Hornby W1 Hush Hush

[WestRail642fan]

Now im kinda glad i never pre-ordered the W1, hope my APT doesn't arrive in a million bits thou. Also, so far, i've never had issue with Hermies other then a parcel arriving a date later then listed on there parcel tracking

[828CC]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

A poll attached to this thread would be interesting:

 

"Did you receive your Hush-Hush Undamaged?"  YES/NO

I think more appropriate would be:  'Are you satisfied/confident the issues will be resolved to your satisfaction?'

[cctransuk]

24 minutes ago, 828CC said:

I think more appropriate would be:  'Are you satisfied/confident the issues will be resolved to your satisfaction?'

 

The second part of the question would be pure speculation - unless one has access to a crystal ball !!

 

CJI.

[828CC]

2 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

The second part of the question would be pure speculation - unless one has access to a crystal ball !!

 

CJI.

TBH I was probably thinking more along the lines of:  Did you receive a satisfactory response from the seller, which leads you to believe the problem can and will be resolved to your satisfaction within a reasonable time scale?

I would imagine an automated email response would be quite frustrating...

[Dodger]

I have been reading the posts on this thread and have noticed their similarity to concerns on other websites relating to our hobby. Not all are attributed to Hornby or a specific model. I have returned to the hobby after a break of some 30 years,

and it appears this receiving damaged goods through the post was not as prevalent 30 years ago when as a rule models were purchased in person from a local model shop. In todays retail climate the use of couriers and the postal service is becoming the norm and notwithstanding the distance the models travel from manufacturer to the customer, it is no surprise that occurences of damage on receipt. I have also noticed that the lighter items such as rolling stock do not attract the same criticism although their transit conditions have been the same.

Packaging is no doubt a relevant contributor to the state the goods arrive in and it is to the sender of the goods that we must look to for the remedy. I suspect that the majority of damage occurs here in the UK with the exception of that caused during packing at the manufacturers. Unless the retailers up thier game I am afraid we will have to accept things as they are.

In my opinion a letter to the seller along with the goods returned would go a long way to putting this issue to rest.

Stay safe,

Roger

Roger          

Edited December 11, 2021 by Dodger

[banburysaint]

10 hours ago, zr2498 said:

For info - this morning

Thanks for posting it enabled me to direct a friend who had an issue with their pre order from another supplier to acquire a locomotive

[E100]

On 08/12/2021 at 23:10, melmerby said:

It's only half price (so far), not bad for only one piece of broken plastic.

Now £255...

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Dodger said:

 I have also noticed that the lighter items such as rolling stock do not attract the same criticism although their transit conditions have been the same.
 

Stay safe,

Roger

Roger          

A big difference between the W1 and some other models is the weight, which is commendably high, the down side is there is more inertia if the pack is subject to a sharp knock. This will increase the chances of the model moving out of it's safe zone in the inner ice block cradle.

As has been suggested some extra foam pads at critical places could restrain it better.

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, E100 said:

Now £255...

e bay madness strikes again......

 

I have seen things go for 50% or more over the normal price when items are still available in the shops.

 

Who are these imbeciles?

Maybe I could sell them some of my tat at inflated prices

[melmerby]

I was wondering what radius would flanged wheels be usable at.

Clearly needs to be much greater than 36" as seen by the amount of throw over on the "Bissel Truck" on my 36+" radius curve.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by melmerby

[adb968008]

8 hours ago, melmerby said:

e bay madness strikes again......

 

I have seen things go for 50% or more over the normal price when items are still available in the shops.

 

Who are these imbeciles?

Maybe I could sell them some of my tat at inflated prices

Be fair, a lot of people saw their orders canceled earlier this year.

Some may not even have found out until just now (emails end up in junk etc).

whilst some are backstabbing Dapols prarie over an over tightened screw, there is no immediate shortage, spares and replacements are available.
 

There seems to be a lot more than usual pictures of damaged W1s appearing online, customer care, warranty for replacements is a bit opaque… if you've a dud, your choice is to join that ebay scrum and contribute to the high sell out demand proving how successful Hornbys management have been, or as Hornby says, wait for the next different one.

if the damaged ones make it to ebay, than back to Margate, Hornby even gets to claim fewer returns too.

Edited December 12, 2021 by adb968008

[zr2498]

8 hours ago, melmerby said:

I was wondering what radius would flanged wheels be usable at.

Clearly needs to be much greater than 36" as seen by the amount of throw over on the "Bissel Truck" on my 36+" radius curve.

 

 

Perhaps a little less? I will be trying them out on 33" curves when I get a replacement for the damaged version.

It could be that the side play at the drivers is allowing the amount of throw to be accentuated. The flanged wheels might constrain that movement. It all depends on if it gets tight. Would have been great to get a minimum radius figure from Hornby

[zr2498]

9 hours ago, melmerby said:

e bay madness strikes again......

 

I have seen things go for 50% or more over the normal price when items are still available in the shops.

 

Who are these imbeciles?

Maybe I could sell them some of my tat at inflated prices

And still availble at Cheltenham Model Centre £219.99 !!!!!!

[Paul Cram]

10 minutes ago, zr2498 said:

Perhaps a little less? I will be trying them out on 33" curves when I get a replacement for the damaged version.

It could be that the side play at the drivers is allowing the amount of throw to be accentuated. The flanged wheels might constrain that movement. It all depends on if it gets tight. Would have been great to get a minimum radius figure from Hornby

If you look at the picture those are the flanged wheels.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Paul Cram said:

If you look at the picture those are the flanged wheels.

They're the flangeless ones as supplied.

1 hour ago, zr2498 said:

Perhaps a little less? I will be trying them out on 33" curves when I get a replacement for the damaged version.

It could be that the side play at the drivers is allowing the amount of throw to be accentuated. The flanged wheels might constrain that movement. It all depends on if it gets tight. Would have been great to get a minimum radius figure from Hornby

Hornby state in the instructions that the extra flanged wheels are for display purposes only.

[828CC]

1 hour ago, zr2498 said:

And still availble at Cheltenham Model Centre £219.99 !!!!!!

It's simply a case of supply and demand.  The demand for what was expected to be a desirable and unusual model is still there, but anyone with half an interest in these things will know by now that supply was going to be marginal at best, even without the: 'damaged on arrival' lottery.

And 'in stock' is no guarantee of condition either, sadly.  I have emailed some enquiring as to the condition of their stock and had no response.

And if Hornby's best response so far is an automated mail saying spare parts could take 28 days, then I do feel for those frustrated customers.

I've already returned one and await another, though resigned to the fact that may too arrive less than perfect..

Edited December 12, 2021 by 828CC
grammar

[Dick Turpin]

This thread does reinforce the reassurance of being able to call into a model shop to visually inspect a model of this complexity and price bracket and watch it being tested prior to purchase, or to have been reassured by your chosen retailer that they have done these things for you to your complete satisfaction. 

 

I picked mine up from Peter's Spares of Middlesbrough yesterday, and would just like to just say how relieved I am to be able to report that everything is fine and I am now the happy owner of a fine looking model of a prototype many said we would never see produced. I am now watching the thread to see what radius gets decided on for those flanged trailing wheels.

 

I would also like to give a shout out to Peter's Spares, and recommend them for their high level of service. 

[828CC]

5 minutes ago, Dick Turpin said:

This thread does reinforce the reassurance of being able to call into a model shop to visually inspect a model of this complexity and price bracket and watch it being tested prior to purchase, or to have been reassured by your chosen retailer that they have done these things for you to your complete satisfaction. 

 

I picked mine up from Peter's Spares of Middlesbrough yesterday, and would just like to just say how relieved I am to be able to report that everything is fine and I am now the happy owner of a fine looking model of a prototype many said we would never see produced. I am now watching the thread to see what radius gets decided on for those flanged trailing wheels.

 

I would also like to give a shout out to Peter's Spares, and recommend them for their high level of service. 

Agree absolutely...  But acknowledge that your scenario exists because the retailer received models in a satisfactory condition to be able to offer them.  But if dealer stock is damaged, where to from there?

It does seems some are just taking Hornby's sealed boxes and shunting them straight out the door, hopefully unaware of what's inside. And I expect until now everyone had the confidence in Horny to be okay with this.  This one maybe caught everyone out.

Hence I did ask my second supplier to open and check it's condition.

 

[Ian Hargrave]

19 minutes ago, 828CC said:

Agree absolutely...  But acknowledge that your scenario exists because the retailer received models in a satisfactory condition to be able to offer them.  But if dealer stock is damaged, where to from there?

It does seems some are just taking Hornby's sealed boxes and shunting them straight out the door, hopefully unaware of what's inside. And I expect until now everyone had the confidence in Horny to be okay with this.  This one maybe caught everyone out.

Hence I did ask my second supplier to open and check it's condition.

 

Alas,no it didn’t catch everyone out. The scenario being played out currently with the W1 is familiar over the last two decades with some of us old lags. The bottom line is that the design/manufacturing chain used by Hornby …that is to say,contracting with different Chinese factories to produce certain models……seems to leave little room for a grip on meaningful quality control,There is currently no sign that Hornby are being pro active in rectifying this situation and don’t hold your breath for any change. Confidence….moi ?  You wish.

[Ian Hargrave]

12 hours ago, melmerby said:

A big difference between the W1 and some other models is the weight, which is commendably high, the down side is there is more inertia if the pack is subject to a sharp knock. This will increase the chances of the model moving out of it's safe zone in the inner ice block cradle.

As has been suggested some extra foam pads at critical places could restrain it better.

I thought that China dictated packaging standards. Be that as it may,this whole area needs urgent attention from factory assembly line to UK retailing . Hornby have a good R&D team .They would do both Hornby and ourselves a favour if they’d devote some of their time to this .

[Fair Oak Junction]

I must admit I'm rather jealous of those on here who were able to have their loco checked before dispatch by whatever retailer they purchased it from. When I ordered mine I immediately fired off a message to the shop asking if they could check mine considering the damage that was being documented, and was told that unfortunately they could not check models before posting them. I completely understand that for bigger shops having to check through huge amounts of models is too time consuming and I do not hold it against them, it just means that until it arrives I have no idea if it's going to horribly broken or absolutely fine. And then if it is I'll need to send it back and wait for a refund, by which time the only ones available will likely be the ebay scalpers.

[828CC]

2 minutes ago, Obsidian Quarry said:

 When I ordered mine I immediately fired off a message to the shop asking if they could check mine considering the damage that was being documented, and was told that unfortunately they could not check models before posting them. I completely understand that for bigger shops having to check through huge amounts of models is too time consuming and I do not hold it against them, 

I'm afraid that can only be summed up as poor service.  Again, perhaps they weren't expecting this (who would?), but they do have a duty of care towards their customer.....

[atom3624]

You would have thought that with similar stories of breakages in transit with the A2/2, A2/3, more thought and consideration would have been applied by Hornby to the distribution of this absolutely superb model - very poor, very disappointing.

 

What's more people's whims are beyond control it appears.  A 'tender damaged' model still has >1 day to go and exceeds £260 + postage on 'that auction site' ... out of control!  I know, this isn't something Hornby have any influence on, but 'human nature' and 'must have' are coming to the fore.

 

Hornby, wake up!!

 

Al.

[Dodger]

I hope Simon Kohler is following this thread and perhaps as one respondent said in an earlier post Hornby would like to comment on the condition some of the models are in when received by the final customer in the chain.

If we keep accepting this state of affairs it will never be addressed - fire a letter or email to Hornby complaining.

Stay safe,

Roger  

[Caledonian Gateway]

I received my model preordered direct from Hornby after seemingly an age to get through Hermes distribution network. 

 

On arrival I noticed the smoke deflector was broken so immediately packed it back up again and emailed Hornby hoping they can replace it. 

 

The lack of stock got me thinking that if they can't replace it whether a repair would be noticeable if I just glued the smoke deflector back on. On second inspection I also noticed that the tender drawbar connection was also damaged which put pay to any hopes of just repairing the smoke deflector as the tender mounting is totally broken making the loco unusable.

 

Very disappointed. Just hope Hornby can sort something but I do feel for them as I expect this is going to hurt them financially (which they really don't need) with so many broken models out there.