Hornby W1 Hush Hush

[cctransuk]

5 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

 

I do complain. Multiple times involving several different agents.

 

Clearly, not enough other customers do so.

 

CJI.

[Zunnan]

1 minute ago, cctransuk said:

 

Clearly, not enough other customers do so.

 

CJI.

 

I think most people are happy enough to dump the onus on the sender for a refund, which is where you are entirely correct. Not enough people kick up much more of a fuss than to post their 'Ring' footage to social media. I used to do that too, but it just gets you blocked 

 

I try to make sure the courier get the complaint from both ends of the delivery chain. I have found a couple of cam angles provided to the sender of the package also helps with their claim against the courier where justified*. As bad as they can be  around here, Hermes are still a country mile away from being as bad as City Link were.

 

*judging by some of the rather lacking packaging shown here, the sender is asking for damage regardless of the courier in question!

[melmerby]

Many companies don't seem to use Hermes because of the overall reputation.

The last purchase I had sent to me via Hermes just got lost in their system.

The sender resent the order Royal Mail and it took 24hrs.

 

Mind you RM managed to lose a loco on the way from Derails and although it was claimed by the tracking to be in the local DO to be delivered the "next day", when pushed why it hadn't been delivered more than a week on they admitted they couldn't find it.

Then was some excuse about it not having the correct address etc. etc. and was being 'returned' or some other such rubbish.

Strange that it was supposedly ready for delivery to me.

Derails never got it back and it didn't get to me. Tracked all the way to the local DO then it totally vanished.

[Woodcock29]

I've removed the steps on mine and after removing a fraction from the top I've re-positioned them below the footplate and set back by about 1.6mm on each side. It now clears all my platforms ok.

 

Andrew

[Legend]

I obviously don’t know what goes on down the chain but I have to say my Hermes , DPD and Royal Mail couriers are all fantastic . You know roughly when they arrive and if I’m not in it’s delivered to my safe place . 
 

It’s too easy to blame couriers . How many Bachmann 812s, Precedents , Class 47s have you seen come up here damaged. Versus the countless W1s?   Presumably they are using the same couriers , so what’s the difference?  Might it be that the Packaging should have been beefed up around the smoke deflectors in the first place . Might it be that Hornbys distributors shouldn’t be putting smaller boxes inside big boxes to rattle around ? 
 

There are of course other issues like tender drawbars fitted the wrong way round . So I still think the issue is with Hornby or their agents  and they seem to be getting away with it . 

[Zero Gravitas]

15 hours ago, melmerby said:

Many companies don't seem to use Hermes because of the overall reputation.

The last purchase I had sent to me via Hermes just got lost in their system.

The sender resent the order Royal Mail and it took 24hrs.

 

Mind you RM managed to lose a loco on the way from Derails and although it was claimed by the tracking to be in the local DO to be delivered the "next day", when pushed why it hadn't been delivered more than a week on they admitted they couldn't find it.

Then was some excuse about it not having the correct address etc. etc. and was being 'returned' or some other such rubbish.

Strange that it was supposedly ready for delivery to me.

Derails never got it back and it didn't get to me. Tracked all the way to the local DO then it totally vanished.

 

RM are not what they were.  I was expecting a delivery for Mrs. Gravitas’ birthday yesterday. At 05:22 I received an email saying it was scheduled for delivery between 09:52 and 13:52. Then at 11:05 I received another email saying that:

 

“your parcel has reached your local delivery office. We’ve received a request not to deliver mail to the property your item is addressed to today. We’ll attempt delivery as per the instructions we’v received, which is usually on the next working day”

 

I certainly never made such a request, so the conclusion is that someone at Royal Mail has invented such a request to massage their own figures... and the next working day is now Tuesday - it’s a good thing Mrs. Gravitas’ birthday isn’t until Friday.

[cctransuk]

34 minutes ago, Zero Gravitas said:

 

RM are not what they were.  I was expecting a delivery for Mrs. Gravitas’ birthday yesterday. At 05:22 I received an email saying it was scheduled for delivery between 09:52 and 13:52. Then at 11:05 I received another email saying that:

 

“your parcel has reached your local delivery office. We’ve received a request not to deliver mail to the property your item is addressed to today. We’ll attempt delivery as per the instructions we’v received, which is usually on the next working day”

 

I certainly never made such a request, so the conclusion is that someone at Royal Mail has invented such a request to massage their own figures... and the next working day is now Tuesday - it’s a good thing Mrs. Gravitas’ birthday isn’t until Friday.

 

Please - complain!

 

These idle so-and-sos will think twice if they have to explain the non-existent request for deferred delivery.

 

.. or, putting a charitable light on the matter, it might motivate RM to add an option which reads "We are sorry, but we cannot deliver your package as promised, due to Covid absences".

 

CJI.

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Zero Gravitas said:

 

“your parcel has reached your local delivery office. We’ve received a request not to deliver mail to the property your item is addressed to today. We’ll attempt delivery as per the instructions we’v received, which is usually on the next working day”

 

That's a new one on me.

Is this Royal Mail or Parcel Force?  I have had a lot more trouble with deliveries by the latter than the former.

 

If you get a notification that they're going to deliver and you now you will be away, I think you can tell them to deliver on another date - so maybe one of your neighbours has made such a request and they booked it against the wrong number?

[micklner]

2 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

I've removed the steps on mine and after removing a fraction from the top I've re-positioned them below the footplate and set back by about 1.6mm on each side. It now clears all my platforms ok.

 

Andrew

How easy to remove please , and how ??

[Zero Gravitas]

2 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

That's a new one on me.

Is this Royal Mail or Parcel Force?  I have had a lot more trouble with deliveries by the latter than the former.

 

If you get a notification that they're going to deliver and you now you will be away, I think you can tell them to deliver on another date - so maybe one of your neighbours has made such a request and they booked it against the wrong number?

 

Here's the entire email - sent from no-reply@royalmail.com: 

 

 

And whilst I will complain, I suspect it will be about as useful as any other complaint I have ever made to Royal Mail...  about as effective as Hornby's shipping packaging on a W1 (just to show some semblance of being on-topic).

Edited January 1, 2022 by Zero Gravitas

[melmerby]

28 minutes ago, Zero Gravitas said:

 

Here's the entire email - sent from no-reply@royalmail.com: 

 

 

And whilst I will complain, I suspect it will be about as useful as any other complaint I have ever made to Royal Mail...  about as effective as Hornby's shipping packaging on a W1 (just to show some semblance of being on-topic).

Possibly to stop it being delivered earlier than the expected timed slot? It sounds ridiculous but:

I've often seen tracked  items with 48hr or 2nd class sit in the local delivery office for a couple of days presumably so as not to arrive as early as the more premium 24hr service. Seems to happen when it's on the quiet side.

 

As to regards complaining, I have done it several times for a selection of "mishaps" and the response can vary between a caring, supportive, try to resolve it reply to a "let's fob 'em off" reply.

It presumably depends what the line manager at the respective depot is like.

Edited January 1, 2022 by melmerby

[curlypaws]

I had a similar 'unable to gain access to your property' email from the Royal Mail, despite the postman having delivered letters and small parcels that same day. This was on a 'Special Delivery' item. I got the 'fob off' reply that the parcel would be delivered the next day (which, to be fair, it was). I can understand that they are, like most businesses, having to contend with difficult circumstances. But they would be better just telling you that than inventing strange excuses!

[miles73128]

1 hour ago, curlypaws said:

I had a similar 'unable to gain access to your property' email from the Royal Mail, despite the postman having delivered letters and small parcels that same day. This was on a 'Special Delivery' item. I got the 'fob off' reply that the parcel would be delivered the next day (which, to be fair, it was). I can understand that they are, like most businesses, having to contend with difficult circumstances. But they would be better just telling you that than inventing strange excuses!

Please be VERY careful with ANY emails purporting to be from Royal Mail or couriers. I systematically ignore ALL emails - I ONLY track items on their own courier App for delivery. There is an even bigger phishing risk with SMS - absolutely DO NOT respond to any. The way I look at is, my liability is ONLY once the item has been delivered. The suppliers logistics are not my responsibility. Responding to any emails/SMS will confirm your details and could lead to scamming attempts. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by miles73128

[SamThomas]

2 hours ago, curlypaws said:

I had a similar 'unable to gain access to your property' email from the Royal Mail, despite the postman having delivered letters and small parcels that same day. This was on a 'Special Delivery' item.

According to RM "Special Delivery" items travel apart from thegular 1/2nd class, 24 & 48hr Tracked items.

Special Delivery items I recieve are usually by a postie in a van & never with the regular postie.

So, it's quite possible the SD postie is not familiar with your property.

[Ian Hargrave]

2 hours ago, SamThomas said:

According to RM "Special Delivery" items travel apart from thegular 1/2nd class, 24 & 48hr Tracked items.

Special Delivery items I recieve are usually by a postie in a van & never with the regular postie.

So, it's quite possible the SD postie is not familiar with your property.

A couple of weeks ago,I had a strange and somewhat unnerving experience in regard to Special Delivery. Having received an email that a parcel was to be delivered as specified on the designated date,I had another email with photo of purported signature of recipient acknowledging delivery  ( me) at midday. A total fabrication. Of course there was no sign of the parcel and no attempt had been made to deliver such. Immediately contacted sender to alert him and dashed off email complaint to RM.

 
One hour later,said parcel arrived with normal postal delivery..One postie is I think,dicing with his future prospects in forging a hieroglyphic signature. I’m just glad it did arrive. So assume nothing about SD . Rules and procedures are sometimes bent….especially at this time of the year. To be fair this is the very first time I have suffered such shenanigans with RM who up to now have been meticulous in their service.It appears things are changing sadly

 

[atom3624]

13 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

I've removed the steps on mine and after removing a fraction from the top I've re-positioned them below the footplate and set back by about 1.6mm on each side. It now clears all my platforms ok.

 

Andrew

Hi Andrew, you mention removing a little from the tops of the steps permitting you to inset the steps, which means it clears your platforms.

 

If this is insetting them, is there any interference with the motion gear - valve, connecting, coupling rods - not previously encountered as I presume the steps are closer to them?

Al.

[melmerby]

13 hours ago, SamThomas said:

According to RM "Special Delivery" items travel apart from thegular 1/2nd class, 24 & 48hr Tracked items.

Special Delivery items I recieve are usually by a postie in a van & never with the regular postie.

So, it's quite possible the SD postie is not familiar with your property.

My regular postie delivers his parcels from a van.

So it's not unusual to get two deliveries, one for letters and other small items, second for the larger items.

Edited January 2, 2022 by melmerby

[atom3624]

WRT this RM instruction not to deliver, is this possibly an instruction issued by previous owners of your property when they were moving, which hasn't been rescinded?

It should of course relate NAME and POST CODE, but perhaps its the post code only which is triggering this instruction?

Al.

[Cheshire Lines.]

After having to repair the steps and motor - it wouldn't run backwards - it now is a fantastic model - very pleased with her - here is a video

 

 

[Zero Gravitas]

11 hours ago, atom3624 said:

WRT this RM instruction not to deliver, is this possibly an instruction issued by previous owners of your property when they were moving, which hasn't been rescinded?

It should of course relate NAME and POST CODE, but perhaps its the post code only which is triggering this instruction?

Al.

 

No one else has ever lived in this house - it was bought off the plans 24 years ago.  And we’ve had plenty of items delivered in that time, and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

[Woodcock29]

23 hours ago, atom3624 said:

Hi Andrew, you mention removing a little from the tops of the steps permitting you to inset the steps, which means it clears your platforms.

 

If this is insetting them, is there any interference with the motion gear - valve, connecting, coupling rods - not previously encountered as I presume the steps are closer to them?

Al.

No interference after moving each step in by about 1.7mm. I also chamfered the vertical edges of the steps for two reasons - to make them look thinner and also in case for any reason the valve gear did catch at some stage but it seems to clear nicely behind the repositioned steps. I should add I generally have min 3ft radius. To aid platform clearance I also took maybe 0.5mm off the depth of the individual steps. My plan was if this didn't work to make up some brass steps from spare etch offcuts.

But all seems good.

Andrew

[GWR-fan]

On 02/01/2022 at 09:53, Ian Hargrave said:

A couple of weeks ago,I had a strange and somewhat unnerving experience in regard to Special Delivery. Having received an email that a parcel was to be delivered as specified on the designated date,I had another email with photo of purported signature of recipient acknowledging delivery  ( me) at midday. A total fabrication. Of course there was no sign of the parcel and no attempt had been made to deliver such. Immediately contacted sender to alert him and dashed off email complaint to RM. 
.........................................................................................

 

 

While I have not had a message purporting that I had accepted delivery by way of a signature,  covid rules the last nearly two years downunder have ruled out the recipient actually signing for a "signed" package.   Normally now the postman or contractor would request my identity (unless I was known to him personally) and then he would actually sign as the recipient as he handed over the package,  thus reducing the chance of infection.

 

However,  what i have seen of late from third party contractors (such as Amazon) or fullfillment contractors is that the organisation will mark the item as delivered before the contractor actually physically delivers the item to me.  Upon receiving a message that the item has been "delivered" I would go searching my mail box or asking surrounding neighbours to no avail.  Hours or a day or two later the package would actually be delivered.

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

 

 

 

However,  what i have seen of late from third party contractors (such as Amazon) or fullfillment contractors is that the organisation will mark the item as delivered before the contractor actually physically delivers the item to me.  Upon receiving a message that the item has been "delivered" I would go searching my mail box or asking surrounding neighbours to no avail.  Hours or a day or two later the package would actually be delivered.

That doesn't tie in with how they normally do it.

I have had loads of stuff delivered recently, quite a bit from Amazon and none was recorded as delivered before it had been, as the item is scanned as it is delivered, I've watched them do it.

 

[polybear]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

That doesn't tie in with how they normally do it.

I have had loads of stuff delivered recently, quite a bit from Amazon and none was recorded as delivered before it had been, as the item is scanned as it is delivered, I've watched them do it.

 

 

From what I've seen the many of the couriers (Amazon included) have been using Covid as an excuse to dump and run, presumably in order to get more delivered (= more money) and/or finish earlier.

[melmerby]

57 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

From what I've seen the many of the couriers (Amazon included) have been using Covid as an excuse to dump and run, presumably in order to get more delivered (= more money) and/or finish earlier.

but they still scan it when they dump it.

e.g. get parcel out of van, scan it as they walk/run to door and leave it.

Edited January 3, 2022 by melmerby