amdaley

I think there will be so many of us wanting to see this layout we'll have to take numbers

Since this whole Garratt affair started I wondered if Hattons had changed their business practices in some way. I thought it was just me so I passed it off. Looking back at Norfolkblue's experience I'm not so sure. Not being from the Uk I have shopped online with Hattons for years going way back to the brown paper & string days. I always received excellent service with never a bother at all. When I returned my Garratt I asked for a refund knowing full well by the mounting problems that the failure of my model was not a once off & I was not prepared to run a package service back & forth between Ireland & Liverpool with further Garratt attempts. I received my refund straight away but not for the postage cost. When I queried this I was told that the postage cost would be refunded when they had examined the model obviously to see why it had been returned even though I had given them a full account before returning the model. Now if whoever credited the refund had bothered to look at my account it would have been obvious to them that I was a good customer who could be trusted with their account of what had happened. Now I did get my postage back after I queried it. I wondered if I hadn't queried it would it have been refunded voluntarily ? Now this is not the first incidence of a change I have noticed with Hattons so I was just wondering ? I suppose the bigger they get the more impersonal they become. As has been said "It take a long time to build a reputation & very little time to lose it" It would be sad if Hattons were to be dragged down by their response to the disaster which has been the Garratt. One thing often said is "If it ain't broke then don't fix it" Perhaps Hattons have forgotten that one ?

I had forgotten about the motor speed but going back to the brief period I had my Garratt I did notice that the front motor ran slightly slower than the rear one. It wasn't a huge difference but you could see it if you looked carefully. I thought with running in it would balance itself out but a few minuted after I put it on the track it seized up even though I had run it in both directions on a rolling road for a while which is where I noticed the speed difference between the two motors.

I understand that this model was made to a price but that's no excuse for poor quality control. I suppose with space at a premium there's always a chance of a trapped wire but that wiring in the photo looks nasty. Is all that area a metal casting ? With everything stripped out surely there is much less chance of another blowout ?

It must be an awful long conversation Could you could clamp the motor & run it outside the loco for a while. At least that way you'd see if anything was happening.

Boy am I glad I took a refund

Seems like the going is no longer good.

I remember the RO80. Lovely looking car but the rotary Wankel engine wasn't very reliable. However what we are talking about here is hardly new technology. More like penny pinching.

That reply doesn't surprise me in the least. Maybe if they did follow the forums they might learn something. I'm sure if any motor manufacturer was selling cars which seized up after a few minutes running there would be hell to pay. Needless to say I won't be buying Heljan again.

No,mine was on dcc.

That's a very quick turn around. Nothing from Hattons yet ?

That circuit board looks very grotty Garry. Looks like poor quality ?

I'm sure Hattons may be frustrated but this is where I have a problem Colin. It became obvious very early on that there was a problem with this model yet Hattons continued to send them out as if nothing had happened even though they must have been getting them back as quickly as they were sending them out. The return rate must have been very high on the Garratt. Surely it occurred to someone at Hattons to shout "stop". Distribution & sales of this model should have been stopped as soon as they became aware of a problem. After all a lot of people had waited up to three years for delivery. Surely a few months more wouldn't have made a difference.

I can understand something being made to a price but surely motors in the quantity that Heljan would use would cost virtually nothing. Just doesn't make any sense to skimp on one of the most vital parts of a project. The saying "penny wise & pound foolish" comes to mind.

Very nice Garry. They both have some haulage power.

I know I want one Colin Its just I wasn't really convinced so I did a search in relation to the seller in this case. What I found wasn't really helpful. as quite a few have had problems with this particular seller. I know you always hear about the problems but 15 pages of them kind of put me off

Very impressed with those speedy reversing coaches & that loco looks like its long overdue for a visit to the paint shop

I emailed Olivia's & received a reply. The locos are pre owned & according to the email don't have the problems which beset this model. It seems the problems were the valve gear locking up & causing a motor burnout ? I also asked if they came with some sort of guarantee but didn't really get an answer to that. I'm tempted but I'm still not reassured. Its a big chunk of change to be risking on the off chance that nothing will go wrong. Once bitten, twice shy & all that sort of thing.

Not bad at all but could you be sure you'd get a decent one ? You'd have to get some sort of guarantee with them to give you confidence.

Well it won't be this fool

Well its still on Hattons site & no takers so far. There are also about 8 more on the usual auction site asking for crazy money.

If there's a problem with other Heljan locos then they may have a quality control problem or else they're simply underbidding other manufacturers in order to get contracts. Personally I wouldn't preorder any more locos no matter how special they might be. I'll simply wait until they are produced & then make up my mind after others have reviewed them. If that means I miss out then so be it.

I suppose you can't blame them for trying if someone is willing to pay that price although I can't imagine why unless someone needs an expensive ornament.

They're having a laugh with a price like that. A bit of a cheek really after the fiasco that was their original Garrett.

Well if you don't want to tell us then that's ok. I wouldn't be looking for any information in a magazine. If I wanted info i'd look here on the forum.