Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).

[meatloaf]

Thr old shops being turned into a restaurant i think. I thought the warehouse was at the montague road site and they just turned part of the warehouse into there shop. But they deffo have another one somewhere as i wanted one of the bargain ex set locos for my lad and was told they were on a pallette at the other warehouse.

[Hroth]

Thr old shops being turned into a restaurant i think. I thought the warehouse was at the montague road site and they just turned part of the warehouse into there shop. But they deffo have another one somewhere as i wanted one of the bargain ex set locos for my lad and was told they were on a pallette at the other warehouse.

There was certainly talk of planning permission being appplied for, possibly also with conversion to student flats, but I have no idea how far that has gone.  I also don't know if the "other warehouse" was Montague Road.  However if there IS another warehouse, it would explain why a thorough stock check was required.  Oh well.

 

Still no news on my order of the 29th!

[davetheroad]

I see today the pre owned section of the website has dissappeared

[Coryton]

I see today the pre owned section of the website has dissappeared

 

I think you can be fairly sure that it will be back.

[woodenhead]

I see today the pre owned section of the website has dissappeared

That's been gone for a couple of weeks, there is a news item about it from Hattons, it will be back once the stock take is complete.

[Cape Town Trev]

An update. My order is shown as open. I have just received an email from DHL apparently they have collected a parcel from Hattons. Surely not my order placed on 3 October, I have had no email from Hattons. Please be here on Saturday.

[NIRCLASS80]

Order placed, after two weeks ordered cancelled and PayPal refunded. Life goes on, I'm sure I will still shop at Hattons when the deal is right.

[Stevelewis]

Order placed, after two weeks ordered cancelled and PayPal refunded. Life goes on, I'm sure I will still shop at Hattons when the deal is right.

 

Did  you  cancel  or  was it  Hattons due to  having  no stock?

Edited October 11, 2017 by Stevelewis

[NIRCLASS80]

Did  you  cancel  or  was it  Hattons due to  having  no stock?

Hattons cancelled, no stock.

[Hroth]

Hattons cancelled, no stock.

Despite being told on the 5th that my order was ok and it would be with me "in a few days", I'm now expecting to hear that part of the order has been cancelled for the same reason.  It's still "open" in the Your Orders list.

[Stevelewis]

Hattons  have  just  lost  a £400+ order  from  me today!

 

Simply  because it  appears  they will not  use  next  day delivery anymore!*

 

I place  many orders  with  them  ( 43 orders in 2016**), always  using  next  day  delivery  so that  I do not  have to have  someone remain at  home  on  the offchance  of  a  delivery.

 

The  £7 or £9 cost  being  less than  the  cost  of  actually  travelling to  their   retail shop to collect.

 

I am  very  disappointed  with  them  now  they do not  seem to be the  same  company that  I  have  dealt  with  for  over  40 years, so  from  now  on I will not  consider  them  when  sourcing  goods  as   a  first  choice

 

* current  ads in October  Mags  state that  Next  day dely is available

 

** would  point  out  that  I buy on behalf of  a  couple of modelling  friends as  well  as  my  self most  order  are  usually  three  figure  amounts

[CovDriver]

I placed an order on Tuesday For a 2 car EPB using the next day delivery with DPD/Interlink all thats showing on the order page now is that it's been added to a picking list but the payment has been taken from bank account I think I shall contact them to see what is going on ?

As all these comments on this thread are worrying me now.

 

Cheers 

 

Colin 

[caradoc]

The stock-take, which before the event was shown on the Hattons website to be a two day affair, seems to have become a major problem for them. I too have been a customer for many years, one of the reasons being their excellent website showing exactly what is in stock, plus new arrivals updated almost daily, however I am also now concerned that their previous efficiency has been severely compromised.

[NINJA]

It seems strange that since this stock take the whole system has gone to downhill.

I ordered a loco, strangely no by return order acceptance e mail, after several days rang to be told it would be sorted in the next two days, waited a week, phoned again and was told that they would investigate.

Later that day got an automated e mail saying my order had been cancelled.

[CovDriver]

I've just spoken to someone at Hattons and they have told me that the item I ordered was at the other warehouse and it was deliverred to the store yesterday and it should be out for delivery to me by tomorrow at the latest.

[bob hughes60]

My experience was to place an order on 5-10-2017 for a decoder +hattons DJM 14xx.

Got email confirmation and a picking list email same day then nothing.

Queried it by email and was told the 14xx (H1406) was at "our secondary warehouse" should receive order by end of week(last DPD despatch is thursday no weekend delivery)

Waited till today 10-10-2017 and rang up "still not received from secondary warehouse".

As I will not be in to receive deliveries next week I cancelled order and received an email advising me of a refund. to my card.

 

So in stock  on website may mean at secondary warehouse so expect a long delay?

 

I compare this with the order I placed at Derails when I received a phone call saying not all items in stock would it be okay to send a part order and remainder next week?

Received another Derails phone call yesterday advising me of despatch.

 

To me Hattons seem to have taken their eye off the ball in terms of logistics and keeping customers informed?

 

I cannot fault the speed of Hatton's email reply or the employee who handled the cancellation.

 

Hmmmmm....

Bob Hughes

Edited October 12, 2017 by bob hughes60

[Hroth]

I'll second that comment about the speed of response and helpfulness of the staff when contacted, it just seems that the computer system is struggling.

 

Update: I've just been informed that my order was sent yesterday.  One lives in hope...

[woodenhead]

This second warehouse is intriguing, makes you wonder if it is part of the problem but not offering next day delivery seems odd - wonder if they have removed it temporarily because at the moment they aren't turning round orders fast enough to offer it.

 

I will be in Liverpool on Sunday and planning a visit to Hattons, I might enquire what the problems are.

[Hattons Dave]

Morning all,

 

Apologies for not having updated you all sooner.

 

Thank you for bearing with us, we are still working on getting back to normal over here.

 

Deliveries of new stock are nearly up to date and will be sorted by the end of this week. We’ve also restored the pre-owned items that were “hidden” during the stock take and will be starting to list more pre-owned in the near future.

 

Despatch emails with tracking information are not being sent, this is also related to orders staying as "Open" in your accounts. We are working to resolve these matters.

 

Any despatch delays now are due to requiring stock from our secondary warehouse. Due to the amount of stock we provide, we simply cannot keep it all in one location but try to keep enough to satisfy our expected level of orders. We perform regular movements from the second warehouse which means that under normal circumstances you will not be able to notice if an item has come from off-site.

 

During, and following on from, the stock take we have not been able to perform these as normal which has created these delays. A large amount of items arrived back with us yesterday and we will be getting even more back today.

 

We understand some people have been into our store and asked for items that were available online but not available in the shop due to them being on pallets.  This is a similar situation to above and with the sheer amount of stock around the warehouse, accessing some pallets to replenish shelves has not been possible.  

 

There were one or two items that appeared erroneously on the website and were available to order.  We have resolved this problem and have taken steps to make sure it does not happen again.

 

At the moment we're not able to offer guaranteed Next Day delivery services simply down to this not being fair to people with outstanding orders. Once the orders have been cleared through we will certainly be offering this service again.

 

Once again, I'm really sorry for the delays and issues you have experienced with us lately. We’ll be back to our usual high standards as soon as possible.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[Gwiwer]

Thanks to Dave for the update. I recall similar issues arising with another stocktake not so long back. At a Sheffield-based shop IIRC. Much the same story.

 

Having a second stock storage location is perhaps not as uncommon as might be thought. I know of several businesses within our hobby who operate this way. It permits a greater range to be stocked, it allows for large deliveries (peaks and troughs of stock supply) and it gives a degree of inbuilt business continuity should disaster such as a fire venture itself upon the shop itself.

 

I cannot help thinking however that the problems may be closely linked to Hattons' shift from traditional retailer to distribution warehouse with shop-front. That is a step change and would require different management, business strategy and supporting IT systems. It is clear from posts above that some damage has been done though hopefully not seriously so. Customer loyalty and trust is hard to win and easy to lose.

 

We can only hope things recover as fully and swiftly as Hattons themselves would wish.

[Colin_McLeod]

Hattons  have  just  lost  a £400+ order  from  me today!

 

.......they will not  use  next  day delivery anymore!*

 

Not "anymore" just temporary. See Hattons Dave post.

[Stevelewis]

Not "anymore" just temporary. See Hattons Dave post.

 

Yes  have  seen  that  ...and   also  queried with  Hattons  before  sending  my post  being  told  that  next  day  dely  was  suspended  and  they  had NO idea  when it  would be  reinstated and  actually I got  the impression  thy  were not  really  concerned,, as I mentioned  I use ND dely  as  it  does  help to know  when to  expect  a delivery,  so  that  no one  is  left  hanging around the  house when  they  have  better  things to do.

 

So as  some  of  the items we  were  ordering were  required to enable a project to be  progressed  over the  coming  weekend,  the  order  was placed elsewhere,, I have  noticed  since  that some  of  the  Peco track items  required  are  actually currently  out  of  stock  at  Hattons anyway

[Hattons Dave]

Thanks to Dave for the update. I recall similar issues arising with another stocktake not so long back. At a Sheffield-based shop IIRC. Much the same story.

 

Having a second stock storage location is perhaps not as uncommon as might be thought. I know of several businesses within our hobby who operate this way. It permits a greater range to be stocked, it allows for large deliveries (peaks and troughs of stock supply) and it gives a degree of inbuilt business continuity should disaster such as a fire venture itself upon the shop itself.

 

I cannot help thinking however that the problems may be closely linked to Hattons' shift from traditional retailer to distribution warehouse with shop-front. That is a step change and would require different management, business strategy and supporting IT systems. It is clear from posts above that some damage has been done though hopefully not seriously so. Customer loyalty and trust is hard to win and easy to lose.

 

We can only hope things recover as fully and swiftly as Hattons themselves would wish.

 

You’re absolutely right Rick. Lot’s goes on under the roof of the Hatton’s Hub and we need to take the time to make sure we get them all right.

 

 

Yes  have  seen  that  ...and   also  queried with  Hattons  before  sending  my post  being  told  that  next  day  dely  was  suspended  and  they  had NO idea  when it  would be  reinstated and  actually I got  the impression  thy  were not  really  concerned,, as I mentioned  I use ND dely  as  it  does  help to know  when to  expect  a delivery,  so  that  no one  is  left  hanging around the  house when  they  have  better  things to do.

 

So as  some  of  the items we  were  ordering were  required to enable a project to be  progressed  over the  coming  weekend,  the  order  was placed elsewhere,, I have  noticed  since  that some  of  the  Peco track items  required  are  actually currently  out  of  stock  at  Hattons anyway

 

Hi Steve, sorry that we couldn’t offer you a Next Day service on this recent order. I’ve spoken to Richard and he says that if you order when we start listing Pre-Owned items again, he can drop it in with you on his way home. If interested, just place the order as “Click and collect” and arrange via info@hattons.co.uk  so Richard knows when to bring.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

[Ed-farms]

 

You’re absolutely right Rick. Lot’s goes on under the roof of the Hatton’s Hub and we need to take the time to make sure we get them all right.

 

 

 

Hi Steve, sorry that we couldn’t offer you a Next Day service on this recent order. I’ve spoken to Richard and he says that if you order when we start listing Pre-Owned items again, he can drop it in with you on his way home. If interested, just place the order as “Click and collect” and arrange via info@hattons.co.uk  so Richard knows when to bring.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

 

 

Now I have  to say that is excellent service, one I sadly won't be able to use - I doubt anyone working there drives to Cardiff - but for local modellers its a good thing.

[Stevelewis]

Now I have  to say that is excellent service, one I sadly won't be able to use - I doubt anyone working there drives to Cardiff - but for local modellers its a good thing.

 

Thanks  for  the offer  Dave  unfortunately as  I  mentioned  earlier  my orders are sometimes  for  a  couple  of  my modelling  colleagues, who prefer me to order for  them (once  they pay me of course!!)  then  they can collect  goods  from  my address,  when  they  are in the  area, this  assists  tem  as their addresses   are unoccupied during the  day, and in one case  it  helps to be  able  to  sneak items in  without being  asked  'what  more trains' from SWMBO.

 

And in this  case  Friday was a good day to call here