Preorder email

[drt7uk]

Have also been burnt by this Hattons/Hornby issue, was absolutely furious and won't repeat my rant here that I left on the Coronation Scot thread, but was not happy especially since money is tight at the moment so Hornby RRP x9 was not an option.

 

Had no idea this was an issue, won't make same mistake again. In this case Kernow said they'd still be able to sent to me so fingers crossed. Seems like Derails a good option going forward!

[Robin Brasher]

The East Asiatic Company saga is an example of the problems of pre-ordering. Ordered from Rails 13 April 2018. Rails fell out with Hornby and cancelled order. Reordered from Swanage Railway Shop in 2020 which is a ten minute walk away. Available in most shops 19 March 2021 but arrived at Swanage Station shop 15 April 2021 due to a delay by Hornby.

 

I would have been better off just waiting until it was released and then I would be able to cherry pick the supplier. Despite this I am pleased with the result because I got a 10% discount and there was no danger of the model getting damaged in the post.

[CUCKOO LINE]

Quote

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Didn't preorder and bought one earlier this week from Hattons who still have more than 10 in stock !!!!

 

 

[geoffers]

Very fortunate in that Great Eastern Models in Norwich is 3 miles away, and Bure Valley in Aylsham 11 miles away. Plus you have model supplies/suppliers in Sheringham, Cromer, and Northrepps.  When I was in the Middle East, though, it was a case of several thousand miles.

[Mike Harvey]

On 15/04/2021 at 01:12, Michael Hodgson said:

.  I didn't know Tescos used to be a lingerie factory though, but just down the road there's the massive former Spirella corset factory in Letchworth.  I believe they  used to employ fitters 

 

The Job Centre in Letchworth used have a permanent ad in the window which went something like "young man wanted for inspecting ladies underwear".

Edited April 17, 2021 by Mike Harvey

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Mike Harvey said:

 

The Job Centre in Letchworth used have a permanent ad in the window which went something like "young man wanted for inspecting ladies underwear".

. ... yeah, age discrimination strikes again !

[The Johnster]

8 hours ago, geoffers said:

Very fortunate in that Great Eastern Models in Norwich is 3 miles away, and Bure Valley in Aylsham 11 miles away. Plus you have model supplies/suppliers in Sheringham, Cromer, and Northrepps.  When I was in the Middle East, though, it was a case of several thousand miles.

Bure Valley sold me a brand new Hornby large prairie just after xmas for less than I saw a second hand one on Hattons’ site earlier today, and it turned up in 3 days; I have nothing but praise for them. 

 

I am also lucky in living in Cardiff, where Lord & Butler or James & Lendon can supply most of the usual items, but cost and the unavailability of small bits and pieces has driven me online for the bulk of my railway stuff!

[geoffers]

Both Great Eastern and Bure Valley are very friendly shops to visit. In addition Andrew at Bure Valley is a Somerset and Dorset enthusiast, I like Lord and Butler too and have have chatted with Peter often at exhibitions and Adrian's weathering is first class. Can't wait for us to be able to visit MREs again. Really missing them.

[john new]

Another dissatisfied customer having waited 7 months since the order was placed to find it now can't be delivered. Destroys faith in the pre-order system.

[D7100]

26 minutes ago, john new said:

Another dissatisfied customer having waited 7 months since the order was placed to find it now can't be delivered. Destroys faith in the pre-order system.

Me too.

I've just had similar e-mail.

Not sure who's fault this is, Hattons or Hornby but this needs addressing ASAP because like you say faith in the pre order system will evaporate.

No more pre-orders from me for Hornby items from Hattons until this ridiculous situation is sorted.

Edited April 22, 2021 by D7100
spelling/grammar

[john new]

41 minutes ago, D7100 said:

Me too.

I've just had similar e-mail.

Not sure who's fault this is, Hattons or Hornby but this needs addressing ASAP because like you say faith in the pre order system will evaporate.

No more pre-orders from me for Hornby items from Hattons until this ridiculous situation is sorted.

Even more annoying is that having looked on the Hornby website they are still taking pre-orders for the DVLR Jim (a re-livery not a new model) and it is not due with them until 3rd Q 2021. Commercial confidentiality/sensitivity means as mere customers we may never know but from my viewpoint this looks like a commercial trading spat not a supply volume issue. As @D7100 says I will be looking elsewhere now for placing my pre-orders. Kernow probably as have had no issues with them on past orders.

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by john new
Deleted a word.

[stovepipe]

On 13/04/2021 at 22:25, D9001 said:

I really miss the model shops I used to frequent: Rolling Stock I’m North Shields and C and G in Darlington were truly excellent, I was always in both but both lost owing to their owners passing on. Peter’s in Middlesbrough and Harburn in Edinburgh are now the two closest to me, 160 miles from each other! I guess it’s a microcosm of the national and international trend in retail. 

it is indeed a shame about Rolling Stock, wasn’t there also another model shop in Shields or Tynemouth which closed about 4 or 5 years ago? Other north east shops are Durham Trains in Stanley, Pooleys Puffers near the Metro Centre and there a general model shop near Chester le Street too. On Teesside the Stockton Modeller was still open the last time I looked, and there is a shop in Redcar as well.

[Markwj]

Hattons order for mk3 dvt cancelled now! By hattons obviously!

Edited April 22, 2021 by Markwj

[CUCKOO LINE]

2 hours ago, john new said:

Even more annoying is that having looked on the Hornby website they are still taking pre-orders for the DVLR Jim (a re-livery not a new model) and it is not due with them until 3rd Q 2021. Commercial confidentiality/sensitivity means as mere customers we may never know but from my viewpoint this looks like a commercial trading spat not a supply volume issue. As @D7100 says I will be looking elsewhere now for placing my pre-orders. Kernow probably as have had no issues with them on past orders.

 

I gave up my preorders for BR southern items at Hattons and moved mine to Kernow a week or two ago. All very strange as Hattons used to be reliable and was useful to put in trunk to await a collection of orders before shipping. Will be interesting to see if after a few days of items being out whether Hattons have a load available as they seem to have done with others recently.

[Legend]

Durham Trains of Stanley reporting that Hornby have cancelled 75% of his W1 Order .  Reported by DToS in the Jenny Monday Club Facebook Page . He hates letting his customers down - but clearly is pointing to where the fault lies . So it isn't just Hattons .

[Trains4U]

We have had notification of backorder reductions for the W1 and Network Rail DVT this afternoon.

 

fortunately our customer pre orders are not impacted.

 

This is being felt by (I assume) everyone, please don’t blame the retailers.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Trains4U

[adb968008]

 yet I can still go to Hornbys website and pre-order them.

 

so whats going on ?

 

Beginning to think theres a loaded roulette table.

 

Are retailers becoming the offloaded leftovers outlet for Hornbys website ?

 

I see one high profile  retailer still doesnt  have coronation coaches....

Edited April 22, 2021 by adb968008

[Markwj]

Just moved my APT order to direct from Hornby yes more expensive but there is no way I am missing that!

[D400]

13 minutes ago, Markwj said:

Just moved my APT order to direct from Hornby yes more expensive but there is no way I am missing that!

 

One wonder if that is what they want you to do. I too had the dreaded "Pre-order cannot be fulfilled" email this morning, curiously just a few hours after pre-ordering the same item with a different retailer on a hunch that it might happen! 

 

I would dearly like to know what is going on here - Gareth might be able to help. I presume at the start of the year retailers place orders for X numbers of units from Hornby. Is it the case that Hornby are now getting back in touch saying that they cannot honour these numbers? Surely that is a breach of contract or purchasing agreement - how on earth can retailer offer items for pre-order if they don't actually know how many units they are going to get? 

 

It does seem to affect a certain retailer more than others - one wonders why that is, is it simply because of the huge numbers involved? Or is it for some other slightly more dubious reason? Does said retailer use the policy adopted by certain online Hotel chains of deliberately overselling products on the basis that a certain percentage will likely cancel their pre-order before it arrives? 

 

I think we would all be a bit more understanding of all this if the situation was universal and particularly if Hornby.com showed items sold out before cutting down retailer's allocations, to the outsider it looks very much like Hornby are taking stock away from certain retailers to enable them to sell more units themselves with the maximum profit going to Hornby. 

 

And yes I know, most my questions above will not be answered, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be asked. 

 

Regards,

Bruce  

[johndon]

19 hours ago, Legend said:

Durham Trains of Stanley reporting that Hornby have cancelled 75% of his W1 Order .  Reported by DToS in the Jenny Monday Club Facebook Page . He hates letting his customers down - but clearly is pointing to where the fault lies . So it isn't just Hattons .

 

Mick from Durham Trains of Stanley is a friend of mine and I spoke to him last night as I had a W1 ordered with him.  It turns out his allocation has been cut from 10 to just 1 so, I'll not be getting mine.   His DVT order has also been severely reduced.

 

For me, the W1 was a nice to have as it doesn't fit in with my era of modelling but, given what Hornby have done, there is no way I'm ordering directly from them -  clearly they don't give a monkeys but that is one definite sale that they have lost...

 

John

 

[Legend]

16 hours ago, adb968008 said:

 yet I can still go to Hornbys website and pre-order them.

 

so whats going on ?

 

Beginning to think theres a loaded roulette table.

 

Are retailers becoming the offloaded leftovers outlet for Hornbys website ?

 

I see one high profile  retailer still doesnt  have coronation coaches....

 

Its beginning to look that way isn't it .  Maybe the last managements policy , so derided by the current management , of going for direct selling and alienating shops , is quietly back on the agenda . Just not telling anyone in the hope we will all just follow .   Rails stop dealing with Hornby , Hattons clearly having issues with Hornby (but nobody elses) pre orders , Other shops reporting cut backs . Doesn't look like a company supporting its retailer network . 

[woodenhead]

But at least people now know this is a Hornby issue, not a Hattons issue which is how this thread began.

[Legend]

25 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

But at least people now know this is a Hornby issue, not a Hattons issue which is how this thread began.

 

While the origin maybe Hornby it is still very much a Hattons problem,  Faced with previous experience who could confidently pre order Hornby from Hattons again?  It must damage their business . It could be they are feeling the effect more than others because they are larger and I suspect more of their trade is mail order than some other shops that may have more over the counter trade . What this means for these shops is that any shortfall just means they have nothing to sell over counter but they can still satisfy their pre orders , whereas with Hattons there is less buffer .  Who knows?  But  even if they restrict pre orders to a tenth of what they have on order , clearly a ludicrous position, based on DToS experience they may still have an issue ! It really is appalling service by Hornby .

Edited April 23, 2021 by Legend

[mvwilson]

31 minutes ago, johndon said:

 

Mick from Durham Trains of Stanley is a friend of mine and I spoke to him last night as I had a W1 ordered with him.  It turns out his allocation has been cut from 10 to just 1 so, I'll not be getting mine.   His DVT order has also been severely reduced.

 

For me, the W1 was a nice to have as it doesn't fit in with my era of modelling but, given what Hornby have done, there is no way I'm ordering directly from them -  clearly they don't give a monkeys but that is one definite sale that they have lost...

 

John

 

So on April 9 when I said that basically all pre orders would be cancelled when another retailer other than Hattons told me their orders for the Hush Hush were cut from 20 to 2 I was told to stop the sensationalism. 

[Legend]

8 minutes ago, mvwilson said:

So on April 9 when I said that basically all pre orders would be cancelled when another retailer other than Hattons told me their orders for the Hush Hush were cut from 20 to 2 I was told to stop the sensationalism. 

 

You have to admit it did look sensational at the time , and I don't think you were able to reference the retailer , whereas Johndon has been able to quote DToS as source . But indeed , difficult to believe as it is , it appears you are correct