Right on

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

I never understood how an email inquiry is any different than a live onsite question. My feelings parallel yours exactly. Delay in email response = no business from me. I don't expect live chat but I will not tolerate more than next business day.

A good example of this occurred not long ago. Dallas Model Works received a $1200 order from me. Why Dallas Model Works? Several reasons but the clincher was because Craig was johnny-on-the-spot answering all my questions via email. We actually had an online conversation that was no different than if I were standing in front of him. He gave me confidence I was not making a mistake by pressing the Buy Now button at DMW.

Well said!

I could not agree more.  You can't answer my email query promptly, you can't handle my business.  Period.

Craig

Craig is actually the one who got back to me within the hour.  Never had an issue with Craig and Dallas Model Works.  Highly recommended from me.  Litchfield Station is the other one that was back to me within two business hours.  Never had a problem with them, either.

Yup!

Totally agree!  It is like a 'first-impression' kind of thing.  May be a wrong impression, but the first one tends to stick with you.  A long delay or none at all does, however, give a bad impression.

I will add this, on the other hand.  I look at where a vendor is located (usually in the 'About Us' or whatever page).  If I am aware of something 'going on' there in that region I tend to give leeway.  Case in point; the superstorm Sandy effected just about everything in the Northeast.  Now we have (currently) the last of the winter storms and tornados.

Just something to consider.

True, but ...

True, but ... many (if not the majority) of model railroading businesses are mom-and-pop businesses with 1 or 2 people who do everything. If somebody gets sick, the business is essentially offline.

Things were fine in the pre-web days where being a mom-and-pop often didn't demand instant answers. Getting knowledgeable people who can drop everything and answer email queries is not realistic for many smaller operations.

My point is you need to cut these guys some slack. They're not big businesses with lots of hired help. And if you catch them at a bad time, they may not be able to respond.

I'm having this conversation with George Sellios of Fine Scale Miniatures right now. He is leery about doing much online because it might take all his time and he won't be able to focus on designing and building kits as he would like.

After watching how you guys are complaining about "slow response" I think George is right. For those businesses, any online presence needs to be seen as a supplement to their snail mail business and workable primarily for low maintenance customers. Remove your contact information, or say that a personal response may not be possible - something to let people know you can't possibly camp on the computer all day.

George would have a fit if people expected him to focus on answering emails all day. Can you blame him? Or should he raise his prices to pay for the hired help he would need?

Mom-n-Pop

It feels like a marketing 101 day today on MRH. It is all about setting expectations. Unless otherwise specified, a consumer will always expect prompt service. If a business is so small that daily communications work is not part of the program then so be it. Your business is very different than 99% of other consumer outlets. Expect customers to be dissatisfied with you if you don't communicate. They are comparing your business to the other 99%. Best to tell them up front your communications capability than to apologize later.

While on this subject, and Fine Scale Miniatures is an excellent example, the web site content will have a direct impact on communications volume. The more information available on the web site, the less inquiries that will come via email. With all due respect to George, his web site is content thin. The models look sensational, but other than a photo there is little else about them. It is easy to imagine one might have lots of questions before ordering if all I have is a photo to go by. If the web site were robust then communications volume might not require George to be camping on the computer all day.

+++

I have accused Craig of never sleeping on more than one occasion.  Dallas Model Works, hands down best customer service I have ever seen! That's why I shop with Dallas FIRST!

Nope I don't think I really will.  Nobody cuts me much slack because I am a hobbyist on a budget so I don't think I should have to cut vendors any slack on customer service because they are a small operation.  I am a small operation too.  Give me a %10 discount on what I buy, cut me some slack!  Dallas Model Works is a small operation yet Craig is top notch at doing business on the internet plus he usually has the lowest prices I can find, if he can do it, why not everybody else?

Frankly, I'm tired of the mom & pop excuse for why some vendors communication is terrible.  My hobby dollar is important to me, if my business is not important enough to a vendor, I take my dollar elsewhere.  It is what it is, and whatever!

FSM

May be a bad example in this case, he doesn't really need to much content on his website since he is releasing one limited kit a year, and selling them out.

However, I must agree that if a business lists an email address, they should respond within 24 hours. 

Its a communication thing

I consider the Hobby Marketplace a means to find out about suppliers that I don't know of already.  And it is for people with a particular niche product.   It's sort of like the business cards that you collect at a trade show.  You retain the ones that you think you might use in the future, take them home and put them in the little indexed file box.  If you're a supplier like Craig at DMW, then this is not your ad venue.  (By the way, Ditto regarding DMW service.  Craig is the best), (also Ditto for Litchfield Station).

Now!   I read the bus. card in MRH, click on the site, and if it's something I want to retain the location of, it is saved into a sub-subfolder in "My Favorites".  I'm not going there until I need to, maybe 2 yrs down the road.  That's the nature of this hobby.

For the advertisers on a budget, it might help if they understand that buying 1-3 months of space to point us to their site does only that.  If they don't want to use the internet for business, but only the initial introduction, then tell us on their home page that "we have products (a), (b), and (c), tell us the scope of your business week so we know what to expect, and give us a page two to answer frequently asked questions, because you can't do it on-line.

But, also understand that I support MRH advertisers, because I want to continue to have MRH at the current subscription price.  So, if it's two years since I saw your ad, then I just may not click on your site, or write to you about a purchase.

I understand, Joe

But I have two responses to that.

1) There are many who are able to respond quickly.  As far as I understand, Craig at Dallas Model Works is a small operation, yet I've never waited more than 12 hours for a response from him.  I believe that Fifer hobby is also a mom and pop and they have also been very responsive.  So its simple market economics.  If someone else is offering it and you aren't, you are at a disadvantage.

2) If you know it takes a while to get back to people through email, state that up front.  Your own auto-return email when you put an article submission states it may take weeks for you to get back to us.  Then we know and we don't sit and wonder.  I don't expect immediate response if I'm told ahead of time that it may take a few days.  But it is now 4 and 5 days and counting and still no response.  

While I do understand cutting some slack, there is still a responsibility on the business to provide and manage expectations.  That's what I'm trying to get at here - this is meant to educate, not to run down.  I think its much better for them to know the issues and be honest about what more they could do to get my business.  Then its up to them to make the choices in their situation.

...

This is a hobby.  I don't need anything tomorrow, so if they get back to me within a week, I'm happy.

I reallly don't like to

lump myself into the 'instant gratification' label, and at my age of 45 I think maybe I am on the border of generations that either demand it or have patience.  Sites that do warn me ahead of time that 'I may not answer that email anytime soon, but you can always call and I'll get back as soon as I can, if I'm not here to actually answer it' I certainly see as a mom-pop operation, and in fact I PREFER those businesses.  I'm not a customer number (even though that will probably appear on the invoice, but that is to be expected) in their eyes I'm a customer.  I feel those businesses have maybe a little bit of care in things, and I respect that.  They are not churning out orders like on an assembly line and such.  That's fine too, but I really have to say those big operations can really be slow in fulfilling my order, depending upon if I happen to place my order when everyone else in the hobby did.  A mom-pop operation may do mine very quickly (and in most cases that I've run into they DO) or they may save up the orders and do them on friday or whatever.  That is fine with me.  It's just the 'email us' without a pre-heads-up-about delay that can sometimes irk me.  Well most times.  I know some businesses that will respond ASAP, so I can then make a judgement call on ordering on the spot so as to get it by such-and-such day, or have to wait and wait for a response...and by the time I get a response I could have gotten the actual product from another supplier.

I have ordered from a well-known Midwestern-based decal maker, and if you were to try and find advertising for him, good luck.  I know of only 1 or 2 actual stores that carry his products and they are limited on-hand, preferring to take your order and then forward them on to him.  They are kinda his 'go-between' but you can of course order directly, as I do.  He warns you he doesn't take internet orders RIGHT THERE on the top of the pages.  Call him for a credit card order, or print out the screen as an order form, send a check, or even money order (they still do that??? ahem..) and sit back and wait.  And I have, several times.  Sometimes I get my decals in 5 days, sometimes 2 weeks.  Not a problem, he let me know and I inferred it anyway- the website isn't a high-falootin' profession JAVA site or anything.  Basic, and that probably helps keep costs down, so kudos to him.  He will even mention that he may be out of town so can't answer a call, or that the mail won't be read for awhile, and I have no problem with that.  That is just plain good customer service in my book.

This all reminds m, please, we really should get away from 'naming names', meaning naming specific suppliers, in this thread.  I'd hate someone to get a bad rep that isn't deserved.  Yes I have ordered from Dallas and was very pleased with the service, but can we please...?

Naming Names

I only named names of those who delivered excellent service.  I think that is deserved.  I didn't name the other two companies and I won't because I don't want to hurt them.  I simply want to provide a voice to the frustration that some of us feel.  Many of you can say it doesn't bother you, but the reality is, there are many of us that communication is very important.  

The suggestion that because some of us want answers quickly (and I needed an answer within 2 days) is somehow unfair or that our expectations are the problem is missing the point.  If I make a decision today that I want to order something, I want to get it done and I'm going to get it from the one who meets my needs in a timely fashion and two of four companies did.  I gave each of the other companies 4 days to respond before I even brought this up.  But I still haven't heard from them.  

In the end, we, the "impatient" ones, are still customers and we have expectations.  As a business owner, I absolutely NEED to know what my customers expectations are in order to manage and best serve them.  That's all this is about.  Understand the needs of your customers or you will lose them.  If you are on the web, you absolutely need a strategy to manage communications with your customers.  I don't want any MR related company to fail, but there are often very good reasons why they do, and this is one of them.

Credit Where Credit is Due...

I'd have to say no.  From what I have seen nobody has said anything negative about any specific vendor.  If some of us choose to say positive things about a specific vendor, I see no problem with that.  If you don't like it, maybe you'll want to move along to the next thread or simply ignore it?

As far as Dallas Model Works goes, I have had more dealings with Craig than just having ordered something and received good service.  He has sourced many special order items for me, given me great prices on most everything I've purchased, provided me with special shipping arrangements, and just about bent over backwards for me on more than one occasion, so I'm going to sing praises of his business.

That said, if a vendor is doing things that result in them receiving a bad rep, the fault generally lies with the vendor.  Word of mouth is one of the most powerful forms of advertising.  As a vendor, if you don't get that, you're on the way out, IMO.  If  a vendor treats me well I'll talk about it.  If a vendor does me wrong, they'll get a chance to make it right, and I'll likely tell my story, good or bad.  If the vendor handles it with class, they come out smelling like a Rose.  If not, then the smell will be of another variety.

Other great vendors I have dealt with (in no particular order):

Litchfield Station

Foscale Models - Past Sponsor

Scenic Express

Tam Valley

Fast Tracks

Micro-Mark

Micro Scale

St. Claire - Nano Oil

NARC - Pacific Western Rail Systems

Ring Engineering

If I missed someone, I apologize.