charliepetty Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Many more customer orders to go yet, the non DCC ones are first, passenger fitted second, dcc fitted third, dcc & passengers fourth & sound fitted last. With over 500 ATW & FGW already shipped out, we are working as quick as we can, many more to go out yet! PM me on Charlie@dckits.co.uk Sorry but we are a bit busy!! Every unit is opened, checked, tested, repacked & wrapped. Approx 15 minutes per unit! Edited May 14, 2015 by charliepetty 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I see that picture is prototypical, they are all using the one door! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) I enquired last December about the lack-of-update on the website, as the then-quoted delivery time had arrived or passed, and again in February; and that is when I heard both about the SagePay change causing old orders to effectively be cancelled - but without anyone bothering to advise customers! - and the increased price. So I duly re-ordered in February, and took the opportunity to modify the order to include dcc, sound and people (without people, a railway runs at a loss!, with Beeching's accountants, lines ran at a loss, regardless 8-) ) I'm still waiting to receive my model - the Sage Pay notification contains no details of the order, just an order reference number - the website still says Mid-April, and correspondants on this site appear t have been receiving models since March (from an initial batch, apparently) - starting with analogue models. As Kernow now have stock in their possession, and will be attending a show locally this weekend, I am planning on buying (an unfitted) one from them .... just need to disturb the despatch process first, to find which destination I am still waiting for from Realtrack, so they are not the same (the amount not having appeared on my card as of yesterday)! Some occasional updating on the website, would be appreciated by all, I am sure! (Amended to correct the date of 're-pre-ordering', when the date moved back again: having enquired in both Decemebr and February ... Writing the orignal version also overlapped the publishing here, but (still not) on their website, of the despatch order)) Edited May 15, 2015 by Phil S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tase Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Phil, I recollect reading on another thread that the DCC sound fitted ones will be the last to be shipped out. Perhaps an email to Charlie may answer the question. The website isn't the best but then its effectively a one man operation. I'd rather Charlie spent any time sending out orders rather than tinkering with the website. No information/communication is frustrating but the beauty of a forum like this one is that you'll most likely have an answer sooner than you think! Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 My local(ish) model shop is still waiting for my DCC ready ones to be delivered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesthecat Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 You do know the top post on this page is Charlie stating which order the units are going out in. I agree through that's no good if you only watch the website Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Phil: Customer communication SHOULD be through the Company Website, if not more direct by email etc .... not having to be searched out from some random choice of forum ! It does not take a lot of time to update one's own website with a simple, accurate message - even if only on a weekly basis! If the order in which models are being processed has nothing to do with when they were ordered ( a difficulty perhaps, with having to 'reorder' at whatever time the price rise and /or Sage Pay change was known but not communicated) , then this information too, should have been placed on the company website - from which the (pre-)order was originally made ! I appreciate that there is a logic in the applied sequence - but there is also logic in advising customers of when they would be likely to receive an order .... especially after such repeated delays...if it did not turn up because of the Sage Pay situation, and you only discovered this when it was too late to obtain a model, you would justifiably be annoyed! As of NOW, their website still conveys simply the following message... Pre-order Now - (DeliveryMid April 2015) Sorry for any delays. but this is beyond our control Communication is, however, not out of their control - or shouldn't be. I have now cancelled my order via Realtrack, and will simply collect the basic units in person from another supplier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) We as mentioned are opening, checking & testing every one, this take about 15 minutes per unit! Over 560 have been supplied, 42 went out last week and probably another 30+ next week. Sorry BUT I am doing my best. Next time should I tell no one I have them, Check every one (1400 Models) then when all models have been done send them out! That's the simple option I have, re the price increase, with the First Great Western livery being so complicated we decided on getting it spot on, thus the delivery on both ATWales & FG Western were 9 months late. Until we had 'Perfect' samples we cannot order them, that's the truth. I can see here more complaints if we got the livery wrong, unlike Bachmann & Hornby we took the bold step to do the complicated FGW livery. The increase we had was 20% (IE £110.00 + 20% = £132.00) so we added £10.00 to our £110.00 making them only £120.00 to our Website a long, long time ago. Most customers we informed of the increase by e.mail and asked for new card details when we were ready to despatch there models as we had no intention of adding an increase to old orders. Most customers re-order some did not. That's fine by us. Is it REALTRACK ONLY with late deliveries or is every other manufacturer getting Chinese deliveries spot on time!!!!! We have NO control of Chinese promises, but to be fair to our supplier, if US Manufacturer orders 15,000 models, Australian Manufacturer orders 5000 models then a UK manufacturer orders 2500 models and we at Realtrack orders 1400 models, also we requiring a very complicated livery, it not hard to guess which of the above deliveries take priority, ITS NOT OURS. Sorry but that is the way or business. ALL chasing enquires/questions please send to me here at REALTRACK. I will get back to all enquiries. Charlie Edited May 17, 2015 by charliepetty 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven156 Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I think we have to put into context PhilS that Charlie as usual is working like a trojan as usual to get these fantastic models to us. He hasn't got the luxury of sauntering into a factory and saying make me 1000 of these, pronto. Bachmann and Hornby when they produce models in their factories don't even have this luxury. He hasn't got the luxury of being at the factory at the other side of the work to ensure the work made by the factory is right. This is why he takes the time to ensure the product is right. Bachmann and Hornby have proved this with some of the howlers that have reached the shops. Remember the Hornby Coal Sector Class 56 with the logos the wrong way round? The Bachmann Class 66's in DRS livery where the factory mis-printed the white lettering? The Bachmann EPB where the coach numbers were transposed on both coaches? He hasn't got what Hornby and Bachmann have which is a full production team of staff or their distribution networks and methods. The FGW livery with all the place names on it has still to be produced by Hornby and Bachmann, indeed they have went for the easy way out and done them in the plain livery. These place names are tiny and will require several passes on a printing machine to put onto the model that is not smooth by virtue of the fact the body side represents a prototype that is full of rivets. He is providing a product that is extremely well priced for what it is and to an extremely high specification. I have a Northern Rail Class 144 that is the absolute business and to put it beside a Hornby Class 155 in Northern Rail livery in a box that has the cheek to say "super detail" still makes me chuckle. He is personally testing the sets to check you don't get a lemon. As Simon Kohler said himself on his "Simon Says" blog you could buy a Hornby loco years ago and there was no guarantee it would actually work! All the meanwhile he is running a business, attending shows and god knows what else! I have to admit from first seeing the first moulds of the 144, to a prepainted sample to getting a production one felt like a long time, and indeed to Charlie it must have felt like an eternity but the wait was well worth it. Give the guy a chance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I am waiting for 2 of these (ordered through a local model shop in Exmouth) and I am certain that Charlie and (his small) team will get these out as soon as is humanly possible but if everyone keeps ringing them up then as they are only human they can only do one thing at a time, would you like them to answer the phone or get the models out? Give them a chance, they have been a lot more honest than certain other manufacturers and deserves our support, thanks and patience. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skin_2 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 The models are certainly worth waiting for, the detail is really awesome. Fitting the decoder is a bit of a fiddle, the body comes off easily enough, it's getting the seat casting back on that i found most difficult. I glued the springs to the base and put a chamfer on the seat casting and they went in just fine. The current pick up is good too from just four wheels per car. Keith 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 I had to make a small modification on my 143 618 to allow it to run over my track with third and fourth rail. The main problem was the extremely small clearance under the 'boxes' that retain the axles and the gear trains dragging on the fourth rail. With the float allowed by the springing, I also found that one of the boxes on the trailing car was snagging slightly on one of my points' blades. My solution was to file a groove along the length of each box, as per the photo.Charlie and Arran: While not too many people will be affected as I was (there aren't many with fourth rail), I wonder if you could modify the design slightly for future production runs to allow more clearance under the units anyway. From what I can see, the "lids" (or baseplates) of the boxes don't need to be quite as deep as they are currently. I present this as a suggestion only, as only you two know the real costs and practicalities of making such a modification.I agree with everything that has been said in praise of these models. The finish is superb and the running is faultless (I'm not blaming the unit for the problem with my fourth rail!). Well done, the Realtrack team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted May 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 29, 2015 No stress Charlie but did you get the pm or email about my order? I'll ask tomorrow too as I'm picking up a chip off Biff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) OK Charlie Charlie Edited May 31, 2015 by charliepetty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) Mine arrived yesterday, well this morning actually, my postie left it with a neighbour. Opened it up and was immediately impressed, well worth every penny. A few very minor things done, painted fire extinguishers, door step yellow, circuit breaker panel behind driver's seat and the tops of saloon seats FGW pink. Removed arm rests from second mans seat and put a few passengers and crew in. The main seat colour should be darker, but decided that when assembled it would make the interior too dark. As I said, very impressed and looking forward to both types of Swindon 124 DMUs that I keep nagging you about Charlie just added a couple or three pictures on Gurney Slade. Edited May 29, 2015 by JZ 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted May 30, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 30, 2015 (edited) Cheers Guys much appreciated for the pickup today, got it straight out and it runs beautifully well worth it. Edited May 30, 2015 by PaulRhB 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I am waiting for 2 of these (ordered through a local model shop in Exmouth) and I am certain that Charlie and (his small) team will get these out as soon as is humanly possible but if everyone keeps ringing them up then as they are only human they can only do one thing at a time, would you like them to answer the phone or get the models out? Give them a chance, they have been a lot more honest than certain other manufacturers and deserves our support, thanks and patience. Update to the above post. A few days after I made the above post I got a phone call from Lee to advise me that he had received them from Realtrack so we agreed to meet at Exmouth station and I am now the proud owner of 2 of these units, not had them out of the box yet but hopefully will in a few weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Update to the above post.A few days after I made the above post I got a phone call from Lee to advise me that he had received them from Realtrack so we agreed to meet at Exmouth station and I am now the proud owner of 2 of these units, not had them out of the box yet but hopefully will in a few weeks.When you've got 'em outa the box pull in here for a bite maybe ? Cheers 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Very nice, it was good to meet you (even briefly) the other day! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skin_2 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Phil: Customer communication SHOULD be through the Company Website, if not more direct by email etc .... not having to be searched out from some random choice of forum ! It does not take a lot of time to update one's own website with a simple, accurate message - even if only on a weekly basis! If the order in which models are being processed has nothing to do with when they were ordered ( a difficulty perhaps, with having to 'reorder' at whatever time the price rise and /or Sage Pay change was known but not communicated) , then this information too, should have been placed on the company website - from which the (pre-)order was originally made ! I appreciate that there is a logic in the applied sequence - but there is also logic in advising customers of when they would be likely to receive an order .... especially after such repeated delays...if it did not turn up because of the Sage Pay situation, and you only discovered this when it was too late to obtain a model, you would justifiably be annoyed! As of NOW, their website still conveys simply the following message... Pre-order Now - (DeliveryMid April 2015) Sorry for any delays. but this is beyond our control Communication is, however, not out of their control - or shouldn't be. I have now cancelled my order via Realtrack, and will simply collect the basic units in person from another supplier. I think this an unfortunate lack of communication, which indeed left me wondering if my order had ever been received and/or processed. I hadn't been looking at this thread and so I had no idea about any issue with SagePay, although my pre-order was long after the price increase. The first I heard was an email from Charlie on 25th May which reads 'Your order for First Great Western Class 143s is ready for despatch but for some reason your Credit Card has not worked, no idea why! Could you ring us on 01132 563415 with NEW card details please'. No mention of any issue with SagePay. I have no idea why the card details were rejected as they were authenticated by SagePay at the time of the pre-order last November. I don't have a new card so the details are still the same and applying for payment using the same details is just going to be rejected again and again. In any case, my card has been accepted elsewhere with no difficulty. I did take this up with Charlie and the response I got was to re-order via the website or call with the card details. As these would be the same details, presumably they will be rejected again. I think Phis S does have a point that if there's no communication then there's always the risk of missing out on an excellent model because we just don't know what's happening. I don't want to end up paying twice for one however good it is! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tase Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 The first I heard was an email from Charlie on 25th May which reads 'Your order for First Great Western Class 143s is ready for despatch but for some reason your Credit Card has not worked, no idea why! Could you ring us on 01132 563415 with NEW card details please'. No mention of any issue with SagePay. I have no idea why the card details were rejected as they were authenticated by SagePay at the time of the pre-order last November. I don't have a new card so the details are still the same and applying for payment using the same details is just going to be rejected again and again. In any case, my card has been accepted elsewhere with no difficulty. I did take this up with Charlie and the response I got was to re-order via the website or call with the card details. As these would be the same details, presumably they will be rejected again. I think Phis S does have a point that if there's no communication then there's always the risk of missing out on an excellent model because we just don't know what's happening. I don't want to end up paying twice for one however good it is! Keith Keith, It may be worth phoning Charlie with your credit card details even if they have not changed since you placed your online order. When you place an order online and pay with a credit card what in effect is happening is that the retailer is asking your credit card issuer to 'hold' funds to the value of your order until the retailer is ready to despatch your order at which point the actual transaction takes place and your card is actually debited. This 'hold' is not indefinite and will expire at some future point. Your order was placed in November 2014 and was ready to be shipped in May 2015 - 7 months. This may be the reason for the card being declined. If you submit your card details again and they are declined then you may need to contact your card issuer. HTH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skin_2 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Keith, It may be worth phoning Charlie with your credit card details even if they have not changed since you placed your online order. When you place an order online and pay with a credit card what in effect is happening is that the retailer is asking your credit card issuer to 'hold' funds to the value of your order until the retailer is ready to despatch your order at which point the actual transaction takes place and your card is actually debited. This 'hold' is not indefinite and will expire at some future point. Your order was placed in November 2014 and was ready to be shipped in May 2015 - 7 months. This may be the reason for the card being declined. If you submit your card details again and they are declined then you may need to contact your card issuer. HTH Thanks for this. I understand about card details not being everlasting, but my understanding of Charlie's email is that he's putting the card details in and the card isn't being authorised. I can't see how giving him the same details again will make any difference to this. if the reality is that Charlie actually doesn't know the card details as these were supplied to SagePay, then he should say so. I see from the website that the card processor has changed to Trustwave, so this may be something to do with it, but this is just speculation. The trouble is that I can't phone him to clarify the situation during the hours he's available to take calls as I'm at work then. In any case, I know he's very busy sending models out and won't want to be talking on the phone. It doesn't look as though everyone has had to re-order, and I wasn't one of those affected by the price change although I think the price is very reasonable when compared with other two car DMUs. The issue here is a lack of communication, it must be quicker to update the website than to be endlessly fielding emails and phone calls - if this forum is to be believed, then I'm not the only one affected by this. I'm sure it's not my card that's the issue, apart from the balance being less than one tenth of my credit limit, it's working just fine for everything else. I only use a credit card for online purchases as the protection is better than using a debit card. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted June 12, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 12, 2015 Sage Pay seems to delete card numbers after a period of time. Not sure what it easy to the recipients of the money but ring the one man band that is Charlie with your card details - or if you are near go and see him in person go to the Chatham Show this weekend. What I would say is that I had to see Charlie this week. In half and hour he fielded 5 phone calls while still trying to run the rest of DC Kits/ Class 143/144 test and inspection etc. Saying use your website is great but that means that Charlie isn't delivering the 143/144s to customers. He was quite clear in his posting (126) above what the delivery process will be - and look what time he posted it... I suppose he could have just sent everything out unchecked/untested - delivery would have been quicker but the quality would not. I have fitted a sound decoder into an FGW - replacing the seating unit was simple so not sure what the problem was Keith (skin_2)? Baz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
skin_2 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) Hi Baz, I do fully understand that Charlie has been very busy getting the models out and that's why I haven't been pestering him about the model that I ordered. The one I have was bought from Kernow as I thought I'd better get one quickly before thay all sold out. At that time (11May, before post #126) it was looking as though I wasn't going to get one from Charlie as I'd had no communication about it. There's no doubt that it's a superb model. I have known them run in two sets between Bristol TM and Severn Beach so it would be nice to have another set. I've also known that service run with a 143 set coupled to a 153. Yes, I did read Charlie's posting above but that was posted after I'd noticed that Kernow had models in stock. I'm only too well aware of what it's like fielding endless phone calls and emails as I work in IT support and I do sometimes have to ask complainers if they want me spending my time fixing their issue or replying to endless emails asking how their job is going. I too have to update our support website and it's only the work of a few minutes to add a note, or change some details. Reading some of the posts above, I can't help but feel that if Charlie had spent a few minutes putting the odd announcement on the website it would have saved more time in a reduced number of enquiries. I may be wrong of course. I'm not complaining about the delivery time, it's much better if each model is tested before despatch so you know you're not going to get a non runner. The price is very reasonable also when compared with other two car DMU sets, especially considering the awesome detail of the model. I specially like the way that Charlie has hidden the motor below the floor so that no interior detail has to be compromised - it really does look superb. I have an update on the buying issue. Charlie's words were 'for some reason your Credit Card has not worked, no idea why! Could you ring us on 01132 563415 with NEW card details please.'.This means to me that the card has been declined, so I spent some time on the phone this afternoon to the card issuer to ask why this had happened. Their response was that they had not declined any payments and that no application for payment had been received for this amount from SagePay, DCKits,Trustwave or anyone else in the four weeks before Charlie told me that the card had been declined. So, on the one hand I have Charlie saying that the card has been declined, and on the other I have the card issuer saying that he's never applied for payment. They can't both be right so I have emailed Charlie to ask for an explanation. If we take what Charlie says as correct, then he must have the card details (number, CVV, expiry date etc.) and we know that the card details are correct as this was authenticated by SagePay last November. I can't provide Charlie with 'NEW card details' (his caps), only the existing ones so I can't see any point in phoning to give him details that he already has - all he has to do is to apply for payment to the card issuer or instruct his new payment processor to do it using these details. Am I missing something here? The only other explanation that I can think of is that, in spite of what he says, Charlie doesn't in fact have my card details and so can't apply for payment from the card issuer. If this is the case, why on earth doesn't he just say so and save himself and me unnecessary work. The ultimate irony in this debacle is that other orders I have placed with Charlie have arrived with amazing speed - using the very same card! I can't phone Charlie on weekdays between 8am and 1pm on weekdays as I'm at work fielding phone calls and emails myself! Yes, I could visit Charlie in person and pay him in cash if needs be - although I'm in Oxford I get a certain amount of free train travel so Leeds isn't out of the question and bizzarrely that would save me £5.40 in postage but would take up even more of Charlie's time. I can't go to Chatham this weekend as I'm doing something else. I can't remember why I said that I found it hard to refit the seat casting as I glued the springs to the axles and chamfered the holes in the seat casting to make it easy and not to damage the springs. I think it was a bit of a fiddle to try and hold the lighting unit out of the way while putting the retaining screws in. Charlie's photos were very helpful with the decoder fitting. Anyway, it's back together now. It doesn't specially like my code 75 track as there's a miniscule amount of clearance under the axle boxes. It also repeatedly derailed on my diamond crossing until I adjusted the back to back wheel distance on the offending axle. It's fine now. I hope you understand that I'm not trying to criticise Charlie - he's brought us a superb model at a great price. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what's gone wrong with the ordering process. What I would say is that I'm not happy with merely being told that my card has been declined when this doesn't appear to be the case, and that I should provide new card details, which I can't. Best wishes Keith Edited June 12, 2015 by skin_2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Charlie HERE! If it is easier, place a NEW order for the item and hopefully the card info will work! The Sagepay system IS TOTALLY SECURE so I have no access to anything you put in the system, all I do is click 'TAKE PAYMENT' if it dos'nt work, sadly it dos'nt work!! All, I can do is ask you to give me the details on your card and I will enter them in my non Sagepay Credit card machine manually, hopefully solving the problem. There are many reasons the sagepay system dos'nt work, some are: Timed out while entering information (You think you have ordered but the system says not!) Customer has entered an incorrect Card Digit (IE 4125 Not 4215), the card commencement date as the expiry date, Etc Etc. PLEASE let me know either re a new order OR we are here this week 8am - 2pm & 6pm to 12.00 Midnight Mon & Wednesday and 6pm to 9pm this Tuesday (Going out to drown my sorrows) THANK YOU ALL for sticking up for me, I am Trying my best, 143s are now 787 shipped in 12 weeks. 'That's some going honestly!!!!!!!!!!!! Charlie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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