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New Hornby Collectors Club?


southernelectric
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Not perfect but at the end of the day you are quids in if you buy a model.

Assuming they offer something you want of course. They are asking for suggestions for what makes a good "Collectors' Club" model.

 

Their website is a royal pain in the neck (for people in the US) after they relaunched their USA site. It constantly navigates to "us-en" versions of the site. The only way to get to some pages, (including the club page), is to manually change URLs to "uk-en" versions.

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Assuming they offer something you want of course. They are asking for suggestions for what makes a good "Collectors' Club" model.

 

Their website is a royal pain in the neck (for people in the US) after they relaunched their USA site. It constantly navigates to "us-en" versions of the site. The only way to get to some pages, (including the club page), is to manually change URLs to "uk-en" versions.

 

I don't have any problem with their website. Maybe the error is at your end?

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Their website is a royal pain in the neck (for people in the US) after they relaunched their USA site. It constantly navigates to "us-en" versions of the site. The only way to get to some pages, (including the club page), is to manually change URLs to "uk-en" versions.

I agree.  The website does not remember us, only that we are based in the USA.  I do wish it would remember, and dump me in the UK site instead.  Its strange anyway that the USA website has a different, quite small range of products.  Its all very schizo.

 

Its a strange website altogether.  I don't like the way it messes withe prices before you come to pay.  I want to do the checkout, then see all the discounts, including the collectors' club discount and the discount for ROW VAT, and the free shipping for orders over £100, etc.  These days we expect web sites to work in a particular way, and having one that is so different is off-putting.  Last time I went to the site, I gave up and did not make the purchase.

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I agree.  The website does not remember us, only that we are based in the USA.  I do wish it would remember, and dump me in the UK site instead.  Its strange anyway that the USA website has a different, quite small range of products.  Its all very schizo.

 

Its a strange website altogether.  I don't like the way it messes withe prices before you come to pay.  I want to do the checkout, then see all the discounts, including the collectors' club discount and the discount for ROW VAT, and the free shipping for orders over £100, etc.  These days we expect web sites to work in a particular way, and having one that is so different is off-putting.  Last time I went to the site, I gave up and did not make the purchase.

You might try e mailing Hornby voicing your concerns.You may not get a result but you'll lose nothing by giving it a go.They may not reply directly but they do listen.

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You might try e mailing Hornby voicing your concerns.You may not get a result but you'll lose nothing by giving it a go.They may not reply directly but they do listen.

 

It's weird. I spent 30 mins this morningand I haven't been able to reproduce any of their complaints. The website works perfectly for me from my home in Arizona. Doesn't matter whether I sign in or whether i don't.

 

I wonder if they have an old cookie or two that are gumming the works. If I were them, I'd delete all Hornby cookies and start over. I say this because I've had a new 'puter for the last couple of months and that may be relevant. Also on Windows 8.1.

 

Good luck chaps.

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You might try e mailing Hornby voicing your concerns.You may not get a result but you'll lose nothing by giving it a go.They may not reply directly but they do listen.

Ian, 

 

with all due respect your suggestion, while reasonable, has not yet proved effective for me in the multiple times I have emailed Hornby.

 

My "favourite" exchange with Hornby (there are others) was this one:

 

Some time back I was logged in as a Collectors' Club member and the prices were shown to be adjusted automatically with the 10% discount - a nice feature. So far so good. When I went to place a pre-order, I didn't immediately notice that it seemed to have lost my CC credentials and the price offered was the non-discounted price. I went through the forms focused on making sure I wasn't paying for postage (the pre-order was for more than £100) and foolishly didn't notice that the order I placed was for the full amount. (No CC discount, no VAT removed.) I am responsible for my lack of precaution, but the website failed to operate properly.

 

This pre-order is for an item that won't appear for months.

 

I emailed Hornby's customer support. The next day my email was redirected to the Collectors' Club support alias and after 14 days, they essentially replied, "sorry, we can't fix it, you can delete your order and try again, or work with us on a refund after the purchase goes through." 

 

I did recently email Hornby with questions regarding website behaviour but this was only four days ago.  We'll see what happens.

 

The email responsiveness of other Collectors' Clubs is dramatically different - in a positive way.

Edited by Ozexpatriate
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Not good I will admit. But contrast your negative experience with what happened (though admittedly I received only the usual automated response) when I contacted them last Friday with regard to the wrong numbering on R 3221. A caveat duly appeared on the website advising us of the error on the box (only,fortunately).It appears it's still a little of some you win,some you lose.

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It's weird. I spent 30 mins this morningand I haven't been able to reproduce any of their complaints. 

Ronny, if it's not too much trouble could you please navigate here by clicking down through the hierarchy from the Hornby home page.

 

I made sure I was logged in - though the credentials don't always get applied if I sign in from the home page - they reliably do when signing in on the forum page.

 

For the club page I get this, clicking from here:

post-1819-0-81735200-1435686893_thumb.jpg

 

For the competition page I got this:

post-1819-0-37531200-1435686556_thumb.jpg

 

For the exclusive models page I usually get this:

post-1819-0-48873800-1435686911_thumb.jpg

 

I don't particularly resent having to start at Hornby.com/us-en. Of course if you change "us-en" to "uk-en" you get the correct page, but there's no way the site 'should' direct you from the UK site to the US site.

 

All this of course depends on what location your IP address broadcasts. I don't spoof the IP address of the computer I routinely use, and nor can I.

 

I am using Chrome as my browser.

 

It's subtle but anytime a link points to Hornby.com rather than specifically Hornby.com/uk-en/ there will be problems of some kind.  For me, "Hornby.com" almost always resolves to "Hornby.com/us-en"

Edited by Ozexpatriate
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It's subtle but anytime a link points to Hornby.com rather than specifically Hornby.com/uk-en/ there will be problems of some kind.  For me, "Hornby.com" almost always resolves to "Hornby.com/us-en"

I agree, it does that for me too.  I don't believe its a cookie issue; its just the design of the website.  My problem is the design, not whether or not it is working correctly.  I like a final screen with all costs, discounts etc, on one page, and then I can pay.  As things are right now, I am always a bit unsure whether or not I received my deductions, discounts,etc., on the page BEFORE Hornby wants my money!  Usually, I find that everything works in the end, its just the uncertainty of the site that's the problem.

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Ronny, if it's not too much trouble could you please navigate here by clicking down through the hierarchy from the Hornby home page.

 

I made sure I was logged in - though the credentials don't always get applied if I sign in from the home page - they reliably do when signing in on the forum page.

 

For the club page I get this, clicking from here:

attachicon.gifHCCclubs.JPG

 

For the competition page I got this:

attachicon.gifHCCdenied.JPG

 

For the exclusive models page I usually get this:

attachicon.gifHCC404.JPG

 

I don't particularly resent having to start at Hornby.com/us-en. Of course if you change "us-en" to "uk-en" you get the correct page, but there's no way the site 'should' direct you from the UK site to the US site.

 

All this of course depends on what location your IP address broadcasts. I don't spoof the IP address of the computer I routinely use, and nor can I.

 

I am using Chrome as my browser.

 

It's subtle but anytime a link points to Hornby.com rather than specifically Hornby.com/uk-en/ there will be problems of some kind.  For me, "Hornby.com" almost always resolves to "Hornby.com/us-en"

 

I do apologise. I only just read your post.

 

I usually use a bookmark to get to Hornby.com but I didn't this time and just typed in Hornby.com. I then clicked the US flag at the top of the page to change to the Union Jack then scrolled to the bottom to click the collectors club which took me to the collectors page. All worked perfectly. Same for the competitions page. No problems at all.

 

I started over and logged into my account and once again all worked perfectly while keeping me logged into my account through all the changes.

 

Perhaps you are not changing the US flag to the Union Jack? The collectors club is a part of Hornby UK (there isn't a US club) so you need to connect to Hornby UK via the UK flag.

 

One thing I really like is that when I login, all prices show minus VAT. The site is smart enough to know that I don't pay it so I don't have to perform mental arithmatic to see how much I will be charged. Makes a big difference. I sure hope the US never joins the EEC, a 20% surcharge on everything would be a tough pill to swallow (and that's a joke, not a political statement!!)

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Perhaps you are not changing the US flag to the Union Jack?

Ronny, you can see the Union flag in one of the illustrations above. I do set the version to Hornby.com/uk-en/. You can see the links I embedded in my post to the /uk-en/ version of the site.

 

We have this dialog going over two threads. Specifically, the issue for me is this:

... anything on the website that has a link to "Hornby.com" instead of explicit links to "Hornby.com/uk-en/" resolves to "Hornby.com/us-en/" and automatically logs me out.

This happens in multiple browsers - Chrome, Firefox and IE9.

 

One thing I really like is that when I login, all prices show minus VAT. The site is smart enough to know that I don't pay it so I don't have to perform mental arithmatic to see how much I will be charged. Makes a big difference.

I have never seen prices listed without VAT - only the Hornby Collectors' Club discount of 10% (and that doesn't always get set). When I actually placed an order, (already seeing the 10% discount when I added the item to the shopping cart) my credentials were lost and this discount was not applied, nor was the VAT removed. Edited by Ozexpatriate
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Derby ?

 

The only photo I've ever seen of one of the ex-WD Jinties awaiting overhaul was taken at Crewe, although this one does have 'Derby' stenciled on the tanks. I have a feeling that the LMS numbers would not have been chalked on until arrival at the works, which makes the lifespan of the loco as modelled even shorter.

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I have never seen prices listed without VAT - only the Hornby Collectors' Club discount of 10% (and that doesn't always get set). When I actually placed an order, (already seeing the 10% discount when I added the item to the shopping cart) my credentials were lost and this discount was not applied, nor was the VAT removed.

Its this type of confusion that can be so easily avoided if the final screen, before the payment screen, would show the subtraction of the discount and VAT and so on, so we know where we stand.   As I said earlier, its a strange website.  Totally schizophrenic instead of just going on the shipping address to decide whether or not VAT should be subtracted.  Of course, the fact that VAT is often automatically included in the British price is a bit anachronistic too.  Its better, I think, to show taxes separately, instead of disguising the sticky hand of government.

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Ronny, you can see the Union flag in one of the illustrations above. I do set the version to Hornby.com/uk-en/. You can see the links I embedded in my post to the /uk-en/ version of the site.

 

We have this dialog going over two threads. Specifically, the issue for me is this:

This happens in multiple browsers - Chrome, Firefox and IE9.

 

I have never seen prices listed without VAT - only the Hornby Collectors' Club discount of 10% (and that doesn't always get set). When I actually placed an order, (already seeing the 10% discount when I added the item to the shopping cart) my credentials were lost and this discount was not applied, nor was the VAT removed.

 

Well I give up. I played around yesterday for some time and didn't once get any of your problems. One for Hornby to sort out.

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I received my latest issue of the club magazine. Sadly no improvement. I would say there are less articles in this than in the version produced under the old club. The letters page and members layouts sections have been much reduced. Two pages once again wasted your full page pictures of scenes seen in the catalogue. Two pages used to outline discounts with very little text. Still not impressed.

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I received my latest issue of the club magazine. Sadly no improvement. I would say there are less articles in this than in the version produced under the old club.

I would say you verbalize an understatement.  I would go far as to say the magazine displays the total lack of imagination of the producers involved, and is a disaster.  The Hornby club is nothing more than a way to obtain our email addresses to send us ads.

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I would say you verbalize an understatement.  I would go far as to say the magazine displays the total lack of imagination of the producers involved, and is a disaster.  The Hornby club is nothing more than a way to obtain our email addresses to send us ads.

Horlicks - haven't read the latest mag as I have the download option and it is stored on my tablet for a long journey, but you are being a bit unfair and melodramatic/hyperbolic.

 

For a start, if you take the download option for £15 a year you get a choice of exclusive models with £20 off (yes, more off than the fee you paid) plus 10% on everything thereafter, and they throw in several magazines and other stuff on top. So buy an exclusive model and you are £5 up before you start, with ongoing discount and a magazine and other stuff thrown in for free. And still people moan! Join Bachmann and you might get a decent mag but you don't get any discount and pay full whack for the exclusive models, such as £75 for Sealink coaches. Mmmmm, not exactly sold out have they.

 

Bought the Jinty as a bit of fun, £20 for something a bit different. Ideal for a fictional preserved railway. Can't go wrong.

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Horlicks - haven't read the latest mag as I have the download option and it is stored on my tablet for a long journey, but you are being a bit unfair and melodramatic/hyperbolic.

 

I could not possibly disagree with your viewpoint on some of the benefits of Hornby's collector club, but the magazine itself, taken on its own, is amateurish, and is not a patch on Bachmann's efforts.  Certainly, the club discount allows purchases from the Hornby website, but still such purchases are not really at competitive prices compared to Hornby dealers.  Just because the magazine is so shiny does not make it worthwhile, so I stick to my view the magazine is a disaster for most modellers.   Hornby is an established professional organization that should be able to do better, especially in competition with Bachmann.  On the "club" models, it is significant that I have only once bought the Hornby club model, and regretted it instantly it arrive on my door mat, but I have repeatedly, albeit not every year, bought Bachmann's club models, which are always real models, of intriguing prototypes, not toys.  Also, Bachman provides a reasonably worthwhile free wagon with membership.  I will say positively that Hornby does a much better job of telling us what they are doing, and when new models are available for purchase and so on.   Bachmann is terrible in the communications department, as apart from the magazine, about all I hear from them is that they want my next year's subscription payment.

 

Of course, you may argue about the intended audience of the magazine, which could be for the under twelves going on the quality of the writing and the content.  In that case, its fine, although we could discuss the age cut-off point; it could be lower.  I think the magazine and club models are primarily for the young audience, and for the toy market.  That's fine, as Hornby no doubt wants that market, and my one Hornby club model can sit next to Thomas when grandchildren arrive.

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Just to add my point of view to the last couple of posts. I don't doubt that the offers and discounts that Hornby offers make the club worthwhile. I regularly benefit from the 10% discount at a local Hornby concession. At this particular location they also discount the 10% on sale items which is of great benefit.

 The £20 discount on the club exclusive model is worthwhile too. I am just deciding how to use mine. I am tempted by the Jinty as I it is a bit different and could be used on a planned shunting plank layout. I do like the two Terriers too, but not sure I want locos of that era.

 However the magazine is poor - and the point I am making is that it is poorer than the offerings under the previous club management. There seems to be fewer articles, letters and member profiles. It is the magazine that disappoints me personally.

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Don't forget the competitions! This month you could win a P2. It's a difficult question though: who was the successor of Chief Mechanical Engineer, Michael Gresley? I don't even know which railway had a Michael Gresley as CME. :jester:

Amateurs!

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Guest spet0114

Maybe the answer is Edward Timpson, who would only repair your shoes if all your toes were the same length?

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