Connoisseur Wrenn

[BSG75]

Hi, has anyone ever dealt with this retailer before. I have just had a very unpleasant experience with them, and was wondering about other people's experiences - perhaps it's just me. 

[woodenhead]

I've had a couple of locos off them, arrived as described in shop condition - I was buying non-Wrenn locos.

[czyrko]

I hardly ever get involved in these bun fights, but I believe I must interject to contradict Mr BSG75's assertions about Connoisseur Wrenn.   I have today been astonished that two rare and (I'd never seen before) kit-built  items I ordered on Wednesday arrived today, Friday 15 October at 11 am via Royal Mail, packed in armoured-plated outers -- and all freemans.

If only all my on-line  dealings were so obviously rapid, friendly, amusing, professional and worry free, I'd be over the moon.   As things stand, this seller is going to be my new on-line first go-to for interesting and rarely seen items of locomotive-iana.

Thank you, C-W

 

[Engineer143125]

I had an unpleasant experience with this seller once. I received an item which was broken (possibly/probably in the post) on reporting the damaged item I was privy to a load of abuse, threats and bad language, he even told me he had been a police officer and was used to fraudsters like me, I put the phone onto speaker and laughed and cried at his lies, insinuations and use of bad language, eventually refunded me (minus postage) the cost of a loco. I purchase locos all over world and this was a seriously the rudest experience ever. 

 

I have no no axe to grind, honestly, but be aware.

[Nearholmer]

I've bought two locos from him, and both were as described, and, being common items, the prices were sensible. No postage troubles, because I popped round to his house and collected them. He was polite enough, but from the way he talked, I got the impression that it was "all business" to him, no great affinity for the models as such and, since I prefer to buy from people who seem to be genuine anoraks like me, I decided that I'd buy the other things I was after at the time from another supplier.

[adamvb]

Just to add my experience. Bought a loco last week, turned up with damage that wasn't listed and didn't appear to have happened in transit (scratches on the body and clouded windscreen) and signs of previous use (hair/fluff in the wheelsets).

 

I let the retailer know and the response was in the same vain as BSG75 and Engineer143125s experiences.

 

From the outset Bruno refused to cover the cost of return postage or provide a refund for the outbound postage citing his terms and conditions. He then called me and when we spoke the call turned into an opportunity for needless aggression, accusations and insults which led to me having to end the call. His tag line is "Quality without compromise" - both of which were not my experience! Luckily I had paid via PayPal and they took over the process and ensured I received my refund - all very needlessly unpleasant.

Edited February 9, 2022 by adamvb

[rogerzilla]

I was thinking about buying an item from there but it is described as being in BR, SR and LMR livery depending on which part of the (presumably) cut-and-paste description I read, so goodness knows what would turn up.  The photo shows SR livery but I don't fancy sending an incorrect item back if they are that bad to deal with.

[Guest Jack Benson]

If Connoisseur Wrenn is based at Milton Keynes, he could well be t/a Mr. Energizer on Ebay. I bought three estate sale kit-built locos from him, all were disappointments needing extensive maintenance to either repair or simply clean before they would even run. They were all described as tried and tested.
 

However there is no actual confirmation that the eBay seller and Connoisseur Wrenn are one and the same. 
 

 

[rogerzilla]

40 minutes ago, Jack Benson said:

If Connoisseur Wrenn is based at Milton Keynes, he could well be t/a Mr. Energizer on Ebay. I bought three estate sale kit-built locos from him, all were disappointments needing extensive maintenance to either repair or simply clean before they would even run. They were all described as tried and tested.
 

However there is no actual confirmation that the eBay seller and Connoisseur Wrenn are one and the same. 
 

 

I don't think so.  Mr_Energizer mainly sells older Bachmann split chassis stuff and some old Hornby, mostly steam in post-nationalisation liveries.  It looks as if it may have come from a large collection.  I'm not convinced the unused Castle I bought from him actually was unused; the carbon brushes are as short as the ones on the thrashed Hogwarts Castle chassis I bought to fix it when it stopped working.  It was very cheap.

[Guest Jack Benson]

2 hours ago, rogerzilla said:

I don't think so.  Mr_Energizer mainly sells older Bachmann split chassis stuff and some old Hornby, mostly steam in post-nationalisation liveries.  It looks as if it may have come from a large collection.  I'm not convinced the unused Castle I bought from him actually was unused; the carbon brushes are as short as the ones on the thrashed Hogwarts Castle chassis I bought to fix it when it stopped working.  It was very cheap.

I believe that sharing the same name and location might be significant……he simply sells the non-Wrenn items under a different trading name. 
 

[woodenhead]

Under the Wrenn name he sells Hornby and Bachmann, sometimes others as well

[rogerzilla]

I do wonder whether the new USA tanks (Model Rail editions) are factory seconds?  The SR ones sold out fast when offered.

[rogerzilla]

Looks as if mr-energiser is running down the eBay "store".  Only 28 items left, and there were normally over 100.  Maybe the fees are getting too much?

[jjb1970]

I guess for commercial sellers it should be a straightforward calculation to consider the benefits of accessing the EBay customer base and having a relatively easy to use e-commerce platform with global reach which comes with fees against setting up their own website and doing their own marketing to make it visible to potential consumers, advertising in magazines etc.