cessna152towser

All came good. Each of the inidvidual items had been listed with delivery at £3 Hermes Tracked. The seller has used the £6 to send the items by ParcelForce 24 and all the items have already arrived this morning, within 24 hours of paying, and packed in a stout cardboard box with plenty of bubble wrap. So I have left good feedback and five stars for postage costs and delivery times.

That's what I thought as well. The listings showed two separate items each with postage of £3. Yesterday I requested a total, expecting a rebate on the postage of the Dublo wagon as it was a small item which could easily be packed with the other purchase (job lot). The invoice arrived this morning with the Hornby-Dublo wagon showing as post free, but then I noticed that for the job lot item above it on the invoice the postage now showed £6 whereas it had been shown as £3 in the listing. I would not have bought the Dublo wagon if I had anticipated the seller would make no reduction for combined postage, but once you request a total you commit to buy. Before paying I went onto an eBay forum and found a similar case where the seller reported the buyer as a non-paying bidder when the buyer had sought to renege from buying the smaller item due to being refused postage discount, so I thought it best just to pay up, after all there was only £3 at stake. I know you can vary the postage charge downward when sending an invoice as I have done this myself but I did not know it was possible to increase the postage against one item.

A new annoyance. The "loss leader" item. Yesterday I was in two minds about whether to make a purchase which was not open to best offer, then I noticed the same seller also had a Hornby-Dublo Hyfit for £0.99 or best offer, plus £3 postage. I could hardly offer less than £0.99 but thought it would be a good bargain at 99p if I was buying the other item and so I committed to buy both and requested an invoice for total with combined postage. Received the invoice this morning and the seller has doubled the postage on the main item from £3 to £6 via Hermes tracked with free postage on the Dublo wagon. Nothing for it but to pay up, and it is only an extra three quid, but if I had known the seller was going to rip me off for combined postage I would not have committed an extra £4 for a very common Dublo wagon of which I have several already, and I might not have bought the main item either. The items had better come very quickly and in good quality packaging otherwise my feedback on postage costs is going to be less than five star.

I phoned Jadlam this morning re the fact they had sold the DRS TSOs on eBay last week yet had not fulfilled my pre-paid pre-order. Very helpful guy on phone was most apologetic, said they had discovered that they had received less than they had ordered but after they had contacted Hornby a further batch had now arrived this morning. This evening my order has been updated from "unfulfilled" to "shipped".

I pre-ordered mine some months ago. Received the standard e-mail from Hornby this morning that my pre-order was now in stock but the card payment had failed and giving till 8th October before they would cancel the order. After three unsuccessful on-line attempts to change to use an alternative card I phoned them and they were able to take my original card details over the phone and assured me this was all now OK. Why, oh why, is there always some sort of hassle with pre-ordered items, whether from Hornby or from retailers. Following recent experiences with the Terrier, the Captain Tom, the Mk2f coaches and now the Evening Star I am minded to NEVER pre-order ANY items from any manufacturer or retailer ever again.

As so often happens, I receive items quicker if I do not pre-order them. I have Scotrail 6183 on pre-order from Rails. Still showing today as part-shipped (I already received the other item which I had ordered at the same time). No notification that they won't fulfil the balance of my order, only what I have read on here. Maybe they intend to acquire some new Hornby stock via another retailer. I have DRS 5937 on pre-order from Jadlam. At the beginning of this week Jadlam notified me that they now had these coaches in stock, so I decided to order Scotrail 6176, assuming they would send it along with 5937. So today only 6176 arrived. I just checked my Jadlam account and 5937 is still showing as an unfulfilled pre-order. If I hear nothing further by Monday, perhaps I should take the initiative and contact both Rails and Jadlam regarding the whereabouts of my pre-orders.

Our local club gave up our clubrooms last year and moved into the town's Men's Shed as we are almost all retired and now able to meet during the day. Before covid struck we discussed our annual show and decided to organise "one final show" in 2020 as we are coming of an age where setting up, manning and dismantling a show and moving layouts back and forward to clubrooms and members' homes was becoming too much hard physical work. Like almost every other show, we had to cancel this year. Whether we will do that one last show sometime in the future or never again remains to be seen. I would normally also attend three shows per year but have not been to one since Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow in February, and at my age would not be keen to attend another show until we have a safe vaccine.

I'm OK with that. I genuinely believed that I had a confirmed pre-order from Hornby. A month after some of my fellow forumites already had theirs I lost my nerve and bought from a retailer at nil profit for that retailer and I then cancelled my Hornby pre-order. The only thing I lost out on was the 10% discount which Hornby are now offering on a future Hornby purchase to disappointed pre-orderers It was my choice to be impatient and to buy via a retailer while their last Class 66 Captain Tom was still available at a sensible price from them, so that is something I can live with. The only remaining dilemma as far as I am concerned is what is the best way to pre-order to secure a Hornby item? Currently I have two loco pre-orders direct with Hornby and two pre-orders for coaches, one via Jadlam for which they already took the money up front and one via Rails of Sheffield who haven't yet taken my money but might not be getting the items and therefore will probably be unable to fulfil pre-orders. .

My order number was HO0334689 so I would have been even further down the queue. I'm thankful now that I cancelled my Hornby pre-order and bought instead from a retailer while I had still had the opportunity to get one at a sensible price. Would have been mighty angry if Hornby had cancelled my pre-order months down the line when no more were available except at inflated prices from eBay carpetbaggers.

A neglected area of the layout, where a spider had spun a web between the synthetic trees and then the dust had settled. An uncanny likeness to mist rising among the trees. Couldn't resist a photo before I cleaned it off.

Defo some delivery problems. Yes I was disappointed by the lack of response from Hornby to my outstanding pre-order and it was my decision to cancel my pre-order and to buy from an authorised retailer instead but my sympathies still lie to some extent with Hornby.

I was thinking more of the problems with those damaged in transit.

I was thinking more of the flooding at the DPD hub which someone previously referred to in this thread.

After many unsuccessful attempts I had finally got my pre-order in and confirmed by Hornby on 4th May. There was no mention of being on any waiting list. HRoth posted very late that evening with the update about the waiting list and when I saw his post the following day I logged on to Hornby to make sure that I had a confirmed pre-order. When I read your post, Turnesc, maybe I took the right decision in cancelling my Hornby pre-order and buying from a retailer at near the original price while I still had the opportunity to do so. If our orders had failed to make the 3,500 cut, it would have been courtesy for Hornby to have notified at the time that the pre-order was unconfirmed and subject to the waiting list. They used to boast on their website that if they ran out of stock to fulfil your pre-order they would give a 10% discount on your next order, but that seems to have disappeared, possibly following the Duchess of Atholl situation. Hornby have done a great job in bringing the Captain Tom loco out so quickly and raising so much for the NHS, and given the number which were returned damaged or defective for replacement they might be struggling to fulfil all their pre-orders. It would be a shame, though, if they had to sour their good reputation by telling some folks only after this length of time that they had been "unsuccessful".

From Rocket Railways. I am not sure what exactly this is but it most certainly is not Hornby Dublo. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OO-Gauge-Hornby-Dublo-Brick-Wagon/114376657133?_trkparms=aid%3D1110009%26algo%3DSPLICE.COMPLISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200423103423%26meid%3Db229c1760b534894a4fd35ea47b2fc72%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D383706403008%26itm%3D114376657133%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3Ddefault&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

This has been on eBay a few times and despite low start price has remained unsold. Hardly surprising perhaps when the description is of a Hornby item although the illustrated wagon is clearly marked LIMA. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-S6339-BR-20T-BRAKE-VAN-B952698-20-TON-OO-GAUGE-MADE-IN-GREAT-BRITAIN/174416975061?hash=item289c0fd4d5:g:OjAAAOSwmp5fMlNC

Just arrived today from the retailer. I have already logged on to my Hornby Account to cancel my pre-order. After a month of checking my e-mails and my Hornby Account several times per day for updates, I need no longer be concerned. Judging from the inflated prices which these locos have already been selling for on eBay, once Hornby work their way through the backlog of orders, I expect they will find no shortage of takers for the one which I cancelled. It really is a lovely loco and runs very smoothly. A marvellous and generous gesture by Hornby, for which I honoured my pledge to buy one, even if it did eventually come via a Hornby authorised retailer rather than direct from Hornby. Best wishes to all those of you with more patience than myself who are still awaiting their Captain Tom direct from Hornby.

I'm still waiting for mine. Still on pre-order according to Hornby. I happened to mention to a retailer whom I often buy from that I was still waiting for Captain Tom from Hornby. The retailer had one left in stock and very kindly offered to sell it to me at no profit for £81 (the extra £6 would go towards Paypal fees and postage). Impatience got the better of me and yesterday I bought it, so it should arrive tomorrow or Friday. Once it arrives I intend to cancel my Hornby pre-order.

My club Brighton Works Terrier already arrived yesterday and my Captain Tom is still on pre-order.

Agreed. My Brighton Works Terrier also arrived today.

PM sent.

I have not yet received the e-mail from Rails even though I have a current pre-order with them. I learned the news here first.

Cargill Viaduct over the River Tay, 30th May, 2011. More on my Flickr Album https://www.flickr.com/photos/cessna152towser/albums/72157626541391698

By 20th April, 2011, embankment erosion between Glamis and Forfar had caused this fogman's hut to develop a rather jaunty angle.

This PW hut was still extant on the up side near Kirriemuir Junction in 2011.