2014 Hornby Announcements

[Ron Ron Ron]

........*The admin has stated that production of these is now coming to an end and the error thus stays on.

 

 

Which rather supports my point above !

Just give up on them. That sort of situation isn't going to change now.

[Multiple identity account]

I'm disappointed people can't see that this sort of level of detail and quality, is all we are going to get from Hornby from now on.

Personally I think they're finished as a good source for quality RTR models and we should be looking towards those companies who have a vested interest in producing quality models, rather than a company who are more wedded to mass market toy manufacturing.

 

Sorry folks. I know I'll get a lot of negative comment, or even hate mail, but I couldn't care less if the company folded tomorrow to be honest.

After all, from everything we've witnessed, read and learnt over the last couple of years, it seems there's almost no hope of restitution to the previous high standards for the foreseeable future.

I honestly wish I was wrong and would welcome having to eat my own words in a year or two.

 

 

.

Oooo yea right because all the pre-production images of the SR 700 Class, K1, D15/9 and so on were absolutely low quality. I sometimes wonder why my eyes actually fall on such silly posts like this!! A waste of a post

[Multiple identity account]

 

Just give up on them. That sort of situation isn't going to change now.

 

I'd like to give up on seeing you're posts.... People don't change when a whole lot of Bachmann's Mk1s came out in a wrong shade of green so why would people want to give up on on a number where the last digit is wrong?

[The Black Hat]

Which rather supports my point above !

Just give up on them. That sort of situation isn't going to change now.

 

Yes you can be like that. Or you can be more pro-active. If your that bothered about getting your 37 with TTS in Network Rail then you can, if your so bothered about the number then its a simple 10 mins job with some transfers.

 

Not everyone is going to be so particular about the rivets on a model, or loose sleep if the blue space on the coach is 2 mil lower than it should be. While some might conjecture about this and magazines like the one mentioned above write a scathing review on a product, which is then attempted to be recycled by those reading and respouting to try and look clever, the fact is that the products will go to sale and often be bought by those looking into getting what they want. If they end up reduced slighly then so be it, but the company makes a return.

 

What with new products like the P2 being fairly well recieved and the K1 also forthcoming and looking to be good, Hornbys prospects are on the up. Their work with getting the write number and things for diesels, especially more modern ones on the network today has been well documented and I would imagine thats down to researchers more used to using pictures and text from the 60s than standing at Crewe station with a camera or using Google.

 

If you want it, buy it, if you have an opinion express it well, but if not, dont spoil it for those pleased to get what they want.

[Multiple identity account]

Yes you can be like that. Or you can be more pro-active. If your that bothered about getting your 37 with TTS in Network Rail then you can, if your so bothered about the number then its a simple 10 mins job with some transfers.

 

Not everyone is going to be so particular about the rivets on a model, or loose sleep if the blue space on the coach is 2 mil lower than it should be. While some might conjecture about this and magazines like the one mentioned above write a scathing review on a product, which is then attempted to be recycled by those reading and respouting to try and look clever, the fact is that the products will go to sale and often be bought by those looking into getting what they want. If they end up reduced slighly then so be it, but the company makes a return.

 

What with new products like the P2 being fairly well recieved and the K1 also forthcoming and looking to be good, Hornbys prospects are on the up. Their work with getting the write number and things for diesels, especially more modern ones on the network today has been well documented and I would imagine thats down to researchers more used to using pictures and text from the 60s than standing at Crewe station with a camera or using Google.

 

If you want it, buy it, if you have an opinion express it well, but if not, dont spoil it for those pleased to get what they want.

Well said David, all it requires is a bit of modelling. Very much reflects Simon's latest blog - people are losing their modelling touch nowadays. Everyone just wants RTR stuff to be more than accurate.

[James Makin]

Slightly OT but for 97301 I'd repaint a Bachmann 37, you know that way it'll be a good runner! There seems to be a dirty great hole next to the fuel tank on the prototype and that'd make for a great fun project if modelling's your bag!

[reevesthecat]

I am wondering if the chassis can be used under an old lima 37 hopefully not too long before I can find out!

[Multiple identity account]

I am wondering if the chassis can be used under an old lima 37 hopefully not too long before I can find out!

It is the old Lima tooling so I think it can be used, after all Hornby only changed the motor and couplings AFAIK.

[GraemeWatson]

I am wondering if the chassis can be used under an old lima 37 hopefully not too long before I can find out!

The Hornby regional railways Class 37 was a direct swap wit the Lima bodies.

Beware, Hornby trim excess internal glazing to allow for the larger bogie tower their enclosed motor is contained in. I replaced a Lima 47 with the Limby Chassis and noted this; the body goes on, but too much tension is generated by the buffers holding the body on the chassis: =body crack over time (Unless you trim your Lima internal glazing to accommodate the bogie tower)

[robf]

**I'm sorry to hijack this thread but felt that the update about this 2014 Hornby item would best fit here.

 

When the range was announced someone on RMweb rightly pointed out that The R3289TTS Class 37 (97) in Network Rail livery had the wrong body in the picture. The picture displayed a center headcode panel/headlights where as 97301 actually has a flush panel. I immediately rook this topic to Hornby's notice and was told it would be looked into.

 

Recently whilst browsing I came across a topic on Hornby's forum where this was discussed and quite sad to say that despite the admin being very responsive and helpful proper care was not take to ensure the right body was used and/or number changed to 97303 which was a little bit more suitable for the body depicted.

 

The admin has stated that production of these is now coming to an end and the error thus stays on.

 

Regards.

J.

It was me who pointed this out back in January.  I also posted on the Hornby Forum but received no response.  It's a little disappointing that Hornby haven't listened.  On the plus side it shouldn't be too difficult to alter the number.

[robf]

The Hornby regional railways Class 37 was a direct swap wit the Lima bodies.

Beware, Hornby trim excess internal glazing to allow for the larger bogie tower their enclosed motor is contained in. I replaced a Lima 47 with the Limby Chassis and noted this; the body goes on, but too much tension is generated by the buffers holding the body on the chassis: =body crack over time (Unless you trim your Lima internal glazing to accommodate the bogie tower)

I've done a number of Lima body swaps with the Hornby 31,37 and 47 chassis.  When you add DCC lighting they don't look too bad.

[GordonC]

Well said David, all it requires is a bit of modelling. Very much reflects Simon's latest blog - people are losing their modelling touch nowadays. Everyone just wants RTR stuff to be more than accurate.

 

Maybe they are, but when the price keeps going up and up then can consumers not expect RTR to be more accurate? I am more forgiving of moulding errors or compromises where exact details would be more difficult to reproduce than livery errors. When the livery is wrong it just indicates a lack of care or research that just shouldn't happen. How hard is it these days to search for photos of a particular prototype on the internet?? Coaches may be slightly harder to find, but photos of locos are everywhere.

[Dunsignalling]

I am wondering if the chassis can be used under an old lima 37 hopefully not too long before I can find out!

If it's like the 47 the body itself should fit fine. However, as someone else has pointed out, the Hornby motor unit is bigger and fouls the Lima glazing.

 

I bought a complete Hornby 47 to get a new chassis for 'George Jackson Churchward' and the glazing from the new body clipped straight into the old one.

 

The bodyshell mouldings appear to be unchanged from when Lima made them. 

 

John

[coachmann]

Has anyone experience of ordering items off the Hornby website? Just wondering as I haven't received an email confirmation of my order...Is this usual?  I don't know what to think....Perhaps the Gresley corridor coaches are being advertised but are not in stock as yet. Glad I noted down the order number.

[robmcg]

Has anyone experience of ordering items off the Hornby website? Just wondering as I haven't received an email confirmation of my order...Is this usual?  I don't know what to think....Perhaps the Gresley corridor coaches are being advertised but are not in stock as yet. Glad I noted down the order number.

 

I bought a recent A3 60103 weathered, direct from Hornby.com and received an order number and confirmation of the order, payment was by PayPal.  The Email said they would inform me when it was despatched but I don't see that in my list of mail received. It arrived well packed and undamaged about 10 days later. It wasn't quite perfectly assembled so eventually I Emailed them to ask about repair/replacement and they invited my by Email to send it back to them at their expense, (of course I have had to pay £20 to return it) which I did,  about 2 weeks ago  (normal airmail 7-10 days) haven't heard a thing....   will have to chase it up I guess  with customercare@Hornby.com  quoting the order number, or simply replying to the Email I received about replacing it.

 

In short, I didn't receive an Email confirming despatch.

 

Better than Modelfair who took my money for their advertised R3127 2-8-2T GWR, but after two weeks no delivery, nothing, several Emails including eventually a stern one and they said they couldn't supply that model, 'sorry'.   Refund in 5 days.  After 7 days no refund, I opened a dispute with them in PayPal and they refunded the price that very day, but not the transfer/admin fees of £20!    

 

on the other hand Modelfair are sometimes great, fast, and Email tracking number on day of receipt of order and despatch.

 

Seems you have to harass sellers to get them to act sometimes.

[Ian Hargrave]

Has anyone experience of ordering items off the Hornby website? Just wondering as I haven't received an email confirmation of my order...Is this usual?  I don't know what to think....Perhaps the Gresley corridor coaches are being advertised but are not in stock as yet. Glad I noted down the order number.

They are in the process of a warehouse move from Margate to Canterbury,which may account for the silence.

[40F]

I bought a recent A3 60103 weathered, direct from Hornby.com and received an order number and confirmation of the order, payment was by PayPal.  The Email said they would inform me when it was despatched but I don't see that in my list of mail received. It arrived well packed and undamaged about 10 days later. It wasn't quite perfectly assembled so eventually I Emailed them to ask about repair/replacement and they invited my by Email to send it back to them at their expense, (of course I have had to pay £20 to return it) which I did,  about 2 weeks ago  (normal airmail 7-10 days) haven't heard a thing....   will have to chase it up I guess  with customercare@Hornby.com  quoting the order number, or simply replying to the Email I received about replacing it.

 

In short, I didn't receive an Email confirming despatch.

 

Better than Modelfair who took my money for their advertised R3127 2-8-2T GWR, but after two weeks no delivery, nothing, several Emails including eventually a stern one and they said they couldn't supply that model, 'sorry'.   Refund in 5 days.  After 7 days no refund, I opened a dispute with them in PayPal and they refunded the price that very day, but not the transfer/admin fees of £20!    

 

on the other hand Modelfair are sometimes great, fast, and Email tracking number on day of receipt of order and despatch.

 

Seems you have to harass sellers to get them to act sometimes.

 

A quicker way would be to phone 01843 233500 and ask for Service Department and then you actually SPEAK to somebody.

[rembrow]

Answering coachman's query, I've had the same experience with ordering from Hornby. On the two occasions I've pre-ordered I haven't received a confirmation e-mail from them when the goods were being despatched, however I did, on both occasions receive an e-mail from their carrier, UK Mail, advising that they were dealing with a parcel for me, unfortunately their communication gave reference numbers totally different to my Hornby order refs and didn't quote Hornby as the supplier. Both of my orders, although received by me, still show on my Hornby account as 'processing'. I took this up with Hornby on the first despatch and they couldn't find any problems at their end of the electronic system. Others have mentioned similar issues so I suspect some accounts have glitches where the despatch doesn't fully complete the messaging system, I suspect in the case of my orders, as the system seems to be electronically stuck as processing the order, it doesn't trigger the e-mail to advise the order is being fulfilled. 

[coachmann]

Thanks for your replies. I went onto Hornby's website this morning before coming on here and it appears they are experiencing delivery problems.....

 

 

"At Hornby HQ we are aware that there are a number of orders on our system for which we are currently not meeting our delivery promise -  delivery of product within 5 working days of receipt of your order.

This has occurred due to high demand for our products, but is clearly not the service we wish to give you.
We are taking actions to recover the situation and we hope to be back to normal within the next few days.

In the meantime we request that you bear with us while we get back on track.

We appreciate your patience".

[Ian Hargrave]

A quicker way would be to phone 01843 233500 and ask for Service Department and then you actually SPEAK to somebody.

Rob lives in New Zealand.....some phone call...

[Oldddudders]

Rob lives in New Zealand.....some phone call...

You know that, I know that, Rob knows that - but his signature doesn't say so. I do wonder why people can't give a little more info as to their location. I know folk fear identity theft, but naming a country, or even a county, isn't that much of a clue for the villains!

[robmcg]

I sometimes call shops or sellers directly, so it is only relevant that I live in NZ from the cost of delivery, and time, point of view.  My profile now says where I live.

 

Just got an Email from Hornby regarding my faulty A3 weathered 60103, they will replace it when they have new stock, which they 'expect' early in December. Sincerely... etc.

 

BUT THEY HAVE STOCK available on their website 'add to basket',,,,  

 

I have sent a terse reply.

 

Bloody poor service. I am tempted to ring them and talk to the gentleman concerned, but getting past the receptionist may be a problem.

 

I bought a 5075 'Wellington Castle' from a shop in the north of England from memory and it too was a bit warped (the model, that is, though my memory may qualify too), not as badly as the A3, and when I photographed it here in a Castle thread Andy Y asked, when I edited out the faults, why I didn't return it for replacement.

 

a/ the shop doesn't necessarily have a replacement.

b/ the replacement is as just as likely to have faults.

c/ I lose the model and might only be offered, eventually, a refund, with a whole lot of energy wasted.

 

I can and do ask for replacement or refund for major faults like non-runner, damaged, broken, warped, etc.

 

I CANNOT BELIEVE that Hornby say they have received my model back and I must wait until mid-late December for a replacement when they are selling the A3 on line as I write!   arrrgghh! 

 

This really is very poor.

[robmcg]

They are in the process of a warehouse move from Margate to Canterbury,which may account for the silence.

 

It might account for some things but it does not excuse ineptitude, confusion, and in fact should have little to do with E-sales.  You either have an item for sale or you don't.  A computer doesn't care if the item is in Kent or Northumberland. At least it should spit out an official document of sale.

 

I sell a lot of my models by internet auction and/or buy now and would die of shame if I acted with zero response to a purchase, I always give a thankyou Email which serves as a point of reference for any problems with payment or delivery or product condition etc.  That is SO BASIC. 

 

Clearly I am not impressed with Hornby today!

[Retro_man]

 

BUT THEY HAVE STOCK available on their website 'add to basket',,,,  

 

I CANNOT BELIEVE that Hornby say they have received my model back and I must wait until mid-late December for a replacement when they are selling the A3 on line as I write!   arrrgghh! 

 

This really is very poor.

 

Hi Rob,

 

You are right - this is very poor service. It is one thing to tell retailers they cannot have stock being sold in the on-line store but a whole lot worse if they cannot pull an item to replace a customer's defective item, especially as it was purchased from their on-line store!

 

If I treated my customers like that I would not expect to stay in business very long!

 

Steve

Model Railway Imports

Canada

[Ian Hargrave]

Hornby's attitude in all of the above posts redefines the word cynical.The want of replacement stock and the suspicion that such will not guarantee satisfaction in any case strike a familiar chord.Some of us have been in an identical situation in the last year.

 

What can we do to stop this happening time and time again ? In a couple of days time,like many on this forum,I'm off to tha Warley Show.I'm lucky.I live within an hour's driving time.If I'm fortunate enough to purchase something I like at a favourable price,I'll be taking it straight to the test track stand (for all gauges).If what I buy is not fit for purpose,it'll be returned quickly to whence it came.Thus I won't have the grief of opening the box and finding bits missing,broken or bent or a loco that's dead on the tracks and thinking "Oh,'b####r',it's got to be re packed and returned to sender". Most do not have the option...especially Rob and other overseas customers.

 

We are not the only ones suffering.Retailers are in the same position and their patience is being very sorely tried.Quite recently I was contacted by one of Hornby''s major retailers and a very important player in the game.I was asked in the course of conversation for my opinion on new Hornby releases and the dreaded QC immediately sprung to my lips..The issue was taken up and the concern expressed to Hornby management. I would have thought that this was one retailer that Hornby cannot afford to offend.Spare then a thought for the many smaller retailers with absolutely zero clout and no place at the conference table and the contempt by which they are treated by Hornby.

 

Spare us the sugary,glitzy window dressed newsletters and ensure adequate stocks delivered on time and fit for purpose,please.

 

Or are we asking for too much in our stocking this Christmas 2014,2015,2017,2017,2018.............?