Upon receiving the 43461set, I tried connecting it to my Giruno train. It would not pivot correctly nor would the bogie wheels lay down on the track. Also no electrical continuity through the train with it. I immediately called the shop and explained. A return shipping label was sent to me which I got 3 days later.on Friday of last week. I took it to the post office Saturday and they received it Tuesday afternoon. The man who I spoke with told me it would be exchanged with another set. I asked him to inspect it before sending it to me. He said ok. I heard nothing by this Friday so I called him. He told me that the returned one was on the workbench and the owner had to follow the Marklin guidelines. His accent is a bit broken English (Cuban) but I understand him fine. I asked what exactly the guidelines are but he couldn't say. The owner isn't on site always.I asked for a text, email or phone call from the owner beforehand and that is what he told the employee to tell me. I then asked if I have to wait for the repair to be done by Marklin and he said no, we will exchange it for you. So does the owner have to inspect it first, or what?
This is most un nerving and I have never had to deal with an online site for this type of issue.
How much time should I allow them to send me the replacement,or request a refund. Should I call Marklin? I would not like to have to report this to my credit card as a dispute, but if I don't get satisfaction I will.
Has anyone else had to deal with a new item return? Thanks in advance.

Correct Sir!

I had an issue two decades ago with that shop and the owner refused to do anything about a defective locomotive. The issue was escalated to Marklin USA and Ken Brzenk sent a replacement model to me. At that time, MMM was bypassing Marklin USA and ordering from Goeppingen as distributor for parts of Latin America and Marklin USA was unhappy he was selling the goods to US clients from his Miami shop. His prices were a bit lower than the Marklin US MSRP and this angered a lot of other dealers.
This ended a few years later when Maerklin decided that all US dealers could order from Germany. That changed again when Maerklin partnered with Walthers to form the current Marklin and dealers are once again supposed to go through the US operation.

I used to shop at MMM frequently when I was in Miami for the Music Conference each spring.

Regards

Mike C

Ken is no longer active with Marklin. Your best options if you want to address an issue with the company is to contact Rick or Curtis at digital(at)Marklin.com

Regards

Mike C

I’ve done business w MMM for years. I was there recently. They have moved and from what I could understand the operation has been purchased by new owners but Mr. Bartomeau is still involved. His health hasn’t been the best. The two gentlemen you mentioned are trying to come up to speed it seems. Hopefully they survive and do well. I have never had any issue working with MMM.

I never went to Discount Trains. My frequent visits 1998-2002 were to Micro Macro Mundo and Miami Trains.
At the time, there was also a pretty decent Hag dealer, but they were on the other side of the State (Fort Myers).

Regards

Mike C