A British domestic train from Kato? 800 series available from May 2021

[Skyline2uk]

@Trainfish

John, you have been far more accommodating with this retailer than I would be inclined to be.

Frankly the language and general slanting-shoulder attitude on display here is a bit baffling in 2021.

As has been pointed out, it's not working as it should, it's brand new, send it back.

If they give you grief, name and shame as they have no excuse.

Skyline2uk

PS: If you need some assistance, I specialise in writing persuasive letters, having taken on bigger companies than a model shop!

[daffy]

I agree. That sounds awful and is definitely vibrating unduly so just send it back - not of merchantable quality etc etc.

[Trainfish]

Thanks to everyone for confirming my fears/concerns. Just to pick out a couple:

Hi John,
My 800 is smooth and quiet, so I am pretty sure you've got something slightly out of whack there.  The kicker for me is how much the coupler can be seen vibrating on the rolling road.
It's a shame your dealer hasn't stepped up and agreed to swap without question.  After all they can just send the dud unit back to Gaugemaster/Kato for repair or refund anyway.
cheers
Ben A.

I noticed the coupler vibrating but didn't mention it as I wanted to see if anyone else thought that didn't look right. Well spotted. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't get past Revolution's quality control.

KATO models are clip together.  Check that the bogies are clipped together properly and are clipped home in the chassis.
Maybe you got the one with the scale cracks 

Yes, they are usually clip together but I haven't even tried to take this one apart and don't  intend to with it being just a few days old. The bogies do seem to be secure though.

@Trainfish
John, you have been far more accommodating with this retailer than I would be inclined to be.
Frankly the language and general slanting-shoulder attitude on display here is a bit baffling in 2021.
As has been pointed out, it's not working as it should, it's brand new, send it back.
If they give you grief, name and shame as they have no excuse.
Skyline2uk
PS: If you need some assistance, I specialise in writing persuasive letters, having taken on bigger companies than a model shop!

They will receive another email shortly where they will be told I AM returning it at their cost. Any negative response and they will be named and shamed as you suggest.
Thanks for the offer Adam but I'm quite good at getting my point over successfully with suppliers of anything, it's part of my job (when I'm working) and my wife will also tell you I'm pretty good at it on a domestic level too.

Final video I promise. This will also be sent to them. Surely they can't try to deny there's a fault now? Just listen to the sound changes at times when the controller has stayed untouched. For example between 37 and 50 seconds nothing was touched.

And finally finally, has anyone else noticed the difference at the end of the chassis on the motorised coach compared to the others? Looking at suppliers' websites it has been manufactured like this so not a fault as such and maybe it is prototypical. I'll leave that up to the experts on here, many of whom have commented in this thread.



And finally finally finally please don't let this drama put you off buying a class 800 or indeed anything else from Kato. It is a fine model when running well and I would heartily recommend it to anyone. It's just the supplier who I have a problem with. Not that it should matter but I currently have a £100 order in transit from them right now and have spent over £600 with this supplier in May alone!

[Steven B]

The "missing" underframe module is prototypical:

https://youtu.be/1k42IsFK8O4?t=47

The modules at the ends are the toilet retention tanks - that car has a bike-shed rather than a toilet so it's not fitted.

There should be inter-vehicle jumper sockets at the coach ends - looking at the photos on Hattons' website they've molded something to represent them but have left them white rather than paint them dark grey.

Steven B.

[Vonzack]

OK, so not too happy with mine out of the box, literally picked up the power car, eased it out of the foam and both bogies fell off



Easy enough to clip back, but not a great start. Here's a video of the power car running, 0-50% throttle one way then the other. I think it sounds OK and seems to run smoothly enough on the rollers. Need to run it in now.


https://youtu.be/J0Pk4HhOgxM

Cheers, Mark.

[Snowwolflair]

OK, so not too happy with mine out of the box, literally picked up the power car, eased it out of the foam and both bogies fell off



Easy enough to clip back, but not a great start. Here's a video of the power car running, 0-50% throttle one way then the other. I think it sounds OK and seems to run smoothly enough on the rollers. Need to run it in now.


https://youtu.be/J0Pk4HhOgxM

Cheers, Mark.

Doesn't click though 

[Chris Morris]

This is what they should sound like. It also shows what happens when you let a five year old loose at the controls.

[paulbeckwith]

hi  trainfish

  lewis  hamilton  would  be  proud  to  drive  your  800      sounds  like  an  f1  car

  paul

hope  i  didn't  get  mine  from  where you  got  yours    mines  a  lner  when  it  comes

[railsquid]

I just checked the Kato release schedule (Japanese, page display can be changed to English) and noticed the release date for the Azuma version (10-1674) has slipped to June. The order of items listed on the page seems to indicate the approximate sequence in which products will be released, and the Azuma is quite far down the June list.

[Trainfish]

Finally my supplier has agreed to take it back. I still don't like their tone though after sending them 3 videos of it.

"If you believe this to be fauly we can get this back and take a look, as such I have allocated a replacement for you. In the meantime we will test this replacement and compare once yours come back"

Maybe I'm reading into this too much but it still sounds like they don't believe it to be faulty (or fauly as they typed it) and will "compare" it with another. Let's just hope they don't "compare" it with another faulty unit.

I will be seriously considering using a different supplier in the future if this is what happens with faulty goods.

[Newportnobby]

Being cynical they could just wait for yours to arrive then send it back to you saying the replacement was just as good/bad. Sorry, but I'd have had my money back and bought elsewhere so there no chance of the above happening.

[Snowwolflair]

Finally my supplier has agreed to take it back. I still don't like their tone though after sending them 3 videos of it.

"If you believe this to be fauly we can get this back and take a look, as such I have allocated a replacement for you. In the meantime we will test this replacement and compare once yours come back"

Maybe I'm reading into this too much but it still sounds like they don't believe it to be faulty (or fauly as they typed it) and will "compare" it with another. Let's just hope they don't "compare" it with another faulty unit.

I will be seriously considering using a different supplier in the future if this is what happens with faulty goods.

I recognise that wording.

Rails sent me a "NEW" model that had been clearly a customer return and they had missed the fact that the centre tender wheel was jammed, with a flat spot  .  IT took three emails and several phots to get a reluctant replacement.

[Trainfish]

They're being given a chance to rectify it. If they do as you say then it will go back and I'll never return to them as a customer again. They will lose out in the long run. Not that they seem to care though. Just in May I have spent over £600 with them so far and there's 11 days left, that's a lot of business to lose.

[Rabbitaway]

I have bought from the three usual box shifters Rails, Hattons and Model Railways Direct and additionally a few items from Kernow. Had some issues with items from Hattons and Model Railways Direct with regards to poor running or damage and had a very good response for a replacement or a refund, no push back at all.

To date, I have not had to try and return anything to Rails, but the experience stated here is a concern, hopefully it has been a good move to pre-order my LNER 800 from Hattons!


 

[Newportnobby]

[gmod]Please can we not speculate on involvement with any retailer until/if @Trainfish decides to name and shame. It is hardly fair to any business to be suspected groundlessly[/gmod]