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TKO- Under NEW Ownership !

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tko
3K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  Dyno Dom 
#1 ·
I guess this NEWS is rather late ? But better late than NEVER ! :D
 
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#4 ·
Guys,

I have been chatting with Shane the last few days and he seems like a great guy. He is going to change the name!!!

The web site is different them the last owner had. He did keep the pictures.

He does feel sorry for all the people who got F@#$k from the last owner..... And I did find out somethings that I am really mad about the "previous owner"

Some of the Gossip out there is true and some is not! The sad part the some is True.

And I was told by the "previous owner" nothing was true.

On December 28th of 2012 I was told by the previous owner I would be the last track made and have it by end of January. Well that never happen! And not one return phone call or e-mail back to me as of today of what the problem was!

So, Moving forward lets give Shane a fresh start and give him 1000% chance!! After more time I will tell you all more stuff!


Joe
 
#6 ·
I have had no experiance with TKO but have read (and been told) too many horror stories for all of them to be untrue.

So excuse me for maybe sounding negative here, but exactly what "business" was bought? When you buy a business, I would think you are paying for the good will and customer loyalty the business has built over the years. Otherwise, what are you buying? The CNC machine?

It doesn't sound like anyone would want to buy the reputation of TKO. To start out by having to first rehabilitate the reputation of the old business, or in any way being associated with it, does not sound like a prudent stategy.

Joe
 
#7 ·
So excuse me for maybe sounding negative here, but exactly what "business" was bought? When you buy a business, I would think you are paying for the good will and customer loyalty the business has built over the years. Otherwise, what are you buying? The CNC machine?
Um,
Pretty much the machine.

There are the programs, tooling and fixtures (if any), and maybe some stock material. Hopefully the new guy gets training on the system and tooling.

I personally sent Todd dozens of Autocad drawings for tracks I developed. I hope he gets those as well.

The "business brand" is worse than worthless in this case.
 
#9 ·
Really no comparison there.

I'm fairly familiar with the Max Trax thingy, there is really no comparison between the two.

Max trax NEVER took money, only to ignore some customers for YEARS.

Max trax NEVER opened a raceway, putting paid customers behind their own project.

And I'm pretty sure Max Trax never left paying costumers in the learch when they decided to fold.

Paul Kniffen is a personal friend of mine. I KNOW he would never leave a costumer hanging for info, or for a delivery.
 
#10 ·
I inquired about an 8x16 doval, Todd's wife actually reached out to me, then I never heard from either again.

This was years ago when he was still doing tracks.

Glad I never heard from them to be perfectly honest.

Paul bought Max huh, I guess I got one of the last strips done by old owners. About 2 years ago I got it.
 
#12 ·
My MaxTrax is now almost 15 years old. It was supposed to be ready six months after I put down a $450 deposit. When the expected delivery date approached I took down my old track and built a new table. I never got a notice that my track would be delayed. I had trouble getting any information about my order and the track finally arrived after 11 months. I know of people that waited a lot longer. I found out later that it was possible to pay an extra fee and get your track bumped to the head of the line.
I have been very happy with my track, I have hosted a lot of races. Before the old owner sold the business he made a special track section for me and that was done quickly.
I believe that once a track builder takes your deposit and gives you a delivery date there is a contract in effect. If the builder is unable to fill the order in time the buyer should be notified and have the option of either waiting or getting his deposit back.
 
#13 ·
In the case of my Max-Trax layout, at the time of my deposit I was told
about 4 to 5 months and actually took 9 months for delivery. At that time
David apologized for my delay but was honest to explain that he simply
was backlogged with orders and needed to push ahead smaller 4 lane track layouts because my large 6 lane layout would have put him further back.
 
#15 ·
Paul has done an outstanding job with MaxTrax. I've ordered track pieces and drivers stations. All was delivered earlier than promised. When I needed a replacement piece of track due to a measuring error on my part, he had to me within a week. It's great to have him as a manufacturer in our hobby.
 
#19 ·
If you have an old MaxTrax and want to get new sections you should be aware that a number of changes in the design have been made over the years. With my track the keys that join the sections are on the slot side along with the plastic strips used for the color coding. The new track has L shaped rail that locks in place so that it can't possibly pull up and the keys go on the other side. The older tracks had a non-standard color code as well.
 
#20 ·
My MT is fairly young with the L rail and Keys/lane color between the slot and inside of rail. I believe the older MT keys were on outside of rail.
Both Dave and Paul have been helpful to friends who have purchased older MT and wanted to expand with correct track pieces.
 
#22 ·
I changed lane colors and driver stations when I went to the MT from my Tomy layout because MT at the time didn't offer orange as a lane color.
My lane colors from inside lane are green, black, yellow, blue, white and red.
It was also suggested not to have blue & green lanes next to each other.
 
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