Giles Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 At noon on Sunday, I ordered a booster unit for my Gaugemaster Prodigy advance (to give me an 8 amp supply) - not only was it £35 cheaper than nearly everyone else, but it arrived at my door 23 hours later - on a Sunday order.... Very impressive! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brittannia Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Moving to Widnes shop in Liverpool shutting completely Sorry if this is a stupid question, but will they be moving back to the Smithdown Road store afterwards? Is this just a temporary move? I really hope they go back, it was just up the road from me, I'll be gutted if they don't return there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lankyphil Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Well the shop was becoming more of a trade counter or argos type shop with less and less on display. From location of their site on the industrial estate, and the location of the actual estate, it's not really ideal for a "model shop visit". Not sure why they're bothering with the shop part to be honest, they might as well leave it and just become the Amazon of the model world... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 At noon on Sunday, I ordered a booster unit for my Gaugemaster Prodigy advance (to give me an 8 amp supply) - not only was it £35 cheaper than nearly everyone else, but it arrived at my door 23 hours later - on a Sunday order.... Very impressive! Lucky you! I ordered a Hornby J15 a week last Friday and it turned up on the following Tuesday, having spent a day in Keighley courtesy of YODEL (I asked for delivery by Royal Mail). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 The location is strange in that the dead end road serving the estate seems to point at some wasteland which if you then head east hits a road served by public transport (Halton Borough 2 Arriva 82A) next to the abandoned Ditton (Junction) station. As a major employment area a footpath and cycleway linking to that road ought to be a pretty obvious requirement but there does not seem to anything other than a few rough, and probably dodgy, tracks . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 there does not seem to anything other than a few rough, and probably dodgy, tracks . ... and possibly people? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted January 21, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2016 Lucky you! I ordered a Hornby J15 a week last Friday and it turned up on the following Tuesday, having spent a day in Keighley courtesy of YODEL (I asked for delivery by Royal Mail). The saga continues.....yet another victim of specific preferences blithely ignored.A reason why I haven't ordered with them for quite a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 21, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2016 Well the shop was becoming more of a trade counter or argos type shop with less and less on display. From location of their site on the industrial estate, and the location of the actual estate, it's not really ideal for a "model shop visit". Not sure why they're bothering with the shop part to be honest, they might as well leave it and just become the Amazon of the model world... They have to keep a shop to get Bachmann stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brittannia Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 ... and possibly people? bit of a dodgy post eh,? and that's from a Manc ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 21, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2016 While the premises in Smithdown Road might well be showing its age the site doesn't appear to be with new developments nearby which must be adding to its value at a rate which increasingly makes any renovation work look like the wrong thing to do. Hattons are a business and no doubt their decision to pull out of the Smithdown Road premises and, presumably, to realise the value of the site is probably best looked at in business terms rather than anything else. They already have a modern and very efficient warehouse elsewhere for their mail order business and i would suspect that the shop footfall is but a relatively minor contributor to their income and profits and to them does not represent the best way of achieving value from the site. For those who shop from the company the important thing is that they will continue in business - unlike so many others which have just disappeared due to changes in our hobby, and others, or simply packed up when the owners retired. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
antrobuscp Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I was a bit surprised at the apparent suddenness of the move out of Smithdown Road. I do recall someone on here suggesting this, maybe 9 - 18 months ago, but it seemed to go very quiet. I regularly visited the shop to "collect", but was thinking of stopping as the part of the drive off the motorway was becoming a bit tedious at times, and was the relatively costly part of the drive. The Hub will be an easier drive I suspect from North Merseyside. I can understand the common sense of settling on one site. Even when my office was on 2 floors in the same building, a move to one floor saved a lot of time. Unfortunately, those using public transport will find access harder and Hattons may lose a little trade from those using the busy local shopping streets just up the road - Christmas trade? Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted January 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2016 I think their standard £4 postage is cheaper than either the petrol or the train/bus/taxi fares. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted January 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2016 I think their standard £4 postage is cheaper than either the petrol or the train/bus/taxi fares. True, but if poss I do prefer to see a model in the flesh before splashing the cash, especially with locos to see if any bits have broken off or dropped off, something which seems to happen so often when I get stuff posted (at least it seems to to me!). Trouble is I don't have a model shop within reach, unless I get a plane or boat, so usually has to be mail order unfortunately... Cheers, Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
antrobuscp Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I think their standard £4 postage is cheaper than either the petrol or the train/bus/taxi fares. Agreed, I collect so as to avoid potential damage in the post, and just to look at what's on display. Colin 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 They have to keep a shop to get Bachmann stuff. Same goes for Peco AFAIK. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Shame that as they had started selling a lot of modelling bits and pieces, e.g. evergreen plastic and brass tubes and rods. I work in Mill Lane, just off Edge Lane and it was handy to pop in. In fact I used to pop in just for a browse if I had been visiting other units. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 29, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 29, 2016 It is unusual for me to comment negatively on Hattons and I know they were trying to help but ....... Attempted to place an order for an in-stock item via eHattons which brought up an intermittent and apparently known issue in that the "Add to Cart" button blinks but nothing is added to the cart and the basket remains empty. I haven't used their live chat facility before but as the button was live I tried it and was replied to within an impressive five seconds. I described the issue. "You need to refresh your cookies" was the reply, "And then try". I assumed the meaning was to "delete cookies" which I am very reluctant to do as some quite unrelated to the hobby link me back quickly to sites I log into frequently and sometimes when needing time-critical information quickly. I don't appreciate being asked to re-enter or re-set a password at such times because I had to delete the cookies for something else. I suggested I had deleted my cookies and the problem persisted. I know from one previous attempt that this problem does not clear with a cache-clean. "Are you using Chrome?" was the next question to which my reply was that no, I was not because I use my Mac's default Safari browser. I don't have a lot of space available to download and run browsers in parallel and don't feel a need to do so. Safari may not be the cyberverse's top browser but it's definitely mainstream and 99.9% of sites are configured to interface with it to at least a functional extent. "You must only use Chrome" was the response. I advised that Chrome was not available to me and the conversation window was then closed without further comment by the Hattons agent. As I said I know they were trying to help, this sort of service is below what they usually provide, but in this case the responses were of no real help at all. No offer, for example, to take the order themselves nor a suggestion made that I might be able to use the co.uk site or order via email or phone. When this problem has arisen before I have emailed the shop but that is no longer an option as Smithdown Road has closed and all emails now go to the hub. The same people who were dealing with my messages. So on this occasion another retailer has got my order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webstar Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 I used to think that the public transport links for getting to Hatton;s wasn't that bad. I shall miss my rail journeys to Mossley Hill. I for one will not be visiting the new premises. When contacted they told me I would have to get a taxi. I don't think so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 They should consider running a free shuttle service from their hub to the nearest station. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) I am feeling a little bit peeved with Hatton's at the moment. I had on order with them a decoder for which they we awaiting a delivery from the manufacture. Last Friday they took the payment from my credit card as the decoder had arrived in stock. So far so good. Nothing then happened till Sunday PM when the notification of picking was received, subsequently the following notification it was in the post was notified , Sunday!. Delivery should have been within 48Hrs. Tuesday came and went no delivery by Royal mail. Contacted Hatton's Wednesday and was informed that nothing could be done till at least Monday ( 2/2/2016) if it had not arrived by then. They said they would then invoke there trace procedures etc. Still nothing has arrived and from experience if it hasn't arrived by now it never will. Not happy, hope somebody from Hatton's reads this. PS Could walk it there and back in 4 days, J Brand passed through this area and only took 2 days to walk to Liverpool ! Edited January 29, 2016 by johnd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUTLER2579 Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 They should consider running a free shuttle service from their hub to the nearest station. I fear the main part of their income comes from Mail Order and so footfall is not that important to them. I assume the savings on Rent & Rates by moving totally out of Liverpool to their Hub will be enormous,easily balancing up on any lose of retail sales from people relying on Public Transport. Sad for individuals,but a sign of the times I fear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpb56125 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Lucky you! I ordered a Hornby J15 a week last Friday and it turned up on the following Tuesday, having spent a day in Keighley courtesy of YODEL (I asked for delivery by Royal Mail). YODEL has just featured on Granada News and more tonight on channel 4 Dispatches http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/channel-4-shines-light-careless-7285168 http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/31/yodel-delivery-bosses-turn-a-blind-eye-to-packages-being-thrown-around-5653830/ Mark 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR8700 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Anybody know if it is possible to cancel pre-orders from Hattons? I can't find anything on their website about it other than when orders have been sent. Edited February 21, 2016 by GWR8700 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Sidelines Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 (edited) Yes - I have done it. I may have used email or there again I might just have gone into 'my account'. Either way I felt very guilty but I received a nice reply from Sandra? Anybody know if it is possible to cancel pre-orders from Hattons? I can't find anything on their website about it other than when orders have been sent. Regards Ray Edited February 21, 2016 by Silver Sidelines Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 On the "Orders" page there is an option to cancel order. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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