Preorder email

[GWR-fan]

I suppose it all boils down to whether Hornby is a manufacturer or a retailer.  Hornby likes to have a finger in each pie and seemingly has little respect for dealers, particularly those who discount.  Perhaps Hornby views discounted sales as potential full value sales that they themselves could make.   Given an even playing field would a customer buy a guaranteed product at full retail from the Hornby website or face potential disappointment from a cancelled pre-order at a local dealer who does not discount?

 

I feel that covid manufacturing issues are being used as a rouse by Hornby to gain further traction in retail sales volume at the expense of the dealers.   Is it over pre-ordering on the behalf of Hattons and other dealers affected by the cancellations,  or are the dealers being punished by the manufacturer as it seeks to maximise company profits?   What is certain is that the company will not be forthcoming and the dealers are possibly bound by secrecy agreements.

[Free At Last]

If I can't get it from my local model shop I will not play into Hornby's hands by buying it direct from them.

Hornby have seen how much business has been done by mail order during present times that they think they could have this market for themselves. They most probably only want to supply a shop with what they think may be enough for over the counter sales.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, GWR-fan said:

I suppose it all boils down to whether Hornby is a manufacturer or a retailer.  Hornby likes to have a finger in each pie and seemingly has little respect for dealers, particularly those who discount.  Perhaps Hornby views discounted sales as potential full value sales that they themselves could make.   Given an even playing field would a customer buy a guaranteed product at full retail from the Hornby website or face potential disappointment from a cancelled pre-order at a local dealer who does not discount?

 

I feel that covid manufacturing issues are being used as a rouse by Hornby to gain further traction in retail sales volume at the expense of the dealers.   Is it over pre-ordering on the behalf of Hattons and other dealers affected by the cancellations,  or are the dealers being punished by the manufacturer as it seeks to maximise company profits?   What is certain is that the company will not be forthcoming and the dealers are possibly bound by secrecy agreements.

Don't forget that for some time past Hornby have in any case only 'allowed' retailers to apply a set level of discount to their retail customers for a certain period after they receive their supply of a model - and that applies to all their retailers.   They've also cut-off supplies via their previous wholesaler which effectively allowed any retailer buying from that source to apply whatever level of discount they wanted/could afford although overall I think that change has probably benefitted 'real' retailers by knocking out cheapskate competition from peoiple trading from their home etc.

 

As for your final sentence i would be amazed if Hornby ever have anything to say about what they are currently doing and at best I suspect all they are likely to say is that it's down to product rationing due to 'supply problems' (despite having recently told shareholders that their supplies are 'resilient').

[ruggedpeak]

From the Hornby website, Pre-order page (link off homepage) with dates for items coming in, see near the top of page you can select the season and get month by month list of what's coming up.

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/catalogue/coming-soon?spring=true&page=1

 

Quite clear there is a plan here.

[Legend]

2 hours ago, ruggedpeak said:

From the Hornby website, Pre-order page (link off homepage) with dates for items coming in, see near the top of page you can select the season and get month by month list of what's coming up.

 

https://uk.Hornby.com/catalogue/coming-soon?spring=true&page=1

 

Quite clear there is a plan here.

 

Yep its another sign isnt it . I note W1s and APTs  still available 

 

Your year with Hornby ............. your preorders placed 05/01/21 cancelled at retailers but available here 

[john new]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

 

Yep its another sign isnt it . I note W1s and APTs  still available 

 

Your year with Hornby ............. your preorders placed 05/01/21 cancelled at retailers but available here 

Your two calendar years with Hornby, what you preordered in September 2020 from our 2020 new livery on existing model range via a retailer, and we cancelled their supply, might be here this August. Oh yes and by the way we won’t be adding the extras you wanted, and which they would have fitted for you, even then.

 

Do I order it or say get stuffed, I can’t be a***d to trust you any more?

[adb968008]

What would confirm this shift, is that if all these canceled pre-orders, that moved to Hornby online are actually all fulfilled.

 

If Hornbys website cannot supply then you know their ordering system is a mess, but if they come good, then it would appear supplies are strong.. but just not being distributed to trade in sufficient volume.

 

What would be interesting is if an item sold out, cut back to trade, but available online at Hornby, mysteriously started showing as in stock to trade a few months down the line.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by adb968008

[spacecake]

Luckily not heard anything about a cancellation from my retailer yet (maybe Hattons is ahead of the game news wise). But hattons have cancled some Bachmann pre orders I've had in the past just like that. I did have this ordered with Rails as soon as announced but then cancled when they stopped selling Hornby. So hopefully 2nd time (or 3rd time, see below) lucky.

 

This model is probably top of my list for years. I unfortunately lost out on the DJ Models crowd funding APT. Of which I hold no malice over, I knew the risks and it was all in good faith. I have pre-ordered through a smaller retailer now. So naturally I hope I get it as I desire this model the most. However I'm not going to go and order with Hornby as some have to hedge my bets (although I completely understand). As much as I want the model I ain't playing that game and standing in solidarity with the retailers. Maybe it's cutting my nose of to spite my face because me not buying one won't prevent Hornby from selling the whole lot. Neither am I going to pay extortionate re-sell prices on Ebay. If they screw my retailer over I'm out and just have to save my self the many £100s. I have got a lovely collection anyway so just take it on the chin. Plus in my experience if this model is popular Horny will one day make another run. Rapido have with their APT-E (glad I got that the first time round though).

[sagaguy]

I preordered my Hornby Aberdeen Commonwealth at the end of April from Hornby Hobbies.I couldn`t preorder from Hattons as they were sold out.It is now on its way and should be with me via DPD this morning.

 

                            Ray.

[ac1874]

1 hour ago, adb968008 said:

What would confirm this shift, is that if all these canceled pre-orders, that moved to Hornby online are actually all fulfilled.

 

If Hornbys website cannot supply then you know their ordering system is a mess, but if they come good, then it would appear supplies are strong.. but just not being distributed to trade in sufficient volume.

 

What would be interesting is if an item sold out, cut back to trade, but available online at Hornby, mysteriously started showing as in stock to trade a few months down the line.

 

 

After I got my APT cancellation email from Hattons and then pre-ordered from Hornby, I emailed them to ask this question, if Hattons know what they are getting then surely Hornby themselves also know. No response yet and expect them to be vague but will be interesting to see what people have actually received in a few months.

[sagaguy]

The Hornby preorder worked,arrived this morning.

 

                                   Ray.

[AMac]

I also had my 7 car APT pre order from Hattons cancelled.  That's a great shame as I've had great service from them previously though this is the first pre-order I've tried (similar with Rails and Kernow). I emailed both Hattons and Hornby - I got a response straight away from Hattons re confirming the last on - first off policy when there's a shortfall of supply. I ordered 8 months ago - I can't remember when the pre-order was advertised - does anyone recall? 

 

Anyway that clearly was not early enough. I'm yet to hear back from Hornby - that should be within the next 2 days or so though I not expecting a great answer.

 

My worry is that being in New Zealand, I'll struggle to get the APT which is the loco/train I really want. (The APT along with the Class 50 for some obscure reason are my favourite locos). Good luck to us all on the pre-order machine. I was about to ask for suggestions of where I should look, but realised "we customers" are now mortal enemies scrapping for remaining APTs!  (A slightly amusing and depressing thought! - a tad melodramatic though)

[atom3624]

Just a question.

 

Are any other dealers / vendors cancelling pre-orders or is it just Hattons?

 

Al.

[spamcan61]

6 minutes ago, atom3624 said:

Just a question.

 

Are any other dealers / vendors cancelling pre-orders or is it just Hattons?

 

Al.

Yes, there are others mentioned earlier in this thread, or maybe the other related threads.

[MGR Hooper!]

30 minutes ago, atom3624 said:

Just a question.

 

Are any other dealers / vendors cancelling pre-orders or is it just Hattons?

 

Al.

A couple... Great Eastern Models and Trains4U. Though I am not sure how badly they were affected by this. GEM had their entire allocation for R3915 Network Rail Class 121 cancelled. I've forgotten what Trains4U had, but it's further up the thread.

The Hattons debacle seems a lot worse though. 

[Trains4U]

15 minutes ago, MGR Hooper! said:

A couple... Great Eastern Models and Trains4U. Though I am not sure how badly they were affected by this. GEM had their entire allocation for R3915 Network Rail Class 121 cancelled. I've forgotten what Trains4U had, but it's further up the thread.

The Hattons debacle seems a lot worse though. 

 

We had some downward adjustments on the DVT and a W1, but not complete cancellations.  I anticipate other products will be similarly affected over the coming months.

 

most retailers are affected to some degree.

 

I’m hoping that Hornby might issue a public statement at some point soon.

[spamcan61]

8 minutes ago, Trains4U said:

 

 

I’m hoping that Hornby might issue a public statement at some point soon.

It would probably say " still available for order from our website" :-(

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

It would probably say " still available for order from our website" :-(

As they recently said that 'supplies are resilient' you have probably hit on what 'resilient' actually means?

[woodenhead]

7 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

As they recently said that 'supplies are resilient' you have probably hit on what 'resilient' actually means?

Along the lines of, if capacity is down x% but we uplift direct sales through the website by y% the additional revenue = similar profit = no need to announce any change in expected forecasts to the stock exchange.

[Markwj]

I find it curious that Kernow’s adverts state to order with confidence from the indicating they have confidence their order will be fulfilled. And yes the ad I saw was Hornby products.

[House MD]

For anyone that had there Hornby preorders from hattons cancelled, jadlam racing still has some allocations on there site at a slightly lower price than Hornby direct. The only downside is you have to pay immediately. Hope this helps  

[Adamphillip]

On 06/05/2021 at 13:29, Trains4U said:

 

We had some downward adjustments on the DVT and a W1, but not complete cancellations.  I anticipate other products will be similarly affected over the coming months.

 

most retailers are affected to some degree.

 

I’m hoping that Hornby might issue a public statement at some point soon.

just hoping my DVT is fine, though talking to John today it seems it is ok, this does stink of foul play on Hornby's end 

[Markwj]

Just received an email from Hornby to state the intercity DVT is available direct and via stockists ironically received a week or so after the email from hattons cancelling my order!

 

[ruggedpeak]

From the Hornby website (advertised on the homepage)

 

PDF of the Job Description https://d63oxfkn1m8sf.cloudfront.net/3316/2037/7067/Head_of_eCommerce.pdf

[woodenhead]

"Familiar with or experience of working with other retail channels. E.g. eBay / Amazon"

 

So a potential further widening of the online direct sales through other channels....