Model retailers under lockdown - those still operational

[Joseph_Pestell]

4 minutes ago, Trains4U said:

I won’t be counting much though 

 

I've done myself a mischief during my hour of exercise on Tuesday 

 

I have an appointment with a surgeon this afternoon to discuss how he is going to piece my right collarbone back together (it’s currently in 4 bits)

 

Come off a bike? I would not waste time discussing it. Get it done.

[Trains4U]

1 minute ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Come off a bike? I would not waste time discussing it. Get it done.

Yup

It’s likely to be a “here’s what we need to do” chat. I’m going to need a plate and pins

[big jim]

3 hours ago, Trains4U said:

Yup

It’s likely to be a “here’s what we need to do” chat. I’m going to need a plate and pins

At least it’s not fishplates and track pins or you could be waiting a while!

 

seriously though, hope all goes well for you 

[Baz's]

9 hours ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

 

 

I am not quite sure why you seemed to have joined this forum and immediately posted that what we are doing is against the Law as you were advised you couldn’t do it. 

 

If only as you say recognised hauliers/ couriers are allowed to carry non essential goods how come the likes of Curries, Argos, Ikea, ao.com, Amazon etc can do so? They all have their own delivery service. 

 

We closed our doors a week before Lockdown and only within the last week or so started up again. Only after we were given the information that what we asked was confirmed, we could deliver. We then had to upgrade at considerable cost our vehicles insurance to cover delivery.

 

This has been a very fluid situation and things have changed since the PM’s initial announcement. The media published their interpretation and continue to do so. Many people were led to believe that unless they were key workers they couldn’t go to work. That was identified as being misinformation. Were we live skips are being delivered on a regular basis as people occupy themselves with home/garden. Is the skip driver a key worker? Local authorities have reopened Recycling Centres. The local Police are giving regular updates as to waiting times as these locations. Have you seen any Government ministers saying you can leave your home to visit the local tip?

 

Can l just ask if you are operating any form of business as you are not identifying if you are indeed a model shop? Did you not consider contacting us to raise these issues before posting in a public forum? We will be in the shop at 10am today if you feel the need to discuss this further. 0151 424 1196. Or perhaps you could check with your solicitor that the advice he gave you was correct.

 

 

I think that you may have taken original post in the wrong way, and if there has been any offence taken , then I apologize - none was intended , nor was I suggesting that you were breaking the law - you had the OK from your MP , I would have done the same and if anyone tried to enforce against you then you have very good evidence as to why you are operating your own delivery service. 

 

All I was advising was that i had received totally different legal advice and then further explanation when you responded. Therefore you could equally double check with your MP that they were correct ? I'm not criticizing you for the delivery service you have set up , in fact good on you and for the service you are providing to your customers. 

 

I wish I had received the same advice  but I have not so I have to use Royal Mail , Fed Ex etc  which at the end of the day is a greater cost to my customers which if I could , I would rather deliver personally in the local area for exactly the reasons you have outlined and probably at a lower cost.  

 

I have again checked again this morning and my solicitor stands by their advice along with much further explanation regarding how / why skip drivers / builders merchants / DIY stores etc can continue to operate their own delivery services but its far to lengthy and boring to repeat here.    

 

Once again, apologies for any unintentional issues. i have no desire to cause any trouble and certainly not fall out with anyone else in the modelling community.

  

 

 

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Baz's said:

I have again checked again this morning and my solicitor stands by their advice along with much further explanation regarding how / why skip drivers / builders merchants / DIY stores etc can continue to operate their own delivery services but its far to lengthy and boring to repeat here.

 

Though it seems that DIY stores are bending the rules somewhat - the message is that the sale of "essential" maintenance and repair items being the rule.  I'm sure that Stevenage B&Q flogging bags of topsoil and trays of geraniums today doesn't fall into that category.  Or paint, wallpaper......

(I wasn't the buyer, by the way)

[big jim]

And I’m sure the person who drove past me earlier from the B&Q direction with a 6ft palm plant between his passengers legs Saw it as an essential item too

 

(saying that going by the look of thunder on his wife’s face, the plant was probably essential to him to hide her from view!) 

[dagrizz]

Sorry, but the question of buying 'non-essential' items from shops that are allowed to open was answered very early in the crisis by the gov't. If a shop is allowed to open, we can buy anything that the shop sells.

 

The Northamptonshire Chief Constable was slapped down very quickly when he suggested that officers could be inspecting people's shopping trolleys for 'non-essential' items.

 

Graham

 

[SM42]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Though it seems that DIY stores are bending the rules somewhat - the message is that the sale of "essential" maintenance and repair items being the rule.  I'm sure that Stevenage B&Q flogging bags of topsoil and trays of geraniums today doesn't fall into that category.  Or paint, wallpaper......

(I wasn't the buyer, by the way)

 

The perils of making  legislation on the hoof.  Everyone has a different interpretation of what it means. Where did one hour of exercise a day come from? It's not in the legislation but seems a popular interpretation.

But as has been said by the government, if the shop is allowed to be open under the legilation, then it can sell the full range of its stock. Whether the purchaser is allowed to go there to buy just that item is another matter.

 

A  model shop can't work from home in reality  and anything they can do, within reason,  to keep working I would say is acceptable within the legislation as long as the necessary  precautions are taken.   If that means it may take a bit longer to get my stuff then so be it.  If a retailer said, for instance, they only post out once a week  on Tuesday to reduce the number of trips to the Post Office then that's OK by me. I know where I stand and when I can reasonably expect delivery.

 

One thing I would say about doing your own deliveries though, is make sure your vehicle is insured for such. Straight business insurance may not cover deliveries. It's good to see Widnes Model Centre were aware of this and upgraded. How many don't and are now driving illegally? I dread to think if all the community volunteers are driving without insurance.

 

I for one, am grateful for the efforts of all the retailers who are doing what they can (and it seems in some cases wondering whether they are doing the right thing) to keep me (and many others)  modelling.

 

Thank you all. 

 

Andy

[Moxy]

6 hours ago, SM42 said:

One thing I would say about doing your own deliveries though, is make sure your vehicle is insured for such. Straight business insurance may not cover deliveries. It's good to see Widnes Model Centre were aware of this and upgraded. How many don't and are now driving illegally? I dread to think if all the community volunteers are driving without insurance.

 

 

At the risk of drifting slightly off topic, and putting my work hat on for a moment, the insurance industry has already thought of that.  Guidelines from the Association of British Insurers here.

 

My employer is not a member of the ABI, but they have also implemented similar changes to their policies to accommodate the current crisis.  I would always recommend checking with their own insurer to make sure, but from what I have seen and heard, most UK insurers are being flexible.

[Wheres_Wally]

7 hours ago, dagrizz said:

Sorry, but the question of buying 'non-essential' items from shops that are allowed to open was answered very early in the crisis by the gov't. If a shop is allowed to open, we can buy anything that the shop sells.

 

The Northamptonshire Chief Constable was slapped down very quickly when he suggested that officers could be inspecting people's shopping trolleys for 'non-essential' items.

 

Graham

 

 

Strictly speaking, since we have water in the taps, the only ESSENTIAL item anyone should be allowed to buy is bread. Given those two, you can survive. I suspect those who have set themselves up as the essentials police won't like that idea. Deciding what is and isn't essential is more about claiming some moral high ground.

[polybear]

43 minutes ago, Wheres_Wally said:

 

Strictly speaking, since we have water in the taps, the only ESSENTIAL item anyone should be allowed to buy is bread. Given those two, you can survive.

 

....don't forget RMWeb......

[jamie92208]

They have probably been mentioned before but Squires are still very much in business. I telephoned an order for, what I consider to be an essential item, a 14BA tap, yesterday and itvis now heading across the channel.

 

Jamie

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Wheres_Wally said:

 

Strictly speaking, since we have water in the taps, the only ESSENTIAL item anyone should be allowed to buy is bread. Given those two, you can survive. I suspect those who have set themselves up as the essentials police won't like that idea. Deciding what is and isn't essential is more about claiming some moral high ground.

 

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

They have probably been mentioned before but Squires are still very much in business. I telephoned an order for, what I consider to be an essential item, a 14BA tap, yesterday and itvis now heading across the channel.

 

Jamie

 

How much water is in your tap Jamie?!!

 

Mike.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

How much water is in your tap Jamie?!!

 

Mike.

Not a lot at 14BA but in a previous life a man got killed by a needle fine jet of water at 8000psi. Walking past a window when a tiny hole appeared in a hydaulic cylinder under test.

 

Jamie

Edited May 8, 2020 by jamie92208

[JohnDMJ]

 

10 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Not a lot at 14BA but in a previous life a man got killed by a needle fine jet of water at 8000psi. Walking past a window when a tiny hole appeared in a hydaulic cylinder under test.

 

Jamie

 

Not surprising when you consider water jet cutting machines for a wide range of materials!

[Ouroborus]

The term 'health' is very broad.  It's not the absence of disease.  Instead, it includes the mental, spiritual and emotional well-being of a person. 

 

Strikes me that businesses selling items that help people cope through these times have protection.   Sensible precautions need to be taken, but if growing bedding plants on your balcony gives you pleasure, so be it.

 

And I'd rather see people queueing outside garden centres than queueing outside KFC.  I know this makes me sound like a horrible snob, but when the roads near us became gridlocked yesterday because the KFC drive through reopened, I did feel a little sad, especially seeing the litter outside 30 minutes later

[Clagsniffer]

Big thank you to @Trains4U for sorting me out with a box of flexi track, struggled to find anyone with boxes of it and they got it to me in rapid time.

 

Also a big thank you to DPD as their tracking said it was not due until Monday but arrived today much to my surprise!

[big jim]

Excellent service from upstairs downstairs on the isle of white via their Ebay shop, tillig flexi track arrived in a few days from ordering 

 

also my items from bargain hunters from various shops arrived in good time too, Hereford model centre, Ellis Clark trains and the hobby-mail amongst others 

Edited May 9, 2020 by big jim

[GreenDiesel]

Just found this thread. Now that we're this far into the lockdown, you'd think that many model shops would be doing quite well via mail order, online sales and via "curbside pickup."  In many ways, model shops have an unusual opportunity where modellers are forced to stay at home.  In the past, I've heard that rainy or snowy days really do help model shops.  You’d think that the lockdown would create a steady demand and make up for having to temporarily close their bricks & mortar sites.

 

I live in Canada and have already bought some model railway items either online or via (what we call) curbside pickup from shops.

 

Just curious to find out more, i.e. how shops are doing, etc.

[AY Mod]

29 minutes ago, GreenDiesel said:

Just curious to find out more, i.e. how shops are doing, etc

 

Have a read through the topic and you'll see many of the points you have raised in your first paragraph have been covered.

[GreenDiesel]

5 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Have a read through the topic and you'll see many of the points you have raised in your first paragraph have been covered.

Thx! Will do. 

[JohnDMJ]

 

13 hours ago, GreenDiesel said:

Just found this thread. Now that we're this far into the lockdown, you'd think that many model shops would be doing quite well via mail order, online sales and via "curbside pickup."  In many ways, model shops have an unusual opportunity where modellers are forced to stay at home.  In the past, I've heard that rainy or snowy days really do help model shops.  You’d think that the lockdown would create a steady demand and make up for having to temporarily close their bricks & mortar sites.

 

I live in Canada and have already bought some model railway items either online or via (what we call) curbside pickup from shops.

 

Just curious to find out more, i.e. how shops are doing, etc.

 

There is a downside in that, due to unprecedented sales, stocks are running out. Some suppliers are still active whilst others have gone into hibernation. Then, there are those who source from China.

[John M Upton]

Interestingly Chinese production seems to be largely back online.  Look at the Bachmann and Farish announcement of items arriving in the next three months to see that plus Hornby still seem to be able to bring new items in as well.

 

It is UK produced items that seem to be becoming scarce.  Metcalfe card building kits are starting to become like gold dust with rising prices on Ebay in the last couple of weeks and Peco track has all but vanished off retailers shelves although with Peco now starting up again hopefully that situation will now ease.

[JohnDMJ]

59 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Interestingly Chinese production seems to be largely back online.  Look at the Bachmann and Farish announcement of items arriving in the next three months to see that plus Hornby still seem to be able to bring new items in as well.

 

It is UK produced items that seem to be becoming scarce.  Metcalfe card building kits are starting to become like gold dust with rising prices on Ebay in the last couple of weeks and Peco track has all but vanished off retailers shelves although with Peco now starting up again hopefully that situation will now ease.

 

Peco went back into semi production (safe distancing et alia) last Monday. Metcalfe appear still to be in hibernation. On the other hand, Superquick are, it would seem, still open and supplying! (and Deluxe Materials are still supplying their Roket Card Glue!)

Edited May 10, 2020 by JohnDMJ

[Deltic]

6 hours ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

Peco went back into semi production (safe distancing et alia) last Monday. Metcalfe appear still to be in hibernation. On the other hand, Superquick are, it would seem, still open and supplying! (and Deluxe Materials are still supplying their Roket Card Glue!)

Can confirm that PECO has resumed deliveries to Shops, had our first one this week.

 

As stated Metcalfe items are going out of stock fast, but still a fair few in stock at present.