Minor gripe (reward points and shipping costs)

[Philip Jackson]

Living in Malta has many advantages. Unfortunately having this hobby isn't really one of them. If you collect the reward points 100 is worth €1 (87p) where as in the UK its £1. I tried to use the points anyway and because the total to pay was just under the free shipping amount it would cost €24 to ship it.

 

1st world problems I know. I'll get down from my soapbox now

[GWR-fan]

I always look at the free shipping threshold and decide whether to spend the required additional money to meet the threshold on railway items or spend it on the shipping cost.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by GWR-fan

[adb968008]

Surely you collect more reward points on spend because a Euro buys less than £1.

 

swings and roundabouts.

Edited May 23, 2023 by adb968008

[Guest]

With recent changes in shipping processes to Europe and the extra paperwork now required, that has presumably contributed to the cost of shipping going up. That said, be grateful you don’t live in Macedonia or Moldova where the shipping cost is £50 and the spend required for free delivery is £250.

[Colin_McLeod]

On 22/05/2023 at 23:53, GWR-fan said:

I always look at the free shipping threshold and decide whether to spend the required additional money to meet the threshold on railway items or spend it on the shipping cost.

 

 

 

Agree.  That's why we all have spare packets of fishplates or track pins. 😀

[Bucoops]

56 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

Agree.  That's why we all have spare packets of fishplates or track pins. 😀

 

And when you actually need some, do you think you can find them?

[ThaneofFife]

Wonder how the Rewards Points scheme is doing for people and if Hornby rste it a success.......or has it gone the way of Design Clever.

[Mike Harvey]

I have been using my reward points and got a lot of value from using them for Black Friday and other sale items, resulting in some almost “no charge” transactions. Hornby are still promoting Hobby Rewards if my email inbox is anything to go by.

[ruggedpeak]

6 hours ago, ThaneofFife said:

Wonder how the Rewards Points scheme is doing for people and if Hornby rste it a success.......or has it gone the way of Design Clever.

They've just put double points on the NY sale items, is that a sign of desperation or that Points work? Given that you can now buy a Rail Adventure HST set for £217 and get £43 worth of points back it is an attractive proposition. It certainly seems Points are popular with some on RMWeb. And it is an integral part of Hornby's CRM operation to develop direct sales, refered to in their latest trading update, which overall is working based on the update.

 

Right now I am tempted by the RA HST's. Buy those, hope the sale rumbles on until the points 'go live' and then get a TfW 67 for about £70. If the sale ends before that then the points will be used for a FLIRT. We don't have any data but no signs that the Points scheme is failing yet.

[ruggedpeak]

On 22/05/2023 at 22:38, Philip Jackson said:

Living in Malta has many advantages. Unfortunately having this hobby isn't really one of them. If you collect the reward points 100 is worth €1 (87p) where as in the UK its £1. I tried to use the points anyway and because the total to pay was just under the free shipping amount it would cost €24 to ship it.

 

1st world problems I know. I'll get down from my soapbox now

Irritating yes but not sure it is fair to complain that you have to choose between a points based discount scheme or free shipping? What would it cost net to buy from a UK retailer and get it shipped to Malta, with no points etc? Unfortunately you just happen to be buying around the thresholds of the scheme. Hornby's schemes are very generous as a rule and unusually they allow multiple discounts etc on the same order. You can spend points, earn points, get free gifts etc all on one order if you meet the criteria, as I did before Xmas. Through in online cashback and cashback credit cards and you are quids in. I don't know anyone else who allows multiple offers/benefits on the same order.

 

Overseas is a pain, I live in Switzerland and with duties, VAT and de facto mandatory postal inspection fees it makes buying from the UK non-viable unless the order exceeds about £450 or so.

[Richy59]

9 hours ago, ruggedpeak said:

They've just put double points on the NY sale items, is that a sign of desperation or that Points work? Given that you can now buy a Rail Adventure HST set for £217 and get £43 worth of points back it is an attractive proposition. It certainly seems Points are popular with some on RMWeb. And it is an integral part of Hornby's CRM operation to develop direct sales, refered to in their latest trading update, which overall is working based on the update.

 

Right now I am tempted by the RA HST's. Buy those, hope the sale rumbles on until the points 'go live' and then get a TfW 67 for about £70. If the sale ends before that then the points will be used for a FLIRT. We don't have any data but no signs that the Points scheme is failing yet.

 

I'm actually a little annoyed about this, I bought the RailAdventure set on sale when it first started and it's only been out the box for a brief test run. I'd have happily waited for douple points to buy it, and I'm well past my 2 week returns window.

[ruggedpeak]

Why not send Hornby a friendly email asking if you can get double points as a loyal customer?

 

I'm holding out until next week and triple points!!

[PeterStiles]

14 hours ago, Richy59 said:

I'm actually a little annoyed about this, I bought the RailAdventure set on sale when it first started and it's only been out the box for a brief test run. I'd have happily waited for douple points to buy it, and I'm well past my 2 week returns window.

 

If I got annoyed every time something went down in price after I'd bought one I'd be a bitter old man...

 

Oh, hold on, I am a bitter old man.