IMPORTANT: Preorder Trainz now with 10% off !

[rabid]

In case you just popped in to the forum and weren't aware, you can now preorder Trainz from the Auran site with a 10% discount for a limited time. This way it will be sent to you direct and you should get it before Xmas, otherwise you will have to wait until next when it hits the shops. It's first-in, first-out so get ordering!! If you're not convinced you may want to check out the Trainz forums over at Auran to read about besotted beta-testers and grown men drooling over their keyboards...

http://www.virtualtrainz.com

P.S. And no, I don't work for Auran, I'm just another drooler :D.

[fhornuk]

Done it!

Can't wait 'till December!

Cheers,

Bill

[flarrfan]

I have pre-ordered because I love train sims and figure this is the quickest way to get it, but as I have posted at the Auran Trainz forum, the "bill my card now for shipment in December" order policy is not a good first impression of Auran's sales practices. Frankly it smacks of "We need your money now to get this product out the door." The 10% discount could well disappear based on loss of use of the money (I'm letting Auran use my money for the next two months, and any discount is offset by loss of interest that money would otherwise earn for me), and who can tell in these uncertain political and economic times where the exchange rate will be in December? Am I the only one that thinks this is not the best way to introduce yourself to thousands of potential customers?

[Blocker]

I`ve done it to:-),
Who follow`s?

Blocker

[Boweavel]

I would if i could but i cant.

No credit card...

[jeffmorris]

I know that Auran is not an USA company but how can I pre-order Trainz so that I can get it in December? Which credit cards do they accept? Jeffrey.

[Boweavel]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-17-01 AT 12:56PM (EST)[p]from there buying page..

Payment Methods
The Auran Shopping Cart system accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Bankcard for payment of your purchase.

Prices
The prices in the Auran Shopping Cart system will be displayed in Australian Dollars (AUD) unless otherwise indicated. There are links to the xe.com Shopper's Currency ConverterTM located throughout the system.



Damn I just tried to buy it with my Bankcard and it says "bank has declined transaction" .....Odd... theres over 600 bucks in it... ?

Mind you it is my first attempt at internet buying so maybe ive done something wrong...It say's bank aint been debited, lets hope...

[trainjog]

'Who follows?'

What about that being me :-)

Now we just have to wait for the x-mas-mail ;-)

Christian

[dansherman]

Can't wait till December! I'd walk to OZ if I could get it quicker that way.

[Vern]

Appears the "shop" doesn't like debit cards (even those with Visa such as Lloyds TSB Delta) just pure credit cards. I suspect you also need to enter your name exactly as it appears on the card, initials and all.

[jeffmorris]

How much money does Trainz cost in US dollars? Jeffrey.

[MRRextreme]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-17-01 AT 06:20PM (EST)[p]Trainz US $51
Shipping US $10

[jeffmorris]

I pre-ordered Trainz but I'm worried about problems such as delivery problems or problems with credit card. Jeffrey.

[rabid]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-18-01 AT 06:21AM (EST)[p]>Appears the "shop" doesn't like debit
>cards (even those with Visa
>such as Lloyds TSB Delta)
>just pure credit cards. I
>suspect you also need to
>enter your name exactly as
>it appears on the card,
>initials and all.

I can't speak for UK cards Vern, but I used my French debit card which is a Carte Bleue Visa with no probs whatsoever. After having had a couple of financial mishaps (when I lived in the UK) I will never have a pure credit card again. S'funny but in the UK they seem to almost give away credit cards without much thought as to whether people have the discipline to use them sensibly, or the capacity to make the repayments. Then when people reach their credit limit, it is often automatically increased. Sharks is the word that springs to mind.

[trueman]

So far, all I see is vapourware --- I'll wait until I'm reasonably sure that it exists and does what it appears to do. Sorry, but my sceptical mind has seen this all before.

[Barney]

Trainz is running quite happily in the background as I write this. And it does work very nicely. There are things that need some polishing (it's only a beta) but it does exist and it does work.

Barney
[link:www.crotrainz.com|www.CroTrainz.com]

[trueman]

But will it be ready for delivery in December? I doubt if they will wait until December to collect payment from your credit card.

[Boweavel]

John Banks has just dropped this on the Trainz forum....


Hi Everyone,

Over the last few days some people have commented on our decision to begin taking online orders for Trainz. Given the variety of the responses I felt that it would be wise to make a post clearly stating our reasons for doing so and why we went about this the way we have. In doing so I hope to clear any confusion there may be and also give you all a better idea of the deliverable timeframe for Trainz, so here goes.

Comments have been made along the lines of 'It's an ususual practice to begin taking orders before the product is complete or to begin billing before the product is shipped'. That sentiment is entirly true. However when you see the reasons why I hope you will also see that the circumstances themselves are very unusual and in fact to my knoweldge unprecedented in this industry.

Auran has recently signed a publishing deal with a major worldwide publisher that will see Trainz being distributed and available all over the world. This deal was only signed this week and as such the publisher needs 2 or 3 months to ramp up a marketing push before the product is delivered into store. In fact just placing an add in a magazine has a 3 month lead time. Given this we don't expect to see Trainz in store till the first quarter 2002.

However all along Auran has said that it expected to ship Trainz itself by the end of 2001. The community as a whole was unending in its requests for us to make a boxed version available through a publisher and we stated many times publically that doing so may add to our deliverable timelime.

So the position we found ourselves in was one where we had a publisher but the product would not be out in 2001, even though it would be ready mid-November. So we began discussions with our publisher about the idea of Auran being able to produce and ship a copy via online ordering before the retail version was available in store. Well, I am very happy to say that they agreed and as such we are now able to take orders and ship product before the full retail version is available. BUT, and this is a significant point, we are not able to continue the online sales of the full version of Trainz AFTER the retail version is available.

Given the above we decided to manufacture a version that would be available for online ordering but we need to make sure that we only produce as many copies as we require. When the boxed retail version is available (it will look different) any copies left over can not be sold online.

Now to the timeframe for all of this. We will begin shipping in early December which means that we have to submit the disks and manuals for manufacture in mid-November. By that time we need to know EXACTLY how many copies to manufacture based on online purchases. The only way we can be certain of unit numbers is to determine the number of copies that have been paid for prior to that date. Our experience has been that preorders do not translate into real orders on a 1 to 1 basis. Given that we need exact numbers this was not an option for us.

Auran will be printing approximately 10% more copies than we have orders for, but that's all. So to ensure you get a copy of Trainz, before Christmas you need to place an order before November 15. Orders received after that date will only be filled if we have stock available. We may look into a second print run if orders and time frames warrant it but this is uncertain.

We were unable to disclose all of these details earlier as we were still in final discussions with our publisher. I hope this makes our decision and actions a little clearer and that you get your orders in quick!

In closing, our publisher (who we cannot disclose at this stage) has asked us to make the following post on their behalf:

"Greetings to the Trainz community.

I am VP Business Development at Auran's new publisher here in North America. We have been following the progress of Trainz for some time and recently signed an agreement with Auran to publish this very exciting product world-wide. We're busy getting our marketing team "up to speed" on the product and will be making a full announcement next Tuesday. Sorry I can't tell you more, but we really want to make a big splash when we do announce.

What I can say is that we are pleased that Auran has done such a great job in developing the community to date and look forward to bringing out the boxed retail version early in the New Year.

Meanwhile, keep those questions coming for the beta testers, and to the beta testers, keep those answers flowing."

So there you have it. Hopefully this has cleared up any issues, and we look forward to bringing you Trainz in time for Christmas.

Greg Lane
CEO Auran

[flarrfan]

I think this bodes well for the long term success of Trainz. It certainly does help explain the pay-now process. A deal that restricts on-line ordering would seem to require a more precise measurement of the number of copies to be shipped, and I agree that there is likely to be a significant difference in actual orders shipped between pre-orders with no financial commitment and bought-and-paid-for orders.

Kudos to Trainz for sharing this exciting info.

[trueman]

'It's an ususual practice to begin taking orders before the product is complete or to begin billing before the product is shipped'


Actually, this practice is not all that unusual.

I wish Auran all the best (afterall, I too would like to try out an alternative to MSTS). However, my concerns are real and are based on experience. Hopefully, Auran delivers and everyone is happy.

[jeffmorris]

Am I supposed to get an E-Mail message confirming my order for Trainz? Jeffrey.