First buy from Fifer Hobbies.

I think the point he is making is that when somebody speaks of a company that does not advertise on Trainboard they are told it is a no no because Trainboard does not want the liability if the thread goes sour. It does seem to violate what has been said in the past. Oops, I just read the actual posted policy. I guess the rules are not as cut and dried as I have perceived from past postings. Maybe that isn't his point.......

 

Fifer is a good place. Personally of all the multimarket vendors (not a manufacturer) that I have seen they seem to be the most 'hobby' orientated in that they have a ton of useful tips and articles. A great series of train videos on their layout. It makes me want to support them so long as pricing is within a reasonable std. deviation of other suppliers.

That said, I do find trainboards attitude towards supplier reviews interesting, but I abide by / respect it.

My other hobbies primary forum (huge compared to here) allows basically any post (so long as you dont personally attack, etc) regarding any supplier. It is very informative. Of course only if you learn to never take any one post for face value, but rather look for patterns and consistency in such reportings.

 

I, for one, see no reason we can not agree with a posting to a TB advertiser and give our thoughts on them. They have made themselves available to us and help pay for the costs of keeping this site up and running. They should all be commended for that.

This was not a post that ever started or ever has cast a cloud of negativity on Fifer, so I think it serves as a way of showing others who have not had a chance to use them, that they are worth doing business with. There are many shoddy websites that play games with inventory etc, it is nice to know the ones that do not.

In fact, I did not learn about Fifer Hobbies until I joined TrainBoard. And because of thier customer service, I will be doing business with them again when I can. I am sorry I can't do more business with them, but that is because I am almost at the end of my acquisition of cars and rolling stock, I have about all I will need.

If and when I need track or other layout related items, they will be my first stop.

And think of it this way, if we can't point out the good guys, then how will we be able to tell the bad guys?

Easy, they are the ones we are not talking about!

 

I'm not discrediting any retailer. Yes, they are advertisers, they are paying for advertisement. Glowing reviews of an advertiser only help to show the advertisers that don't get glowing reviews might be ---lesser--- advertisers because of no glowing reviews. I don't think you should allow an reviews of and retailers to remain impartial---since that is what you are claiming to want to do.

There really would be nothing stopping me from becoming an advertiser--having a few friends post how wonderful I am and just watch my sales go up. Again--this is not a reflection on any particular vendor.

 

Forum policy aside, I have dealt with Fifer Hobby in the past and will do so in the future. They are friendly, helpful, well-stocked and ship quickly. And they're active here and on other forums.

It's unfortunate, though, that I don't order small parts from them because of the cost of shipping. It just makes small quantity orders to expensive.

Anytime I have checked online retailers, I have found Fifer to be very cost competitive. They will get as much business from me as I can generate for them!

Darrell, quiet...for now

 

Think of this.

Due to this topic I checked Fifers out and will be ordering some items before long-I need to pick up a local special order from my LHS first...