mevaman

Just received my 'Royal Alex' and am very happy. As noted elsewhere, yellow is too 'lemony' and OH warning labels aren't right but I can live with these. I haven't checked the livery against my photos yet but I am definitely not disappointed. I am also impressed to have a set of etched nameplates. No bits falling off and buffers all straight. Well done to Gaugemaster and Dapol.

I was in the shop on Thursday and it was full of people and the phone didn't stop ringing. The 5 staff were working flat out. The mailroom was so full I could hardly get through the door! The latest newsletter indicates that staff are working evenings to reduce the backlog. As confirmed above in earlier posts, pre-orders are processed in strict order date. This is done manually and is pretty time consuming, especially if there are issues with expired cards etc. Current orders are much easier and quicker to process and are dealt with straightaway. This may seem 'unfair' but is the most efficient way of getting orders processed. Be assured, all those who have ordered will get their models as soon as humanly possible. Any customers for which there are queries will be contacted once the first sweep of orders have been completed. Having worked in the shop, I know only too well that every phone call chasing an order means that orders cannot be processed. Please bear with the Kernow team - they really want to get the orders processed as quickly as possible.

I am sorry to sound negative but I am honestly fed up with basic livery errors. Recently we have seen these from Hornby (HSTs and class 60s), Heljan (class 33 number fonts and class 58s) and now Dapol. Others that have commissioned models from China (such as Realtrack and Kernow) have learnt to take great care when approving samples. Firstly the factories have to be visited and monitored. Secondly several iterations of liveried samples may have to be obtained before a model is approved for production. Thirdly, and most importantly, first samples from production runs have to be airfreighted over for final approval. If necessary, production has to be stopped if the first production samples are incorrect. If the models are wrong the whole production run has to be rejected (Bachmann have done this in the past). This all leads to delays and additional cost but is worth it in the end. Models with incorrect liveries tend not to sell and often end up heavily discounted. I am afraid that Dapol have no excuses as they have been producing in China for many years and should know the pitfalls only too well. I would have loved for all of the class 73s to have been right first time and the livery errors prevent me from buying models that I really want. I am able to respray and correct errors but am not willing to do this on a brand new model costing £120 odd. I will now get off my high horse! Andrew

I seem to remember that the Hattons LMS 10000 had the wrong numbers of pins (22 as opposed to 21) and this had to be rectified. There was another loco with the same problem as I remember a guy in the shop having to snip off one pin on each model!

I agree with Guy. There are loads of sources of photos and other dats to ensure that liveries on new models are correct. When potential customers take the time to offer their knowledge when a model is being developed, you would think that this would be carefully considered. It is more than a shame when a fantastic base model is spoilt by the livery. There are a small but significant number of models produced by the major manufacturers which have failed in this respect (e.g.Heljan 33s with wrong number fonts and Hornby NSE 50 with wrong stripes positions). I was going to buy an Exec 73 and am now not.

From my experience Bachmann sort out liveries at an early stage producing full colour drawings with Pantones etc. This means that first production models generally do not have livery issues. Andrew

To clarify a misunderstanding. The order acceptance and despatch emails are auto generated. The individual customer response emails are directed to one computer in the shop and these are reviewed when there is time and the shop is not busy. Hope that this helps understanding. Andrew

Just to add some context as an ex employee. As the shop is busy, the emails are often answered at the end of the working day. The staff do not look at rmweb as they have no time to do it. Andrew

It is good that the source of the problem has been found. As I highlighted earlier I have had back to back issues with all manufacturers and still have stock to adjust. It is easy in hindsight. At our local Club when a member comes in with a derailment problem the first thing we do is check the back to backs. You would be amazed at the differences we find. Andrew

Over my lifetime of modelling, I have had models from all manufacturers which don't run well out then box.! Having worked in the business I have seen batches of models going out with varying small % of returns. I always put it down to minor QC issues as most can be readily fixed. Some customers, rightly return models and others almost enjoy the challenge of fixing the problems. I am in the latter camp. It looks as if some models have back to back issues leading to derailments on some track configurations and others have binding on cirves. I don't know statistically how many models are affected. Kernow have said that they had sold 1,000 with no returns to-date, When I worked at Kernow, I set up a spreadsheet to monitor the % returns for each manufacturer. I had some surprising results - suffice to say that the worst rates were around 4% (I won't divulge who this was). This is 40 models in 1,000 so O assume that the 02 has a much lower rate than this. Hope that this helps put some perspective on things. Andrew

For the record, I have had some back to back problems with new locos and stock from all the main manufacturers. Most recent Hornby stock derails on my code 100 streamline curved points due to this. Most Bachmann stock doesn't derail. I have rakes of Hornby Pullmans and Mark 3 coaches which I cannot run until I fix the problem. This appears to be a problem for some 02s and will be exasperated on fine scale track. Andrew

I suggest that Model Rail may consider printing something about the issue with code 83 in the November magazine. There are a lot of customers who rely upon the MR reviews and do not read forums. My worry is that the review will adversely affect sales, despite the model running well on code 75 and code 100. Sorry Chris, nothing personal but I am, obviously, concerned. Andrew

As an ex Kernow employee and having seen the development of the loco I am probably biased. However, it could be a problem with Code 83 track? The loco was tested on code 100 and code 75. We used to sell very little code 83 and this mainly went to US customers so I cannot blame Kernow if they didn't test on code 83.

I concur with Dave as I know how much pre-production testing took place. We even had one running on old Hornby setback with second radius curves and short points (with plastic frogs). Unfortunately, there might have been a fault with the Model Rail sample. I suppose 1,000 sold with no returns is a useful balance to the Model Rail review. Andrew

Darren the rods metal but coloured graphite grey as opposed to the bright silver we are used to. If you want to be more realistic these can be weathered.

On the issue of buffer heights, I have seen this on the 12" to the foot. If you remember the Beattie Well Tanks had different buffer heights at each end.

I am smiling at the thought of the boss of the software company with a gnome (plus fishing rod) up his *rse! Thanks for this Vardnoodleblast. Andrew

Varnoodleblast It would be great if Kernow could contact pre-order customers just before delivery. The key problem is that the Cybertill system combined with the Sage card processing system do not have the facility to do this. In fact the only way to do it is to manually look at each order, determine whether card details are valid and then manually send out emails. From bitter personal experience of the software systems, both of which are used by a large number of retailers, the relevant reporting and bulk emailing is not possible. We used to regularly bombard the software suppliers for changes but it was like pushing water up a hill. In fact, the software suppliers could not understand the concept of pre-orders as most retailers do not offer this. Relatively speaking, Kernow are a small customer for the software suppliers and have very little clout. I hope that this answers your questions. Believe me the Kernow staff are as frustrated about this and other software failings as you are! I can picture now Chris red-faced with rage as he was fobbed off time and again! Andrew

Dear all Gwiver is absolutely right in what he says about the process of charging on pre-orders. One further point is that the staff cannot see the card details for orders that have been recently placed (since changes in the last year or so to the card issuers conditions). This means that they cannot readily use card details for recent orders to process older pre-orders. It must seem unfair that those who order now get their model more quickly than those who have pre-ordered but it is the most efficient way of doing things. Remember that those who pre-ordered had the security of guaranteeing getting the model and the benefit of a lower price. I know that the team will be working really hard and will value your patience if you haven't received your model. They will be doing a 'second sweep for those whose card details have changed as soon as possible. 'Good things come to those who wait'! Hope that this helps, Andrew (ex Kernow employee)

I suggest that the stationmaster has a sideline as a harbourmaster! Thanks Mike for all your postings. Andrew

You can weather them - easier than trying to do it the other way. Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

'Reputational Risk' - pretty harsh! Via their newsletter and responded at shows and to emails (I know as I have done this), Kermow have explained why the development of the model has taken so long. Do you think that they wanted it like this? They had the sense, faced with the difficulties in getting the shape right, to get Fred to make one of his amazingly well engineered Gauge 1 models to supply to the Chinese. How many other manufacturers would make this investment to get a model right! Rant over, Andrew

I like this - I really like this!

Dear all, As you may know I used to work for Kernow and absolutely assure people that they firstly process orders on the system in strict date order. However, when charging, if there are any problems, they simply move on. They then do a second run through contacting customers to check card details etc. This is the most efficient way to process orders as the latter is very time consuming. Don't worry if you think you have missed your place in the queue as if there is a problem you will be contacted. I would strongly advise not to contact them at this time as this simply delays the whole process. This may sound harsh and unfriendly but is the most efficient way to process a large number of orders as quickly as possible. Andrew