Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).

[Chris116]

Totally off topic  but  I have  had misdelivery problems......  I live in  xxxx drive  which  has been in  existence  for  50 years,  about 15 yrs  ago a small development was  built   about 1/4 mile  away,  Just a  single   cul-de-sac  the  namer of  roads in the  council named  it   xxxx  mews, so we  have  2  roads  with similar  names, ( different  post codes but  that   doesn't make  much difference).

we  get  post  delivered  regularly  for the  mews address along  with  late  night  take  away  deliveries and  Yodel or  Hermes  calling  to collect  parcels!!

There was  no need to name  the  Mews the  same  name as  ours, it  could  easily have been named  after the  farm  which once stood  there which is totally different  !

Sadly, even having completely different names does not help with take away deliveries, Yodel or Hermes! I live in Oakman House and next door is Greenfield House. The muppets cannot tell the difference between them!

[railsquid]

Small order of parts placed last week, dispatched in around 24 hours (which is about normal going by previous orders), took 8 or 9 days to arrive by the standard delivery method, 7 days-ish is typical but overall well within normal parameters.

[sandwich station]

Sometimes deliveries are beyond Hatton's control. I live in Australia and there is no logic to how long a parcel will take to get here.

 

I've ordered 3 parcels over an 8 day period and all arrived at the same time.

 

Similar thing with 3 other parcels. They turned up in reverse order about 3 days apart.

 

Another time I ordered a parcel at the beginning of the month, by the end I still hadn't seen it. Contacted Hatton's, they said they can't put a claim in for it until after 25 working days which can be up to 33 days with the weekends. Anyway parcel did turn up on the 24th working day.

 

The two Coronations I had on order 46256 was dispatched on the 30-10-17 and 6231 on the 31-10-17. Athol turned up first on the 8th November and Sir Bill the next day, meaning that Bill had taken 2 days longer.

 

I would say about 10 working days is an average delivery time to get to me.

 

As long as they get here I don't mind how long they take. Thankfully and touch wood, they have always turned up.

[Dunsignalling]

Sometimes deliveries are beyond Hatton's control. I live in Australia and there is no logic to how long a parcel will take to get here.

 

I've ordered 3 parcels over an 8 day period and all arrived at the same time.

 

Similar thing with 3 other parcels. They turned up in reverse order about 3 days apart.

 

Another time I ordered a parcel at the beginning of the month, by the end I still hadn't seen it. Contacted Hatton's, they said they can't put a claim in for it until after 25 working days which can be up to 33 days with the weekends. Anyway parcel did turn up on the 24th working day.

 

The two Coronations I had on order 46256 was dispatched on the 30-10-17 and 6231 on the 31-10-17. Athol turned up first on the 8th November and Sir Bill the next day, meaning that Bill had taken 2 days longer.

 

I would say about 10 working days is an average delivery time to get to me.

 

As long as they get here I don't mind how long they take. Thankfully and touch wood, they have always turned up.

My brother emigrated to Australia in the 1980s and back then the post seldom took no more than a week in either direction.

 

It still seems to be fairly OK coming this way but whatever we send to him or the kids seems to be completely unpredictable, even letters.

 

Anything between four days and four weeks in my recent experience.

 

John

[sandwich station]

In the early 90's, I was still living in the UK then. Posted an airmal letter to Aus (which had to go first class back then, don't know about nowadays) on Sunday and had a reply in my hand on Thurday.

[johnd]

Placed an order for a decoder on Wednesday 8.00 AM account debited as yet showing as open ( not picked ) or posted.not arrived as yet.

Not impressed they have taken to money but no further movement at 4 days !

Really bad business practice. They will be getting a phone call saying get in the post or provide a refund and apology!

Edited November 11, 2017 by johnd

[Stevelewis]

My Next  day  delivery order  received on time around  0830,   ( not  had  a  chance  to  open  the  package yet)

 

I can  now  report  that  the  order  was  complete  nothing  missing  everything fine, including an  item of  motive  power ( currently N/A  anywhere  except S/H) which was  listed in  the pre-used listings  as  like  new, was definitely  like  new, the  packaging both the actual carton  and  the  inner plastic packing & polythene protection strips indicated to me  the item  had never been removed from its box,

The  order  was placed at around 13.30  and  arrived 08.30 next  day

 

Thank you Hattons.

[leopardml2341]

I have been refunded for an item that I ordered just over two weeks ago.   When I placed the order it stated that 10 or more were in stock,  subsequent enquires via the Hatton's live chat was told the item was still on a pallet at their other warehouse.   It transpires that the item was not in stock at all!.

 

https://youtu.be/oXpqyl2FH-M

[Western Dave]

Firstly as others have said before a late delivery is not the end of the world, BUT misleading information, no information, incorrect information and a couldn't care less attitude means I will not be using them again after the latest poor episode from them (the 4th one this year) many of us spend a lot of money (this order was nearly £600) and have busy lives and after all there are many other e-tailers out their at the same or very similar pricing and having used many of them as I told Hatton's I will be using them in the future. I do feel for some of the staff but their attitude is poor and it is clearly a company that is in some sort of distress with a complete lack of management direction

 

PS 7 days on I'm  still waiting for "the senior management team to contact me"! meanwhile my orders been returned back to them I've got my refund and I purchased elsewhere having spent a far too many thousands of ££££ with them in the last couple of years as I cant be putting up with BS and a don't care attitude from 3 different members of staff

 

sorry rant over

[woodenhead]

What evidence do you have they are a company in distress, you've got your refund so why are you waiting for them to contact you?

[johnd]

What evidence do you have they are a company in distress, you've got your refund so why are you waiting for them to contact you?

I can understand his view as I have had issues of late regarding an order. Hopefully resolved now. It seems they have decided to grow but have forgotten about the basic business( customer service ). Of late service has deteriorated if it carries on they could find difficulty with customer good will which takes time to gain but is easily lost. Personally on recent events I would find it difficult to place further orders with them and would look elsewhere.

It's now down to Hattons to resolve there issues if they want to keep there customer base. Big isn't always beautiful !

Edited November 16, 2017 by johnd

[Western Dave]

What evidence do you have they are a company in distress, you've got your refund so why are you waiting for them to contact you?

firstly it is clear they are in some sort of distress (not all company distress is money related) as there systems are at odds with each other, I am not going to go into the full boring details of what went wrong on this occasion but any company that has a continued period of issues like this is considered to be in distress ( I also own a large ecommerce operation sending out in excess of 500 consignments a day and its nothing to do with this trade) and when I spoke to the staff they are clueless as to how to fix the issues raised and when I suggested they were in disarray and distress that agreed.

 

with regards to speaking to senior management it was my intention to make them aware of the sorry situation and that the "coalface" staff need support/training and above all be honest with your customers instead of hoping that when its gone wrong its going to sort itself out.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Western Dave

[BWsTrains]

I agree with Western Dave, I'd noticed a gradual deterioration myself thru 2017 although with far fewer data points. Delays with picking, then a purchase, 1 essential item of which was actually out of stock which messed up my shipment to Aus., lack of info on a release that appeared to have issues.

 

These were symptoms of something much less than perfect that management didn't get on top of in time. Dave's comments are most constructive but I'm left wondering whether the problems of September have just been papered over for now and if I should order or not? A very disappointing turn of events.

Edited November 16, 2017 by BWsTrains

[Coryton]

firstly it is clear they are in some sort of distress (not all company distress is money related) as there systems are at odds with each other, I am not going to go into the full boring details of what went wrong on this occasion but any company that has a continued period of issues like this is considered to be in distress ( I also own a large ecommerce operation sending out in excess of 500 consignments a day and its nothing to do with this trade) and when I spoke to the staff they are clueless as to how to fix the issues raised and when I suggested they were in disarray and distress that agreed.

 

with regards to speaking to senior management it was my intention to make them aware of the sorry situation and that the "coalface" staff need support/training and above all be honest with your customers instead of hoping that when its gone wrong its going to sort itself out.

 

I know that if there were problems I wasn't aware of with a company I was responsible for I'd rather customers let me know than just quietly taking their money elsewhere.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I thought that the move was supposed to bring everything under one roof but from posts referring to "The Other Warehouse" it seems this may not be the case. 

 

Personally, I had to return a Dapol Railcar for replacement. Two days after it was shown as having been delivered to them I used the webcnat to find out what was happening. The personat the other end could not find any record of it having been received. I asked that it shouldn't be sent out by a courier because of previous parcels being left in full view of the road or thrown over into the garden. It was arranged that it it should be sent on a particular day when I knew we would be in at the time te deliveries are normally made. Two days later I had an email to say Royal Mail had tried to deliver it and it was now at the local Delivery Office.

 

Not the sort of service I had come to expect, having bought from them on several occasions in the past. There seems to be a lack of co-ordination and direction within the organisation at the moment.

[Coryton]

I thought that the move was supposed to bring everything under one roof but from posts referring to "The Other Warehouse" it seems this may not be the case. 

 

Personally, I had to return a Dapol Railcar for replacement. Two days after it was shown as having been delivered to them I used the webcnat to find out what was happening. The personat the other end could not find any record of it having been received. I asked that it shouldn't be sent out by a courier because of previous parcels being left in full view of the road or thrown over into the garden. It was arranged that it it should be sent on a particular day when I knew we would be in at the time te deliveries are normally made. Two days later I had an email to say Royal Mail had tried to deliver it and it was now at the local Delivery Office.

 

Not the sort of service I had come to expect, having bought from them on several occasions in the past. There seems to be a lack of co-ordination and direction within the organisation at the moment.

 

This must make uncomfortable reading for them.

 

Just about any company is going to have unsatisfied customers no matter what they do, and people are more likely to post complaints than compliments, but seeing a set of previously loyal customers who are now unhappy at not getting the service they used to enjoy doesn't look that good to me.

 

Given that Hattons prices are now generally no different from other on-line companies, I haven't seen much recently to give me a reason to buy from them at the moment.

[Stevelewis]

It  is  well worth  spending  as  few  minutes   checking  prices  on  line  and  also    the occasional  telephone  enquiry  can  reap  rewards,  I recvd a    Bachmann  Sound loco today with  a significant  saving of  around  £21

Edited November 16, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Scottish-Exile]

I've only ordered from Hattons 2 or 3 times previously and visited them twice. Most of my stuff comes from eBay or Trident Trains who are local to my work.

 

Placed an order with Hattons on Saturday for a 2nd hand loco and added 2 other items while I was at it. Automated emails recieved on Saturday acknowledging the order and another on Monday confirming it had been picked. Arrived safe and sound on Wednesday by Royal Mail using the standard £4 track/not signed.

 

Overall I'm happy with that.

[Western Dave]

I've only ordered from Hattons 2 or 3 times previously and visited them twice. Most of my stuff comes from eBay or Trident Trains who are local to my work.

 

Placed an order with Hattons on Saturday for a 2nd hand loco and added 2 other items while I was at it. Automated emails recieved on Saturday acknowledging the order and another on Monday confirming it had been picked. Arrived safe and sound on Wednesday by Royal Mail using the standard £4 track/not signed.

 

Overall I'm happy with that.

there lies part of the problem of how inconsistent they are. The last order I placed was on Thursday for delivery Friday (Paid the extra for next day) they didn't even pick the order let alone send it and sent me an email to say its not despatch, spoke to them first thing Friday morning about redirecting it and they claimed it had been given to their courier handling company (not a courier company, apparently they give all their orders to a third party who then despatches them for them on various couriers?! eventually managed to get it redirected and out for a Saturday delivery (although it turns out it never was but that's more misinformation) I even asked about paying extra for a DPD Saturday but was told its too late at 1050AM to arrange this, odd seeing as they have a 2PM cut off for next day deliveries, come Saturday afternoon and no delivery chased Hatton's only to be told "cant get hold of couriers not hopefully it might turn up Sunday or Monday" explained that nobody is going to deliver it Sunday and on Monday nobody will be in to which the reply was (what do you want us to do about it" asked to speak to a manager to be told you cants he on the phone dealing with another complaint and then told that senior management don't work weekends. Like I said in my original post I own and run an ecommerce company and mistakes happen that's a fact but firstly you cannot in this day and age allow them to continue for lots of reasons and this has been an ongoing issue for some time now and secondly its how you handle it when it goes wrong that matters.

[Coryton]

secondly its how you handle it when it goes wrong that matters.

 

Quite!

 

Mistakes will always happen....in my opinion what distinguishes a good from a bad company (from the customer's point of view) is not just that the level of mistakes is reasonably low, but how well the mistakes are dealt with when they do happen.

[Stevelewis]

 Another thing  I  dont  quite  'get'  is  the  sometimes  strange  pricing  of  S/H  items  there  are  many  examples  but  here  is  just  one,

 

Bachmann  Southern  C  Class  running  number  31086   ealrly  crest  black  *2  listed  £114 & £112   ---pre  owned

 

Same  loco  running  number  31227  £106.21  NEW

 

Is  there  a  premium  for  the   running  number  of  the  used  ones??

 

* there  are  more  than  2 listed  pre owned

 

 

Edit  for  accuracy  and  I  called  them  Hornby originally!!

Edited November 16, 2017 by Stevelewis

[Steamport Southport]

 Another thing  I  dont  quite  'get'  is  the  sometimes  strange  pricing  of  S/H  items  there  are  many  examples  but  here  is  just  one,

 

Bachmann  Southern  C  Class  running  number  31086   ealrly  crest  black  *2  listed  £114 & £112   ---pre  owned

 

Same  loco  running  number  31227  £106.21  NEW

 

Is  there  a  premium  for  the   running  number  of  the  used  ones??

 

* there  are  more  than  2 listed  pre owned

 

 

Edit  for  accuracy  and  I  called  them  Hornby originally!!

 

Well, they aren't the same model for starters. There's no point buying 31227 if you really want 31086.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Stevelewis]

Well, they aren't the same model for starters. There's no point buying 31227 if you really want 31086.

 

 

 

 

Jason

 

So  what   is  the  difference  then  between  them  apart  from  the   running  number?

[Steamport Southport]

No idea.

 

But If someone wants a certain model then the other one is no use whatsoever.

 

 

Many people won't change numbers. So you might as well spend a couple of quid more and get the one that you actually want even if it is second hand. It would cost more than the difference for a professional renumbering job. Even buying the transfers will set you back about a tenner if you didn't have them already.

 

It's a simple case of supply and demand.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[richarddavies]

Hello all

 

It’s Richard here, MD of Hatton’s.

 

Sorry it’s been a while since I posted - looks like HattonsDave has been doing a great job, in my absence

 

Thank you to everyone who’s been posting with reports of swift receipt of parcels. Apologies to anyone who has had problems of any nature - our exceptional Helpdesk team are always on hand to assist anyone who has any queries of any nature - and respond to the many emails of praise we receive each day, from customers who recognise the superb team @ Hatton’s and the high standards we’ve set in nearly 20 years of selling online

 

As previously mentioned, we weren’t running at top speed during late September and early October. This was as a result of getting into our stride after a stock-take, upgrading our PickPack and Replen processes & software, and changing shift patterns to move onto a 6-day working week. We are now despatching orders quicker than ever before

 

I want to address our decision to suspend offering Next Day delivery, as, despite it being available again, there seems to be ongoing frustration about it not being available for a period:

 

Amongst the many choices we’ve made, that have made us one of, if not the leading retailer in the sector, the one which,I believe, stands far above any other, in terms of importance, is to never make promises we aren't 99.5% sure we can keep. We genuinely love to “over deliver” and a very, very high percentage of orders are despatched on the day they are received.

 

When we moved into stock-take and then switched our new fulfillment systems on, we were under great pressure to get the whole operation moving again. My analogy of this to our staff, was that it was akin to bump-starting a jumbo jet... We’ve taken on many extra people to help with the transition, worked late nights & long weeks, to get to a level where we felt it “safe” to make the “Guaranteed same-day despatch” promise again.

 

The level of scrutinisation we’re under, from customers and industry spectators, is a privilege and something that I’m sure, many covet. I’m proud to say that we’ve just had our best October ever (order quantity and revenue) and November is looking very good so far. The store is quiet, after the introduction of the Mersey Gateway & toll - but at Hatton’s we’ve learnt to deal with what comes our way - we are hardy and very, very experienced in dealing with thousands of orders each week. An example of our terrific despatch “horsepower” was in the last week, where a supplier delivery with many new items and 700+ preorders, went through our 4 semi-automated packing stations in less than 3 hours. The original order processing system, designed in 2003 when we were despatching “just” 700 orders a week, served us very well - helping us despatch over 2 million orders during it’s 14 year life. 

 

The great sign to me, of how we are now fulfilling orders so smoothly, is that in the last few weeks, I’ve had more time than in many years, to get back to why I never need motivating to get out of bed in the morning - going into “work” and talking with like-minded colleagues & suppliers about model railways. Many of you have preorders for the exciting products our terrific suppliers have on the way from us - and I look forward to the opportunity to impress you all with what’s to come. 

 

A team from Warners are in Hatton’s next week, to plan a video to show “Behind the scenes at Hatton’s”. Over the years, I’ve taken many customers around the site in person - but this will help those of you who haven’t had “the tour”, an opportunity to learn more about our scale, site, operations & people. This will be viewable from our site around December 12th.

 

The only thing I miss about being paperless, is I can’t look through the “orders for despatch” shelves at home time, and see if I can drop any off to customers on my way home any more!

 

Hope this is of interest to you. Very interested to read & hear what you think. Thank you again for your support and custom.

 

Best

 

Richard Davies