Quote from: Snowwolflair on September 09, 2016, 06:10:28 PM
Do you think they have just been told all the new stock is in containers on Hanjin ships and delivery dates will be a surprise to them as well.

They recon about 15% of Christmas goods are on these ships.

I'm getting fed up waiting over a year for pre-orders and getting no useful feed back on when the goods are likely to be landed.  I see I'm not the first to wonder if my stuff is in a container in a Hanjin ship that no-one will allow into port in case the wharfinger's fees aren't paid.  Such a thing would be unfortunate in the extreme, but what excuse could there be for the advertising for sale a model that's still merely a figment of the marketing people's imagination and then cancelling a year later?

Quote from: crepello on September 10, 2016, 05:24:49 PM

Quote from: Byegad on September 10, 2016, 10:24:43 AM
I pre-ordered a Grafar Valanced A4 in the spring 'due July 2016'. I cancelled the order in early August, and I now see they're due September/October 2016. That will be the best part of 6 months after I placed my pre-order, IF they turn up on time.

To me this is bad salesmanship in the extreme, and perhaps a symptom of poor market research where an announcement is made and pre-orders taken to gauge the potential market, before any tooling takes place??

Don't you mean Dapol A4?

Correct. As far as I'm aware only Dapol have ever suggested the idea of a valanced A4

Also I'd guess that most models sold in the past few years have been marketed on the basis of an EP sample before any commercial tooling has been made, some maybe inviting pre-orders even before an EP sample is seen? Such is the risk in the market these days that manufacturers need to know they're going to make their investment back (and hopefully more!) by gauging interest before committing too much money to a project.


Paul

Maybe I take the very simplistic view these days.
Announcements about new models etc I simply ignore. Announcements in model railway magazines that suggest a model is due this month I take some  notice of and then add on 2 months or so.
I then wait till a model appears in the shop and if it's at a price I feel is reasonable and it's something I want I buy it.
If the price is too high, I simply wait (it either sells out or eventually the price is reduced to a reasonable level).
It seems the only supplier who can be relied upon to produce a reliable model on time and at a fair price is Colin from Union Mills.
Or am I being old and cynical ?

Well said Port Peran I agree ,although UMM are not highly detailed they are very reliable and will pull more than normally required .
Colin never advertises his new Locos Untill they are ready to send out and the new Dukedogs WILL be out in November .
All this from a one man band who has absolute control over his products from start of production to actual packing and dispatch to the customer and that's where the problems start The other manufacturers have to rely on other factories producing the goods on time and other companies to transport them across the seas to them and then they have to deliver them to the shops so far more people involved ,however if they were to bring back production to this country then the products would cost far more than they do now because of the wage difference between China and the U.K. So we the customer have to make the decision either very detailed models that are a bit hit and miss in quality or a more basic model that can be detailed by A modeller and not just taken out of the box with all the bells and whistles allready fitted .We can make our own minds up as to what's best for us .
I personally think the detailing is wasted on some of us as I for one can't see all the fine detail when I run my models on my layout and I don't display my stock on a shelf to look good , I buy it to work reliably and to look more or less like the real thing .But I also appreciate that some people do display thier models in cabinets so they do want highly detailed models .
Sorry to go on a bit but it bugs me when I spend my limited Pension on a loco and it fails within a month or two or even less in some cases.
That's my ranting over for now ,what do you all think?
Bob

Yes I stand corrected, a Dapol Valanced A4 is what I didn't buy, but there again I doubt anyone else has either. Thanks to the two members who noticed my error.

I was looking at a Grafar B1 as I wrote. (And very nice it is too.)

The container hold up is going to be treated as THE excuse for the next several months, if not years!

I actually cancelled the Dapol A4 because I'd very briefly owned a Dapol Britannia, which went back as it repeatedly derailed on straight track straight out of the box*. The replacement Minitrix Britannia sourced from eBay works a treat. I'm now looking at taking a Grafar or Minitrix A4 and 'valancing' it myself.

The delay is now such that I'd have cancelled the A4 by now anyway.

I now have 96 locomotives, none of which derail on that stretch of track, so a dire loco fault not a track laying issue.

Quote from: Byegad on September 11, 2016, 11:26:35 AM
Yes I stand corrected, a Dapol Valanced A4 is what I didn't buy, but there again I doubt anyone else has either. Thanks to the two members who noticed my error.

I was looking at a Grafar B1 as I wrote. (And very nice it is too.)

The container hold up is going to be treated as THE excuse for the next several months, if not years!

I actually cancelled the Dapol A4 because I'd very briefly owned a Dapol Britannia, which went back as it repeatedly derailed on straight track straight out of the box*. The replacement Minitrix Britannia sourced from eBay works a treat. I'm now looking at taking a Grafar or Minitrix A4 and 'valancing' it myself.

The delay is now such that I'd have cancelled the A4 by now anyway.

I now have 96 locomotives, none of which derail on that stretch of track, so a dire loco fault not a track laying issue.

The Valanced A4s are due to dock this month and be in shops next month.  None are in stranded containers, or are any other Dapol or Farish products in stranded containers fortunately.

In response to several earlier posts by others about the meet up, we are all different there were introverts and extroverts, beardies and not, young and old. Grumpy old men and some not so grumpy, and it was nice to see you all.

Having said that looking round the hall, the delay in models may be more about how many will live long enough to be able to buy them.  I have seen healthier people in a casualty department.


Anyway here are a few photos

Quote from: Byegad on September 11, 2016, 11:26:35 AM
Yes I stand corrected, a Dapol Valanced A4 is what I didn't buy, but there again I doubt anyone else has either. Thanks to the two members who noticed my error.

I was looking at a Grafar B1 as I wrote. (And very nice it is too.)

The container hold up is going to be treated as THE excuse for the next several months, if not years!

I actually cancelled the Dapol A4 because I'd very briefly owned a Dapol Britannia, which went back as it repeatedly derailed on straight track straight out of the box*. The replacement Minitrix Britannia sourced from eBay works a treat. I'm now looking at taking a Grafar or Minitrix A4 and 'valancing' it myself.

The delay is now such that I'd have cancelled the A4 by now anyway.

I now have 96 locomotives, none of which derail on that stretch of track, so a dire loco fault not a track laying issue.

I have 2 Farish B1s, they are lovely quiet smooth locos. All my Farish locos are smoother and quieter than anything I have from Dapol.

According to Dapol the modern level of detail adds next to nothing to the production cost compared with a less detailed model.

Standard container transit time from China to the UK is 5-6 weeks depending on the ports used. A week at either end for road transit and customs is the norm. There is no reason why a shipment from a Chinese factory to a UK warehouse should take more than 2 months. "The container excuse" is just that most of the time, an excuse. I think that most of the delays are down to poor planning and bad management.
I have friends in manufacturing who say that the cost advantage of Chinese manufacture is closing. Up to six times as many inspectors in the factory to ensure quality control; lower Chinese productivity (yes really) and rising wages. Add to this the money tied up for 6-8 weeks in stock in transit. Extra stock holdings in the UK to cover the inability to receive orders quickly. Inability to respond to sudden customer demands quickly. A number of companies have returned manufacturing to their home countries. The ability to advertise goods as made in the UK or USA is a big selling point. I accept that Dapol and Farish won't have the scale of production necessary to restart UK manufacturing. But it is time they behaved more responsibley and treated their customers with more respect. I hope that the Grafar announcement is the start of this.
John