Trainz.com Reviews 

I had an account for a couple of years and during that time I paid for the private car membership for an opportunity to purchase new items before non members. While on their website I selected a couple of items to be put in my shopping cart and continued shopping going to the checkout after about 15 minutes only to find the items had been sold out of my cart. I called and explained what happened to a service rep who explained to me their system was set up that way. What an audacious way to run a business I immediately canceled my membership and will NEVER do business with them again. This review IS ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE.

Last two orders were not packed correctly, they do not seem to care anymore! Ive gotten broken trains for the last time! I will not be using them in the future.

UPDATE….. Trainz.com has Resolved the issue! Satisfaction Received… sent me a used train they claimed was new, surprise it wasn’t … Front head light doesn’t work. Replaced DCC board with a used one I had on hand, plus a good cleaning,,, all is well now… And they refunded 20% of my purchase price….

People who run this place are moo runs. They advertise Ross and GarGrave curved o-27 track but are too lazy to actually figure out the diameter so you don't actually know what you are ordering. Really a poorly ran/organized business.

Received a shipment of layout wiring without realizing that it was Marklin very large gauge wire for their 1 gauge trains. It looked like regular HO wire in the photographs. Trainz sent a refund and told me to keep the wire. Now maybe I need a guage 1 system to go along with it.

Twice I received damaged items due to inadequate packaging. Wrap it in some paper and toss it in the box. When I order an item, I pay for it immediately. I expect to receive a properly packaged item in good condition. After discussing this with customer service they left me with the impression they really don't care if you're unhappy and won't be purchasing again. I had to ask for a partial refund that my requested amount was denied.

Within the last six months, their ratings on inventory has been completely inaccurate. A MINT rating has broken items, spray paint and glue all over the accessory. They said items are functional but when you test them when received, they don't function. They are good about returns but 90% of the items, it appears they don't even check or look. Their ratings are so far off. Like new should be good, Good should be Fair, etc. Make sure you test and open your items the day you get them. Disappointing..they used to be better and more accurate. Drastically have gone down hill.

Just ordered over 100 dollars of parts to complete some repairs which also needed parts that I bought last year to have on hand. The parts that I bought before were not made right and not usable. I was told that because they were from an older order that Trainz would not do anything about it. So you just lost another customer. Plenty of other parts dealers out there.

I purchase Gunpla from trainz.com repeatedly since this year. Only had one accident so far: they missed shipping one items. But they immediately respond to me during weekend and delivered the item. The price is usually cheaper than other US suppliers. I highly recommend them.

I ordered a locomotive rated as C-8, perfect in appearance and run sparingly. From what I can tell it was new in the box and never used; even better!

Never fulfilled my order and waited for several email's from me before cancelling my order and now I can't find the item anywhere as it was a limited edition,, I wish I would have read all the negative feedback before my purchase, but lesson learned,, Shop elsewhere

I purchased a Lionel 1501 with Tender that Trainz.com represented in writing was exceptional. When I received it, the tender had broken external parts; the circuit board did not function (with markings indicating the prior owner was trying to diagnose the failures); the horn did not work; and the wiring link to the loco was inside the Tender housing.

The loco wiring to the pick-up was clearly done post-manufacturing in a manner that guaranteed the loco would not run.

I advised Trainz of these failures, with photographic documentation. The response was a take it our leave it response, that did not even cover shipping.

I chose not to discuss further given the audience. However, I thought that the public would appreciate this insight from a customer who is usually content with on-line sellers. Not this time. I will not do business with them again.

Customer service at Trainz is exceptional. Specifically, ask for Cid, who is everything a rep should be: helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Emails are answered promptly. A refreshing change from the status quo. 5 stars.

After several years as a satisfied customer, I’m now a mildly disappointed customer as the engine recently ordered does not function as promised, and I’m told by customer service that a return for service is not authorized. I live close to Trainz facility and have always enjoyed lovely service when face to face, so I very much regret being surprised with the lack of service to a very simple request.

Might deal with them again in the future. Might not.

Life goes on

Ordered from Trainz a few days ago. Order arrived and one of the items was wrong. I contacted them about the error. They stated they no longer had the item I ordered. I found the same item on their website that only differed by road number and the refused to send it as a replacement. Very disappointing customer service. Won't be ordering from them again when there are so many companies that actually appreciate you as a customer

Purchased 4 left hand switches, 3 right hand. All were described as very good or like new, all were listed as functional. Upon opening, found switches misboxed. Wound up with only 1 right hand switch. Switch remote on two had wires cut off flush with remote body. One switch was jammed and wouldn't move. After waiting for already slow shipping, having to pay to return them would have been adding insult to injury, especially when a refund isn't guaranteed, and if they declined, I'd have to pay shipping to get them back again. Email and contact complaint went unanswered. I've spent quite a bit this year on train stuff, guess I'll find another vendor in the future.

I sold a Marklin HO collection to trainz. Com and was very impressed with their accession spreadsheet, estimates, documents and free shipping.
I was somewhat disappointed at the amount I received but if I factored in my time & effort on an alternate site, it would've cost me even more.

Started buying from their ebay store, with no problems, they include a coupon to buy on their home site.. Placed an order and was told there was an adjustment because an item was out.. Get the order, the item they said wasn't in the order was in there, minus the 2 other items. I brought it too their attention and "I apologize for any confusion. It looks like I refunded the wrong item in error. The item that was oversold was the C in C Miniatures 1613 N ''80 Chevy C65 Semi-Tractor Kit. Can you please confirm that you only received the Showcase Miniatures 32 N 1:160 1953 Chevrolet Ice Cream Truck UnpaintedMetal Kit and that you did not receive the Athearn 10262 N Scale White Fire Department Fire Truck Engine Co. #51?" I replied with confirmation and have been put off since..

I want to say up front Trainz refunded my money. They have a reputation on-line of always doing that. What they also have a reputation of doing if you read a lot of train forums, wasting your time. They regularly improperly grade trains as new, functioning, excellent condition, when they are not. That is what happened to me. Sold me a $2000 train set marketed as New In Box. It was clearly used, didn't even include any manuals or original paperwork, pieces were broken off, the smoke box was a screamer, the locomotive was beyond dirty, and the station sounds dining car did not function. I was just baffled they marketed this as a new set, when they couldn't even bother to wipe the dust and dirt off the locomotive. The customer service rep states their standard line they are told to use, "we had no reason to believe it wouldn't function as new." How do I know that, others on-line have reported getting the same standard line when complaining about the train not being graded properly. Customer service was terrible! They offered me 7% off for this fiasco. No thank you! It took days of back and forth to get a return shipping label. They take about a day to respond to an email. Sent me only one return label when I needed two, so a wasted trip to Fed Ex. Took days to get another one. I tried calling while I was at Fed Ex as I obviously didn't want to make a return trip, but unfortunately I found out emailing is faster than calling. You get an answering machine, nobody ever called back. It was a few days before I could return to Fed Ex and get the train shipped back. Just an awful all around experience. At EVERY step of the buying and returning process, Trainz staff dropped the ball, and that type of failure always comes from the top. They do not value their customers.

Order several items since January and February 2025 and delivery times, even though the website said all items were in stock when placing the orders, took them one full month to deliver the first order. It took five shipping to complete the order. The second order was placed on Feb. 3 and did not ship out until Feb. 11. Same thing, needed to wait for the supplier to fullfill. They use the business model of showing the product in stock to have it order the product and then they order from their supplier. However, I must said customer support always answer emails promptly.