Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).

[roundhouse]

Hi Ian

 

I'm sure Hattons will see you OK. I have dealt with them for years and they are one of the best. My previous post was really to warn others regarding Yodel but it is easy to make a mistake when ordering as the RM and Y options are right next to each other so it was worth checking.

 

Gra

Yodel left the parcel with neighbours today so all resolved this time.

 

Hattons have been good in the past. Next time though I will put a comment in the special instructions box to say only send via Royal Mail.

 

 

I was impressed at Hattons speed of reply to my email. So many companies take days if not weeks to respond to an email.

 

Ian

[royaloak]

Talking of Yodel,a favourite currently of Amazon,

Ordered an Xbox off Amazon and it was left in our wheely bin despite 2 of us being in all day and the bell working.

By the time we noticed the letter the Xbox had disappeared despite us supposedly signing for the delivery.

 

It should be noted that the other side of the street is being demolished and the Council houses on this side of the street are being refurbished and so there are a lot of vans and men milling around.

[Tase]

This has happened to me also. I do not like/trust Yodel whatsoever and much prefer Royal Mail. An order I placed last week was delivered by Yodel even though I had selected RM as my delivery option..

I contacted Hattons and they clarified why choosing RM some parcels are sent by Yodel. The reason is simple: Yodel collect much later from their premises than Royal Mail do so rather than 'delay' sending the parcel out the next day because Royal Mail have already been and collected they send it via Yodel.

No doubt this is all to ensure ultimate customer satisfaction but I do wish that Hattons would stick to the delivery option selected by the customer!

I was told that if you leave a comment in the 'delivery instructions' box they will act upon it.

[250BOB]

If you run your own business as I do, you will understand why generally businesses prefer couriers. They very rarely fail to get the goods there the next day. The problem is delivering to domestic addresses, the people are rarely home to take delivery.

I don't use Hattons at all, much prefer to use a local model shop where a face to face relationship can be built up. It's not always about the best price in my book.....but that's just my opinion.

Bob

[Gwiwer]

From an international perspective I always tick Royal Mail Air unless the difference in cost is really significant.   It can vary from the courier option by plus or minus £1 on most orders but on a few, due to the volumetric pricing used by RM, the courier option is significantly cheaper.

 

Most items arrive having been carried by the selected operator within the UK.  Some have taken the opposite course despite my selection and occasionally there is a small difference in price technically either under- or overpaid but which has probably balanced out over an extended period of time and large number of orders.

 

Once in the air all mail then lands here in the care of Australia Post who themselves do not deliver parcels.  They employ contractors , usually one man and his van, who deliver more or less when it suits them to.  Typically they appear round here only when they have a van-full for this postcode which might be twice a week or once a month.   The only time a courier service appears this end is if the door-to-door courier option is selected on Hattons website.  The problems are the same as UK members report namely a card left in the mailbox and the inconvenience of needing half a day off work to go and collect the item.  Items sent Royal Mail typically arrive 2 - 3 weeks from shipping; items sent City Link typically take 10 - 14 days.

 

The parcel contractor normally leaves stuff in a concealed spot but if it needs a signature all we get is a card in the mailbox and a trip to the depot is still required.  Often this is a nearby post office and as one of ours also acts as a lottery agent with late opening on lottery nights and all day on Saturdays I can pick up easily enough.  If the parcel gets taken elsewhere I have a trick up my sleeve which only requires a phone call to Aus Post and the item will be moved to the late-opening office. 

 

No complaints about Hattons service on the whole.  It's what happens after it leaves their hands which is variable and unpredictable.  Though it helps sometimes if they actually use the service you select.

[Coldgunner]

I'm fortunate as I still live at home and one of my parents is retired, so there is nearly always someone there. Our postie knows we order a lot of stuff and will always leave it at a neighbours if no-one is there. My advice is to live next door to old people, they're always in and up for a nice chat when you go to pick up the package. I've never had an issue with Royal Mail.

 

Yodel on the other hand I avoid like the plague. This is not without good reasoning. Last year Mum decided to buy a new laptop. Unfortunately it was a rare occasion she missed the post. Gets home to find a card on the mat saying that its over the fence. That's right, they'd literally dropped it over the back gate, which is 6ft high!

 

That's the real difference, a regular postie will take pride in their work whereas a temporary 'man with a van' courier will just leave the parcel no matter what. I say that as I've also had stuff left on the bloody doorstep in plain sight!

Edited January 30, 2013 by Coldgunner

[rob D2]

hmm, yes, yodel are rubbish. I would hope hattons don't start using them exclusively

[Gareth Collier]

I ordered my Farish Blue Pullman from Hattons and specified Royal Mail as I have had a couple of nightmares with Yodel leaving parcels on the doorstep in full view and in the rain (the £160 camera claimed to be waterproof and I can confirm it is!). Anyway they sent it via Yodel next day and a signature would be required. I tracked it from Liverpool to Brighton which only took around 12 hours so quite impressed. And there it stayed with no updates for 24 hours so I contacted Yodel whom confirmed they'd initially mislaid it but had now found it. It was delivered by a 'kid' in a 15 year old Corsa at around 9.30 at night.

Gareth

[Oldddudders]

On doing my usual inspection of what's new at Hattons today, I now find that there is a pop-up box in the bottom right-hand corner which says "Chat?". Now, I know I'm old and curmudgeonly, but why on earth would I want to "chat" with Hattons? If I have a query about a product, there is already an email facility, their stock levels are apparently real-time, so I can see if an item is in stock - so what am I going to be chatting about?

[roundhouse]

Ordered another package of goodies from Hattons.

 

This time I stated Royal Mail in the comments box.

 

It arrived by Royal Mial within a day or two early on Saturday morning just before we went out.

 

Ian

[APOLLO]

On doing my usual inspection of what's new at Hattons today, I now find that there is a pop-up box in the bottom right-hand corner which says "Chat?".

 

Saw that also, and instantly thought I had a virus on my computer !. In a way I'm glad you posted this Olddudders. Put me at ease on this.

 

Still, it's seems internet advertising is going a bit OTT in my view.

 

Brit15

Edited February 12, 2013 by APOLLO

[orcadian]

On doing my usual inspection of what's new at Hattons today, I now find that there is a pop-up box in the bottom right-hand corner which says "Chat?". Now, I know I'm old and curmudgeonly, but why on earth would I want to "chat" with Hattons? If I have a query about a product, there is already an email facility, their stock levels are apparently real-time, so I can see if an item is in stock - so what am I going to be chatting about?

I have similar sentiments about this, but it appears to be a direct link to Hattons' Facebook pages, whatever they are! (Whilst I'm comfortable with corresponding via this Forum, and very comfortable with on-line shopping, I don't plan to use 'social media'!)

Richard

[woodenhead]

Maybe they wanted to discuss the WBA Match last night?

[Oldddudders]

Maybe they wanted to discuss the WBA Match last night?

Precisely. Footie and the weather are the staples for starting male non-conversations. As I know nowt about Merseyside meteorology, and considerably less about football, the appeal is limited.

[Removed a/c]

On doing my usual inspection of what's new at Hattons today, I now find that there is a pop-up box in the bottom right-hand corner which says "Chat?". Now, I know I'm old and curmudgeonly, but why on earth would I want to "chat" with Hattons? If I have a query about a product, there is already an email facility, their stock levels are apparently real-time, so I can see if an item is in stock - so what am I going to be chatting about?

This is not unusual at all, many companies have this feature. It means there is a live customer service representative to answer your questions right away. As you say email is ok but you have to wait for an answer and emails occasionally end up in cyberspace never to be answered. Personally (as a customer service rep) I find email a PITA, replying back and forth, much easier to pick up a phone or use the live chat feature. 

 

 

Remember the chat feature is only available during their business hours. 

Edited February 12, 2013 by thebritfarmer

[robmcg]

I too received the 'chat' invitation when checking new releases, and thought maybe it was malware.

 

Pop-ups like this do not please me, when they are of unknown source. We all know the computer rule, "never open anything from unknown source"...

 

...it reminds me of the new age of 'features and apps', which means more features must be better ...(like the latest model Range Rover has 27 audio speakers, which must be good...I must have one)

 

Essentially the pop-up should identify itself as 'shop available now for chat if required' and be able to be closed.

 

Rob

[Ian Hargrave]

If you run your own business as I do, you will understand why generally businesses prefer couriers. They very rarely fail to get the goods there the next day. The problem is delivering to domestic addresses, the people are rarely home to take delivery.

I don't use Hattons at all, much prefer to use a local model shop where a face to face relationship can be built up. It's not always about the best price in my book.....but that's just my opinion.

Bob

Your local sorting office offers a 'Mail Collect' service.....which I have used for the last 8 years.If you ARE reasonably close to yours,it is an option some might consider. Solves the problem of stuff being left in the porch or worse. I wholeheartedly agree with the comments on Yodel. Wish Amazon would stop using them for books. Never had any difficulties with Hattons.Always specify Royal Mail.

[roundhouse]

I wish I had a local model railway shop I could get to when it's open. Working in centrsl London there isnt much choice.

However I do use traders at shows a lot but it reslky depebds if some one is likely to have what I want at an up coming show.

This is whete Hattons delivering via Royal Mail comes in really usefulas the sortingnoffice is next to the station and opens at 7am so we csn collect on our way to work.

 

 

Many others dont give you the option so unless it fits through the letterbox its difficult for us to use them

[BYMR]

I too received the 'chat' invitation when checking new releases, and thought maybe it was malware.

 

Pop-ups like this do not please me, when they are of unknown source. We all know the computer rule, "never open anything from unknown source"...

 

...it reminds me of the new age of 'features and apps', which means more features must be better ...(like the latest model Range Rover has 27 audio speakers, which must be good...I must have one)

 

Essentially the pop-up should identify itself as 'shop available now for chat if required' and be able to be closed.

 

Rob

 

I too saw this chat window the other day and thought to give it a go. I had recently sent back an item due to it being faulty and was very quickly involved in a very pleasant conversation with a very helpful sales advisor who gave me more than enough detail on how that was progressing.

 

I'm a big fan of the 'chat' element, saves me waiting on hold and gives a much faster response than sending an email (a direct response).

 

Good use of current technologies available and anything that can further improve what is already stellar customer service has to be a good thing. Bravo Hattons!

[oldknotty]

Last Thursday i placed a decent sized order with Hattons from here in Norwood Ohio USA .It arrived today only five days to get here and monday was a government holiday here so no post .THAT is what I call SERVICE , well pleased with them :-)

Martin

[Tase]

Ha, last Thursday I placed an order too. The difference is I'm still waiting!

[Gwiwer]

Today a parcel wrapped in brown paper and  tied with string arrived.  In three days's time I shall place an order with Hattons for its contents but they have truly excelled themselves this time in not only knowing by some psychic power what I am about to order but in also getting it here thee days before I can place and pay for the order!  

 

There's good and then there's dreaming!!!

 

[brushman47544]

I too received the 'chat' invitation when checking new releases, and thought maybe it was malware.

 

Pop-ups like this do not please me, when they are of unknown source. We all know the computer rule, "never open anything from unknown source"...

 

...it reminds me of the new age of 'features and apps', which means more features must be better ...(like the latest model Range Rover has 27 audio speakers, which must be good...I must have one)

 

Essentially the pop-up should identify itself as 'shop available now for chat if required' and be able to be closed.

 

Rob

 

True, but in this case Hattons also put a message in the Latest News box on their Homepage to tell you about the Chat feature so malware wasn't an issue.

[OnTheBranchline]

What's the physical store like to be in?

[Jenny Emily]

What's the physical store like to be in?

Very light and spacious with everything on display in glass cabinets so you can see what an item looks like in the flesh before you order. Plenty of staff too. Never had an issue on the occasions that I've been into the shop. Much better than the dingy little place they used to have when I was a frequent visitor in the early 1990s!