An Important Letter to Our Customers 

Running a business selling Märklin and other European brands has been a challenge for all American dealers over the past five years or so as many changes have occurred.  During the past year, I decided that the time has come to make some changes in my business.  I decide this for several reasons, first of which is my wife’s recent retirement.  Now that she has retired, she wants me to start thinking in the same direction.  I can’t imagine myself ever retiring 100%.  I think I would be bored to tears not having my hands in someone’s locomotive. 

Therefore, I have decided to pare back a little bit and concentrate on the area of this business I enjoy the most.  There has always been a consistent and high demand for my repair service by European and American customers alike.  So it only makes sense to concentrate my efforts there.  Over the past 23 years I have almost always had a backlog of items awaiting repair or digital conversion while I attended to a web site, phone calls and sales.  By concentrating my efforts in this area, I can shorten repair turn-around time for my customers and increase customer satisfaction which is already very high, but why not improve?

Over the years (since 1980) I have become very well known for the high quality of my work and my expertise with models of all types and in all aspects of model train troubleshooting and repair.  During this time I have repaired models for my customers, other Märklin dealers and for Märklin, Inc..  I pride myself in providing customers with factory quality work without the 3-4 month wait time and expense of shipping items back to the factory.  Over the past 8 years or so, even American modelers have begun taking advantage of the quality service I offer.

Since there are very few high quality repair depots for Märklin and other brands in the USA, this direction makes the most sense for the future of my company.  Therefore, effective immediately, I have shifted my business model to that of being primarily a service center for European and American trains in all scales.    

What does this mean to customers who prefer to buy from Helmuts Hobbies? 
Not much really.  You are appreciated and I am still here to serve you.  Most of the changes involve streamlining the way I do things to make the best use of my valuable time.  I have outlined the changes below.

Ordering and Advance reservations for new items…..
A change in the way orders are placed. 
I will no longer be posting new items to the web site in a shopping cart format, where purchases can be made directly from the web site.  For the near future, new items announcements will be posted on the web site using a pdf format copy of the brochure with a table outlining item numbers and our discounted price.  An email link is provided on the web page were customers can send an email with their information and a list of items they would like to order.  I will place an order for the items and deliver them with the same reliability you have come to expect.  You can review the 2014 2^nd Quarter MHI announcement on the web site to see this new format. 

Due to the extraordinary amount of time required to manage a web site, during the next year, I will do away with the shopping cart altogether and the web site will be minimized to information only.  Since my regular customers keep up with Märklin announcements through mailings from the Insider club, the factory’s web site and internet, it makes little sense to continue to keep up a full web site.  When the web site is minimized, all orders should be placed via email or if preferred by phone during regular phone hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I will continue to order from Walthers weekly, so deliveries of the items you need will be swift.

What Lines will be carried?
We will continue to offer Märklin, Trix, Fleischmann, Roco, Piko, LGB and all other brands of kits, figures, vehicles and scenery.  I have grown the part of my business catering to American model railroaders and most all American brands will be available.  Everything sold at discounted prices as usual.  If you want something, just drop an email to me sales@helmutshobbies.com and I will take it from there.

Telephone Contact
About a year ago, I changed the telephone hours to Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00am to 6:00pm to allow time for uninterrupted repair and service work on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.  It is difficult to perform service work with interruptions, so this change has to be made.  The phone hours remain the same.  Email contact is always available and I will respond as soon as possible.

Telephone and email Technical Support
I will still be available for telephone technical support.  Technical support  is free of charge for all items purchased from us.  Technical support for items not purchased from Helmuts Hobbies is available at our standard labor rate of $65.00/hr.  Email technical support is only available for simple questions, which do not require extensive replies.  Email questions requiring extensive replies will be handled by phone and are subject to a fee as outlined above.

Our eBay Store: Helmuts Hobbies (Seller ID: lonepcfn)
I have been listing items in my eBay store for about a year now.  This has become a great way to showcase products to new and existing customers.  I will continue to list items on eBay so be sure to check there from time to time to see what’s new.  I offer European and American models and many other things for sale. 

Spare Parts Orders:
Spare parts orders should be placed via email.  Parts orders are welcome and there are only two restrictions.  First, the minimum parts order is $35.00 net before shipping.  If part numbers are provided by the customer, the parts order will be shipped as soon as possible or as backordered parts become available.  Some parts have long backorder times, but will be delivered when available.  Orders without part numbers will be delayed until time permits my researching the part numbers.  Exploded diagrams were provided with most HO models produced over the past 15 years.  In addition, Märklin and Trix have HO, N, Z and I Ga. exploded parts diagrams available on their respective  web sites for your convenience.   This information is available so customers can supply needed part numbers to their dealer.

Second, when a spare parts order arrives by email or phone with only a list of descriptions, it requires my looking up exploded parts diagrams and researching part numbers.  Sometimes additional research is required including emails and telephone calls.  Due to the time required for this research, a research fee of $10.00 will be added to all parts orders submitted without part numbers. 

Submitting Items for Servicing
Submission of items requiring service remains the same.  Print out a copy of the Service Form provided on the web site and submit with your items.  Pack all items carefully to prevent damage in transit using the information provided in the Service section of the web site as a guide.  Ship it to the same address as always via your preferred carrier. 

A little history and some more explanation as to why we are changing….
Helmuts Hobbies began business in 1978 importing Märklin direct from Germany when Märklin product availability in the USA was very poor.  After many years of performing Märklin repairs and digital conversions for the original owner, I purchased the business in 1991. With an emphasis on superior customer service, I grew the business over the years to become one of the largest Märklin dealers in the USA.  A lot has changed over the last twenty-three years in the European train business.  Many European manufacturers have experienced bankruptcies and acquisitions especially during the last ten years.   In times of uncertainty, Helmuts Hobbies has always adapted to the changes and pressed forward.   

We enthusiasts almost lost our favorite brand at the hands of a venture capital organization a few years ago.  Just prior to Märklin GmbH’s bankruptcy, the company heads eliminated the distribution capacity of Märklin, Inc. and left the American dealer network with only a handful of support staff.  Since their inception, Märklin, Inc. was responsible for huge growth in Märklin product sales in the USA.  They were vital to the American dealer network they supported and kept the supply chain running smoothly.  The American dealer network became like “family” with Märklin, Inc.  Soon after these changes were made in the USA, Märklin GmbH in Germany filed for bankruptcy protection, which protected the historic company from complete dissolution by the venture capital owners.  Since then, product and parts availability in the USA have suffered.  Märklin has had to make smaller production runs as raw materials were acquired.  Product delivery in Europe took priority over the USA and items have been supplied much later to US dealers than their European counterparts.  This shifted some American Märklin consumers back to purchasing from European dealers so they would not have to wait for products to be made available in the USA.  All of this connected with the loss of many of the “Greatest Generation” who were serious Märklin enthusiasts has had a huge impact on the sales of Märklin and other European brands in the USA over the past ten years.  So since
I am near the point where I would like to eventually retire, now seems to be the best time to change my business model a little bit which I hope will allow me to serve you better.  Please feel free to email me with any questions.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Scott