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Hornby corroded class 31 chassis


locospotter
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I had a letter arrive this morning from Hornby Customer Care, basically it said the replacement chassis for the 'Dutch' 31 110 would not be available until at least August 2012. They have offered to replace it completely with either of the current 31's - Regional Railways or Network Rail to resolve the protracted problem with waiting for a replacement - I think I will take up their offer and finally draw a line under this problem.

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Yup. Same letter here. It's a nice offer, but I already have the RR version and certainly don't want the NR version! I shall therefore wait until I can have a banger blue version back.

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My Dad decided to have a Network Rail one after getting that letter as "he doesn't have a yellow train" :). I did ask him if he can get them to send the remains of the blue one back anyway so I can have the spares, don't think they'd have gone for that though!

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I had a letter arrive this morning from Hornby Customer Care, basically it said the replacement chassis for the 'Dutch' 31 110 would not be available until at least August 2012. They have offered to replace it completely with either of the current 31's - Regional Railways or Network Rail to resolve the protracted problem with waiting for a replacement - I think I will take up their offer and finally draw a line under this problem.

I have had a letter as well. Dont want either as the Network Rail version is later than the period i model, and the Regional one i just personaly dont like. Rang this morning to see if i could negotiate a different one OR something else. Fat chance. I was told bluntly that was the ONLY offer, take it or leave it. NOT impressed with Hornby's customer relations. They don't appear to realy care and i am now totaly p****d off with them. Some may think i'm unfair as they have offered an alternative, but i just dont want them. I had a dealing with Bachmann a few weeks ago and they couldn't have been more helpfull. I know where i shall spend my money in future.

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I have had a letter as well. Dont want either as the Network Rail version is later than the period i model, and the Regional one i just personaly dont like. Rang this morning to see if i could negotiate a different one OR something else. Fat chance. I was told bluntly that was the ONLY offer, take it or leave it. NOT impressed with Hornby's customer relations. They don't appear to realy care and i am now totaly p****d off with them. Some may think i'm unfair as they have offered an alternative, but i just dont want them. I had a dealing with Bachmann a few weeks ago and they couldn't have been more helpfull. I know where i shall spend my money in future.

 

Just let me check I've gotten this right.... Hornby offer you the repair later, OR a new engine now, and it's them being unreasonable? I agree that the liveries may not be to everyone's choice, but they were under no obligation to make the offer. As a matter of interest, what did you try to negotiate for?

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Just let me check I've gotten this right.... Hornby offer you the repair later, OR a new engine now, and it's them being unreasonable? I agree that the liveries may not be to everyone's choice, but they were under no obligation to make the offer. As a matter of interest, what did you try to negotiate for?

Yes, i do think their attitude is unreasonable. The 31 has been out of service for over a year now. I was constantly fobbed off in the early days and am now being offered something i dont want. The day my 31 is to be 'fixed' keeps being put back. Just supposing i had bought a Black car from new, because i wanted one of those. The chassis corroded and snaped, A year later the manufacturer offers me one in yellow or red. I would not be happy. OK maybe a car isn't the best choice of comparison but it illustrates my point. I was going to ask if maybe they had a blue 31 or maybe a railfreight ( obviously not a sound one) and if not a railfreight 56, which is approx the same retail price. BUT the receptionist didn't even give me a chance to specify my alternatives as i was told, on giving my details, what was my choice of the 2 offered. I asked if there was any alternative, only to be told if i didnt want one of those 2 then i would have to wait for repair. Sorry but i dont think what i intended to ask for was unreasonable.

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You guys are lucky here in the US we are just basically ignored , no letter nothing . To get mine fixed they ( Hornby ) offered to send me the bits to do it myself ??? I will be contacting them again shortly

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Yes, i do think their attitude is unreasonable. The 31 has been out of service for over a year now. I was constantly fobbed off in the early days and am now being offered something i dont want. The day my 31 is to be 'fixed' keeps being put back. Just supposing i had bought a Black car from new, because i wanted one of those. The chassis corroded and snaped, A year later the manufacturer offers me one in yellow or red. I would not be happy. OK maybe a car isn't the best choice of comparison but it illustrates my point. I was going to ask if maybe they had a blue 31 or maybe a railfreight ( obviously not a sound one) and if not a railfreight 56, which is approx the same retail price. BUT the receptionist didn't even give me a chance to specify my alternatives as i was told, on giving my details, what was my choice of the 2 offered. I asked if there was any alternative, only to be told if i didnt want one of those 2 then i would have to wait for repair. Sorry but i dont think what i intended to ask for was unreasonable.

 

This has all been discussed before. Basically due to the way Hornby (and Bachmann, etc produce their models these days) Hornby cannot suddenly produce a new chasis. They have to get in contact with the factory in China (which is not owned, managed or even dedicated to Hornby products) and try and arange a production slot for new chasis blocks which given they way the system works, you are looking at anywhere between 6 and 18 months for one to become avalable. Hence the wait.

 

This is where your car anology falls down because car production lines continually turn out the same products, i.e. Ford don't say 'this month we will make a batch of Focus cars, next month we will do some transit vans, the month after that some KAs, they have dedicated production lines turning out the same thing 365 days a year. If Hornby did the same they would have a production line turning out only class 31s 365 days a year. Also when they stop production of a particular car, thats it - if all the spares get used up then tough - its down to making your own or getting them from the breakers.

 

 

Just wondering , if Hornby can continue to produce class 31's why can they not replace at least the chassis for us ???

 

Again this is more to do with the batch production line system than anything else. The current crop of class 31s will have been ordered with the factory in China at least 6 months ago and as with any contract (remember Hornby don't own the factory) it will have been for a specific number of locos in a specific number of liveries. Hornby cannot now simply say they have changed their mind and want something different, instead they will have to book a new production slot in the future. Hence why have Regional railways & Network rail class 31s in stock, but not any Dutch liveried examples.

Edited by phil-b259
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You guys are lucky here in the US we are just basically ignored , no letter nothing . To get mine fixed they ( Hornby ) offered to send me the bits to do it myself ??? I will be contacting them again shortly

There are a few 31 owners here that would be happy to have even this much response. The offer would certainly be accepted.

The wholesaler for Australia (Southern Model Supplies) who allegedly deal with warranty issues are a waste of time if there is ever a problem. Their view is any faults are always customer inflicted and not a warranty issue.

Matthew

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Surely Hornby, who knew of this problem a couple of years ago, should have worked out that a lot of complaints would come in. Therefore should have ordered more replacement chassis some time ago. Without repeating myself, i contacted Hornby over a year ago, if they can't get adequate chassis in that time then perhaps they should look at their supplier. Most companies moved production to China to keep costs down and therefore keep prices down over here. Dont see much of that as Hornby RRPs are higher than most. Maybe they should have kept production at Margate.

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if they can't get adequate chassis in that time then perhaps they should look at their supplier.

 

It's quite as simple as that - production slots in the factories are booked a long time in advance. Production of spares isn't the same as it was over here.

 

Most companies moved production to China to keep costs down and therefore keep prices down over here.

 

The former yes, but the latter doesn't automatically follow in business.

 

Maybe they should have kept production at Margate.

 

Wouldn't prices be even higher then though?!

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I've had a chat with Simon Kohler this morning to get further information for you.

 

Hornby are awaiting the further replacement elements from their supplier after the initial returns were honoured (this is to address the problems that materialised after the first returns); this has taken far longer than anticipated and is a frustration to Hornby and they apologise for the additional delays and are disappointed to disappoint their customers.

 

The replacement elements are currently expected to be available to Hornby around August time; any customers who have returned items will see the replacements emerge from that point forward. If any customers have a pressing need for a replacement ahead of that due process taking place Hornby can offer a replacement from currently available stock of Class 31s. They understand that this may not give the customer a direct replacement and would hope that customers can bear with them a little longer if the direct replacement is needed.

 

My thanks to Simon for being genuinely concerned and keen to offer solutions.

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To maintain a little balance, I sent mine back a short time ago and it was all sorted within two weeks.

 

A nice covering letter from Hornby and they also sent back the original body! This was only split around the body where the opening cab doors are and easily sorted.

 

As an alternative, Lima 31's (not a bad model at all) can be picked up cheaply and fix a Model Torque motor (from Inter City Models).

 

Conversion takes no more than 30 mins max and transforms the model. :)

 

To be fair tho, I was probably on the tail end of the last of the chassis footplate that were available.

 

And it could be worse, having had to wait quite a few years for a chassis for Bachy's N class Mogul!!!

 

And you have to replace it yourself.....................so well done Hornby for doing what they can. ;)

Edited by BlackRat
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I've had a chat with Simon Kohler this morning to get further information for you.

 

Hornby are awaiting the further replacement elements from their supplier after the initial returns were honoured (this is to address the problems that materialised after the first returns); this has taken far longer than anticipated and is a frustration to Hornby and they apologise for the additional delays and are disappoint to disappoint their customers.

 

The replacement elements are currently expected to be available to Hornby around August time; any customers who have returned items will see the replacements emerge from that point forward. If any customers have a pressing need for a replacement ahead of that due process taking place Hornby can offer a replacement from currently available stock of Class 31s. They understand that this may not give the customer a direct replacement and would hope that customers can bear with them a little longer if the direct replacement is needed.

 

My thanks to Simon for being genuinely concerned and keen to offer solutions.

 

Thank you for coming through again Andy , YOU DA MAN , :-) I will have to have a word with Hornby to see if they want me to send the models back or if they are going to send me the stuff to fix it myself . Looking forward to hearing my 31 growl around the layout again :-)

martin

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Hi All

Just a thought if Hornby were to remove the body from for example the

N Rail one and then offered the yellow body for sale would this not help

I for one would be interested in purchasing a yellow body

As an afterthought I scrapped ny faulty chassis not realising that Hornby

were going to replace same what a dumbell !!!!

David

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You guys are lucky here in the US we are just basically ignored , no letter nothing . To get mine fixed they ( Hornby ) offered to send me the bits to do it myself ??? I will be contacting them again shortly

 

I'm in the US and have received the letter discussed above offering the replacements as an alternative to waiting. I will wait until August for the repaired version to be available. I also received the earlier letter apologising for the delays.

 

Phil.

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I'm in the US and have received the letter discussed above offering the replacements as an alternative to waiting. I will wait until August for the repaired version to be available. I also received the earlier letter apologising for the delays.

 

Phil.

 

Maybe they have no clue as to where Norwood Ohio is then ;-) Best I have got so far is an email acknowledging the email I sent them and I was told that they would not be available until June , nothing after that , except for a message that Andy kindly gave me !! :-)

 

martin

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Thanks for stepping in there Andy and getting some helpful info for us...

I had just about given up on Hornby to be honest as I started my ball rolling with them in May 2009.

I have just sent another email to customer care to see what happens now, It is good though that they are trying to fix the problem for us.

Here's to hopefully have a solution to the problem soon

cheers

Anthony

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Just received and email from Hornby in the UK asking me to send the two locos for repairs to Margate , I checked on the cost to ship them there it is going to run me between $75 and $125 depending on the size and weight of the package and that is uninsured and unsigned for ??? Man that hurts to say the least , I am retired and money is hard to come by these days and it is not even my fault they are damaged merchandise ??? Am i wrong in being a bit peeved at this ??

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Just received and email from Hornby in the UK asking me to send the two locos for repairs to Margate , I checked on the cost to ship them there it is going to run me between $75 and $125 depending on the size and weight of the package and that is uninsured and unsigned for ??? Man that hurts to say the least , I am retired and money is hard to come by these days and it is not even my fault they are damaged merchandise ??? Am i wrong in being a bit peeved at this ??

 

Ouch.. and I thought shipping costs in Canada were high. I had to send back a GWR 2800 because it had numerous faults. Signed and tracked by air was less than $30!

 

I know here in Canada you can get ripped off by franchises as they do not have to charge the going rate. I try to take all of my items to corporate Canada Post outlets, and try to avoid the ones located in the local convenience store and Shoppers Drug Mart.

 

I'm not familiar with the US postal system, but perhaps you have a similar option also?

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Ouch.. and I thought shipping costs in Canada were high. I had to send back a GWR 2800 because it had numerous faults. Signed and tracked by air was less than $30!

 

I know here in Canada you can get ripped off by franchises as they do not have to charge the going rate. I try to take all of my items to corporate Canada Post outlets, and try to avoid the ones located in the local convenience store and Shoppers Drug Mart.

 

I'm not familiar with the US postal system, but perhaps you have a similar option also?

 

We do have a few options none of them cheaper than the USPS system . I can prob save some bucks by going first class international but that is with no insurance nor sign for !! I will look into it and see what my option are . I may just go hang out at the airport terminal and hold up a sign .... " Need locos delivered to the UK , will work for carriage !!! " In case some kind soul will offer to take it for me with their carryon and post it there :-) seems to work for the bums on the corners down here ;-)

Edited by oldknotty
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I may just go hang out at the airport terminal and hold up a sign .... " Need locos delivered to the UK , will work for carriage !!! " In case some kind soul will offer to take it for me with their carryon and post it there :-) seems to work for the bums on the corners down here ;-)

 

Careful now............we wouldn't want you to get arrested by the TSA !

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