Hornby repairs

[adb968008]

22 hours ago, rogerzilla said:

Aren't models sold as "toys" and therefore only have to be warranted for 90 days?  I know some manufacturers offer longer.

 

14 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

I would suspect all the model railway manufacturers go to great lengths to avoid being classified as 'toys' in terms of CE/CA approval, due to use of small parts, for example.

 

Anyways, Hornby warranty in the UK is 12 months I'd be 99% sure all others are the same or better.

Toys for tax (duty) reasons.

 

Chapter 95

toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof
 

95 03 00 30

Not toys for everything else.

 

I suppose they could be classed as Adult Toys, but that might get confusing !!!

Edited December 21, 2022 by adb968008

[rogerzilla]

9 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

 

Toys for tax (duty) reasons.

 

Chapter 95

toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof
 

95 03 00 30

Not toys for everything else.

 

I suppose they could be classed as Adult Toys, but that might get confusing !!!

Just imagine a big cardboard box turning up in Margate marked "HUSH HUSH - ADULT TOYS - CHINA".

[Phil Parker]

On 16/12/2022 at 12:14, micklner said:

Hornby get worse with every new issue. When was the last Loco issued to have any spares available at all ??. Nothing for the last two years or more have ever been available, as far as I can remember.

 

Getting impossible to get spares, for hardly any of their old or new products nowdays.

 

OK. Prompted by this, I've spent a lot of time digging into the spares matter directly with Hornby. That have, confidentially, shared with me the spreadsheet showing spare parts shipped into the UK. Unless this extensive list is completely made up, which would required some incredibly fast typing judging by the length of it, the suggestion that spares are unavailable is categoricaly untrue.

 

Put simply, if you want spares, there are service sheets on the website:

 

 

Those X numbers tell you what the spare is, and an email or phone call to Hornby should secure it for you. If you don't know the X number, but do know the R number, they can help too. If the specific spare isn't in stock, for example an 08 coupling rod in red, but only plain is available, you should still be offered this. There are 7 people in the spares department, 2 experts and 5 people on pick and pack. Either Hornby are shipping spares, or those people are sitting around scratching themselves all day.

 

One issue is the difference between engineering spares (stuff that wears out) and body spares. If you want a complete replacement body, or parts off one such as the bell from a "Big Boy", that's tougher (I am told) to arrange. The spares team will strip faulty models, so it's not out of the question though.

 

You can order spares through retailers, such as Peter's Spares, too. However, there have been problems in the past with retailers ordering all of a particular spare, so they no can't order more than 10% of the UK stock.

 

Another issue, highlighted by @JSpencer is that specifications change. A motor getting slightly shorter can require a new gear train. The days of everything running on a Jinty chassis powered by an XO4 motor are gone, and they aren't coming back. That's a lot of potential spares, many of which will look the same. You may need to specify the date of your model to help the spares team, a good reason not to throw the service sheet in the box away.

 

Hopefully, this clears things up. However, I've also provisionally agreed that we can go down and spend a day with the spares team at some point next year to have a proper behind the scenes look at this perenial subject. Once I've pinned this down, I'll stick a note on here for some questions - but don't bother until I ask as it's likely a few months away. And I will be asking if they have spare Giraffe's and propellers for Battlespace Turbo cars!

 

Oh, and the spares list also includes parts for Scalextric cars, so if you break your Ferrari, then they can probably help there too.

 

 

 

 

[phil-b259]

On 16/12/2022 at 12:14, micklner said:

H

 

Bachmann are virtually the complete oppositte in house spares department, with superb service and availabity of parts including chassis blocks etc etc..

But even Bachmann don’t keep loads of decorated bodies available do they?

 

(The OP mentioned there are body decoration issues as one of the faults).

[adb968008]

13 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Hopefully, this clears things up. However, I've also provisionally agreed that we can go down and spend a day with the spares team at some point next year to have a proper behind the scenes look at this perenial subject. Once I've pinned this down, I'll stick a note on here for some questions - but don't bother until I ask as it's likely a few months away. And I will be asking if they have spare Giraffe's and propellers for Battlespace Turbo cars!

 

Can this be turned into an rmweb members day trip ?

This would be a fascinating day out!

 

If not, i’d restrict the type of questions, otherwise you’d be going with an extremely long shopping list !

 

[phil-b259]

16 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

I would suspect all the model railway manufacturers go to great lengths to avoid being classified as 'toys' in terms of CE/CA approval, due to use of small parts, for example.

They very much ARE ‘Toys’!

 

You forget that the legal definition of a child is anyone under the age of 18

 

As such something designed to be sold to a 16 year old (who can reasonably be expected to not eat small parts, swollen coin batteries or slash themselves to ribbons with a craft knife) can still be classed as a ‘child’s toy’.

 

Hence model railway manufacturers sell toys with a recommended minimum age consummate with the ‘child’ being sufficiently mature that small parts will not be a legal issue.

 

From a business perspective that use of the ‘toy’ designation is attractive - as has been mentioned ‘children’s toys’ are usually exempted from import / export duties where as items designated as other things are very likely to attract extra charges.

[G-BOAF]

10 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

But even Bachmann don’t keep loads of decorated bodies available do they?

 

(The OP mentioned there are body decoration issues as one of the faults).

Yes they do - take a look at the Bachmann Spares Website as an example (although spares only listed after the warranty period for most sales has passed I believe)

[micklner]

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

 

OK. Prompted by this, I've spent a lot of time digging into the spares matter directly with Hornby. That have, confidentially, shared with me the spreadsheet showing spare parts shipped into the UK. Unless this extensive list is completely made up, which would required some incredibly fast typing judging by the length of it, the suggestion that spares are unavailable is categoricaly untrue.

 

Put simply, if you want spares, there are service sheets on the website:

 

 

Those X numbers tell you what the spare is, and an email or phone call to Hornby should secure it for you. If you don't know the X number, but do know the R number, they can help too. If the specific spare isn't in stock, for example an 08 coupling rod in red, but only plain is available, you should still be offered this. There are 7 people in the spares department, 2 experts and 5 people on pick and pack. Either Hornby are shipping spares, or those people are sitting around scratching themselves all day.

 

One issue is the difference between engineering spares (stuff that wears out) and body spares. If you want a complete replacement body, or parts off one such as the bell from a "Big Boy", that's tougher (I am told) to arrange. The spares team will strip faulty models, so it's not out of the question though.

 

You can order spares through retailers, such as Peter's Spares, too. However, there have been problems in the past with retailers ordering all of a particular spare, so they no can't order more than 10% of the UK stock.

 

Another issue, highlighted by @JSpencer is that specifications change. A motor getting slightly shorter can require a new gear train. The days of everything running on a Jinty chassis powered by an XO4 motor are gone, and they aren't coming back. That's a lot of potential spares, many of which will look the same. You may need to specify the date of your model to help the spares team, a good reason not to throw the service sheet in the box away.

 

Hopefully, this clears things up. However, I've also provisionally agreed that we can go down and spend a day with the spares team at some point next year to have a proper behind the scenes look at this perenial subject. Once I've pinned this down, I'll stick a note on here for some questions - but don't bother until I ask as it's likely a few months away. And I will be asking if they have spare Giraffe's and propellers for Battlespace Turbo cars!

 

Oh, and the spares list also includes parts for Scalextric cars, so if you break your Ferrari, then they can probably help there too.

 

 

 

 

 

Hornby own website just searched . There is nothing obvious on there re any contact details for a Spares department ,or anything else other than the actual Service Sheets.

 

Type say Q6 Motor produced about four years ago old result ? Zero items

 

A2/2 A2/3 same result . They are recent releases

 

W1 ,  complete Locos available at full r.r.p Zero spares

 

I wont bother searching anymore on there.

 

Same searches done on Peter Spares etc , no one has a Q6 Motor or anything at all for the same Pacifics.

 

Search on Peter Spares in general , and they have hardly any spares for most of the Hornby range

 

 

 

 

[AY Mod]

11 minutes ago, micklner said:

There is nothing obvious on there re any contact details for a Spares department

 

From the Contact Us page...

 

Quote

SPARES SERVICE:

 

If you have an Airfix or Corgi Spares enquiry, please contact:

spares@airfix.com

spares@corgi.co.uk

 

It would help us greatly if you include the product code in the subject line of the email to the spares team

 

Please include the following details to allow us to process your spares request more efficiently:

 

• full name, delivery address, email and phone number (these details are required for the delivery service)

• the model name, number and the section of the instructions that the part can be found.

• Could you also advise where and when you bought the item (a proof of purchase if available) please supply us with the full traceability code which can be found on a small white label on the rear of the box.

 

This enables us to quickly identify the correct product and manufacturing batch so that we can check to see if the parts are available and establish if there are any other recorded issues.

 

11 minutes ago, micklner said:

Type say Q6 Motor produced about four years ago old result ? Zero items

 

I looked up the service sheet for the model and found the part number and used that in the search box to find https://uk.hornby.com/products/motorflywheel-x7148?_br_psugg_q=x7148 - it's in stock and you can order it.

 

You've come on here, made a stink and caused several hours work for people overall and it's just down to the way you are or aren't looking for things.

[micklner]

Thank you for the information. As already said there is nothing on the Hornby site to indicate you can search on the part number in such a way. I am not the only one who has made similar comments in the past.

Perhaps Hornby can make searching clearer on their site, as their search button shows nothing available at all when using the name of the model . They are simply losing business at the moment and causing uncessary frustration to their customers.

 

This is an example of the problems people have had.

 

 

 

 

Good news and apologies .

[Going Spare]

As an ex-Service Dealer, there are many comments I could make regarding Hornby's statement but I won't because any criticism by me of Hornby seems to result in the thread being locked!  Just one word - whitewash - most regrettably comes to mind.  Hornby appear, for whatever reason, not to be prepared to publicly acknowledge the problems they know exist.  It was perhaps unfortunate that Service Sheet 464 was depicted as none of the parts listed on that sheet appear on the latest (October) Hornby master spares list on Lendons website, nor are they available through any of the major spares suppliers' sites.  

[Phil Parker]

4 minutes ago, Going Spare said:

It was perhaps unfortunate that Service Sheet 464 was depicted as none of the parts listed on that sheet appear on the latest (October) Hornby master spares list on Lendons website, nor are they available through any of the major spares suppliers' sites. 

 

They made it clear that the spares are available direct from Hornby spares department. Also, that in the past, some dealers had bought up the entire stock of certain spares, and this wasn't possible any more as no one could purchase more than 10% of the remaining stock. So the parts might not appear on Ledon's website, but if you can get them from Hornby, they are available.

[Talltim]

On 21/12/2022 at 08:05, rogerzilla said:

Just imagine a big cardboard box turning up in Margate marked "HUSH HUSH - ADULT TOYS - CHINA".

If I had a model shop I'd sell continental and American trains and call it Exotic Foreign Models.

[E100]

42 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

They made it clear that the spares are available direct from Hornby spares department. Also, that in the past, some dealers had bought up the entire stock of certain spares, and this wasn't possible any more as no one could purchase more than 10% of the remaining stock. So the parts might not appear on Ledon's website, but if you can get them from Hornby, they are available.

 

I guess the issue is they may have 9 of a certain spare in stock and then say that a retailer cannot order it to restock themselves / at most they could only get 1. 

 

I think Hornby could be slightly more transparent as per the excellent Bachmann spares site but then again the same could be said of pretty much every manufacturer.

 

That being said whenever I have contacted them about an issue it may take a couple of days but they are generally very helpful in resolving it.

[JSpencer]

On 21/12/2022 at 14:06, micklner said:

Perhaps Hornby can make searching clearer on their site, as their search button shows nothing available at all when using the name of the model . They are simply losing business at the moment and causing uncessary frustration to their customers.

 

 

This would be highly debatable. On the one hand, most companies with websites are generally stuck with the core capabilities that the website has been built from, to add in extra features on top requires customization (more money) and makes migration to newer versions a little harder (needs to be customized again). On the other hand, what everyone considers a viable search pattern is debatable. My way of looking for something is probably different to yours.

 

I know if I use google to search a highly specialized item, it won't find it and propose a tonne of stuff totally unrelated. And while I feel modern websites are not designed to my particular needs nor way of doing things, my son finds his way around very quickly.

 

[PetersSpares]

On 17/12/2022 at 08:07, adb968008 said:

I doubt it.

Fixing your washing machine by replacing its brushes, and replacing the exterior panels of it to remove a scratch are not the same thing, but its a similar comparison.

 

I do think that repairs is however a revenue opportunity.

 

Next few years were all going to hunker down on purchases and therefore maybe focus on looking after what we've got. Thats going to create an increasing spares demand.

Its noteworthy that no one* at Warley had a “returns” pile this year to gorge on… in the past everyone had something, and with a 2 year gap between Warleys the pile might have been expected to be larger, not absent….

 

That said, providing spares to allow repairs maybe in compliance with the law but not in spirit of its intentions… At £18.50 for 4x buffers for a Dapol 73 (£6.75 x2 + £5 p&p for 4) someone is clearly making a nice profit.

 

it would very soon be cheaper to buy and dismantle a second hand 73 off ebay for c£70.

 

https://www.petersspares.com/Dapol-1109871-class-73-oo-gauge-buffers-oval-red-pair.ir

 

 

 

* Oxford had a basket of basket cases.

 

 

 

I have been made aware of this post re the buffer pricing and have popped on to clarify. I'm not sure how much you think parts are purchased for but here's an example.

 

Dapol make the parts and have their trade price. In the past a previous holder of these parts DCC Supplies added their markup or was informed of a RRP including 20% VAT.

 We have just purchased all the parts from the retailer and so far kept 95% off the prices the same. The ones we have changed have a small cost of a few pence added for say changing 4 of an item to 2 if we feel no one would want 4 and the cost covers the bagging and tagging them plus staff wages to do so.

 

This part consists of three separate parts put together in the factory and they are also sprung. 

 

Postage on our site is £5.00 minimum as the site doesn't know what's large and what's small but you can get them in our ebay shop at £2.50 postage. There you would save £2.50 and we would pay ebay 15% fees plus 30p transaction fee for the privilege. 

6.75 - 15% (1.01) -20% (1.13) leaves £4.31 (or via our website £5.31, we still get PayPal or card fees) less the trade price X amount doesn't really leave much seeing as we have to bag every item delivered to us and label it as they arrived loose.

 

That's before the usual running costs the profit goes to pay for Gas & Electric (that costs allot more the homeowners bills, wages, rent the list goes on.)

 

Thanks Peter