Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

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cole7015
Posts: 762
Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 2:48 pm

Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby cole7015 » Thu Jul 16, 2026 5:09 am

Well as of Yesterday I was officially black balled by Jay the owner CEO and web site administer.

The have a Pothole payment system that does not work. Just to try it out on my reservations
I made 1 payment 0f 25.00 and told to try again. So I did 3 more times same amount and same issue.
Well a few days later the should up in my Chase Bank Jay told me it does not work right.

So for 4 months to get a refund for the 100.00 I find that just not good business since
taking care of customers. Especially when he can train chasing all over foe the Big Boy.

So Yesterday is when I found out about BB .

I really hope that the Texas and Pacific models that you purchased look as the should be.
I provide a END builders photo. So we will see if the are . I cancelled my reservation


Bill Basden Delta Models

Norton
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Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby Norton » Thu Jul 16, 2026 7:20 pm

So far phone calls and emails have been met with crickets. Never had that problem when Scott was running the show.
Doesn’t inspire confidence especially when significant funds are involved.
Pete

cole7015
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Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 2:48 pm

Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby cole7015 » Thu Jul 16, 2026 9:03 pm

Thank you sir for your comments. same with me with Scott. Only issue with him I help in
with research and data for MP ant Texas and Pacific models. But after several mix ups I gave up.

Thw Texas Eagle set is very nice , But one issue that should have happend was the dome car.
Lettering Eagle as it is. should be centered on the Dome not the car

[b]I should clarify this statement ------- it was the only car done this way, all others on the M P and T & P were centered on the car.[/b]

Regards Bill Basden Delta Models http://w[b][/b]ww.deltamodelsusa.com
Last edited by cole7015 on Fri Jul 17, 2026 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bob turner
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Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby bob turner » Thu Jul 16, 2026 9:54 pm

Sometimes this happens - too often, of course, in our end of the hobby.
I had this experience with NWSL - Raoul was great, the new owners more interested in something other than good customer communication.
Then Micro Fasteners - the very best source for the billions of screws I seem to use. Then they changed ownership, and it went to sort of mediocre - and then changed hands again, so now my source for screws will be McMaster-Carr.

I would rather support the small shop - there cannot be great fortunes in this business. But often the sale of a company is to someone with stars in their eyes, and often pays so much for the good will etc., that shipping 500 items will come nowhere near covering the initial cost, let alone the costs of producing the items.

Say you pay 50 grand for a small company that makes locomotive kits for O Scale. And lets say you want to sell the kits for $500 each. That means the first 100 kits you sell will cover the 50 grand, but there will be no bucks for covering the parts in each box, packing, or maybe even the expense of getting them to the shipper. After that, you get to use the profit of each additional kit to partially cover the expenses of the first 100 shipments.

That may work if your market is 1000 kits - but come on - in O Scale there may be ten folks willing to buy a new kit for $500 when all those older kits laying around sell for $250 . . .

So exactly how much did Scott sell his company for? Is the new kid in the above dilemma? None of my business, but still . . .

cole7015
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Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby cole7015 » Thu Jul 16, 2026 11:26 pm

thank Bob well put . The new kid on the block is 24 years old and I understand its a 5 year
payable for XXXXXXX dollars. Thats3 why its Preen Oder. I despise working with company's
but that seems to be the nor today. .

Bill Basden Delta Models www.deltamodelsusa.com

up148
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Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby up148 » Fri Jul 17, 2026 9:02 am

I had the chance to work with NWSL recently and they were quick with email replies. Item showed out of stock and coming soon and they informed me if I ordered it would take 3-4 weeks and they could ship. Very good shipping time for MTO. I suggested they should mention out of stock items can be supplied in 3-4 weeks under the listing as they're losing business. They thanked me but said they have all the business they can handle. Not very forward thinking, but not my call.

Also, a few weeks ago I heard back from PSC on an items I ordered 2-3 months ago and never expected to see. They had them back in stock so even through I didn't need it any longer I took it. Pleasant surprise to hear from them.

Not sure what's going on with 3rd Rail, but if Scott if anything like the old Scott, he's reading online posts (like yours Bill) and won't let someone else run his company in the ground. 24 is young to own a company and I'm sure at that age it's a heady experience, so hopefully he won't get full of himself and once the glory side of the business (traveling, shows, back pats, etc.) become routine, he'll buckle down and get his nose to the grindstone.

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Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: Black Balled by 3 rd and Townsend Models

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Fri Jul 17, 2026 11:07 am

up148 wrote:I had the chance to work with NWSL recently and they were quick with email replies. Item showed out of stock and coming soon and they informed me if I ordered it would take 3-4 weeks and they could ship. Very good shipping time for MTO. I suggested they should mention out of stock items can be supplied in 3-4 weeks under the listing as they're losing business. They thanked me but said they have all the business they can handle. Not very forward thinking, but not my call.


I used to hear this from many vendors not wanting to advertise that they already had all the business that they wanted to handle.... :? :?

Also, a few weeks ago I heard back from PSC on an items I ordered 2-3 months ago and never expected to see. They had them back in stock so even through I didn't need it any longer I took it. Pleasant surprise to hear from them.


Some of the PSC parts I've been wondering if they would ever return finally did.......at a 50%+ increase in price and better than double shipping costs. So I can accept the parts price increase (just barely), but knowing what the shipping really costs vs. what they are charging is hard.

Not sure what's going on with 3rd Rail, but if Scott if anything like the old Scott, he's reading online posts (like yours Bill) and won't let someone else run his company in the ground. 24 is young to own a company and I'm sure at that age it's a heady experience, so hopefully he won't get full of himself and once the glory side of the business (traveling, shows, back pats, etc.) become routine, he'll buckle down and get his nose to the grindstone.


We really don't know much about this and it's going to have to play out. It's pretty much the only game left in town, but I am glad that there's very little of real interest for me there. There's just so much available on the secondary market to fill my hobby time. That glory side of the business (traveling, shows, back pats, etc.) wears out pretty fast.

I'm finding it harder to locate basic brass shapes and stock.....
What the herd hates most is one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.


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