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[Shipmate60]

I was there the first day Barry "retired".
His lad was taking over and his vision for the company was to be at least 90% internet sales and downsizing the shop, possibly moving to far smaller premises.
It seems this has unfortunately led to a massive downturn in customer service.
This is against the background of this business being the benchmark of customer service, availability and quality.


Bob

[Peter Fitness]

Very sad to hear . I have dealt with Westbourne in the past when Barry was in charge and, like others, found them excellent to deal with. Based on what I'm reading here I would hesitate to deal with them again.


Peter.

[TugCowboy]

Very much the same experience here.

Historically orders were dealt with very quickly and the service was excellent. I placed an order last year and waited 6 weeks for it to turn up before having to demand a refund and wait another 2 weeks for that to come through.

Haven't dealt with them since and have no intention of doing so.

[TomHugill]

Bought some robbe trim tabs off them, money taken. 6 weeks later nothing so phoned. Apparently out of stock and no eta on restocking. Asked for a refund, was told it was sent. After the their time explaining I hadn't received my money back I gave up.

[inertia]

Bought some robbe trim tabs off them, money taken. 6 weeks later nothing so phoned. Apparently out of stock and no eta on restocking. Asked for a refund, was told it was sent. After the their time explaining I hadn't received my money back I gave up.

How did you pay?How was it supposed to have been refunded?

[TomHugill]

Paid via debit card, I guess refunded as a payment back to my account.

[Leaky Bottom]

Hmm, 22 posts and not a single positive comment,
I wonder if Westbourne model centre read these forums and if they do do they realy care, it would be interesting to here their comments.

[inertia]

Paid via debit card, I guess refunded as a payment back to my account.

Tom
You're looking at what - £14ish? Why should they have it? The buggers are probably laughing at you. Get them to state in writing that the refund has been made, how and when it was made and the details of the account to which it was paid. Tell them you will allow them 14 days to reply, then go to Citizens Advice for the SP on how to proceed with a case against them under the Distance Selling legislation. Keeping a customer's money without supplying goods and with no intention of refunding it is theft. Rattle their cage hard enough and I bet £14 falls out. This might be useful http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/letter-to-complain-about-undelivered-goods

Leaky B
I'm a little surprised that not a single person has written to say how happy he has been etc. As I said initially, these threads usually end up as a stalemate between the fans and the naysayers, but not apparently in this case. As for the owners of the shop, bad news usually travels fast in such a small trade so I'd be equally surprised if they weren't aware of this discussion. All of this may be an indication of how much it bothers them.
DM

[NFMike]

Paid via debit card, I guess refunded as a payment back to my account.

Card payments are usually made back to the card used, so before reaching for the weaponry suggested by DM it might be a good idea to check your bank statements (carefully) to see if it was in fact refunded.

[NoNuFink]

If it's a Visa Debit card you can get a a charge back.  AFAIK it's not law in the same way as it would be with a credit card but it is part of the VISA rules.  You should be able to get a refund by contacting VISA I believe.

[Neil]

sadly it's not the first good trading company to be ruined by the "can't be arsed" attitude of kith and kin.......

Xxxxxxxx models in Blackpool went the same way....

Xxxxxxxxthe owner had been running it for years and it was a good trading shop.......then he passed it over to his son Xxxxxxxx......who basically cba with it....................

I was often there for opening doors at 10.00am, for him to finally turn up if he wanted to at gone 11.00am ,if he turned up at all.

Sadly the ownership and enthusiasm cannot always be passed down the family to be run with the same enthusiasm as the original founder of the business............and that is a real shame.

Neil.

Sorry Neil, don't want us to get sued! Admin

[david48]

I was in Westbourns about 2 years ago ,the shop was in a bit of a state but to me it looked as if thy were snowed under with work,packing and models in for repair ,Service was good and had every thing I needed .Because I was not local he asked how I had found the shop ,I told him about mayhem ,ahhh that when it went a bit different .Said he did not use it or look at it for reasons he would not say . I do not know the man or who he was but there seemed to be some sort of history there .
 I paid the bill thanked him for his help which was all I wanted and left ,that was 2years ago .
Going to Southampton next week if I get time I might just nip along to Bournmouth.
David.

[U-33]

My two'pennyworth...


I find with Westbourne that if you call them and speak to the chap with the South African accent (I don't know his name, but I do know that he only works part time, which is a shame) he will tell you if the items you want are in stock or not, he will keep you informed as to the state of your order, and generally do his utmost to help you out.


I bought all the bits for my FC-16 tx from them, and had no problems at all.


Rich

[spooksgone]

I ordered some parts from them Saturday just gone, they were on work bench on the following Tuesday morning. I have been dealing with them for the last twelve or thirteen years, never had a problem. Just the luck of the draw I suppose.
Phil
Devon

[TugCowboy]

Good to hear a positive report Phil.

Despite my own negative experiences with them the industry around our hobby is too small to sustain loosing too many more local shops and the range and availability of items suffers greatly for the losses sustained so far.

If Westbourne can get themselves back on track it's so much the better for all of us.

Alex

[inertia]

Ah! The Seventh Cavalry - just in the nick of time!

Seriously, I think the moral here, as should be applied to any model shop, is to ring in advance of ordering or travelling to make sure that your intended purchase is in stock. If you're in the area anyway or just going to have a browse round then there's much less scope for complaint - just be careful where you tread.....
The problem with this particular shop is the degree to which their service and stock levels are perceived to have fallen i.e. when you've been so much better than the rest for so long it's a helluva long fall from grace when it eventually comes. As I said earlier, it's a shame.

Just as an addendum, I hope most folk by now will have heard that Graupner were taken over around two years ago by the Korean company which makes their "Graupner HOTT" radio sets. According to one trade insider the new owners haven't much of a clue about how to run a model wholesale and manufacturing business, with the result that most of the boat kits and accessories have been discontinued. Some retailers have been quick to look for alternatives and remove the unobtainable stuff from their websites, but others are still clinging on in the hope that these items will somehow be re-introduced. The smart money says there's no chance of that happening. My advice is that if you're planning on buying anything with a Graupner label then you MUST confirm that the item is actually physically in stock before you part with your money. A retailer who takes your money and then orders such an item is living in the past - the likelihood of his obtaining it is pretty remote. There's also a rumour that Robbe isn't in a very good state of health either, so much the same would seem to apply there.

Dave M

[cuppa]

Personally I have no axe to grind as I am not a customer of the company and much prefer to deal with 'small' companies like Mark's Model Bits, Model Boat Bits and Puffin Models that are run by genuine enthusiasts and have given me excellent and friendly service.
It is such a shame to hear of any company going downhill because, as others have already said, this hobby cannot afford to loose any suppliers.

 

[TomHugill]

Ah! The Seventh Cavalry - just in the nick of time!

Seriously, I think the moral here, as should be applied to any model shop, is to ring in advance of ordering or travelling to make sure that your intended purchase is in stock. If you're in the area anyway or just going to have a browse round then there's much less scope for complaint - just be careful where you tread.....
The problem with this particular shop is the degree to which their service and stock levels are perceived to have fallen i.e. when you've been so much better than the rest for so long it's a helluva long fall from grace when it eventually comes. As I said earlier, it's a shame.

Just as an addendum, I hope most folk by now will have heard that Graupner were taken over around two years ago by the Korean company which makes their "Graupner HOTT" radio sets. According to one trade insider the new owners haven't much of a clue about how to run a model wholesale and manufacturing business, with the result that most of the boat kits and accessories have been discontinued. Some retailers have been quick to look for alternatives and remove the unobtainable stuff from their websites, but others are still clinging on in the hope that these items will somehow be re-introduced. The smart money says there's no chance of that happening. My advice is that if you're planning on buying anything with a Graupner label then you MUST confirm that the item is actually physically in stock before you part with your money. A retailer who takes your money and then orders such an item is living in the past - the likelihood of his obtaining it is pretty remote. There's also a rumour that Robbe isn't in a very good state of health either, so much the same would seem to apply there.

Dave M

Any web business should have proper stock control and stock level indication on there web site. In this day and age not having it is pretty poor TBH. Im still hoping for a graupner resurgence in some form (so these long promised version 2 kits get released). Robbe parts seem to be getting easier to obtain though and the cornwall models site say the situation has improved.

[Neil]

sadly it's not the first good trading company to be ruined by the "can't be arsed" attitude of kith and kin.......

Xxxxxxxx models in Blackpool went the same way....

Xxxxxxxxthe owner had been running it for years and it was a good trading shop.......then he passed it over to his son Xxxxxxxx......who basically cba with it....................

I was often there for opening doors at 10.00am, for him to finally turn up if he wanted to at gone 11.00am ,if he turned up at all.

Sadly the ownership and enthusiasm cannot always be passed down the family to be run with the same enthusiasm as the original founder of the business............and that is a real shame.

Neil.

Sorry Neil, don't want us to get sued! Admin

No probs guys....sorry. neil.

[Martin (Admin)]

  Cheers Neil.

[captain bligh]

Hi All
Oh dear things aren't sounding good for Westbourne are they . The very first person I spoke to about model boats when I started about 7/8 years ago was Barry and he was so helpful and always was when I phoned haven't done any modelling since Barry finished due to moving house etc in life !! But on reading all the threads on this subject not sure when I get back into modelling I will be using them which is very sad because they always were very good but times seemed to have changed which is a great shame.

[boathound]

Are they still in business? No one answers the phone or responds to emails? Been waiting for an order for over a month and so sign of it.
Is it just me?

[U-33]

Yep, still going...you do need to a fresh cuppa by your side when you call them, though.


Rich

[boathound]

Wish I'd seen this thread before I placed an order with them. It was just for a couple of small parts but its really frustrating when you need those parts and it holds up your build!! So far less than impressed with them and thats and understatement!

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Topics merged as a new thread was started.  I have removed some of the comments that have advised we do this.

Thanks for pointing it out everyone.

Ken