Wicor Models

We are pleased to say we too have signed up and our first order has gone and should be with us sometime next week (w/e 03.11.2018).

I totally agree with your comments. The current discount model is unsustainable and will probably kill shops and the hobby, or at the very least make it a niche hobby for the rich and famous. I have run our shop for 25 years now and still don't understand why I have to give a percentage of my profit to a customer, especially today when costs are rising often faster than inflation, and I need my profit to run the shop and not to finance a lavish lifestyle. Yes we discount to be competitive otherwise we probably wouldn't still be around but I believe everyone should be prepared to pay the true price, after all you don't expect to go to your favourite restaurant and ask for a discount so why should buying models be any different. Profit is not a dirty word and is wholly necessary to run a business and the idea that lower prices means more profit doesn't work, certainly not in the long term. As regards to the legality of requiring a maximum discount for 6 weeks that is pretty lenient compared to other areas of retail. One of the shops in the village here is not allowed to discount more than a few per cent and if caught his account will be closed.

We turned down Valejo several years ago because the quality was no improvement on Tamiya that we stocked at the time. MIG is superb and now Expo are the UK distributors should be more widely available. If Hornby could produce a Humbrol acrylic of similar quality and with consistent supply then I would stock them again but you can't keep running out of matt black, silver and all the other popular colours, likewise with Hornby track we need a reliable supply of all their fast moving track items otherwise we have to offer a cheaper version made in England.

Like you Gareth we sell so much paint, even our Games Workshop rep can't believe how much of their paint we sell. and I can honestly say in the 25 years we have been trading the MIG paint range is one of the few products that have sold from the day we put the stand in. We have had grown men almost in tears because we are now stocking MIG paints, powders, washes and textures. We stopped Humbrol acrylics a couple of years ago as the supply was poor and the quality even poorer. The Revell acrylics are really good and we've stocked them since their introduction some 12-15 years ago.

Just to put it into context, Bachmann announced the Brighton Atlantic in 2013 for delivery in 2015. It is now 2018 and we may see it later this year that will be 5 years from announcement to delivery which is the same for the Birdcage coaches and, back in the day, the Southern N Class. Don't panic Mr Mainwaring the models are coming!! We just don't know when exactly.

I have just had this post pointed out to me and would like to take time to reply. To begin with I'm very sorry if you felt our customer service was lacking. I spend a lot of time with my staff working on ways to constantly improve our customer service as it is the face to face contact that gives the "bricks & mortar" shop the edge over internet stores. Had I have seen this post earlier I would have been able to look at the CCTV tapes and see what went wrong and how we can improve to give even better service. With regards to the incident the loco was placed, not forced, into the wrong box but upon realising my mistake I then located the correct box. As I was putting the loco into the correct box I knocked the chimney off which disappeared under the counter. As I have dropped coins and other items I know if I can't see them on the floor they can easily get lost amongst the items we have stacked beneath the counter which, as it proved, took two of us well over an hour to eventually locate the missing chimney, which we managed to do later in the day after the visit of 2 reps and many pre-Christmas customers. once located I decided that I couldn't sell it as it was a damaged model I would use it for spares and put it in my scrap box. I recall you trying to come behind the counter to look for yourself which is a definite no in any shop. I doubt you got a cursory no but the answer when you phoned was no and however you dress no up it is still no. I was made aware of your disappointment at not being able to buy this model and you will, no doubt, appreciate my disappointment at not being able to sell it to you. I also remember you having a problem with the fact that I don't have a test track in the shop, your assertion that every other model shop has one and your suggestion of how it could run across the counter. I am sorry that you feel unable to visit the shop again despite our attempts to help you make a purchase and your disappointment at not getting the model you wanted. Dave

Yes we do!

There are at least 25 Bachmann stockists in Yorkshire alone, we're in Hampshire and here we have 8 Bachmann stockists and this is repeated throughout the country. Our rep's area stretches from the South East right down to Cornwall and I believe he said he had one of the smaller areas but even so he had over 100 outlets.

Yes they would and possibly more in some areas.

Some shops may have imposed a one per customer limit but it was not a Bachmann instruction. We often see items on Ebay and have them in store considerably cheaper but unfortunately the thought process is "it's on Ebay therefore it's cheap". The Bachmann rep has no control over the product once it is bought by the retailer, the vendor may have gone to more than one shop to buy. Also Bachmann cannot dictate the price a product is sold at, the only person who can is the purchaser, if nobody was willing to pay an inflated price then the price would have to come down but it seems that some people want an item so badly they are prepared to pay any price just to get it.

I don't know why you can't get Hornby points as they have been in stock for most of this year and we've had no problem with the supply of standard points and if we had we would have sold the customers Peco Setrack points as a suitable alternative. Earlier this year Hornby express points were OOS but we had plenty of Bachmann ones which are cheaper and just as good. I would have a word with your rep if you are still having a problem.

Our copies of Railway Modeller come direct from Peco and we have a distributor locally who delivers our copies of Hornby magazine. I do not stock Railway Magazine Modeller and have eventually persuaded the publisher by refusing delivery and they are no longer sending it out to us. Having said that our sales of magazines has dropped dramatically over the last two or three years and we now only sell about 12 of each a month. Dave

Copied and pasted from the email received from Hornby: Pricing We have not reviewed our overall Recommended Retail Pricing since January 2014, since which time we have managed to absorb increases in our cost base. However, you will not be surprised to hear that, like many other businesses, we are currently facing higher costs as a direct result of the adverse exchange rate movements following the Brexit referendum decision. Unfortunately, we can no longer absorb these cost increases, and are today announcing new prices, effective from Monday 10th October. I think we can conclude that this is a direct result of the referendum, and yes Ron, let's hope it's the last major rise for some time but............. Dave

Having looked through the new prices I am grateful that the increases are as low as they are, around 12 to 15%, the camera trade has endured 25% and more on their prices. It still brings Hornby prices in below some of Bachmann's so while none us wanted this we should not be surprised after the referendum vote this year and the dramatic fall in the pound against the dollar. I have just seen some of Trumpeter's prices for their plastic kits and the make Tamiya look cheap so this, I'm afraid, is the new order.

Simple answer - yes but...... It's not easy, I guess the engineer gave the dimensions of a standard Hornby R8249 decoder and the space in the bunker seemed made for it. Nobody took into account the wiring harness. I have now done 3 locos for customers and on all three I have cut all but the Red, Black, Grey and Orange wires out of the harness, unscrewed the socket from the chassis and lost as much of the harness as I can under the socket screwing back into place to trap the wires. Then plug the decoder in and put the whole thing up into the body. I read in one of the mags (Hornby?) that they had to use a DCC Concepts direct plug decoder so I am going to order a dozen shortly to ease the fitting problems, especially on my own version when it arrives.

I'm with SRman on this, I am a Mac user and find Safari often doesn't work on some sites especially shopping carts and checkouts. I tend to use Firefox mainly as it's 90%ish reliable and if that doesn't work I go to Chrome. Unfortunately IE is no longer available for Mac. Dave

Well done Anthony, it's good to see that despite the doomsayers a new business in the world of model railways can not only survive but thrive. We started in 1994 surrounded by prophecies of doom and disaster and here we are, 22 years on, still going and still able to match or even beat the so called big boys. Dave

I don't know where your shop is so I don't know your rep but we certainly had an email from our rep with a list of discounted items recently. We took the decision not to order anything from it mainl because we have existing stocks of the items on the list, apart from those items we would never sell in a month of Sundays (or any other day come to that). We've also recently received another offer to coincide with the Toymaster show, but again this came directly from our rep not Hornby Sales. As I have said before on this forum I can only speak for us as Wicor Models but having dealt with Hornby for the best part of 20 years we have never had any real problems or quibbles and if there has been an issue it has been dealt with promptly (except on one recent occasion but that is not for public consumption yet - too soon!). We have been assured by our rep and his managers that the retail trade is an important part of Hornby's ongoing business plan and nothing that I have seen makes me think otherwise. Despite some of the doomsayers above shops are a vital component in he UK economy and the percentage of internet sales is very small compared to shop sales nationally.

Red Mackay visited us a couple of years ago. He is the Supply Chain Director. Spent a lot of time with us, listened to us, acted on some of our suggestions and wrote to thank us for our time and input. Dave

Hear, hear like you we have no idea when ours will arrive. What's worse it seems some shops are getting supplies as usual and others not. The new software and distribution system has fallen over big time as even in stock items like paint and glue ordered 6 weeks ago still haven't been delivered. Let's hope this mess is sorted out well before Christmas. Dave

Like Sawyer Models ours will also be arriving on Monday. Unfortunately I am away until Wednesday so they won't appear on the website before Wednesday morning. I can also confirm the LBSC version is not yet available. Dave

The Merchant Navy was classed as a mixed traffic loco as it was the only way Bulleid could persuade the wartime authorities to allow him to build it.

I was thinking along exactly the same lines!! Just a thought painted BR Green it might look like a Bulleid creation

Unfortunately the RRP is now £112.95 meaning that Bachmann's 15% rule makes the minimum price for this model £96, any less and we run a serious risk of losing our Bachmann account. Dave