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[flybobby]

Surely there must be more UK online model shops?? :-\

I have found plenty that sell just little bits of this and little bits of that!  There are plenty with totally confusing lists of parts with no pictures to give you an idea what the items are!

The best website, with a comprehensive list of bits and an easy to use menu is Westbourne Models, but the online ordering sucks, and they wont reply to emails!!

Are there anymore websites (similar to westbourne) that anyone can recommend?
I quite like The Model Dockyard, but it could do with a bit more!   Saying that, they have never let me down.

[2772e]

Try

www.hslmouldings.co.uk
www.macsmouldings.co.uk

there are lots more, try google

[DickyD]

Model Dockyard , Deans Marine, Westbourne and Pandan Models aren't bad, but as said you basically have to trawl through Google to find others.

[Model_Slipway]

Flybobby,

Re: Westbourne Model Centre in Bournemouth, please give them a chance,  250 emails to sort out, almost daily, that's a lot of emails ... !!   

Jackie

[kayem]

Flybobby,

Re: Westbourne Model Centre in Bournemouth, please give them a chance,  250 emails to sort out, almost daily, that's a lot of emails ... !!   

Jackie

True, but he's told me the same story, and I've often been with Barry when he sends/receives e-mails. At least half of those claimed 250 a day are the dodgy US share tips, cheap Viagra, male reproductive member extension offers etc that we all get, (though I'm sure you avert your gaze when these arrive on the Model Slipway computer, Jackie). It takes many years to build a reputation for good service, but it's an easy thing to lose, not necessarily by doing all that much to deserve it.

[laserblue16]

 . Member extension offers?? Can you remember the sites,,,please??. :-[

[flybobby]

I called on Monday and they have still not taken the money from my account for items ordered!! >:(

For a business that advertises its online services, I am unimpressed!

If they are that busy with all these orders, they should employ another member of staff to cope with it.  Very poor show indeed >:(

[hastings246]

Here in the US it even worse to find a one place shopping outlet. I think that the nature of the hobby. The best person I have dealt with in trying to find anything is psships. Online pics and ordering is still a bit basic but send Paul an email and he can get you anything. I think its the norm to order from 6 different places to find everything for  a ship.

Sean

[peewee]

I have always found Westbourne models superb. Their advice is great and the service second to none!

Pete

[Colin Bishop]

Good advice Paul. If you are sending an email to a trader make it clear and to the point. They don't have the  time to work out what you were trying to say if you don't express yourself properly. For my part I expect that someone who gives their email as a contact will respond readily to sensible enquiries. if not then they don't get my business.

[riggers24]

Question flybobby, do you run a successful business. Do you know the pressures of trying to please everyone. If not I am sure Barry does. Employing another person isn't always the answer. So you haven't got our order or the money hasn't gone out of your account, why not give Barry a polite call ask him.

[Colin Bishop]

Riggers 24. Good advice as far as it goes. However, as has been aired elsewhere today, we are not always aware of people's individual circumstances. I suffer from quite severe deafness and using a phone is quite an ordeal a lot of the time. Email is therefore a very good alternative - providing the guy at the other end responds! In my view, if you give a point of contact then you must service it. If you are uncomfortable with email then don't give an email address then we all know where we stand! I can still write a letter!

[Roger in France]

I agree about providing a sensible Email name and a meaningful title to your message.

I find some folks addresses bizarre also. If they thought them fun when they were created then I suggest the fun element rapidly turns into an impediment.

I have had so much trouble with unwanted or infected Email that I have my security settings arranged to reject messages without a title and also, a whole range of addresses which contain doubtful words.

I sometimes wonder what those who use elaborate call signs have to hide? My Email address is my name, in plain and my signature is..

Roger in France.

[tigertiger]

... Employing another person isn't always the answer. ...

So true, I have been to Paradise models in Shanghai 3 times now, never bought anything and will now only go elsewhere.
The counter staff really don't give a toss.
I fear the same is true for people who try to run email services  :(, perhaps the staff are too busy surfing to care >:(.

Message
For anybody trying to sell on the web, you cannot see your customers walk out the door. So track what is going on in your sales department.
If you are doing the etailing yourself, then think of all those reading blogs about poor customer service.

Remember eCommerce is small 'e' big COMMERCE, not big 'E' small commerce. The selling comes first.

[martno1fan]

lets face it if a company expects to sell its stock on the internet it should give good service? it sounds to me like they are treating the online sales as just a way of making a few more quid on the side.ive had similar problems with rc hobby they are quick as hell to sell you a kit but when it comes to a few odds and ends they dont want to know,the online ordering of some of these companys is amaturish to say the least.however pandan models are exellent very fast and easy to order without any problems at all.im not familiar with westbourne models so i cant speak about them but if they are ignoring emails thats just wrong!! rc hobby are the same it took two months for them to reply to me and only did it because i ended up getting the directors private email and sent him one direct.did service improve well i got what they owed me but since then ive never used them again.what they owed me were broken and missing parts from a plane for my son.the thing is lots of these larger companys tend to ignore the little orders and fall over themselves to sell the larger items.thats a fact of life i guess nowadays customer service is none existant im affraid!!.

[Colin Bishop]

i guess nowadays customer service is none existant im affraid!!.

That seems to be a bit of a sweeping statement when another thead on the Forum itemises a lot of suppliers which do give good service. Yes, there are bad apples but don't let them taint the majority who give good or better service. I buy a lot of stuff over the net and virtually all of it arrives quickly and in good shape. Maybe i'm just lucky.... :)

[martno1fan]

i guess nowadays customer service is none existant im affraid!!.

That seems to be a bit of a sweeping statement when another thead on the Forum itemises a lot of suppliers which do give good service. Yes, there are bad apples but don't let them taint the majority who give good or better service. I buy a lot of stuff over the net and virtually all of it arrives quickly and in good shape. Maybe i'm just lucky.... :)

it wasnt a sweeping statement i was merely saying any company that sells item online should also give good customer service which obviously must include good comunication which means answering emails and for a company to just say we get 250 or so emails a day so we cant answer all of them, is ridiculous.if thats the case then they should employ the staff to deal with them.i also very much doubt they do actually get that many emails.they should also give a tracking number for each and every order so you can track the items.most do and thats good buisness sense as it keeps the customer in the know!!.there really is no excuse for not answering emails from a customer who has not just sent one but many emails.i also buy lots of items off the net and i too have had good service from most but can i just say it allways seems to be the larger companys that give the worst service in my experience.ive dealt with quite a few ebay stores and have had no complaints at all but some of the better known model online store have come way short on not only customer service but also price and quallity.

[Pointy]

Although I live far from Westbourne Models but I'd rather go there in person so I could see for myself what I was buying and take it home that day myself. Its difficult for Model shops now and many have gone out of business due to the internet so the survivors must think investing in an internet sight is the way to go. I don't know if this is a sign of convenience gone mad or the march of progress? I like going to model shops, you get to know the owner and they really try to help you out but over the internet its all so impersonal and who knows when you will get what you pay for, or if it will be damaged on the way etc.... then there is the whole security question of using your card details over the 'net. The internet is a double edged sword, it is wonderful as it makes information, items and services  available that would never have been available to the individual before. However it is also a new way to loose money, become a victim of crime and has cost many people their livelyhood. So that leaves companies like Westbourne Models having to get to grips with online buisness or get left behind. We can only hope it has generated more buisness for them then problems otherwise model shops you can physically walk into will be a thing of the past.

[tigertiger]

Although I live far from Westbourne Models but I'd rather go there in person so I could see for myself what I was buying and take it home that day myself. Its difficult for Model shops now and many have gone out of business due to the internet so the survivors must think investing in an internet sight is the way to go.

I would like to disagree on this.  :-\
Many of the model shops I knew as a boy ::) went bust long before the internet. I think a lot of kids stopped buying trains and good old Airfix , and started gaming. Also many other specialist store went bust due to the big chains and supermarkets.

So if anything, the internet was/is a lifeline to many small businesses. It gives them a much bigger catchment area. Also having a website means you can find a store within driving distance that you may not have otherwise heard about. So even if you want to touch and see first, you can.

Sad thing is if a business gets too big on mail order alone, it can loose sight of the customer. :(

[martno1fan]

i think you hit the nail on the head there mate the internet has given lots of buiseneses a lifeline they needed and as you say many would be worse off without it.i know guys from the states who use certain uk outlets and vice versa how would we do that without the internet.also most online transactions are safe i use paypal for all my online purchases so no model shop has my details.also paypal insures you against fraud and identity theives.also can i just say not many people have a local hobby shop or model shop!!most people need to travel to one which isnt allways convenient!!.what could be more convenient than sitting in your armchair and browsing through the things available .you can also pick up a bargain or two as most shops prices vary enormously!!.

[Malc Reade]

Pointy

tigertiger is right.  If we had to depend on our web site for an income, we'd have been skeletal long ago!  At the moment, we're lucky to get a couple of £10 orders per week.  This year has seen a 35% - 40% downturn in sales volumes.  We attribute this to a) customers cutting back on credit card spending and b) the horrendous increases in gas and electricity charges.  All those on fixed pensions who use the Forum will have some appreciation of this problem.

The demise of model shops is due to many factors, not least of which are the numbers of modellers who lost out in the coffin-dodging game.  The vast majority of model boaters are in the 65+ age demographic and aren't computer literate - most of them have no concept of the internet.  This is why we still have to print hundreds of our catalogues and send them by post - I'm sitting by a great pile of these as I write.  Modellers have no other means of accessing our products other than at the shows (which have also taken a hammering this year).

Excessive High Street rentals are another major factor, you can't pay the rent if you are only selling a couple of strips of balsa wood every week.  This is why most 'model shops' these days are nothing more than outlets for cheap Chinese toys and plastic dinosaurs.  Dad's buy them for their kids and have completely lost the concept of getting youngsters interested in modelling.

You would be surprised at how many shows we go to and offer a prize for the best junior model only to be told that they don't actually have any juniors...

Sad but true.

Regards, Malc

[perkasa]

Malc

You are right in what you say. There are not so many younger modelers out there. I work in a schools technology department. Many of the pupils are extremal interested in seeing my models and most would like to start building one. However there are always 2 questions they ask. One is how much does it cost. The other is how long does it take to build. This is where the problems start. First they cannot afford to buy a model kit as having the latest mobile phone is a bigger priority.  [ you would be surprised how many we take off of them during lessons ]  Secondly they think they can buy the kit, open the box and it falls out assembled.  They just do not have the time devote to our wonderful hobby. Most could not even assemble a simple kit let lone scratch build one. Having said that there are a few younger models who do make fantastic models, some better than anything I could build, but at what age do they start? As a young man started building model boats at 58. Only wish I started before. My reason was I did not have the time, the money, the tools, the space and a wife.

As for Westbourne Models and Reade Business. We need people like them. It is easy to criticize them when things go slow, but like us I expect they also like their spare time. Why should they be expected to work 24. We don't.

Barry & Macl KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK some of us appreciate it.

Pete

[cbr900]

The governing body of radio control over here through the clubs, offers to assist anyone who can give some of their time to getting youngsters started, I am not only into boats but model aircraft and cars, with a bit of time and the right approach to the schools principals you can get a class of the girls and boys who seem to be interested, I always take several models and pamphlets and some small kits, usually gliders as they are easy to build and a lot of fun to fly, I know there are phones and game boys and so on but we need to get out there and in their faces if we are going to get younger people interested, we now have in our club only fifteen members and 6 of those are under twenty, four of them have come from the school days I have put in over the last ten years, so whining about there being no younger ones coming up gets us no where, if we put our selves out with some spare time you can reap the rewards of younger modellers....




Roy

[tigertiger]

Although not boats,
I do see a lot of 'park flyers' (expanded foam airplanes with wee electric motors).

Also in China there are lots of remote control toys on the market. Ok most have a range of 30m and are cr4p, but so is the Dickie tug.
So if more of these cheap (from about 2 quid to 10 quid) get to uk at the right price ( I have seen 10 quid china price, go for 95 quid in UK) then there may be a chance to kindle some interest.

[Daryl]

The model boat club I belong to has 40 members of which 6 are under the age of14. Having said that in my sons year group at his school (300+) only about 3 builds models in cluding my son. At shows we exhibit at we get quiet alot og youngsters but most of them only show a passing interest. The questions are the favourite,how fast does it go? how much does it cost and how long does it take to build. Unless its a RTR or a fast electric they loose interest when you tell them the cost of the bits and the time it takes.

As ign of the times.

Daryl