the loco
into box when bringing back home when I purchased, but tested a few seconds if it was functioning or not, and I remember that
slightly white smoke? came out so we assumed that it was functioning.
However, After I reached home and tested with recommended as booklet says, nothing happened.
Since it was and is totally new, and I agree to yours, if I were the PIC for this kinda claims, I would replace instead of repairing.
Or.... idling for repair can be an another method to make customers exhaust patience, and encouraging the person in a wrong way
to buy one more while waiting for the repair.


hi Adrian,
thank you for letting me know your experiences.
I am a bit surprised to know that Marklin yet needs max 3months, it is for me such a long time for Guarantee claims/repair.
It's not model train, but even a well known brand mechanical watch which has more than 300pcs small parts inside,
it won't take that long though sending back to Switzerland...
Or, mine was first sent to Göppingen and then Marklin sent to the real factory, somewhere in another location, so it takes longer than usual,
or as this cold mist smoke thingie is first function introduced by Marklin, and they might have found something that needs time to find out the cause???

Anyways, been 2months past already, so, just crossing my fingers to get it back in a month....

Hi Rwill,

thank you, too for sharing your experience.
My dealer in Rotterdam/ the Netherlands is putting customer as their 1st priority and even it is noting to do with the
dealer but the factory, the shop I go in Rotterdam always do their very best not to make customer disappointed, and this
is the only hope and fact that I still purchase Marklin from this shop.
So.. as far as I hear what fellows are telling, it is normal taking 2-3months no matter with or without warranty to receive back.

Indeed, I do too, have received small packet of gummy bears in the parcels from German companies and guess it is their practice :)
Haribo makes children happy, and so does adults.

Sean

Hi KiwiAlan,

Sorry to hear that accidentally you dropped n damaged your insider model.
What I have learnt at this moment is at least 2months no matter with or w/o warranty.
Additional days, or weeks or even months will be expected due to Marklin worker's mood if under warranty,
because it won't create any revenue to the company but free of charge so not interested much but
want to do more for paid repair, IMAO.

Sean

Some years ago we had a Roco dealer close to Glasgow. If anything went wrong with Roco model they had a guy who could do the repairs and if a part was needed it came from Roco in a couple of weeks. Shop now has gone after the owner died but while there after sales service was great. There main sales and stock was Roco and Lenz and they were experts in both. No need to send back to manufacturer and wait for months. How things have changed.

You clumsy sod

No No No.... yes

It was Kiwi Alan who did the dropping not me!

Who can remember where the expression "No No No ...... Yes" came from - The prize for the correct answer you are permitted to buy yourself a pack of Haribos

That's fine, no problem. I wasn't sure if it was a translation problem where having English as a second language meant you were unfamiliar with the idiom, so I explained it.

No No No... Yes I remember, who is it ?, No Yes No......Yes

I've had plenty of experience with Marklin service department. IMHO, they are totally swamped with warranty repairs. Marklin has been using inferior decoders and other components to reduce their costs and now they are seeing the bad results of this stupid decision. The usual turnaround time is 4 to 6 months and increasing. I write directly to Frank Mayer, the service department manager, and I'm lucky if he replies within a month. I believe a rocket needs to be used on the senior management at Marklin.

You mean Alan has dropped in Lokshop ...hope he is OK and somebody picked him up. lol

Anyway time Marklin got back to making good solid locos and save the warranty work.

LOL. I received a similar note which I found funny ..... "Incorrect hand-damaged decoder has been replaced ...." which perfectly understates the fact that I placed the tip of a hot soldering iron on the solder joints at one end of the decoder, thus merging solder across two or more connections.
Stupid man .....

So for obvious reasons I paid two times (+ some) for my brand-new MSD3 decoder.

Kimball

Well I have never received any haribos in my many boxes from Marklin, and I am (& possibly was) a 25,000 euro customer per year. Marklin simply don't get it.!!!!!

The decoder in my 39952 also failed after a week or two, but at least it did not cook the motor. When my decoder failed it caused my CS2 to immediately reboot if that railbus was on the track, so the motor never received power after the decoder died.

The wait times are even longer here in N/A, with my average being closer to 6 months in total, even if it is a new item under warranty. I just chalk that up to the problems that come from collecting German trains from so far away and hope to not need factory repairs very often.

Good luck and try not to be in a rush on this repair. I wanted that cool piezo smoke unit but now I am glad that it sold out before I ordered one.

Edited by user 14 May 2018 19:37:39(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

When I read all this thread , I thought : "Things have really gotten better at Märklin in the last 65 years"

At least, from time to time now, they reply to customers and even put a pack of gummy bears in the return packages.

In 1953, I was un-ceremoniously reminded that they wouldn't deal with customers directly, and "uberhaupt nicht auf Französisch"
Well ok, I was just 10 at the time and I would have loved to get the candies!

In the meantime , it seems that getting spares is a lesser problematic exercise and.... I have long learned to fix everything by myself, and even made a business of that for a part of my life!

So who's complaining now?

Cheers

Jacques

Sean,

Has this model done this since you first received it? If so it may have been incorrectly programmed from the factory. If that is the case you might try a reset on the decoder to return it to the original settings. If this problem developed during use I am guessing that the decoder may be defective. Either way your only option may be to send it off for that long repair process and hope for the best. Märklin could definitely use better quality control at this point in time, although overall I am quite happy with most of their products.

My problem is the uncertainty of whether I will get a good quality model or one that has to be sent back to Göppingen for repairs.

hello all,

I finally got my Tiger back waited for 3months +.
While waiting, I purchased ESU BR232 Railion, and in my very arrogant opinion,
detail, sound functions, adjustable CVs etc, tiger has nothing good besides color.
ESU does have minor issues though new in box, yet repairing time is a lot shorter
than Marklin, say ESU usually repairs within a month, or simply exchange to a new
if the loco is bad?? enough.

Anyways, glad to have my tiger back, but honestly, dunno why but not that happy
as I was when I bought it.