Hattons Model Railways to close

[Nile]

11 hours ago, bradfordbuffer said:

Look on bright side ....moderators can get some sleep in march!

Is the internet closing down then?

Whatever next?

[scots region]

Just to wade in, ‘Low Skilled Worker’ doesn’t mean unintelligent or unimportant work, it refers to the level of training that a job requires. Take engineering for example, that requires years of study and then constant learning and unlearning throughout a career, you can’t just pick up the basics and go. Now with say, cleaning, someone can take around half an hour or maybe that latter part of an afternoon and quickly have someone else broadly up to speed.

 

Its not the amount of effort required it’s the amount of training and foreknowledge that’s needed.

[MikeParkin65]

1 hour ago, 5 C said:

What's likely to be my final purchase from Hattons.

 

Maybe.

 

Ordered shortly after Monday's announcement and arrived yesterday without any fuss. It was a reminder of just how easy (too easy) the site is to navigate and what a slick ordering process Hattons provided.

 

A great service to the end. Sad to see them go.

And the best packing in the business by a country mile in my experience

[SteveM666]

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

Perhaps we could start a topic for our last purchases from Hattons.

Apart from the two discounted TXS decoders I bought this week, my last purchase was when they bought in their tiered postage rates. Standard postage? We may post it sometime this week. Pay extra and we’ll get it out this afternoon. Most of my business want to Rails and TMC after that.

Don't take my comment the wrong way, I am just as sad to see them close as anyone else, and wish all their staff the best for the future.

[johnofwessex]

28 minutes ago, scots region said:

Just to wade in, ‘Low Skilled Worker’ doesn’t mean unintelligent or unimportant work, it refers to the level of training that a job requires. Take engineering for example, that requires years of study and then constant learning and unlearning throughout a career, you can’t just pick up the basics and go. Now with say, cleaning, someone can take around half an hour or maybe that latter part of an afternoon and quickly have someone else broadly up to speed.

 

Its not the amount of effort required it’s the amount of training and foreknowledge that’s needed.

 

The ability to do what looks like a simple job well and quickly, a cleaner for example should never be underestimated, neither in the case of manual workers the ability to simply stick at it all day 

[Halvarras]

2 hours ago, Robin Brasher said:

In the 1960s hardware shops or local village store often sold model railway items.

 

 

Quite so, in 1967 I pre-ordered my Tri-ang-Hornby Hymek in Langdon's Hardware Store, located a short distance behind Truro Cathedral. Still have it, but the store is long gone. On visits now I try to figure out where it was, as everything has changed so much. I can still recall the thin, smiling gent in his traditional brown dust jacket who used to serve me - the "59/3d" price hand-written on the model's brown outer sleeve must be his writing. So long ago.......

[RichardT]

28 minutes ago, SteveM666 said:

Standard postage? We may post it sometime this week. Pay extra and we’ll get it out this afternoon. Most of my business want to Rails and TMC after that.

I know. Receiving toy trains two days quicker is pretty much a matter of life and death.

 

Richard

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Nile said:

Is the internet closing down then?

Whatever next?

Mine just did.  Bloody cats chewed the ADSL filter cable!  Fortunately I found another.

[SteveM666]

9 minutes ago, RichardT said:

I know. Receiving toy trains two days quicker is pretty much a matter of life and death.

 

Richard

As expected, taken the wrong way.

I didn’t appreciate them taking my money, sitting on it for up to a week before providing a service. As far as actual delivery, we’ll it will get her when the Post Office are good and ready and doesn’t need any extra delay from the supplier.

[Butler Henderson]

1 hour ago, SteveM666 said:

Apart from the two discounted TXS decoders I bought this week, my last purchase was when they bought in their tiered postage rates. Standard postage? We may post it sometime this week. Pay extra and we’ll get it out this afternoon. Most of my business want to Rails and TMC after that.

Don't take my comment the wrong way, I am just as sad to see them close as anyone else, and wish all their staff the best for the future.

There was a period when an order arriving within 2 weeks was doing well although whether that was down to a slow despatch and/or Royal Mail was not clear and  at times it seemed like there maybe even customs on the Lancs Yorks border given I was reading of orders bring placed and received in Australia in the meantime.

 More recently things have improved significantly but nevertheless orders from the likes of Derails and Model Railways Direct are typically quicker to arrive.

[NBL]

35 minutes ago, SteveM666 said:

As expected, taken the wrong way.

I didn’t appreciate them taking my money, sitting on it for up to a week before providing a service. As far as actual delivery, we’ll it will get her when the Post Office are good and ready and doesn’t need any extra delay from the supplier.

Damn them for buying a yacht from the interest of sitting on your money for a week

[JohnR]

40 minutes ago, SteveM666 said:

As expected, taken the wrong way.

I didn’t appreciate them taking my money, sitting on it for up to a week before providing a service. As far as actual delivery, we’ll it will get her when the Post Office are good and ready and doesn’t need any extra delay from the supplier.

 

Except no one is sitting on your money for a week. You are only charged once they dispatch it. If they dispatch it the same day, you get charged the same day. If they dispatch it a week next Tuesday, thats when they charge you. 

[Robin Brasher]

1 hour ago, johnofwessex said:

 

The ability to do what looks like a simple job well and quickly, a cleaner for example should never be underestimated, neither in the case of manual workers the ability to simply stick at it all day 

Who were the essential workers during Covid?  

[Robin Brasher]

My last purchases from Hattons were the two green Rolls Royce cars in the picture that I bought last month. There were only a few left and I bought the two for less than the cost of two of the new replica Corgi Toys. I think I also bought the other Rolls Royce cars from Hattons a few years ago. I hesitated about buying an Alvis as my flat is getting a bit cluttered so fortunately Hattons made the decision for me by selling out of Alvis cars. Hattons used to drive my local model shops mad because I think they knew that I was buying my locomotives from Hattons and wagons and scenery from them. Once the owner came up to me when I was working and told me he would match Hattons prices. I took him up on his offer but he told me he could not possibly match that price for a Hornby rebuilt Merchant Navy and anyway he had no problem selling those locomotives at the full price. As a result I went back to buying models from Hattons.

[Bucoops]

2 hours ago, scots region said:

Just to wade in, ‘Low Skilled Worker’ doesn’t mean unintelligent or unimportant work, it refers to the level of training that a job requires. Take engineering for example, that requires years of study and then constant learning and unlearning throughout a career, you can’t just pick up the basics and go. Now with say, cleaning, someone can take around half an hour or maybe that latter part of an afternoon and quickly have someone else broadly up to speed.

 

Its not the amount of effort required it’s the amount of training and foreknowledge that’s needed.

 

I wonder how much training Boeing Assembly bods get and look at how that's working out for them at the moment :)

 

2 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

And the best packing in the business by a country mile in my experience

 

My small pile of bits arrived today and the packaging was certainly sufficient - overkill really but can appreciate that for delicate stuff it would protect it very well. Mildy amused by the outside bit excitedly stating plastic free, with the bubblewrap inside obviously plastic (no claim to becardboard free though?). 

[class27]

I used Hattons a few times with no issues at all. Living in the north of Scotland means just about everything is Mailorder. Was visiting an old friend in Brighton of all places and decided to call in to Hattons on the way home. I must confess to being slightly disappointed  at the small display area ( I had been hoping for something more like Gaugemasters place) but I could not complain about the welcome I got. After explaining why I had visited, I was treated like royalty. This sort of thing never goes out of Fashion.

I would like to wish The owners and staff at Hattons all the best for the future.

[NXEA!]

Worth noting that I spoke to Hattons earlier today to query my pre-order for some Genesis coach light bars and they’ve confirmed that these are going ahead along with the previously confirmed batch 2 coaches. So no need for myself or others to fret on the light bars which is good news. 

[Robin Brasher]

17 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

I wonder how much training Boeing Assembly bods get and look at how that's working out for them at the moment :)

 

 

My small pile of bits arrived today and the packaging was certainly sufficient - overkill really but can appreciate that for delicate stuff it would protect it very well. Mildy amused by the outside bit excitedly stating plastic free, with the bubblewrap inside obviously plastic (no claim to becardboard free though?). 

I expect the Boeing Assembly workers get paid more and are higher up the social scale than the Hattons workers but the Hattons workers do a better job.

 

I returned a faulty Dapol O gauge coach to Hattons and they told me that they packed the models by hand. I thought that they used a machine.

 

Their new boxes are worth keeping. I use them to take models to the model railway club or for storing my collection or for packaging when selling items. Perhaps their boxes will become collectors' items.

[Fair Oak Junction]

Potentially my last ever purchase from Hattons, depending on if the P Classes happen. I was going to be buying one of these at some point anyway, as they had few in stock, but by the time I checked in the closing down sale they only had this one left. Glad I checked the website when I did. For me this model will represent the end of an era, even if the Ps happen.

 

Edited January 12 by Fair Oak Junction

[Willie Whizz]

4 hours ago, nf3996 said:

 

There are currently 423 Skaledale wayside halts available, and 547 Skaledale station offices.

Presumably ‘someone at some point’ thought they were getting a good deal by buying in such bulk. One has to wonder though: at the typical monthly rate of sales for such items, by any retail outlet, how many years-worth of stock that represents to he held, curated and warehoused?

 

Perhaps some old Hattons habits never really died out. 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

4 hours ago, Robin Brasher said:

Perhaps we could start a topic for our last purchases from Hattons.

One thing that’s emerged from this thread is it’s more common than I realised to maintain spreadsheet records of purchases.  As a former Management Accountant I thought it was just me, but it’s something several have mentioned.

 

Checking my spreadsheet last night shows my transaction volume and spend at Hattons has gone up in recent years, especially in 2022 when, post-pandemic, I tried out several different ideas (all pre-owned based).  The number of sales of surplus / pre-owned stock I was making to Hattons also rose - same reason.  All transactions were flawless and efficient.  There was only one occasion where I can recall making a return, and this was handled very promptly and courteously.

 

My final parcel came yesterday: Items I wanted to buy later in the year, but pulled forwards.  

 

 

No prizes for guessing the long box is a few lengths of Peco Flextrack, but I wanted to show the packaging because of the additional reinforcing strip Hattons have been adding for additional rigidity during shipping, which is appreciated.  I’m aware of other suppliers who will only ship complete boxes of 25 lengths of Flextrack, which is fair enough, but more than I need.  

 

Ideally I would have called in at the store in person, but am not over that way this week.  I emailed the staff I’ve been dealing with at Hattons after the news broke, and it’s a sign of their professionalism that I soon got a gracious reply back, Keith.

 

Edited January 12 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Michael Hodgson]

4 minutes ago, Willie Whizz said:

Presumably ‘someone at some point’ thought they were getting a good deal by buying in such bulk. One has to wonder though: at the typical monthly rate of sales for such items, by any retail outlet, how many years-worth of stock that represents to he held, curated and warehoused?

Given the sheer number of product lines they've been handling, it's hardly surprising that a few lines have been over-ordered by a couple of places of decimals.

[AY Mod]

30 minutes ago, Willie Whizz said:

Presumably ‘someone at some point’ thought they were getting a good deal by buying in such bulk.

 

On more than one occasion Hattons bailed Hornby out when stock needed a new home before the end of a financial period.

[Robin Brasher]

As a former trainspotter I have also retained my receipts from Hattons. I was thinking of posting them here but it is going to take a long time to go through them and find out how much I have spent each year. The result will probably be horrifying. Equally worrying is that the staff there knew me as a customer because I thought that I was anonymous.

[petrox]

Have only just seen this sad news - I have been a very satisfied customer of Hattons for nearly 20 years, and have always found them to be an excellent organisation to deal with (both buying and selling stock). At least the business is closing down in a structured and organised manner, so hopefully the impact on staff will be lessened.

 

No doubt there will be many opinions as to the possible short and long-term effects  of the closure of one of the major model railway retailers - maybe there will be a move towards buying direct from the manufacturer (I have cancelled my Hattons pre-order for the B-set and ordered from Rapido).  

 

Pete