Possible replacement chassis for Class 31

[Downer]

In the last (now locked) thread on this topic, it was suggested that replacement chassis for the faulty Class 31s would be available from May. The normal guarantee has long since elapsed, and Hornby are under no legal obligation to replace these models, but it would be nice to know - one way or the other - whether they still intend to do so.

[mezzoman253]

Hi, Not sure if this will help, but have a look at this url http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/guarantees/CSD_2007_EN_final.pdf It's the EU diective on faulty goods. Note the UK and Ireland extend the period from purchase to 6 years, not the normal 2.

 

HTH

 

Rob

[nimbamoss]

Hi, Not sure if this will help, but have a look at this url http://ec.europa.eu/...07_EN_final.pdf It's the EU diective on faulty goods. Note the UK and Ireland extend the period from purchase to 6 years, not the normal 2.

 

HTH

 

Rob

 

After findong my 31270 body cracked and drooping I rang Hornby and sent an e-mail to their customer support adress.

I received a reply saying they would be in touch to arrange it's collection when the next batch comes in in July.

 

I gotta say this is very promising considering the time scale .

 

 

Ian

[houseman]

i was told by Hornby that it would be the end of may? and they would contact me then my 31 270 is in the same state now in june and no contact so don't hold your breath

houseman

[RFS]

I have the R2420 in this broken state. Called Hornby in April and was told to call back in May which I did. My name and telephone number were taken and I was to be called when the replacement chassis were available. I was also told they would sort it all out for me. Still waiting for the call...perhaps I'll call them again next week.

[Redditch 34]

I called Hornby on tuesday last week and was told that june is when they expect to have delivery of the replacements.

[dave56]

I called Hornby on tuesday last week and was told that june is when they expect to have delivery of the replacements.

 

I had an e mail from Hornby two weeks ago asking me to send my broken chassis in, which I did with a covering letter as requested. So far I have not heard any more.

[houseman]

ok

i rang Hornby today and was told very curtly that they are still awaitng replacements to arrive but he could not tell me when just i would be informed when they arrive and the loco would be replaced free of charge

regards

houseman

[Melly]

ok

i rang Hornby today and was told very curtly that they are still awaitng replacements to arrive but he could not tell me when just i would be informed when they arrive and the loco would be replaced free of charge

regards

houseman

 

Sorry - don't get it - hasn't there been several release of Class 31 since the problem was first widely reported? So why didn't they make those chasis available to those with breakages!

 

Took 1 week to replace my Heljan chasis - 14 months on and the Hornby sarga curves on.

 

Not Hornby bashing - but a perception thing. Rightly or wrongly, as a punter, this has certainly 'distorted' my perception of their customer service.

[Summer_Saturday]

I had an e mail from Hornby two weeks ago asking me to send my broken chassis in, which I did with a covering letter as requested. So far I have not heard any more.

 

I had the same e-mail from Hornby, telling me that they were contacting people in the date order they had sent their details to them. The e-mail also said a very limited number had been received for the first batch of replacements.

 

So the replacement of the broken chassis (correct plural of chassis!!) has begun but it is looking like it will be quite a slow process.

 

My two chassis were received by Hornby on May 18th but I haven't heard anything yet. I will chase them up towards the end of June and will report back as to what happens.

[brushman47544]

Sorry - don't get it - hasn't there been several release of Class 31 since the problem was first widely reported? So why didn't they make those chasis available to those with breakages!

 

Took 1 week to replace my Heljan chasis - 14 months on and the Hornby sarga curves on.

 

Not Hornby bashing - but a perception thing. Rightly or wrongly, as a punter, this has certainly 'distorted' my perception of their customer service.

I don't think we should see this as poor customer service. Hornby will have had to order a number of chassis (only) to replace the faulty ones. To reduce costs, they will have been made as part of a larger order for Class 31s for general sale. I certainly wouldn't blame Hornby if they asked for the complete models to be made first as they will earn revenue from them - but it may just have been the factory deciding which to produce first. And since Hornby is still playing catch up with other models, a delay is not unsurprising.

[houseman]

I don't think we should see this as poor customer service. Hornby will have had to order a number of chassis (only) to replace the faulty ones. To reduce costs, they will have been made as part of a larger order for Class 31s for general sale. I certainly wouldn't blame Hornby if they asked for the complete models to be made first as they will earn revenue from them - but it may just have been the factory deciding which to produce first. And since Hornby is still playing catch up with other models, a delay is not unsurprising.

well i do see it as poor sevice my loco will need a new body and chassis Hornby has known about this for months

as for ordering new models first i won't be buying any more Hornby until this is sorted if other companies can solve problems quickly why not Hornby or are you saying we got you money so you can wait 3 months and still waiting is not good enough

houseman

[houseman]

ok just rung Hornby again and was told that the parts are now in and someone called john at Hornby is contacting customers to arrange repairs after threating to contact trading standards if i was fobbed off again i was told john would contact me today

to arrange collection i will let you know what happens

houseman

[Andy Y]

well i do see it as poor sevice my loco will need a new body and chassis Hornby has known about this for months

as for ordering new models first i won't be buying any more Hornby until this is sorted if other companies can solve problems quickly why not Hornby or are you saying we got you money so you can wait 3 months and still waiting is not good enough

houseman

 

I hope, as requested here, that you contacted Hornby about the issue.

 

I spoke to Simon Kohler on Saturday who advised that all those who have contacted Hornby will be receiving replacement body/chassis as appropriate imminently.

[houseman]

I hope, as requested here, that you contacted Hornby about the issue.

 

I spoke to Simon Kohler on Saturday who advised that all those who have contacted Hornby will be receiving replacement body/chassis as appropriate imminently.

hi andy

yes i sent a letter 2 emails and made 4 phone calls since christmas

first told feb the march and the last time was end of may

regards

houseman

[houseman]

hi all

ok

john from Hornby has called me back and i have been asked to return my loco to repairs as the chassis are now in but to expect a long wait as it takes time to remove all the bits bogies, circuit board etc from my loco and refit and test on the new chassis they can only do a few a day also there are no new bodies yet

it seems they are trying to control the amount of work they have got

 

he also told me it was not a metal problem but was caused by people removing the body to fit dcc and ramming the body back down? when refitting when i pointed out that the loco was chipped from new and was fine until this year he did not have an answer

regards

houseman

[Summer_Saturday]

he also told me it was not a metal problem but was caused by people removing the body to fit dcc and ramming the body back down? when refitting when i pointed out that the loco was chipped from new and was fine until this year he did not have an answer

regards

houseman

 

Oh yes, I forgot, when I put the body back on after fitting the decoder, I used a 20Kg weight dropped for a height of 50ft . . .

 

Seriously, I don't think we should take that comment as definite "company opinion" but just as a random comment from one individual.

[Pacific Power]

Houseman, if this is how the conversation went then I cannot say that I am impressed with Hornby (on this issue).

 

To implicitly blame their customers for damaging the locos is not, in my opinion, good customer relations. Also if this were true the sheer numbers experiencing this problems would suggest that "the product was not fit for its intended purpose not of merchantable quality in respect of the price paid"!

 

Normally I am a great supporter of Hornby but in this instance, with this problem, I am afraid they have failed to impress me ( as a disinterested observer). Their reaction time has been too slow, now they have the parts they appear not to have the staff to make an efficient and timely repair, leaving the consumer with a nasty taste in the mouth.

 

 

I know, under the law of contract, purchasers could have returned the item to the retailer and demanded their money back but I would have thought any manufacturer in this recession, particularly one who makes what is, after all, a noon essential item would have 'bent over backwards' to achieve customer satisfaction.

 

A marketing maxim is that "A customer complaint is a second chance to achieve 100% customer satisfaction". Something, judging by the comments on both this and the previous RMweb thread, Hornby have failed to achieve.

[Andy Y]

I'd like to add a little balance to this. Since the issue was first observed there has been ongoing dialogue with Simon at Hornby. It has been an issue that has been difficult to diagnose with the why, whens and wheres of it all not revealing anything conclusive despite discussions with the factory, analysis of samples, checking of stored products. The main commonality seemed to be that it had primarily affected locos where the body had been removed from the body and re-fitted. That's not to say that such action makes the material issue excusable or explainable; it's just a statement of fact.

 

Much analysis of evidence was carried out on these pages which again was not categorically conclusive but still useful in identifying or eliminating possible causes.

 

 

Hornby have not shied away from it but have been as keen as anyone to identify the cause, not just for those that have had an issue but for background to understand how it may impact on those who haven't had a problem and also future production. Hornby have said for a long period of time that if customers contact them they will resolve the matter. Resolution takes the form of availability of replacement chassis and/or bodies in the production schedule with factory slots booked sometime in advance. If there had been a stockpile of bodies and chassis at Margate or at the factory resolution would have been swifter; sadly this was not the case.

 

It is hoped that the matter will be successfully concluded in the not too distant future and that any customers inconvenienced will have a replacement product free of fault.

[Suzie]

It would have been so much easier if Hornby could have just made a replacement chassis block available!

 

Realistically for me removing the decoder and packaging my Brian up for posting is much more of a chore than glueing the cracked body and effecting a repair to the cracked chassis block.

 

I would have been more than happy to fit a replacement chassis block myself which I could fit in at a time to suit me. I am fully realistic that these things happen and not everything lasts as well as it should, but it does not have to be so hard. I fully understand that Hornby did not intend to sell a faulty loco and want to make amends.

 

The simple lack of the chassis block as a spare part has made me a slightly disgruntled customer, hell I would have paid for it if it was available at a realistic price and I could have got it over the phone! We customers are not all the same.

 

 

 

 

 

[BSG75]

Just got the following from Hornby:

 

If you can return your body by 10th of July.

We should be able to return you a new one, shortly after.

If you feel that this is because the chassis as expanded please send loco with covering letter and we will check chassis at same time.

 

At present we have the chassis and bodies are due first week July

 

 

They certainly seem to be implying that something other than chassis expansion is causing the damage.

[craigwelsh]

Its more obvious in cases such as mine where the chassis is no longer in one piece!

 

I can fully understand the delay for Hornby where they have to wait for a production run of cl31's before they can offer replacements. Bear in mind that Heljan have a lot smaller range in comparison and may have more leverage over their contractor for the chassis.

 

I do think Simon needs to talk to the department sending these emails out, I know Hornby don't want to legally acknowledge if there was a problem but its not really subtle in some of the messages blaming the consumer.

 

I'll be sending them the chassis block with the least parts on it I can get away with as mine was professionally sprayed when I bought it. I'll also need new detailing parts as they can't be removed from the old block.

[andyman7]

I don't personally have any issue with Hornby over the way they dealt with my 'expanding' 31270. For the record I would like to state that it had definately suffered chassis expansion and had never had the body removed prior to the problem emerging!

[Summer_Saturday]

My 2 x replacement chassis arrived today, 4 weeks after they arrived at Hornby in Margate. They were returned by Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery; this was how I sent them to Hornby but I hadn't made any request about the return postage.

[craigwelsh]

My 2 x replacement chassis arrived today, 4 weeks after they arrived at Hornby in Margate. They were returned by Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery; this was how I sent them to Hornby but I hadn't made any request about the return postage.

Did you get new detail packs?