DCC Supplies

pete

don't be put off by one persons bad experiences.

As i live quite close I went over there to get some sound decoders from them. they didn't have the ones i was after but within 10 mins I had a 2 newly programmed chips and extra speakers.

they are also quite well priced it would have still been cheaper to get them posted to me than to go to 2 other well known sound decoder companies. They hold a lot of stock 30+ Lenz silvers on a shelf and about the same of the gold.

And, they didn't mind me turning up at 6:30 even though they shut at 6. although an email or phone call to ask them is appreciated.

I will definatly be shopping with Andy again!

Alistair

I sent two locos to them to have decoders fitted. I first spoke to the bloke for fifteen minutes on the phone agreeing exactly what work had to be done. He quoted me ten days for the job.

After three weeks I managed to get to get to speak to him again. He had completely ignored/forgotten our conversation and was going to fit a brand of decoder that I did not want. (Lenz silvers as opposed to the more expensive Zimos that we had agreed on) After a somewhat acrimonious conversation I canceled the order and asked for my locos back. I was promised that they would be in the post that day.

It took me another three weeks and the threat of legal action to get my locos back off him. Not only was the work he had agreed not done but they were returned in the original packing that I had sent them in. He had not even unpacked them in all that time, a total of six weeks.

Actually getting to speak to him is a trial in itself. He never once replied to my messages left on his answer machine nor to my e-mail. It was just a case of trying to catch him when he was minded to answer the phone.

In the end I looked up the details of his company in the register at Companies house and sent a recorded delivery letter threatening legal action against him.

Just my personal experience but not a very pleasant one.

Some general comments.

The root cause of any issue with any stockist is inevitably poor communication with the customer. And in the case of any relationship that involves a third party such as the Royal Mail there may be further complications. And there may be other factors beyond the control of the stockist such as a technical failure. And illness can be another factor as many proprietors are not the spring chickens they used to be and life as a stockist can be stressful at times!

Any stockist who is serious about their business has to take communications seriously and both customer and stockist should at all times ensure shipments are covered by insurance and enter into regular ongoing dialogue through whichever is the prefered channel.

Its really incumbant upon the customer to establish ground rules before shipping goods for service work and equally it is good customer service to volunteer information and keep customers updated about progress even if there has not been any!

If an item is going to take 21 days to service due to workload then the stockist should be up front and say so. Overwise life becomes very stressful indeed for everybody concerned as witnessed by comments made here!

Happy modelling
Gary

DCC Supplies was over whelmed with work in the 2 months up to Christmas
I had tried contacting them several times in December and January, but the phone just rang out
I sent one eMail a week, but no replies, which was strange as the first set of eMails (for the quote) were replied to the following business day

The first batch of locos was completed to a VERY high standard
The second batch was reported to me as completed in the same time scale, by way of a telephone conversation, but that's where the problems started

With each order I included details for EACH loco
I am quite happy for an agent to use the existing parcel
On arrival the parcel was STILL open (and I reported that to the Royal Mail when I collected it!)
However, on closer inspection the damage had not been caused by the parcel condition but during the unpacking / conversion / repacking process, as the boxes were still in perfect condition, but the models themselves were damaged

I have bought decoders in the past from DigiTrains, and have just sent for a quote for them...
The only other agent I have used is DCC Model Railways (Ken Chapman) but at £30 per loco, I only use him for complicated motors (ie the DAPOL Class 66)

To be perfectly honest I was under the impression that the incompatibility twixt Lenz mini silver decoders and the Gaugemaster Prodigy was fairly common knowledge as it has been apparent even to my limited knowledge since last October at least and has been discussed to quite a degree elsewhere.

I can promise you from hard and expensive personal experience that Lenz silver minis and the Prodigy do not work together. If that counts as a nugget of information then you are quite welcome to it.

As to whether the Lenz or the Prodigy is at fault is to be honest with you of little importance or interest to me any more. It basically boils down to the fact that I invested close on a couple of hundred pounds for the Prodigy controller system and forty odd for two Lenz decoders. I now know for a fact that several makes of decoder which are equally as good if not better than the Lenz and about the same price do work with the Prodigy. So I will simply buy them instead of the Lenz product in the future rather than invest in another make of controller. Problem solved.

Unfortunately I am still out of pocket for the price of the two Lenz decoders but I cannot see either Lenz or Gaugemaster reimbursing me for that as they are not talking to each other let alone me at the moment. And you thought you had problems with your kids.