cromptonnut Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 They are no longer talking to us on RMWeb but I guess that is because none of the other Dapol staff have RMWeb accounts (or at least, none they wish to use on a regular basis). I would have thought that was easily rectified by a quick email to Andy Y... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 I would argue they are not using Facebook as much as they were either, there are plenty of comments on the site from people who have not been getting replies from Joel. When you set yourself up as an organisation who speaks to its customers then suddenly stop it will be noticed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-b Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Just a question...has Dapols statement on this got its own topic? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neil Posted November 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 13, 2013 I would argue they are not using Facebook as much as they were either, there are plenty of comments on the site from people who have not been getting replies from Joel. When you set yourself up as an organisation who speaks to its customers then suddenly stop it will be noticed. Maybe they're just busy getting on with sorting out whatever problems may have dogged them in the recent past. The new Railway Modeller has details of two new appointees (news to me but may be old hat to some) who would seem to have a proven track record of delivering what the public want. I doubt we'll be in any sort of position to judge the rights and wrongs of what has gone on recently until the dust has had time to settle and models have left the production line in China. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 I don't think we should expect another Dapol Dave, but if you accept comments via Facebook you should have the courtesy to respond to those questions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu from EGDL Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Facebook response to a question today......maybe they were just previously a little busy!! Later, Stu from EGDL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 They are no longer talking to us on RMWeb but I guess that is because none of the other Dapol staff have RMWeb accounts (or at least, none they wish to use on a regular basis). I just want to pick up on this to affirm that there's no barrier to this from our side. Joel spent half a day with me talking through how to communicate on here and I noted an account had been set up. I've shown the horse where the river is and also shown it how to drink. Just a question...has Dapols statement on this got its own topic? I don't see the relevance or need for that considering the Dapol statement has been linked to within this topic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted November 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 13, 2013 Facebook response to a question today......maybe they were just previously a little busy!! Later, Stu from EGDL. We also seem to have become used to having a Roll Royce service in terms of communications. Maybe we need to get used to having far fewer or no coms as per other manufacturers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 We also seem to have become used to having a Roll Royce service in terms of communications. Maybe we need to get used to having far fewer or no coms as per other manufacturers. So what about engaging with the customers? Here is a criticism based on the activities of one person who has now left the company and is continuing to communicate. Showing the success of this mode of customer engagement we're now missing it. Does this not suggest that if we had each manufacturer engaging with customers that we'd be more tolerant of any perceived shortcoming? Should we not expect engagement and not 'not expect' it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
truffy Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 It really depends on the size of the organisation and the 'market penetration'. It's easier (or more profitable) to be engaged as a small trader with small customer base, than as a large trader with large customer base. Or it could be simply that some people are more adept at this than others. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 It really depends on the size of the organisation and the 'market penetration'. It's easier (or more profitable) to be engaged as a small trader with small customer base, than as a large trader with large customer base. Or it could be simply that some people are more adept at this than others. Many companies, large and small, make the most of their social media presence and employ people - part time or full time, or just as part of their normal activities - to monitor the channels and engage with the customers who have signed up to hear from them through that medium. I am "responsible" for my workplace's facebook page which has about 1200 members and not a huge amount of activity on a daily basis. Clearly not even between all the major manufacturers you're going to have a customer base of over a million like Tesco who seem to employ a whole team to do it - but it really isn't rocket science. Social media isn't going to go away, so it really is a choice of engage or get left behind. Five minutes at the start and end of the day, and either side of lunchbreak, to quickly check to see if there are any messages (or in fact spam to remove) is well within the capabilities any of the "big name" - and quite a few smaller - manufacturers within the model railway industry. It could be argued that time spent on Facebook is not "making profit" but by answering a potential customer's question in a timely manner you may well get a sale - or multiple sales - out of that few minutes response which surely has to be cost effective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
truffy Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 It could be argued that time spent on Facebook is not "making profit" but by answering a potential customer's question in a timely manner you may well get a sale - or multiple sales - out of that few minutes response which surely has to be cost effective. I don't disagree with you, particularly since with FB (or any public forum) you're not only dealing with one person when you address one person's query. But again it comes down to the balance between actual paying workload and people to do it. It could be that company X don't give a damn, have other priorities, or simply that they're flat out. Many companies, large and small, make the most of their social media presence and employ people - part time or full time, or just as part of their normal activities - to monitor the channels and engage with the customers who have signed up to hear from them through that medium. Obviously my experience is different to yours, but when I worked for MegaCorpUSA the people who were active for the company on FB/Twitter were the corporate windbags issue managers. The commercial, sales, and production people (those who actually generated revenue) were too busy generating revenue and dealing with traditional client networks. I guess each company has its own strategy (shrug). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Too true. Some companies actually have specialist teams of marketroids to do it, particularly bigger ones. They often do that at the same time as firing any other staff who dare to even admit on facebook who they work for. All about image management. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJ Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I wonder how much of the previous correspondence was actually Dave Jones himself rather than in his capacity as 'DapolDave'. He certainally made it clear on a few occassions that he was speaking in a personal capacity rather than official. It might just be his style of working and the new people are less so. As mentioned I've never seen some one from Hornby or Bachmann on here so maybe it was just a DJ thing?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 I just want to pick up on this to affirm that there's no barrier to this from our side. It's also pertinent to say (as reminded by a.n.other manufacturer today) that I have amicable and very regular communications with several other manufacturers even if they don't appear on here directly; each manufacturer has a chosen means and style of communication that works in each case - it's just in this case I haven't got a clue what the means and style actually is! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MATRIXAD Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I can add to this topic that with regards to Kernow cancelling orders and moving to other avenues that build quality played a major part in the decision. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 I can add to this topic that with regards to Kernow cancelling orders and moving to other avenues that build quality played a major part in the decision. Please be careful in making such a categorical statement without facts. My understanding is that there were other factors above build quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MATRIXAD Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I didn't say that there wasn't other factors but i know first hand from the horses mouth that it played a major part. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 I didn't say that there wasn't other factors but i know first hand from the horses mouth that it played a major part. I've just spoken to the head horse myself and can confirm your original statement is incorrect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I didn't say that there wasn't other factors but i know first hand from the horses mouth that it played a major part. Could you please supply some figures. As a QA Engineer (ex) I would be interested in making up a spread sheet to compare the percentage of faults from the various suppliers. Like your style. You will fit in well on here. (That's just me being sarcastic) Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith George Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I've just spoken to the head horse myself and can confirm your original statement is incorrect. With all due respect, I feel that this could be a rerun of a problemn I had with this company. Could it be that one of the staff made a comment to a customer unknowing to to the " head horse". He would not know of everything that his staff as communicated by phone or email. Regards, Keith. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted December 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2013 I didn't say that there wasn't other factors but i know first hand from the horses mouth that it played a major part. Shergar? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 As a QA Engineer (ex) I would be interested in making up a spread sheet to compare the percentage of faults from the various suppliers. I asked the same question a couple of years ago of a couple of the big retailers. Unlike the manufacturers, the box shifters do not have a particular reputation to try and protect. The return rate for locos was ~5%. In spite of some people's perceptions, this is roughly the same for both 00 gauge and N gauge and does not differ significantly between the major manufacturers. This figure is a year or two out of date now but I doubt it has changed significantly. I have a selection of N gauge locos, only one has failed and "let the magic smoke out". It was a Dapol 2884 that suffered from familiar problem of drawing too much current and overheating the motor. To be fair, I buy more Dapols than Farishes as they cover the western better. The loco was fixed under warranty within 2 weeks so as far as I am concerned, there is no systematic quality problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 30, 2013 Shergar? ooh, burgers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted December 31, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 31, 2013 A new member joining only to air a (possibly personal) grieveance without substantiating the claim. An appropriately-channelled response from both our site management and the retailer in question Negative feedback to the OP from numerous knowledgeable and respected members. This isn't the first very similar incident of this sort in recent weeks. Is it troll season? FWIW I have a respectable number of Dapol / Kernow MRC items and have no complaint of any significance as regards build quiality with any of them. The commercial arrangements involved would be in confidence and not open for discussion here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.