Intermountain Diesel

[rgengineoiler]

So Carl; When I called them it was simple.  I happen to live 45 miles from them.  They are located in Longmont, Colorado.  Google them up and give them a call.  You will be glad you did.   
Phone Number is 303-772-1901.  go through the prompts.    Doug     

[carlso]

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I have kept my thoughts to myself so now I will let them out. Smell the sawdust burning ?

As many of you, I have had very good customer care out of IM in the distant past. I can remember when their first tunnel motors came out the handrails looked like cooked spaghetti and I was sent replacements. Then came a bout with F-3's that would not hold the trucks in because the "bay" for the gear towers were not milled or cast properly (per their own management). They sent me complete replacement chassis's. They sent me pins and rods for AC12. So I can not complain.

However, the last 2 times I sent e-mails and have never received an acknowledgement. So ? ? ?
I sent an e-mail regarding the parts I need with no acknowledgement or reply at all, as yet. So, next Tuesday I shall call.

Hope you guys are correct,
Carl

[mu26aeh]

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I have kept my thoughts to myself so now I will let them out. Smell the sawdust burning ?

As many of you, I have had very good customer care out of IM in the distant past. I can remember when their first tunnel motors came out the handrails looked like cooked spaghetti and I was sent replacements. Then came a bout with F-3's that would not hold the trucks in because the "bay" for the gear towers were not milled or cast properly (per their own management). They sent me complete replacement chassis's. They sent me pins and rods for AC12. So I can not complain.

However, the last 2 times I sent e-mails and have never received an acknowledgement. So ? ? ?
I sent an e-mail regarding the parts I need with no acknowledgement or reply at all, as yet. So, next Tuesday I shall call.

Hope you guys are correct,
Carl

When I requested the parts mentioned above, I got no response.  Just one day I come home to a package in the mail.

[Vince P]

Call them.

I did 5 times over several years for the same thing and they kept saying we'll get back to you as it'll have to wait till the next run.

Well 3 runs later i finally disposed of said FP7 and will never buy another IM diesel.

[peteski]

Let me say this is not meant to criticize either Daniel Leavitt (who is proposing a likely solution to the problem some people are having) or Intermountain- I love their products, have dozens of their freight cars, and at least 9 F/FP/FT units.  I think I am a pretty good customer. ! figure that 1 warranty issue over the course of 25 years and 100 products is pretty good. The customer service people I have dealt with have been very helpful.  This is not a people problem, it is a process problem....

"Call them" (whether in regards to Intermountain or any of several manufacturers) is a frequent response to the sorts of issues noted by several i[ abpve.

HOWEVER- one of the first rules of good customer service is to give the customer the correct instruction on how to contact customer service-

On the Intermountain customer service "parts" page, what it says is: "To submit a parts request please click the Parts Request button below or send an e-mail to: intermountain@intermountain-railway.com and provide the following information:"

If you press the "Parts Request button" it just autoloads your email program.

Why provide these specific instructions, and frustrate the customer, if the REAL instructions are "call"?

Good communication is the first step in good customer service.

I think the reason Daniel recommended a phone-call was because whatever previous method of communication was used - failed.  I agree with Daniel: if faceless electronic communications fail (for  whatever reason), an old-fashion direct phone call, and a person-to-person conversation is the best solution.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'd like to point out that I have emailed them in the past and not received an answer. This could simply be an email forwarding issue. Calling them during business hours will get you a live person who will either be the parts guy, or someone who will leave a physical note for the parts guy. Every time I have called, I always got prompt service.

Just remember these are small companies and don't have a dedicated email communications staff. The "IT" guy is usually the one who happens to be able to trouble shoot a cable modem. They usually contract out for their web service and email can always be iffy. Just remember YOU got their email from the website, right? Well spam bots spider the web looking for published email addresses to spam. So their spam detection is usually set high by them, or automatically set high by the email service provider.

And, yep, IM has done some bonehead things in the past like the first run of tunnel motors. But they do try and make things right. They are a quality company run by modelers and really, that's pretty amazing. They could have easily been a Bachmann or BLI.

If you doubt that IM has come a long way, just pick up one of their SD40-2s with sound. It will change your mind.

[wmcbride]

I have emailed them over the last 5-8 years about parts and sometimes received an email response. Sometimes no answer. In both scenarios, I have received the requested parts, for free, about a week after I contacted them. The email responses tended to not be from a person in the parts department (if they have such a division). I always figured that the real parts person was too busy stuffing things into bubble packs and sending them to email me back.

Emails do get missed. I do it every week at work. Calling is my back up if emails fail.

I hope IMRC sends the parts you need.

[Vince P]

Even when you call and person(s) verbally spoken too say next run they'll have the parts needed then year after year fail to come thru is piss poor business practice if I ran my trucking business like this i would've been out of business.fast.

Had to sell off my company for health reasons anyways .

Yes IM has decent stuff but when you can't get it fixed why spend money on a company that doesn't care about customer service for their products.

[basementcalling]

Keep in mind that most manufacturers now are at the mercy of their Chinese factory when it comes to spare parts. Atlas and Rapido reps have stated on here, and to me in person, that the factories don't like to lose production time making lots of extras.

I have a pair of UP Tunnel Motors and 4 DRGW ones too. Never had to call IM customer service, but the Tunnel Motors probably generated lots of emails and parts requests given how cantankerous those models were.

Love their cars, especially hoppers. Engines, never bought another after the Tunnel Motors, though I understand their other offerings are better runners.

[carlso]

I called IM this afternoon and spoke to a very pleasant lady named Stacy. She explained that the loco was put out approx 8 years ago and did not sound too sure about any spare parts. She will send on the request and I'll have to wait to see if or if not any parts come in. Maybe? I hope so!

Carl

[mark.hinds]

Even when you call and person(s) verbally spoken too say next run they'll have the parts needed then year after year fail to come thru is piss poor business practice if I ran my trucking business like this i would've been out of business.fast.

Had to sell off my company for health reasons anyways .

Yes IM has decent stuff but when you can't get it fixed why spend money on a company that doesn't care about customer service for their products.

I think your experience is not typical, and may well be a case of IM just not being able to get your parts.  Remember that most of our suppliers are small companies in a niche hobby. 

FWIW, my experience is that IM has always been excellent on customer service.  For example, I had issues with F7 side grills being poorly applied by the factory.  I phoned IM and they sent me replacement side grills for all my F7s for no charge.  That is definitely NOT a case of "a company that doesn't care about customer service". 

[alhoop]

I've had some dealings with IM and their customer service is as good or better than most.
Probably can't say that for some of their customers.
Al

[jjb62556]

What are you looking for...I have some parts...Jim

[Vince P]

I think your experience is not typical, and may well be a case of IM just not being able to get your parts.  Remember that most of our suppliers are small companies in a niche hobby. 

FWIW, my experience is that IM has always been excellent on customer service.  For example, I had issues with F7 side grills being poorly applied by the factory.  I phoned IM and they sent me replacement side grills for all my F7s for no charge.  That is definitely NOT a case of "a company that doesn't care about customer service".

It is when all you needed for one engine was the grills for an fp7 and they kept make nothing but promises they didn't keep that were factory tweaked and never got the parts but that's the past and where it'll stay.

Not gonna beat this dead horse anymore

[carlso]

Jim,

Thank you for the offer. The person I talked with stated it may be 4 weeks or so. I will see if and what they may be able to provide. I may have to ask for some help at that time.

Thanks again,
Carl