Hornby Tier System- An Update.

[Oldddudders]

"Yorkshire tea" has always struck me as being in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. AFAIK Yorkshire's climate does not enable widescale growing in tea plantations. Please tell me I'm wrong. 

[Steamport Southport]

21 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

"Yorkshire tea" has always struck me as being in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. AFAIK Yorkshire's climate does not enable widescale growing in tea plantations. Please tell me I'm wrong. 

 

Processed in Yorkshire though. More to making tea than growing it!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing

 

 

 

Psst. The Trades Descriptions Act was abolished years ago. Now Consumer Rights Act 2015.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Rights_Act_2015

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Steamport Southport

[Widnes Model Centre]

47 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Erm Shaw is in Lancashire, no foreign tea allowed.

 

Are you sure? Shaw is in Lancashire. Shawly err l mean surely it’s in Greater Manchester? 

 

One of our suppliers still addresses our parcels as Lancashire. We have a Liverpool telephone number. We are part of the Liverpool City Region., Merseyside. 

We are actually Cheshire, confusing isn’t it? Especially as we pay a rates precept to the Metro Mayor, who is based in Manchester. Last time l was in Shaw it was snowing 🌨 , early June brrrr

 

Tea break over, back to the subject.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Widnes Model Centre
Grammar

[Pmorgancym]

4 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

No, it was the customers what did it.

 

 

I wonder why?

I dunno there's this more of the 'friendly local model shop'.  I find for the most part then tend to be pretty distant and unfriendly.

(!The Garden railway arena for the most part seems to be far friendler, maybe it's a smaller market, and the unit cost per item higher...)

[KDG]

24 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

 

Are you sure? Shaw is in Lancashire. Shawly err l mean surely it’s in Greater Manchester? 

 

One of our suppliers still addresses our parcels as Lancashire. We have a Liverpool telephone number. We are part of the Liverpool City Region., Merseyside. 

We are actually Cheshire, confusing isn’t it? Especially as we pay a rates precept to the Metro Mayor, who is based in Manchester. Last time l was in Shaw it was snowing 🌨 , early June brrrr

 

Tea break over, back to the subject.

I grew up in Shaw. Oldham postcode. Address was always, Shaw, Oldham, Lancs. Although the buses were GM buses. 10p to go anywhere - awesome. Could get all the way to Piccadilly

in one jouney on the 59.

[Robin Brasher]

I got a hug from a lady at a stand at the Brockenhurst model railway exhibition but it is unusual to get a conversation at a model railway shop let alone a hug or a cup of tea. 

 

I wonder if Hornby will give model railway shops tier 1, 2 or 3 stickers to put in their shops like the Council gives out circle awards for food hygiene with 1 for the best or 5 for the worst. One of my friend's wives works in a convenience store which had a 5 circle award that they did not display.  I told the members of the model railway club that I have just bought some food from the 5 circle shop.

[Mike_Walker]

Oh no!  I feel this thread is drifting off into discussions about county boundaries and old bus routes.  How typically RMweb.

[boxbrownie]

23 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

If you live in the West Country, Argos has ceased to exist other than for internet sales with collection possible from Sainsbury's. My nearest branch is 8 miles away, and I have 4 other supermarket chains within walking distance, as was my former Argos store which used to get quite a bit of my custom.

Liskeard

 

edit: actually looking on the Argos site there are numerous stores scattered around, where are you?

Edited April 14, 2022 by boxbrownie

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

"Yorkshire tea" has always struck me as being in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. AFAIK Yorkshire's climate does not enable widescale growing in tea plantations. Please tell me I'm wrong. 

Then you should stick to Cornish Tea 😉

[Dunsignalling]

31 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Liskeard

 

edit: actually looking on the Argos site there are numerous stores scattered around, where are you?

East Devon.

 

All I get from their store finder is Sainsbury stores for pick-up (the nearest of those being at Ottery St Mary). Not interested in a 16 mile round trip when I can get stuff delivered to my front door.

 

AFAIK most actual Argos stores closed at least a year ago. Certainly the Honiton and Exeter ones that I used to frequent. A web search for remaining ones came up with the final closure of the stand-alone Argos store network as being scheduled for March 2024.

 

John

Edited April 14, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[boxbrownie]

7 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

East Devon.

 

All I get from their store finder is Sainsbury stores for pick-up (the nearest of those being at Ottery St Mary. Not interested in a 16 mile round trip when I can get stuff delivered to my front door.

 

AFAIK all (or almost all) actual Argos stores closed at least a year ago. Certainly the Honiton and Exeter ones that I used to frequent.

 

John

OK, all I know is the one at Liskeard is a real bricks and mortar, strangely enough as I was typing this Mrs BB walked in and showed me a toy doll she just bought from said store for our Grand daughter who will be here on Sunday.

 

Some weird wide eyed pixie 

 

[Dunsignalling]

Just now, boxbrownie said:

OK, all I know is the one at Liskeard is a real bricks and mortar, strangely enough as I was typing this Mrs BB walked in and showed me a toy doll she just bought from said store for our Grand daughter who will be here on Sunday.

 

Some weird wide eyed pixie 

 

Presumably on a longer lease than those round here.

 

John

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

"Yorkshire tea" has always struck me as being in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. AFAIK Yorkshire's climate does not enable widescale growing in tea plantations. Please tell me I'm wrong. 

 

You bloody foreigners, always wrong, yer knows nowt abaat Yorkshire tea, it's grown here;

 

https://www.francisfrith.com/sunnyside,rotherham,yorkshire

 

Mike.

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

Not wishing to wade too deeply into Monty Python territory for the second topic of the day ...

 

The Cup of Tea is probably metaphorical, being a phrase to represent a general air of personal treatment to customers over and above the givemeyourmoneyandshoveoff approach 😉

Nah, not metaphorical but real in the shops I use although the pandemic did put the mockers on it somewhat (oh and usually a mug, notva cup).  In fact I wouldn't think much of the shop if I wasn't offered a cup of tea although i can quite understand not being offered one at a show (where there are no doubt hordes of tea drinkers looking for a freebie while they compare prices and then move on to the next stand only to find they don't have the item there anyway).

[JSpencer]

I always find Hornby slow to react to change compared with their rivals.

For example: following today's update on the Russian cruiser Moskva, Revell have already got an updated kit underway:

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by JSpencer

[Dunsignalling]

I am reminded of the tale of the punter who asked "Trader A" if he had a certain item, and the price. When so advised, he replied that "Trader B" was advertising it for £10 less. 

 

You'd best get it from him then, replied "Trader A", receiving the response "But he hasn't got any."

 

"Aah," says our trader, "that's our price when we haven't got any, too." 

 

John

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Robin Brasher said:

Bachmann, Dapol, Peco and OO Works seem to be able to satisfy demand without introducing a tier system of going bankrupt and Peco and 00 Works have their own factories in England.

 

But do they have a large pile of unsold stock taking up expensive warehouse space which is costing them money in two different ways in their accounts.  Predicting demand for anything is not a simple task but Hornby do seem to have a habit of getting it wrong with too little of some things (hence rationing - without or even with tiers) and too many left in the warehouse of other things which they sometimes eventually manage to sell off having paid out for the storage in the meanwhile.

 

The only way you can get it spot on is to manufacture solely to order but I do wonder if that approach will ever get really established in the UK market because it needs a well organised direct selling approach plus  a trusting (the 'manufacturer') network of retailers who will actually receive the quantity they order.  And at the moment Hornby has shortcomings in both of those areas with the oen about retailers being able to rely on getting what they ordered going back a long while..

[AY Mod]

3 hours ago, Robin Brasher said:

I don't know why I should feel guilty about supporting my local shop and a preserved railway

 

You shouldn't. But I would think less than twice about undermining them just because of FOMO.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

In a few years time when China start selling models direct via BangGood, Ali Express etc and cut out the middle men, Hornby, Bachmann etc, we'll look back at the current shenanigans as the good old days.

 

Mike.

[Oldddudders]

49 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

You bloody foreigners, always wrong, yer knows nowt abaat Yorkshire tea, it's grown here;

 

https://www.francisfrith.com/sunnyside,rotherham,yorkshire

 

Mike.

I do indeed know nothing about tea-growing north of Potters Bar. Any more than I know about growing tea in Knightsbridge, the brand I buy in Lidl (UK). As for being a foreigner, yes, born in Surrey, most of my adult life in Kent before retiring here 18 years ago. Currently on la terrasse drinking wine in the warm evening sun....

[Phil Parker]

6 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

In a few years time when China start selling models direct via BangGood, Ali Express etc and cut out the middle men, Hornby, Bachmann etc, we'll look back at the current shenanigans as the good old days.

 

Mike.

 

Why "in a few years"? Why aren't they doing it already? BangGood etc are hardly new. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

21 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Why "in a few years"? Why aren't they doing it already? BangGood etc are hardly new. 

 

At the moment they aren't selling our mainstream UK models though. , unless I've missed something?

 

Mike.

[Andy Hayter]

But aren't Bachmann Chinese - aka Kader?

[Delta_Who]

9 pages in, and I've lost track of what this thread was arguing about

For me, the landscape is very strange. I've just come back into the hobby after 10 years and there's both positive and worrying trends I've seen.

The good
+ Hornby are still (sort-off) thriving and on profit (Whether that's Covid uplifting or genuine business accumen will be revealed in earnings)
+ Hornby engage in markets that other RTR manufacturers simply don't
+ New advances in tooling for all RTR manufacturers
+ More Prototypes being covered
+ Technology is being pushed further (moving pantos, DCC, water-based smoke on the horizon...etc.)
+ New RTR brandnames

The Bad
+ Street retail has dropped dramatically. London itself barely has any model-shops left (particuarly where Hornby used to highlight e.g. ToysRUs, ModelZone, Hobbycraft (Airfix and humbrol are stocked, but Hornby trains are no-where to be seen anymore)
+ Rolling stock quantities seem to be significantly rarer. Missed out on alot of production runs.
+ Drop in variety from dedicated retailers. A sense of growing hostility among the likes of Hattons/Kernow/RailsofSheffield and the TV series by James May seems to offer perhaps one answer as to why...)

The Ugly
+ Hornbys 2022 prices compared to where I left off in 2008... is insane. (Ditto for Bachmann too)
+ Still bloating out the same tooling
+ Railroad is seemingly more inaccessible at its increased pricepoint. Approaching £100, you start to compete not with other RTR manufacturers... but the likes of LEGO, Mattel, Apple for your childs attention.
+ Sound chips are still grossly inflated. Even TTS is pushing it.
+ Retail seems to be switching from "available stock" to "pre-order in limited batches". Whilst that gurantees a sale for the manufacturer, it doesn't appear to leave much room for future production runs and more limited self-repair.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Delta_Who

[stewartingram]

5 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

It must have only happened once then.

I used to be offered a drink every time in R&D at Cambridge - along with the usual moans from Doug!