Hornby EXETER

[southernelectric]

I wish people on here would read all the topic before jumping in with both feet to criticise.  Its fairy obvious that Hornby didn't keep all 290 Exeters for themselves as a number of modellers on here have reported getting their pre-ordered Exeter from their mail order retailer, and I wonder how many others (who don't use RMweb, don't forget RMweb isn't the whole world) have also received them.  Don't forget Hornby would also have had pre-orders from a number of mail order individuals, and their retail shop is just as much of a customer as is Hattons or Kernow or Rails or any other shop. I expect they had to disappoint a number of individuals too. 

 

This problem was caused by the financial demise of Sanda Kan and its takeover by Kader who are the owners of Bachmann.  Its them that failed (for whatever reason) to produce the full order and as it was the last order supplied by them the problem is not likely to happen with the newer models (like the 700) now coming out.  And lets face it, Hornby had to change suppliers, they couldn't have continued basically with Bachmann's owner as their supplier.  Hornby have gone to great lengths to avoid future supply problems by now having 4 Chinese companies as their suppliers and someone at the NEC told me it was going to be 6 !, but I don't know definitely about that.

 

Its just an unfortunate problem that's unlikely to be repeated very often in future.  To listen to what's being said on here, anyone would think that Hornby like upsetting the modelling world, they don't, and they've taken very great steps (and expensive ones at that, like having to buy their tools from Kader) to avoid some of the supply problems in future. 

 

Don't forget Bachmann are not immune from supply problems, and they're owned by the factory !  Look at all the people that couldn't get a SECR liveried C class ! 

 

Some valid points for sure...however, there was no pre-order facility on the Hornby website until very recently. So Hornby themselves had no direct sale pre-orders for Exeter because it wasn't available as a pre-order item direct.

 

I've said on this thread, and on others, that I don't think Hornby deliberately set out about to upset their retailers but in this case unfortunately they have. 

 

As for my pre-order I'm disappointed of course and I empathise with anyone else who missed out. I have even greater empathy for the retailers though. 

[John Isherwood]

I wish people on here would read all the topic before jumping in with both feet to criticise.  Its fairy obvious that Hornby didn't keep all 290 Exeters for themselves as a number of modellers on here have reported getting their pre-ordered Exeter from their mail order retailer, and I wonder how many others (who don't use RMweb, don't forget RMweb isn't the whole world) have also received them.  Don't forget Hornby would also have had pre-orders from a number of mail order individuals, and their retail shop is just as much of a customer as is Hattons or Kernow or Rails or any other shop. I expect they had to disappoint a number of individuals too. 

 

This problem was caused by the financial demise of Sanda Kan and its takeover by Kader who are the owners of Bachmann.  Its them that failed (for whatever reason) to produce the full order and as it was the last order supplied by them the problem is not likely to happen with the newer models (like the 700) now coming out.  And lets face it, Hornby had to change suppliers, they couldn't have continued basically with Bachmann's owner as their supplier.  Hornby have gone to great lengths to avoid future supply problems by now having 4 Chinese companies as their suppliers and someone at the NEC told me it was going to be 6 !, but I don't know definitely about that.

 

Its just an unfortunate problem that's unlikely to be repeated very often in future.  To listen to what's being said on here, anyone would think that Hornby like upsetting the modelling world, they don't, and they've taken very great steps (and expensive ones at that, like having to buy their tools from Kader) to avoid some of the supply problems in future. 

 

Don't forget Bachmann are not immune from supply problems, and they're owned by the factory !  Look at all the people that couldn't get a SECR liveried C class ! 

 

..... all of which may, or may not, be true.

 

But the deafening silence from Hornby, in place of a profuse apology and a full explanation, has ensured that the vast majority of us will remember this debacle for a long time and retain a negative image of the company even if some of the direr predictions do not come to pass.

 

I suspect that we will reserve judgement and come to firmer conclusions based on Hornby's actions and performance in the medium to long term.

 

One thing is certain; the damage to Hornby's reputation is entirely self-inflicted !!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[DoverPriory]

By hook and by crook I've managed to get two of R3115 for my southern region layout. One will remain as Exeter. The other will be renamed so as to reflect running in southern region. Neither will appear on ebay..........well not in my lifetime anyway. What a bloody shambles though. I wonder if the collectors club model of Manston will ever surface..........I suspect not................if I were a bookie I'd probably give odds of 50-1 of it happening.

[Retro_man]

Scenario: apparently let's say 290 are all that arrived, and let's say they decided to sell ALL of them on their web site. Let's say 50% of the 130 odd quid price is the added return for them over their wholesale price (GROSS exageration in all probability anyway!!!). That would meant they are going to make an additional 65 quid per loco, adding up to a whopping addition to their bottom line of....18,850 quid!

 

Question: If THAT is important to the bottom line for either the management OR the shareholders, they are in a bloody-sight worse shape than ANYONE on here even speculates they are...

 

How much improvement in the botton-line, on a who cares level, is that amount of money? If we were talking 1000's of units and all THOSE were selling like wild fire it would be understandable, but 290 for a net additional profit of 18,850??? Get a grip, they've definately lost the plot...

 

Yes, a relatively small amount.

 

But now they have sown the seeds of uncertainty about deliveries AND coincidentally launched a pre-order facility for new models on their own website perhaps the spin off effect of modellers and collectors placing advance orders with them will provide far greater contributions to their bottom line...

 

In fact perhaps this whole event may have been a craftily conceived plot... ;-)

 

First consider the timing - a couple of major players get a fraction of their order - a rep tells them that is all they are getting; another retailer reports all his advance orders have disappeared from the trade site; many posts discussing the situation on RMWeb and other forums; then an announcement at Warley that there will be new models and that they can be pre-ordered exclusively from Hornby (at least until the trade can take orders in January - if there are any left to order).

[lapford34102]

Can we get a bit of perspective over this please, far worse things happen.

So Hornby got fewer models than they needed to fulfil all the orders. Their options? They could have kept them all, given them all out to a few preferred retailers or, as I suspect, tried to be fair and give everyone at least a bit of the cake. A solution that inevitably satisfies no-one.

Now are any of the retailers, big or small, going to end up on the breadline, because they don't have enough to sell. Might be wrong but I doubt it. So we have an indeterminate number of buyers who are disappointed. OK, I appreciate

that but as my old Gran used to say no-one ever said life was fair.

As for Hornby's response well they do need to provide one and sooner rather than never. However they've just had

Warley so hopefully they'll now have time to address this. As for lasting damage to their credibility. To be blunt there an anti red-box faction on here for whom they'll never have any, as for the rest this'll blow over and become

history.

 

Stu

[Ian Hargrave]

I wish people on here would read all the topic before jumping in with both feet to criticise.  Its fairy obvious that Hornby didn't keep all 290 Exeters for themselves as a number of modellers on here have reported getting their pre-ordered Exeter from their mail order retailer, and I wonder how many others (who don't use RMweb, don't forget RMweb isn't the whole world) have also received them.  Don't forget Hornby would also have had pre-orders from a number of mail order individuals, and their retail shop is just as much of a customer as is Hattons or Kernow or Rails or any other shop. I expect they had to disappoint a number of individuals too. 

 

This problem was caused by the financial demise of Sanda Kan and its takeover by Kader who are the owners of Bachmann.  Its them that failed (for whatever reason) to produce the full order and as it was the last order supplied by them the problem is not likely to happen with the newer models (like the 700) now coming out.  And lets face it, Hornby had to change suppliers, they couldn't have continued basically with Bachmann's owner as their supplier.  Hornby have gone to great lengths to avoid future supply problems by now having 4 Chinese companies as their suppliers and someone at the NEC told me it was going to be 6 !, but I don't know definitely about that.

 

Its just an unfortunate problem that's unlikely to be repeated very often in future.  To listen to what's being said on here, anyone would think that Hornby like upsetting the modelling world, they don't, and they've taken very great steps (and expensive ones at that, like having to buy their tools from Kader) to avoid some of the supply problems in future. 

 

Don't forget Bachmann are not immune from supply problems, and they're owned by the factory !  Look at all the people that couldn't get a SECR liveried C class ! 

I'm afraid by trying to pin the responsibility on Kader,you are as guilty of jumping to conclusions as those you criticise.You don't know,none of us know the root cause of this affair.You seem a tad too keen,as have been one or two others,to drag Bachmann into the fray. Why would you need to do that ? You are just speculating. For the umpteenth time,people are complaining about the way in which Hornby have handled this. Have you read the posts some retailers have made here ? Did you read newsletters from both Kernow and Rails....are they carping over nothing ?

Your key phrase is "...I don't know definitely about that".Correct.We don't.If we did,then you and others would have little or no reason to speculate.Which is why greater transparency and even handedness would be welcomed by retail trade and modellers alike.

[The Stationmaster]

I wish people on here would read all the topic before jumping in with both feet to criticise.  Its fairy obvious that Hornby didn't keep all 290 Exeters for themselves as a number of modellers on here have reported getting their pre-ordered Exeter from their mail order retailer, and I wonder how many others (who don't use RMweb, don't forget RMweb isn't the whole world) have also received them.  Don't forget Hornby would also have had pre-orders from a number of mail order individuals, and their retail shop is just as much of a customer as is Hattons or Kernow or Rails or any other shop. I expect they had to disappoint a number of individuals too. 

 

This problem was caused by the financial demise of Sanda Kan and its takeover by Kader who are the owners of Bachmann.  Its them that failed (for whatever reason) to produce the full order and as it was the last order supplied by them the problem is not likely to happen with the newer models (like the 700) now coming out.  And lets face it, Hornby had to change suppliers, they couldn't have continued basically with Bachmann's owner as their supplier.  Hornby have gone to great lengths to avoid future supply problems by now having 4 Chinese companies as their suppliers and someone at the NEC told me it was going to be 6 !, but I don't know definitely about that.

 

Its just an unfortunate problem that's unlikely to be repeated very often in future.  To listen to what's being said on here, anyone would think that Hornby like upsetting the modelling world, they don't, and they've taken very great steps (and expensive ones at that, like having to buy their tools from Kader) to avoid some of the supply problems in future. 

 

Don't forget Bachmann are not immune from supply problems, and they're owned by the factory !  Look at all the people that couldn't get a SECR liveried C class ! 

I agree wholeheartedly with Ian's comments about your reference to Kader as we simply don't know (and probably never will know) the truth of this but we do know that Kader manufactured nothing for Hornby after March this year.

 

But more interesting is the number of factories now used by Hornby and it isn't 4 and neither is it 6 - according to their half-yearly report as far as their model railway business is concerned Hornby have said 'We have grown our supplier base this year to 15 vendors.'  That might of course be a misprint and include an errant '1' in front of the '5' but I would hope they would get the number right in an official document so I take it as printed.

[clarkeeboy56]

 

 

Selling direct they get paid up front instead of waiting 30 days???  60 days??? 90 days???  possibly never!!!! Borrowing that money while waiting to get paid can become expensive and cash flow is the downfall of many a company

 

When I had my model shop about 7 or 8 years ago, I had to pay for my stock in advance. Is this not the case nowadays?

[40F]

When I had my model shop about 7 or 8 years ago, I had to pay for my stock in advance. Is this not the case nowadays?

 

 

Unless you are on proforma no you do not have to pay up front for your stock and also if you had been on stop a few times . Most firms are 30 days

[SDJR7F88]

Popped into my local model shop today and he said last week he was invoiced from Hornby for 1x 'Exeter', a customer pre-order.. He was totally un-aware of the issue regarding the loco and I explained how lucky he was to get one! (Seem he was not told of the problems by Hornby, yet?) He said he got the invoice for the model last week and Hornby said it was on the way. That was last week, so he said the model should be here by now, or arrive today (I visited in the morning, so unsure if it arrived). If not another it seems that it may have got lost in the post! So could be down to 289 models now!

[Ian Abel]

Popped into my local model shop today and he said last week he was invoiced from Hornby for 1x 'Exeter', a customer pre-order.. He was totally un-aware of the issue regarding the loco and I explained how lucky he was to get one! (Seem he was not told of the problems by Hornby, yet?) He said he got the invoice for the model last week and Hornby said it was on the way. That was last week, so he said the model should be here by now, or arrive today (I visited in the morning, so unsure if it arrived). If not another it seems that it may have got lost in the post! So could be down to 289 models now!

Hmmm, postman not an RMWebber with a penchant for Hornby air-smoothed Bulleids is he?!?!?!   

[toboldlygo]

Hmmm, postman not an RMWebber with a penchant for Hornby air-smoothed Bulleids is he?!?!?!   

 

Funny you should say that, a few years ago I had 3 Hornby Bulleid Light Pacific's, disappear en-route to a client (allegedly) only for the client to (allegedly) find them at local swap meet!!! 

[Stevelewis]

I would  try  to  fine  them  back!  Tell them  they  owe  you  for  loss  of  profits  due  to  non  availability  of stock to sell!

 

I am  sure  that   your  promotion  of  the  Blue  Boxed  manufacturer  will reap divisdensds in  the  long  term!!

[Ian Hargrave]

Hornby ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY

Taken from their Facebook Page:

 

It is one month until Christmas Eve and look what's back in stock!

Hurry hurry hurry! 

 

http://www.Hornby.com/sets/analogue-train-sets/Hornby-santa-express-train-set-concession-exclusive.html

 

Perhaps that is why they failed to even acknowledge my email to them.

 

Good news was the Bachmann Rep turned up and lots of Blue Boxes on their way:

 

 

 

The issue here is that as we earn our living from selling Hornby products it is not just about one loco. In our shop we have had nearly all our back-orders deleted by Hornby. No warning, no explanation.That has given us a definite feeling of having "no confidence" in Hornbys ability to deliver to deliver future products. I am only speaking for ourselves other shop owners may feel different or even indifferent. What we have decided is that due to their lack of communication we will now have to look elsewhere to supply our model railway products. We invested our future and a considerable amount of money in Hornby. Rest assured if we didnt pay our invoices on Wednesday of this week I am sure we will receive some communication from them. Maybe they will fine us the £250 for late payment that is in Hornby's Terms and Conditions.

Those of you who have been dismissive of the indignation stirred up on this topic should read this post.Such a reaction is an insult to retailers such as this gentleman who suffer financial embarrassment as a result of Hornby's meanderings in the last few days.

[southernelectric]

Can we get a bit of perspective over this please, far worse things happen.

So Hornby got fewer models than they needed to fulfil all the orders. Their options? They could have kept them all, given them all out to a few preferred retailers or, as I suspect, tried to be fair and give everyone at least a bit of the cake. A solution that inevitably satisfies no-one.

Now are any of the retailers, big or small, going to end up on the breadline, because they don't have enough to sell. Might be wrong but I doubt it. So we have an indeterminate number of buyers who are disappointed. OK, I appreciate

that but as my old Gran used to say no-one ever said life was fair.

As for Hornby's response well they do need to provide one and sooner rather than never. However they've just had

Warley so hopefully they'll now have time to address this. As for lasting damage to their credibility. To be blunt there an anti red-box faction on here for whom they'll never have any, as for the rest this'll blow over and become

history.

 

Stu

 

Stu, while I appreciate what you are saying and we do need perspective I think there's some other things to consider.

 

There may be an 'anti red-box faction' here on RMweb I am most certainly not one of them. I've been very vocal (as much as you can be with a keyboard and a mouse at least!) about my support to see Hornby come out fighting after what has been inevitably a rough few years. I like model trains regardless of the colour of the box they come in.

 

When I returned to all this a couple of years back after around a 30 year absence, I was surprised to read some of the anti-Hornby sentiments expressed by some on this forum when I first joined and I was also oblivious to the problems Hornby were facing then and, albeit to a much lesser extent, still are.

 

I think this recent debacle goes beyond Hornby's inability to supply a single locomotive (well two if you include Bittern as well). It's the way they handled it, and how it has dented confidence among retailers with regards to being able to fulfill future orders that customers have placed with them. Just read WidnesModelCentre's comments, for example, whereby other products on order are now disappearing off the list. So what is going on there?

 

I had several Exeters on pre-order with the intention of having the good folks at TMC rename and renumber. Am I disappointed? Of course. But I really feel for the retailers. Hornby should have fulfilled the existing pre-orders as best they could. They shouldn't have offered Exeter and Bittern for sale off the website without fulfilling existing pre-orders as best they could.

 

It's the manner in which it has been handled, the silence from Margate thus far, and how retailers may now rightly be concerned about what will happen going forward. What is needed is something from Margate to alleviate the concerns retailers may have with regards to future orders, and some explanation as to what happened here.

[southernelectric]

The issue here is that as we earn our living from selling Hornby products it is not just about one loco. In our shop we have had nearly all our back-orders deleted by Hornby. No warning, no explanation.That has given us a definite feeling of having "no confidence" in Hornbys ability to deliver to deliver future products. I am only speaking for ourselves other shop owners may feel different or even indifferent. What we have decided is that due to their lack of communication we will now have to look elsewhere to supply our model railway products. We invested our future and a considerable amount of money in Hornby.

 

I am sorry to read that. I hope at some point somebody from Hornby will contact you to discuss your concerns, and also explain to you how those concerns are going to be addressed. 

[southernelectric]

I wish people on here would read all the topic before jumping in with both feet to criticise.  Its fairy obvious that Hornby didn't keep all 290 Exeters for themselves as a number of modellers on here have reported getting their pre-ordered Exeter from their mail order retailer, and I wonder how many others (who don't use RMweb, don't forget RMweb isn't the whole world) have also received them.  Don't forget Hornby would also have had pre-orders from a number of mail order individuals, and their retail shop is just as much of a customer as is Hattons or Kernow or Rails or any other shop. I expect they had to disappoint a number of individuals too. 

 

This problem was caused by the financial demise of Sanda Kan and its takeover by Kader who are the owners of Bachmann.  Its them that failed (for whatever reason) to produce the full order and as it was the last order supplied by them the problem is not likely to happen with the newer models (like the 700) now coming out.  And lets face it, Hornby had to change suppliers, they couldn't have continued basically with Bachmann's owner as their supplier.  Hornby have gone to great lengths to avoid future supply problems by now having 4 Chinese companies as their suppliers and someone at the NEC told me it was going to be 6 !, but I don't know definitely about that.

 

Its just an unfortunate problem that's unlikely to be repeated very often in future.  To listen to what's being said on here, anyone would think that Hornby like upsetting the modelling world, they don't, and they've taken very great steps (and expensive ones at that, like having to buy their tools from Kader) to avoid some of the supply problems in future. 

 

Don't forget Bachmann are not immune from supply problems, and they're owned by the factory !  Look at all the people that couldn't get a SECR liveried C class ! 

 

So if Hornby have purchased all their tooling from Kader, there's no reason why - in theory - they cannot get one of the new factories to do another run of Exeter, given that there would appear to be enough demand for it? That is, unless Hornby is in a legal position to take action against Kader for not fulfilling their contractual obligation? 

 

We still don't have all the facts, that's for sure, but it does seem it was beyond their control. Fair enough. But the handling of the situation, when the stock came into the country, was most definitely NOT fair! 

 

I've said already several times on this thread and elsewhere I don't think Hornby intended to upset their retailers. Better handling of the situation would have still resulted in disappointment nothing can change that but it's not right to for them to let customers down who had already placed orders while at the same time holding on to some of that stock and putting the same product up for sale in their own online store!

[andyman7]

I am not surprised that model shops needing stock will look to Bachmann to fill the gap, but those assuming that this gives Bachmann an overall advantage in the marketplace need to recognise that Hornby has a presence in places Bachmann struggle to fulfil. In central London, some Bachmann (a small selection) is available from the LT Museum shop, and from Ian Allan models at Waterloo; other than that, their product is unavailable in the centre of our capital. A much larger Hornby-only selection is available from Hamleys and Harrods, to be seen by thousands of visitors every year - years ago I would't touch these places knowing that their prices were way above many model shops but now, not only do they charge 'list' price which might only be a few pounds dearer than the top discounters, but they often have deals or offers that kick Hattons et al into touch. Now I know that these are concession outlets, but the point is that for the general public, Hornby have far superior distribution into the general retail environment than Bachmann.

 

I can see where this puts the specialist model retailer, but I have to say for Hornby I have for some time realised that their website and/or concessions provide a more reliable route to supply than the traditional model shop. Both get my trade, it;s just that one is used more for red box stuff, and the other for blue box stuff.        

[bill badger]

On the bright side, with Bachmann's range being more 'north or north-west looking' than Hornby's, you may find your sales increase... since getting back into the hobby a couple of years ago and deciding to model 30s/40s LMS I've only purchased Blue boxes as there haven't been any Red ones (other than a Fowler tank that I haven't had the cash for so far).

[jjb1970]

For all that I am a big Hornby fan (which does not mean I am not also a supporter of other manufacturers) I do think they need to improve their communications and get a grip of stuff like this. If this had been handled by them a bit better then there would still have been quite a few upset customers and retailers but it could have been salvaged to some extent. They do seem to be getting their new production back on track and their new tooling looks terrific but their customer relations have really been found wanting in recent times. The splendid efforts of Simon Kohler (his blog is one of the real pleasures of the web for me) should be an inspiration to Hornby management.

 

There is a deeper question which is what are the longer term plans of Hornby regarding retailers? I think their experience with the Arnold Brighton Belle may have huge implications for the future. They can see big retailers developing a competing product and reaping a benefit in eliminating the retailer cut and there is no doubt that there are now many customers for whom a direct sales model would be perfectly acceptable. That would allow them to control price inflation to a degree whilst simultaneously increasing their profit on each sale. I think that'd be terrible for the hobby and I sincerely hope that Hornby's travails with the retail trade are more a result of inept communications than a portent to such a future. I have no issue with them selling direct at the SRP and a bit of stock clearance bargains but this should be in parallel with supplies to retailers.

[Ian Abel]

Hornby ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY

Taken from their Facebook Page:

 

It is one month until Christmas Eve and look what's back in stock!

Hurry hurry hurry! 

 

http://www.Hornby.com/sets/analogue-train-sets/Hornby-santa-express-train-set-concession-exclusive.html

 

Perhaps that is why they failed to even acknowledge my email to them.

 

Good news was the Bachmann Rep turned up and lots of Blue Boxes on their way:

 

 

The issue here is that as we earn our living from selling Hornby products it is not just about one loco. In our shop we have had nearly all our back-orders deleted by Hornby. No warning, no explanation.That has given us a definite feeling of having "no confidence" in Hornbys ability to deliver to deliver future products. I am only speaking for ourselves other shop owners may feel different or even indifferent. What we have decided is that due to their lack of communication we will now have to look elsewhere to supply our model railway products. We invested our future and a considerable amount of money in Hornby. Rest assured if we didnt pay our invoices on Wednesday of this week I am sure we will receive some communication from them. Maybe they will fine us the £250 for late payment that is in Hornby's Terms and Conditions.

Ahh, excellent news, a fitting replacement for the MIA Exeter...I'm off to buy several hundred of them from every outlet I can find, just in case they don't really exist!!! Maybe I can get one customized to look like a Bulleid!

I see in their "Gift Finder" section they have the 2014 Catalogue for just 8 quid, bargain...better get one of those too before they run out, then I can see what I missed, whoops, sorry, what will be delivered (if we're lucky!!) in 2016-17!!!! Also a good deal on the Blue/Grey Brighton Belle 1/3 off list @ 119 quid - looks like they're stuck with a bunch extra of those... that's too bad (ya right!!) I may even buy one when they drop the price under 60 quid, like they did with the '2142' 2-BIL - yay 

[Guest Belgian]

. . .  a good deal on the Blue/Grey Brighton Belle 1/3 off list @ 119 quid - looks like they're stuck with a bunch extra of those... that's too bad (ya right!!) I may even buy one when they drop the price under 60 quid, like they did with the '2142' 2-BIL - yay 

I think you have highlighted a very important point here which, so far as I am aware, has not been discussed on any on-line forum yet.

 

When the 2 BIL was announced there was a huge cry of (and I paraphrase here) 'We've all been wanting this for so long and it was about time Hornby did it', followed for a few weeks after it became available 'Where can I get one, my hobby shop has run out. Why didn't Hornby make many more to fulfil the massive demand we all have for it?'

 

Then I noticed, quite recently, that a number of traders were offering them (including the BR green ones) at huge discounts, as were Hornby themselves. The two things don't equate. Hornby - and all manufacturers - can't win, especially with the vocal element that seems to launch into 'must have it now' mode every time a model is launched. 

 

I really feel for the manufacturers. I wonder when Bachmann will be dumping Blue Pullmans - or maybe they will just pulp them.

 

JE

[lapford34102]

Hi,

Firstly if my "breadline" comment offended any retailer on here I apologise unreservedly. Secondly thanks to WidnesMC for his viewpoint and concerns  with the wider situation. Also thanks to him for answering my unasked question regarding Airfix et al. Although comparing Airfix to Hornby isn't really fair there does appear to a difference in approach even though they're under the same roof.

SouthernElectric, and others, I fully appreciate there are wider issues here, namely Hornbys longer term marketing strategy and their woeful lack of communication. That they're not aware of the sentiments on here and elsewhere simply isn't believable and an explanation should be forthcoming because someone decided how to handle the problem.

Which leads me back to my point earlier. Ignoring for the moment wider issues what should Hornby have done when 290 Exeters arrived. It's an insufficient number to fulfil all requests so now what.  Judging by the reaction perhaps dumping them all in the Channel and keeping quiet might have been the kindest thing :-)

Stu

[Guest Belgian]

Hi,

Firstly if my "breadline" comment offended any retailer on here I apologise unreservedly. Secondly thanks to WidnesMC for his viewpoint and concerns  with the wider situation. Also thanks to him for answering my unasked question regarding Airfix et al. Although comparing Airfix to Hornby isn't really fair there does appear to a difference in approach even though they're under the same roof.

SouthernElectric, and others, I fully appreciate there are wider issues here, namely Hornbys longer term marketing strategy and their woeful lack of communication. That they're not aware of the sentiments on here and elsewhere simply isn't believable and an explanation should be forthcoming because someone decided how to handle the problem.

Which leads me back to my point earlier. Ignoring for the moment wider issues what should Hornby have done when 290 Exeters arrived. It's an insufficient number to fulfil all requests so now what.  Judging by the reaction perhaps dumping them all in the Channel and keeping quiet might have been the kindest thing :-)

Stu

I do agree, particularly with your comment about Hornby not 'being aware' of the comments herein. I suspect that Hornby are more than aware of the sentiments on here but discount them even more heavily than they have the 2 BIL (see my last post).

 

RMWeb may have a lot of members but only a tiny vocal minority make their opinions known and Hornby's largest numbers of customers are beyond the reach of such opinions in any event. There is an unfortunate tendency amongst the vocal minority - as in all walks of life - that their opinions reflect those of the majority and only they know what's best. They don't.

 

JE

[TheCuckoo]

Exeter is not my region or time period, but this is a must-read thread because it illustrates that, at the drop of a hat, Hornby will shaft customers if it suits them.

 

I won't be placing pre-orders for *anything* from Hornby - directly or indirectly.