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Markits - customer experiences


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3 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

 

With Markits its a little bit more difficult, Mark has basically taken over the Romford range and both developed and updated the range. He now has part time engineering assistance, but with the declining health of Mr Romford he has had to replicate many of the jigs and masters for work that was still outsourced to Mr Romford.

 

Is there a "Mr Romford"?

I understood this was the business:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00409621/officers

https://goo.gl/maps/bbX4xqUrfDCApwjz7

(Elsewhere I found information that credited them with making model railway wheels)

 

No Mr Romford ever involved with this company.

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17 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Known to the traders I speak with as Mr Romford. and I expect understandable by most and irrelevant other than to those who actually know the person .  Does it matter about the gents real name ? 

 

Yes, I'd always heard Mark describe him as 'Mr Romford' but wasn't sure that was his actual name, hence not using it in my earlier post!
 

Jon

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51 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Previously Based in Romford hence the company name?

The Romford Models I posted about is in Romford and has been going since 1946.

I assume it is the model railway parts company from other info around the 'net.

 

The director/secretary/50% owner of the Company, from the Companies House records is 88!

I wouldn't still be running a company at that age.:no:

 

It used to be classed as a "Small" company and is now a "Micro" entity

 

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1 hour ago, hayfield said:

Known to the traders I speak with as Mr Romford. and I expect understandable by most and irrelevant other than to those who actually know the person .  Does it matter about the gents real name ? 

As the name wasn't in quotes or suchlike, I assumed it was the actual person.

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14 hours ago, melmerby said:

The Romford Models I posted about is in Romford and has been going since 1946.

I assume it is the model railway parts company from other info around the 'net.

 

The director/secretary/50% owner of the Company, from the Companies House records is 88!

I wouldn't still be running a company at that age.:no:

 

It used to be classed as a "Small" company and is now a "Micro" entity

 

 

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

As the name wasn't in quotes or suchlike, I assumed it was the actual person.

 

You seem to have a particular issue with both the Markit and Romford businesses, and I just cannot see the point of delving into their backgrounds. it does not either improve the situation or have any relevance

 

Whilst the situation at the moment is not as good as it could be, there is nothing that can be achieved by picking the businesses to pieces, other than the owners getting so fed up that they just give up and the products are lost to the hobby. As I said earlier I know of 2 active businesses who have given up on RMweb, due to the constant negative attitude of a tiny group of members.

 

Just place an order either directly or through a retailer (as I did yesterday) and patiently wait for their availability. In my view we should be supporting businesses like these, especially in these troubled times. There are many traders who doing it for the enjoyment they get from running these companies. Many of them are well past retirement age. 

 

 

 

 

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21 hours ago, hayfield said:

With Markits its a little bit more difficult, Mark has basically taken over the Romford range and both developed and updated the range. He now has part time engineering assistance, but with the declining health of Mr Romford he has had to replicate many of the jigs and masters for work that was still outsourced to Mr Romford. Doing it now in house

Thanks, that could explain a lot, and not just recently. 

 

I think a lot of us who aren't traders sometimes fail to recognize or appreciate just how fragile some of the infrastructure which supports our hobby actually is, how much of it relies on good will or exists only by chance, and how much of it has absolutely no contingency plan (because, in the wider scheme, it doesn't need one, they aren't producing flu vaccines).    

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59 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Just place an order either directly or through a retailer (as I did yesterday) and patiently wait for their availability.

 

 

 

 

 

I do feel like I am bashing Mark and Markits but the supply of parts has been an issue for at least as long as I've been back into the hobby, Covid has just seemingly (and totally understandably) made things even worse. When stockists reply back to queries saying they don't even know if they are a client of Markits any more then something is very wrong. When they don't accept orders for Markits parts because they have no idea if they would even get them even if they came back into stock at the manufacturer it does put you off. Which again is a crying shame as the quality of the parts is absolutely top drawer. When you order direct and it's wrong and the proprietor gets the hump (even when the requirements were very clear - in this instance disc wheels rather than spoked) and you also get overcharged compared to the quoted price it does make you want to look elsewhere. The problem is there is not much choice to look elsewhere.

 

I don't envy the position Mark is in - he has created a fantastic range of products that as a result is very popular. Personally I think he should move to supply the trade only so reduce the number of enquiries - but to do that trade customers would need to be able to order on demand (with an expected lead time) things like prototypical wheelsets - expecting traders to stock the entire range (and in insulated/non insulated) would mean a LOT of stock and therefore investment. Individual customers (like me - but as traders won't take orders for wheelsets I HAVE to try to be an individual customer) are an unnecessary distraction. I've also tried to order bulk packs of things like T handles without a response. Buying packs of 16 is a waste of packaging. Yet it's in the catalogue and as they are produced in house on CNC equipement there should not be a supply issue on these?

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I agree that the situation is frustrating but the best way to cope with it is to order wheels when you can, and build up a stash of projects you can work on when one isn't possible. I wasn't able to proceed with a Fowler tank for a year or two due to the non-availability of the drivers, but I still had some other loco projects I could turn to so it was a minor irritation in the scheme of things.

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3 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

You seem to have a particular issue with both the Markit and Romford businesses,

 

Yes I do have a particular issue. It's actually just with Markits and it's called communication or rather lack of it.

It's the not knowing what's happening that gets people's ire.

As has been mentioned before, there is a catalogue of desirable goodies offered but seemingly little chance of seeing many of them in the near future but we don't really know.

If I am told something will take X amount of time and I have a reasonable expectation that at the end of the wait there will be something, I am quite prepared to wait.

 

As to Romford Models, I was just curious to see whether they were still an active entity in all this and they do appear so, but with a director who IMHO should really be living a well earned retirement, rather than still working to keep us miserable sods happy.

Edited by melmerby
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45 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

I agree that the situation is frustrating but the best way to cope with it is to order wheels when you can, and build up a stash of projects you can work on when one isn't possible. I wasn't able to proceed with a Fowler tank for a year or two due to the non-availability of the drivers, but I still had some other loco projects I could turn to so it was a minor irritation in the scheme of things.

 

 

Barry you have hit the nail on the head. I learnt quite a few years ago with kits, if you see something you like and can afford it then buy it, simply because it might not be there in the future

 

For years I have bought many things like motors and wheels second hand (usually unused) if they are cheap enough, Sunday I bought a K's kit cheaply because it had a set of Romford nickel tyred wheels. Its a non runner so was cheap. The body will be sold on and at least will cover the postage costs I paid, I might even have a motor to sell !! but I do have a set of 18mm wheels for £17 or less. Also on the odd occasion I buy an unbuilt kit, keep the wheels motor and gears (which were normally extras) and resell the kit usually at not much less than I paid for it

 

Yes it is frustrating if you cannot buy something, irrespective if its out of stock or the company has ceased trading. Where ever possible as you say I trt and build up a stock of commonly used parts, especially if you can obtain them at a reduced price.

 

A sad observation is that a lot of these suppliers are nearing or past retirement age, not all ranges where the owner retires gets taken over. We must be careful not to hasten their retirement by poor behaviour.  

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247  Developments

Members

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318 posts

Location: Seven Sisters, South Wales

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Posted 8 minutes ago

 

 

Good New we have just had a Delivery from MARKITS

Bookmark

 

 

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Web Site http://www.247developments.co.uk/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/247Developments/

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1 hour ago, hayfield said:

247  Developments

Good New we have just had a Delivery from MARKITS

 

Quote

 

Web Site http://www.247developments.co.uk/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/247Developments/

2400 Assorted loco parts (but not wheels as we no longer stock Markits wheels)

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1 hour ago, hayfield said:

We must be careful not to hasten their retirement by poor behaviour.  

I couldn't agree more.

 

In some ways, the 'normal rules of engagement' can be considered as not applying here. I don't know how much money there is in this kind of commercial activity, but it can't be much.

 

Whatever else anyone else might like to say about their experiences of Markits, we'd all very quickly be wailing and gnashing our teeth if their products weren't available any more.

 

The part of the model market where you build your own chassis or re-wheel an RTR one is mostly dependent on the likes of Markits and Gibson (and Ultrascale, in part). That's not a lot of folk, upon which a large number of modellers depend.

 

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On 19/10/2020 at 17:04, melmerby said:

Is there a "Mr Romford"?

I understood this was the business:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00409621/officers

https://goo.gl/maps/bbX4xqUrfDCApwjz7

(Elsewhere I found information that credited them with making model railway wheels)

 

No Mr Romford ever involved with this company.

It is fairly common in business to refer to a a company contact as Mr followed by the name of the company.

I used to deal with various people and firms on that basis. Some were real and others were user names. There seemed to be an unwritten convention as to when this form of address was used. One example that I remember was that it was always Mr TK Max. I have no idea if such a person ever exited and saw no reason to ask or seek clarification on the subject.

Bernard

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2 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

It is fairly common in business to refer to a a company contact as Mr followed by the name of the company.

I used to deal with various people and firms on that basis. Some were real and others were user names. There seemed to be an unwritten convention as to when this form of address was used. One example that I remember was that it was always Mr TK Max. I have no idea if such a person ever exited and saw no reason to ask or seek clarification on the subject.

Bernard

 

Yes.

 

I remember when I worked in the pub trade in a pub that was a freehouse which got beer from all over.

 

It was always Mr XYZ when referring to the rep. So it was Mr Cains, Mr Wychwood, etc. Even when you knew his proper name. This migrated to include the first name as well, so it was Tony Oak even though his name was something like Mitchell.

 

Jason

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My experince with Mark has always been positive.

 

When I lived abroad I used to call him (he'd be difficult to get hold of because he's working usually).

 

Whenever I did chat to him I found he had an exceptionally dry sense of humour which can come across as abrasive. That said I've often enjoyed some very cynical banter with him, and he's always posted what I wanted to the other side of the world.

 

My most recent order (in the last couple of months) was simply a completed PDF order form he has on his website. 

 

I filled it out, printed it off with all the prices (no need for a quote therefore), figuring he could easily pick the items and check them off as he went.

 

3 or so weeks later everything arrived, all present and correct.

 

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2 hours ago, grob1234 said:

My experince with Mark has always been positive.

 

When I lived abroad I used to call him (he'd be difficult to get hold of because he's working usually).

 

Whenever I did chat to him I found he had an exceptionally dry sense of humour which can come across as abrasive. That said I've often enjoyed some very cynical banter with him, and he's always posted what I wanted to the other side of the world.

 

My most recent order (in the last couple of months) was simply a completed PDF order form he has on his website. 

 

I filled it out, printed it off with all the prices (no need for a quote therefore), figuring he could easily pick the items and check them off as he went.

 

3 or so weeks later everything arrived, all present and correct.

 

 

Hi Tom, how do you know the prices please? My first order was on the order form, with the prices I was given by email but when it arrived (with an error anyway) the amount my card had been charged was significantly more. I really want to order more (I have quite a long list of wheels needed) and am happy to wait but I don't want an experience like last time. The current pricelist is 7 years old and I did see there was a price increase - I'd be shocked if there wasn't in that length of time.

 

thanks :)

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5 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

Hi Tom, how do you know the prices please? My first order was on the order form, with the prices I was given by email but when it arrived (with an error anyway) the amount my card had been charged was significantly more. I really want to order more (I have quite a long list of wheels needed) and am happy to wait but I don't want an experience like last time.

 

thanks :)

 

Hiya, I just used the prices from the catalogue:

 

http://www.markits.com/MARKITS_Price_Guide_2013_09.pdf

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

Oh! Is that what you were charged as it specifically states that the prices are not correct.

 

To be honest, I can't categorically state that’s exactly what I was charged. It was close enough to give me a good idea. As long as it wasn’t say 30% more I’m not too fussed, its not like there are many other options out there… :D

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24 minutes ago, grob1234 said:

 

To be honest, I can't categorically state that’s exactly what I was charged. It was close enough to give me a good idea. As long as it wasn’t say 30% more I’m not too fussed, its not like there are many other options out there… :D

 

Oh I don't mind a little bit over but I just checked - my bill should have been £139.57 but I was charged £191.90 - it was sorted in the end but took a while. That was from prices quoted by email.

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59 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

Oh I don't mind a little bit over but I just checked - my bill should have been £139.57 but I was charged £191.90 - it was sorted in the end but took a while. That was from prices quoted by email.

 

Yeah I'd have queried that too, bit of a difference!

 

Glad it got sorted.

 

I'd just say don't be put off ordering direct from Mark. The wheels are top notch.

 

Perhaps try like I did, and do a good old fashioned 'mail order' for your future orders. Worked a treat for me. Usual disclaimers apply ;)

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