Modelmaster

[ukmodelshops]

For info the MM website has been down for a couple of days.

I attempted to send Jim an email but that has bounced.

I also tried telephoning but there was no response and the message queue was full.

 

I think it might be best to sadly assume that MM has finally closed down for good.

 

I am aware that Jim was not in the best of health but he clearly was dedicated enough to the hobby to try and continue. Unfortunately his best intentions were misguided in that it has caused problems and financial losses for many modellers.

 

If at some time Jim reads or hears about this and wishes to correct my assumptions then I will be happy to reinstate his entry in the Directory. But as from today I have marked MM as closed down.

[Darius43]

On 31/10/2022 at 09:12, 2750Papyrus said:

Didn't there used to be a Model Engineering Trade Association?

Indeed there did.

 

I suspect that it is long defunct.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[Ravenser]

8 minutes ago, Darius43 said:

Indeed there did.

 

I suspect that it is long defunct.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

 

It is . I think it was still in existance in the 1970s and probably into the 1980s

 

The original idea was that the Trade were going to take an oath on the daggers to adhere to the various BRMSB standards when they resumed post-war.  (In reality the key players in "the Trade" post war were going to be Hornby Dublo, Trix and Triang)

 

Hence the presence of RJ Raymond as Chairman (editor , Model Railway Constructor , member BRMSB) GH Lakes as Secretary (editor, Trains , member BRMSB) and JN Maskelyne (editor Model Railway News , member BRMSB) . Maskelyne is the chap in the wing collar to the right in the middle row. 

 

You will also note that the pieces describing META are taken from the Model Railway Constructor , which Raymond edited. You will sort of get how all this must have been working...

 

I still haven't got my N gauge nameplates (not that I expect to) , but I hope the next step in this saga is not the appearance of an item in the Obituaries section

[Halvarras]

2 hours ago, ukmodelshops said:

For info the MM website has been down for a couple of days.

I attempted to send Jim an email but that has bounced.

I also tried telephoning but there was no response and the message queue was full.

 

I think it might be best to sadly assume that MM has finally closed down for good.

 

I am aware that Jim was not in the best of health but he clearly was dedicated enough to the hobby to try and continue. Unfortunately his best intentions were misguided in that it has caused problems and financial losses for many modellers.

 

If at some time Jim reads or hears about this and wishes to correct my assumptions then I will be happy to reinstate his entry in the Directory. But as from today I have marked MM as closed down.

 

Whoa there, not so fast.......maybe! I have ordered from Jim around two years ago and the order turned up in reasonable time, if not rapidly. Although I was aware of this thread I decided to chance it and ordered four sets of diesel nameplates I didn't need immediately, because they were on special offer........

 

4th August - order placed and acknowledged.

6th September - email, "Processing in progress".

20th October - email, "Order shipped".

1st November - order received (yes, just this morning!)

 

I had been preparing to call this week because three months had passed and if the order really had been despatched I'd need to know if it had gone missing in the post. A note was included which says," I'm extremely sorry for the delay [....] but a plate was out of stock and had to be re-etched". The plates I received are as ordered and very nice.

 

From the note it appears that, if you're unfortunate enough to order a plate which is out of stock, having to re-etch it is going to cause a long delay, for reasons only Jim is fully aware of. Under these circumstances the lack of communication is an issue, especially since the obviously best and instant solution is email, but which Jim unfortunately struggles with, as stated on his website. The email notifications I received were all standard system-generated order progress responses, with no apparent facility for personal messaging. With apologies to Jim, clearly if you need a set of plates in a hurry, best order them from elsewhere.

 

I'd like to say that having the patience of a saint pays off in the end, but maybe I was just lucky - I can see from the comments on here that others haven't been. So he's still hanging on in there and sending stuff out (eventually), but where Modelmaster goes from here we'll just have to wait and see. I can understand people's reluctance to place orders and that's not good for the viability of the business, which is rapidly reaching a point where solutions to the problems have to be found and implemented, or the plug pulled, because it can't go on like this.

 

Personally I hope it's fixed, because the range is big and useful and there are a couple of those industrial nameplates I could find a use for - I could name my Hornby Peckett after my Better Half.......might be the only time she shows any interest at all in model railways...............(sigh) 🙄!

 

 

 

 

 

[ukmodelshops]

Some good news for those still waiting for items from MM, the website is back up!!! Hurrah.

The site also says the telephone is back but I haven't tried this.

I did say I was happy to be corrected.

[Sjcm]

Hmmm..... loads of info on their new presumably expensive, super fast servers and  methods to pay, but still seemingly unable to add a simple "out of stock" message to those items unavailable. I love to know how he ended up with a e-commerce site that doesn't supply the most basic of standard features, and how the suppliers of it are still in business in 2022  - maybe they do his answer phone service as well?

[spamcan61]

In principle I agree; trouble is, he must have literally thousands of stock lines, I shudder to think how long it would take to get an accurate stock count, nevermind keep track of it.

[Sjcm]

11 minutes ago, spamcan61 said:

In principle I agree; trouble is, he must have literally thousands of stock lines, I shudder to think how long it would take to get an accurate stock count, nevermind keep track of it.

And yet if you're lucky enough to speak to him he's well aware your item isn't available, waiting on delivery from suppliers or being prepared. In fact he doesn't even pretend he had the item in stock when you ordered. If he works on the basis of getting the orders first and then placing orders with his suppliers then he should say so on his home page and delete the frankly dishonest delivery estimates, rather than customers facing a game of Russian roulette that they've picked an item that is actually "available now".

[spamcan61]

4 minutes ago, Sjcm said:

. If he works on the basis of getting the orders first and then placing orders with his suppliers then he should say so on his home page and delete the frankly dishonest delivery estimates, rather than customers facing a game of Russian roulette that they've picked an item that is actually "available now".

Agree absolutely, some expectation management would be helpful.

[Colin_McLeod]

1 hour ago, spamcan61 said:

Agree absolutely, some expectation management would be helpful.

 

I think anyone who has read this thread should have a realistic enough expectation.

[Sjcm]

1 hour ago, spamcan61 said:

Agree absolutely, some expectation management would be helpful.

Yes, it's just the frustration that even if he can't change the availability status of products on his site (and I don't believe that for a second personally), he can a) alter his home page and b) send out emails. Just a message saying "some items may have longer delivery estimates - please enquire for availability before ordering". Won't stop everyone waiting months but will lower customer expectations and therefore disappointment and complaints if it takes 6+ months to arrive

[Porcy Mane]

 

Welcome to the new server. Exactly the same as the old server.

 

"Image coming soon".   🥱

[Mallard60022]

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

[Porcy Mane]

6 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

 

Almost as tedious as Mr. Modelmasters doling out the same old, same old,  the same old, same old excuses. 

I think the railway modelling fraternity overall is a pretty forgiving bunch but there comes a time when patience runs out and folk understandably turn to the forums in an attempt to find out what's going on or simply to vent their frustrations.

I hope Mr Modelmaster sorts out his problems but his unreliability has been well known for many years and I hold out no hope for improvement. 

[Sjcm]

25 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

He's a trading business and the same rules apply to everyone whether that's a one-man band or a multi-national. Pop into your local cafe, order a breakfast and see if you're happy if your still sitting there 3 hours later while the owner tells you they're waiting for the eggs to be delivered. I'm guessing you would expect them to tell you they had no eggs when you ordered? 😉

Edited November 3, 2022 by Sjcm
Typo

[Darius43]

27 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

As are the people defending the indefensible.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

 

 

[Ravenser]

3 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

In principle I agree; trouble is, he must have literally thousands of stock lines, I shudder to think how long it would take to get an accurate stock count, nevermind keep track of it.

 

He knows he's passed all his 2mm scale stuff over to the NGS.

 

I haven't checked the revived site but anything in N should have been removed from it, and a note added that he no longer does N and all stock is with NGS

 

That would be simple enough and a start 

 

As it is, I post a warning again in this thread

Edited November 3, 2022 by Ravenser

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

 

PLEASE - stop defending him!!

 

If there was no need to repeatedly warn people against this totally disfunctional 'trader', we wouldn't keep getting posts from aggrieved customers whose hard-earned cash has disappeared into a black hole.

 

Unfortunately, it is evident that knowledge of the clear and present dangers that Modelmasters represents are NOT widely known, even amongst members here - let alone the wider railway modelling community.

 

If you really want to put an end to the complaints here, find a way to contact the proprietor in person, and persuade him to shut up shop permanently. Best of luck with that - others have tried and failed!

 

In the meantime, the rest of us will do all in our power to prevent other victims falling into Modelmasters' trap - DEAL WITH IT.

 

CJI.

(A singleton, cottage style business that does NOT have 'issues).

Edited November 3, 2022 by cctransuk

[JohnR]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

 

There are plenty of singleton, cottage style businesses in this hobby that manage to avoid all these many issues. I cant think of any that refuse to answer emails, dont have stock levels on their website (or at least note which products may take months to arrive to ordering). I cant think of any others where it is impossible to reach by phone, because most of the time it goes to answering machine (when the answering machine is full). 

 

I think we could all accept if someone is going through a period when issues arise. The problem is they never get resolved at ModelMaster. 

[Colin_McLeod]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

The circling Vultures can't accept that this is a  singleton, Cottage style business that has been having 'issues' for ages.

Listen to yourselves going over and over the same old, same old. It's getting very tedious indeed.

P

 

 

What is getting tedious indeed is every now and then someone starts defending Modelmasters.  Yes, the owner has issues but those issues are such that he should stop trading or else get someone else to do it.

 

Then when a new victim discovers this thread and contributes it is only natural that the same points are made again.

 

2 hours ago, Darius43 said:

As are the people defending the indefensible.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

 

 

 

It seems so @Darius43

[AY Mod]

2 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Modelmasters isn't a Shop. 

 

He's not a physical conventional shop. He is a 'webstore' trading over the internet; he is taking customers' money and not delivering. Your post excuses nothing and is no defence. He doesn't want to trade transparently, he doesn't want to give good service, he doesn't want to be accountable, he doesn't want the trouble of dealing with people. The kindest thing anyone could do (for him) is not cause him any inconvenience by trying to buy from him.

[John Pybus]

Modelmaster.......Outstanding orders for etched nameplates up to two years old and still waiting, nil response by phone, nil response to letters sent to be signed for..........

 

Over the years I have dealt with Jim I have always been happy with the service provided however I am now becoming very frustrated as I am unable to contact him......Modelmaster owe me £44.74. I have tried the phone numbers provided and rang during the periods suggested but the phone goes to voice mail.

 

Never before have I encountered such a negative response.

Jim will no doubt be losing out on future business, does he care ?

 

John

 

 

[John M Upton]

Here we go again.

 

Modelmaster topics always seem to see to attract medieval style mobs of angry villagers waving burning torches and pitchforks, stampeding over the hill towards the target of the ire.

[Steamport Southport]

19 hours ago, John M Upton said:

Here we go again.

 

Modelmaster topics always seem to see to attract medieval style mobs of angry villagers waving burning torches and pitchforks, stampeding over the hill towards the target of the ire.

 

The only thing medieval is the way the company is run.

 

Calling a few legitimate complains a "mob" is patronising to the extreme. They are customers and deserve a service they have paid for.

 

 

Jason

[Mallard60022]

28 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

The only thing medieval is the way the company is run.

 

Calling a few legitimate complains a "mob" is patronising to the extreme. They are customers and deserve a service they have paid for.

 

 

Jason

Yes, fine. However those that attempt to stand in the way of continuous baiting of the obviously failing individual are just as entitled to their opinions as 'the mob'. We may be seen to be defending the business. We are NOT, we are defending a fellow human being who is being mercilessly mocked. It is the Business that is failing.

WE just try to suggest that the man be left out of it. We have no idea of circumstances. Not guilty until proven so.

Phil