Are we too impatient nowadays?

[red_death]

My main gripe is with the manufacturers who release new items advertise how good they are but are unable to supply immediately, are they awaiting sufficient orders from the retailers before producing the item? I have had to compromise on my planned build as unable to buy items that I would like to install as they are unavailable.

OK, as a small manufacturer I can answer some of that:
- most manufacturers don't supply direct to the public but through retailers.
- I'm not sure what examples you are thinking of where a manufacturer has released new items but is unable to supply them immediately to retailers? Manufacturers don't want to hold stock as that is an item that they have paid for but which they haven't been paid for - so I can't imagine a manufacturer not supplying a retailer.
- when manufacturers do supply direct then any delays in sending things out is largely due to capacity.
- if you mean when a manufacturer has developed (but not released) an item then yes they will be waiting for some sort of certainty that if they produce a batch that they will sell them or they are waiting for a production slot at the relevant factory.

Cheers Mike

[Madann01]

Yes we are impatient brought on as other say, by our 24x7 lifestyle.  As modellers we are also hit by the lack of local model shops where one could get all those bits and pieces.

This means we have to order online but I have also found that it is very difficult to find one supplier that can fulfill an order.  This means you face multiple delivery charges and before long your pot of paint costs £10!



Someone mentioned Gaugemaster and I agree they are good,  Another retailer who tends to have a wide range of items in stock is Antics.  They have about half a dozen shops plus a warehouse to fulfill an order from.  Plus their prices are very competitive.

Kind regards

Paddy

po

And I think you need to take rolling stock out of the picture completely.

You imply basic construction items, do you have some examples? Or did you mean that unless you can get the rolling stock you want there's no point constructing the next phase?

The only non rolling stock item that I've been trying to buy recently, and have had problems, are Zimo Next18 decoders and each time I've looked they have been out of stock at the UK sellers and the US seller that I sometimes use had just 1 in stock. (BTW I wouldn't expect any US shop to have many in stock as they are king of 'niche' over here).

Regards,

John P

And I think you need to take rolling stock out of the picture completely.

You imply basic construction items, do you have some examples? Or did you mean that unless you can get the rolling stock you want there's no point constructing the next phase?

The only non rolling stock item that I've been trying to buy recently, and have had problems, are Zimo Next18 decoders and each time I've looked they have been out of stock at the UK sellers and the US seller that I sometimes use had just 1 in stock. (BTW I wouldn't expect any US shop to have many in stock as they are king of 'niche' over here).

Regards,

John P

Roiing stock and Locos I can put up with as by the time I construct my modern day layout the liveries will have changed many times over the way the franchises are being dealt with recently.( Another mute point of mine)  The items I wanted t purchase were mainly Peco points and motors, I wanted to buy the new twist lock point motor system along with a finescale double slip point and a few of the new uni frog points, along with a few other minor accessories, The double slip point was out of stock at most places and uni.frog points to pre order along with the point motors, I do like to order from one place at a time not only to save on postage but also to make it worthwhile for the retailer,as mentioned in my original post I spent most of yesterday trying to put together an order that would allow me to carry on constructing, impossible to achieve from one outlet.

[jpendle]

  Roiing stock and Locos I can put up with as by the time I construct my modern day layout the liveries will have changed many times over the way the franchises are being dealt with recently.( Another mute point of mine)  The items I wanted t purchase were mainly Peco points and motors, I wanted to buy the new twist lock point motor system along with a finescale double slip point and a few of the new uni frog points, along with a few other minor accessories, The double slip point was out of stock at most places and uni.frog points to pre order along with the point motors, I do like to order from one place at a time not only to save on postage but also to make it worthwhile for the retailer,as mentioned in my original post I spent most of yesterday trying to put together an order that would allow me to carry on constructing, impossible to achieve from one outlet.

Thanks for the clarification. I usually buy everything from Hattons and haven't had any issue with Peco points, BUT I am not buying medium radius points, and I don't use solenoid motors. I suspect that as the Medium Radius points, be they Unifrog or not, are the most popular, they sell out the quickest.

BTW I use Hattons a lot, as they are the only supplier that I am aware of that offer a 'tracked' option for International shipping. I don't mind stuff taking a week to arrive, or longer, but I can't abide not knowing what's going on.

I have 4 orders coming by Airmail rather than a courier, some of which may not have even shipped yet. I have no idea of the status of any of these. As @njee20 said with Amazon providing updates and tracking our expectations have been set much higher.

Regards,

John P

[stevewalker]

It's not just the hobby, it's across UK industry because everyone is crapping themselves over Brexit.
If I was building a system for a customer last year, and needed some 1000 Bar pressure sensors with 4-20mA output (for example), I could get them in 2 or 3 weeks, now it's 2 or 3 months.

Try ordering pressure sensors to read for 13mBar absolute (yes that's correct), where the instruments have to be in an enclosure at 95°C (80 to 85°C maximum allowable for most electronics) and under fault condition the process can go to 29Bar gauge and 400°C in a few seconds - oh, an the wetted parts have to be Hastelloy. It took me 6 months to get someone to give me a quote! About £6000 a piece IIRC! I only needed 40 or so!

[Snowwolflair]

It's not just the hobby, it's across UK industry because everyone is crapping themselves over Brexit.
If I was building a system for a customer last year, and needed some 1000 Bar pressure sensors with 4-20mA output (for example), I could get them in 2 or 3 weeks, now it's 2 or 3 months.

Try ordering pressure sensors to read for 13mBar absolute (yes that's correct), where the instruments have to be in an enclosure at 95°C (80 to 85°C maximum allowable for most electronics) and under fault condition the process can go to 29Bar gauge and 400°C in a few seconds - oh, an the wetted parts have to be Hastelloy. It took me 6 months to get someone to give me a quote! About £6000 a piece IIRC! I only needed 40 or so!

All I can say is that these inflatable dolls are getting so much more sophisticated.   

[Trainfish]

I still prefer ordering stuff by telephone:

- you get instant confirmation that the product is in stock
- mistakes caused by excessive consumption of alcohol can be avoided

The only advantage of internet is that it never closes.

I try not to do anything after excessive consumption of alcohol, mainly because I get delivery of something I've already got

I gave up alcohol for that very reason but it didn't work so I just went back to alcohol as it's more fun. For me at least 

[Madann01]

I still prefer ordering stuff by telephone:

- you get instant confirmation that the product is in stock
- mistakes caused by excessive consumption of alcohol can be avoided

The only advantage of internet is that it never closes.

I try not to do anything after excessive consumption of alcohol, mainly because I get delivery of something I've already got

I gave up alcohol for that very reason but it didn't work so I just went back to alcohol as it's more fun. For me at least 

Sone sound advice as usual from the members  Totally ignored by me yesterday afternoon whist formulating a list of consumable to order from Squires on the phone.
The seemingly never emptying glass containing my daily medicinal  G&T ensured that the list got longer and longer cumulating with an order in the region of £40-50 in total,
However (and I don't know why?) whilst on the phone, I doubled up many of the quantities I had listed possibly thinking that 'whist I'm here' and with the obvious outcome of doubling the bill.
I was far too polite to backtrack on my order, and so when the order was completed I settled back in my seat and doubled up on my medication to ease the pain.

[Bealman]

Ah, the online ordering. Courier companies here are a dime a dozen now, and the times I come home to find parcels on the doorstep!

Unfortunately sending it all back is a pain. Mrs Bealman didn't like the clothes she'd ordered, (they never look as good as they do in the pictures.....  )

So off to the post office I go with the resealable plastic bag....

Oh, and make sure you've printed the bar code and stuck it on there so they can scan it   

[Lawrence]

It's not just the hobby, it's across UK industry because everyone is crapping themselves over Brexit.
If I was building a system for a customer last year, and needed some 1000 Bar pressure sensors with 4-20mA output (for example), I could get them in 2 or 3 weeks, now it's 2 or 3 months.

Try ordering pressure sensors to read for 13mBar absolute

Really couldn't be arsed doing a 5 point cal on that 

[acko22]

Honestly I think we are a bit impatient, but that is just as much to do with how we buy as much as supply!

We use to have to go to model shops to purchase stuff which mean't that shops held much more where as today we can do it order online almost instantly and shops can do the same from manufacturers meaning they will hold less stock.

The one area that does annoy me and maybe makes me a impatient is with rolling stock, not crowdfunding as I understand that takes time due to the need to build up funds etc. It's more Farish and Dapol (Although Dapol has took steps to correct this) when they announce something and well as we all bemoan it doesn't appear for years I am currently wanting some of the Farish class 319s which were announced what 5 years ago?

[Bob Tidbury]

Yes I agree because you can order on line and get delivery allmost next day and in the case of Union Mills order before 3 o'clock and you get it next day .
Then you get people who moan about the length of time other firms take to deliver items even when they are announced ,I don't think people stop and engage their brains before complaining .
I am very greatful for instance to Revolution ,Two guys who have made some fantastic models all done in their own time ,imagine how much work that they have to do when several pallets arrive ,they have to be unpacked sorted into different batches of slngle and multi packs ,then they have to go through orders ,print out delivery notes pack the order post it out ,I wonder how many others would do that .If you stop and think how long each individual order takes then multiply that by a thousand or more and you get to realise the huge task that they have .AND of course they still have full time jobs and families to think of as well .

I can't afford to order a lot but my whole family bought me my Poppylino ,and my son bought me a Molases tank ,and my wife and son have paid for a 56xx loco .and as soon as the Parcels car order book is open I'm hoping that between them they can order one for me .
So a huge THANKYOU to Ben and Mike .
Bob Tidbury

[njee20]

The mainstream manufacturers do seem to have gone backward a bit - time was they'd announce things when they were about to hit the market. Then we moved toward 'land grabbing', where by it's more of a statement of intent rather than anything else. There should be no reason for the gestation period of a coach to be measured in years (or even decades), but ultimately it's all just toy trains, so I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist.

Same goes for Revolution et al, although they're up front that it's not a conventional release cycle, yeah ok it may take a few years for stuff to come to fruition, but that's alright. Just gives me more of a chance to decide I need 'just one more' of everything!

[Roy L S]

I think that we have become too impatient, and to an extent I think that it is because the advent of technology such as the smart-phone means instant access to information and instant communication is pretty much always possible. Another by-product of advances in communication is the emerging of all sorts of forums (in our case modelling) where product information is shared, dissected and analysed (and complained about!). Info is sometimes taken as gospel, when too often it is a by-product of the rumour mill that morphs into "fact".

That said, I do think on the other side, possibly for the same reason, there has been more of a propensity for manufacturers to (as njee20 says) announce models before research has even started ("land grab" is a good description) and then do nothing to progress models for extended periods. From a commercial perspective I get why they do that, but from a consumer perspective it is very frustrating.

Oh for the days when Farish did not announce releases in advance.....but would that even work today?

Roy

[simonprelude]

I preferred the good old days, you went into a shop asked what they had in stock and chose items and purchased them...... it was just the saving up that took the time.

[PGN]

If you think it's difficult managing to obtain model railway supplies online, you should try sourcing a replacement bonnet for a Mercedes 8!!D 7 and a half tonner!

Do a search ... get millions of hits ... and they are ALL for sites that have uploaded the ENTIRE parts catalogue, and after clicking through seventeen billion screens, accepting their cookies, and agreeing to their use of your personal data, and giving them your name and address and date of birth and your mother's dress size in 1973 (well, maybe not that) they finally let you click on the very thing you want ... and they say "This item is out of stock and we don't know when we will next have it in".

Ho hum ...