| Page Updated On October 27th, 2009
Pre-Order - Advanced Reservation
Policy & Information Page!
Currently we are happy to take "Pre-Orders" from all the major manufactures that we support.
Some "Pre-Order" items are listed on our site most are not at this time but we are happy to take your "Pre-Order" over the telephone providing the manufactures reservation closed date has not passed.
"Pre-Order" items can arrive as soon as a few weeks to 9 months or more down the road.
It has always been our goal (and continues to be) to provide as much information about new items to our customers and make it as easy as possible to buy or reserve new items as possible.
Below we have provided industry information that relates to
"Pre-Orders"And New Products.
Under that you will find our up-dated
Pre-Order/Advanced Reservation Policies.
As always if you have any questions, suggestions or comments please feel free to drop us an email or give us a call.
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We receive many inquiries about manufacture delivery dates. A number of our customers ask how Model Train Warehouse seems to have more accurate delivery dates than other companies.
Well we don't have a crystal ball nor do we have all the answers and we do miss dates, but here is something we do differently from some of the other dealers in our industry.
First, the date shown on a manufacture web-site or flyer is the "Arrival Date" TO THEM - once they receive it they have to go through a series of checks, add it to their inventory, place it in the warehouse, fill pre-orders, fill backorders, package and ship it to the dealers. This process can and does take several days! Then once it is shipped to the dealers it should arrive to them within 1-10 days working days.
This means that from the day it actually arrives at the manufacture warehouse, the dealers probably won't have it for another 1 to 2 weeks! Now that is NOT always the case but you can figure that it seems to be the best rule to follow and seems to be correct 90% of the time.
We in turn based "OUR" projected arrival dates on the above formula! That is why our dates are generally closer than a company that just takes the manufactures arrival date and uses that. Also we would rather exercise on the side of caution, that way if the product arrives sooner
it is a win win situation for our customers.
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Pre-Orders/Advanced Reservations
We are currently accepting orders both on our web-site and over the telephone for hundreds of new items!
Telephone "Pre-Orders" may be placed by contacting
us toll free at: 1-866-939-5777 Option #2.
Phone hours are Monday-Friday 10am-4pm Mountain Time.
If you reach our voice mail it means all of our staff is currently on the phone serving other customers. You may call us back or please feel free to leave us a message with your telephone number and one of our staff will get back to you just as soon as possible. Please note that our phone system does not allow for messages to be left outside of our normal business hours or on the weekends.
Pre-Order/Advanced Reservation Policies
As many customers are aware most of the major model train manufactures have moved towards a more strictly enforced BTO (build to order) policy for their new releases.
Presently, most of the major manufacture will announce an item, then give the dealers and distributors a set period of time (usually 30 to 45 days) to put together their orders. The manufacture then takes these numbers and produces the product (if the total number ordered warrants moving forward).
In most cases once the product order date has been closed (usually after the 30 to 45 days) no additional orders will be accepted by the manufacture. In 2009 this has become more strickly enforced by most of the manufactures so once a reversation date is CLOSED we cannot add to the order.
While their distributor/s may continue to accept additional orders, those orders would only be filled if dealers cancels or reduce orders that were already placed. Even this is now happening less as most "Production Runs" are being cut back by the manufacture by up to 10% of what was ordered making available "Extras" a thing of the past.
Here is our companies Pre-Order/Reservation
Policy Effective August 2007
When you place your order for a "Pre-Order" item with an advanced due date Payment in FULL is REQUIRED at that time.
If you order via the web-site you will be required to provide your payment information at that time as with an in-stock order.
If you place your order over the telephone our sales staff will take your credit card information over the phone. You card will be charged for your "Pre-Order" within 24 hours. Should you wish to use PayPal, our sales staff will provide you with our PayPal payment address and your order total. Payment is DUE within 24 hours from the time the telephone order is placed or your "Pre-Order" will be cancelled. We DO NOT attempt to contact the customer if payment is not received within 24 hours.
What If I Change My Mind?
In MOST CASES the following applies:
You may cancel your order up to 2 weeks before the manufactures official release date of the item/s and 100% of your money will be refunded.
In the event the manufacture cancels the project we will refund 100% of your money.
In the event the manufacture delays the project over 2 months and you wish to cancel (due to the delay) we will refund 100% of your money.
Anytime 2 weeks or less from the release and up to 7 days after you receive the item from us, you may cancel or return the item. At that point our companies’ standard RESTOCKING FEE will apply.
This fee is 20% of the price of the item/s
(with a $7.50 minimum).
If the item has been shipped to you and returned to us with a Valid RA# the restocking fee will apply PLUS we do not refund your shipping charges and you are responsible for getting the item back to us post paid. We do not issue call tags or pay for return shipping.
In the event that the above DOES NOT apply to your "Pre-Order" our sales staff will advise you of this at the time you place your order and your invoice/sale slip will have this noted on it also. (We mail you a copy of your invoice within 24 hours of placing your "Pre-Order" over the telephone).
When your pre-order item/s arrive at our warehouse
they will ship to you automatically.
If you see that an item that you have placed on pre-order with us has gone passed the due date, please drop us an email or give us a call. We will be happy to give you the latest information we have or check on the status with the distributor or manufacture.
We understand as a business and as consumers ourselves, no one like to pay for something and not take it home or receive it in a few days of placing the order. Please keep in mind that for many things in life, a "Reservation" requires payment up front. There are many examples of this such as airlines or Amtrak tickets, vacation packages, video games and even for new computer software. In these cases payment is required when the order or "Reservation" is made.
Another reason for this policy is that many customer have relayed their frustrations with other dealers when item/s they ordered months ago comes in and their credit or debit card is charged without warning causing unforeseen issues for the ustomer. Or the on file credit / debit card information is out of date causing a delay or possible missed order altogether if the dealer can't contact the customer easily (or does not have the time to do so).
Our paid pre-order policy avoids these issues.
Lastly please note that we consider "Pre-Order" Item/s as Special Order Item/s hence by ordering you are acknowledging that you have read understand and agree to our policy as outlined above AND that you understand that this is considered a SPECIAL ORDER and that your credit card will be charged at the time the order is PLACED or payment has been made through PayPal.
Thank You For Your Understanding.
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This Page Was Last Up-Dated On October 27th, 2009. |
