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[jaymac]

Sad is it not I remember reading a large glowing report on this shop back in the day in a model boats mag  still got it somewhere   gods gift to modellers then

[Colin Bishop]

Sad is it not I remember reading a large glowing report on this shop back in the day in a model boats mag  still got it somewhere   gods gift to modellers then

I know, I wrote it, and it was true at the time!

Colin

[Martin (Admin)]

I tried to ring them 4 or 5 times today, no answer then constantly engaged......

[radiojoe]

No change there then  

[jaymac]

I know, I wrote it, and it was true at the time!

Colin

I Know you did and never believed anything you wrote since 
 Jay

[Colin Bishop]

I Know you did and never believed anything you wrote since 

Quite right Jay, I just make it all up as I go along in the finest traditions of model boating journalism....

Colin

[T888]

Sorry gents But I was in the shop today and they were ! answering two !!!! phones as they where serving customers !!!!!! And completing orders. I was in for about hour as Martin was sorting and Radio issue.

[Netleyned]

Sorry gents But I was in the shop today and they were ! answering two !!!! phones as they where serving customers !!!!!! And completing orders. I was in for about hour as Martin was sorting and Radio issue.

Did you get what you needed?

Ned

[flack]

Hey Dave,

Thanks for that post, at least it says there is someone there, however given the discontent apparent here there is obviously a problem, maybe with staffing levels, I have rung three times today and the phone has just rung and rung with no answer.

Shaun

[geoff p]

Mock it as much as you like but E-bay and payment through Paypal is the way to go.

My very first order was a disaster but Paypal refunded me in full.  Since then I have ordered several-hundred pounds worth of stuff from various Chinese vendors and have had not a single problem, I have been very satisfied with the goods and the service each of the vendors has supplied.

I mostly choose suppliers who offer free postage - I cannot get my head around sharks (mostly in USA, and a few in UK) who want up to a hundred dollars for postage on a ten-dollar item that the Chinese can post for free.

Alright, so it takes a week-or-two waiting for the postman but it seems some of you guys have waited far longer and still not got the goods you paid for.

Geoff
Thailand.

[Fastfaz]

  Hi,
     From experience of members of my boat club I would go elsewhere for your purchases several of our members have had nothing but bad experiences with this company, however it is your choice who you decide to do business with. Personally I do not think that all the adverse comments about bad service can be wrong but its your choice at the end of the day. Hope this helps.
       Cheers,
           Peter.

[CGAux26]

I am going to wait "patiently" for a few more days, and see if Westbourne shows me any progress towards filling my order.  I inquired today about canceling the payment with my credit card company, and yes, Westbourne has already charged me.

[Howard]

Well thats one off my  I think i,ll try list.
                              Regards Howard

[Neil]

they need to be reported to trading standards by all you guys.....the more that report it for these shady practices the quicker TS  will look into it...............I wouldn't stand for it myself..............also if you  reported them to your credit card companies they would soon withdraw that service from Westbourne..........and they wouldn't like that as probably 90% of their trade is in cc payments......you are all too soft on companies like this. neil.

[RAAArtyGunner]

Mock it as much as you like but EBay and payment through Paypal is the way to go.

My very first order was a disaster but Paypal refunded me in full.  Since then I have ordered several-hundred pounds worth of stuff from various Chinese vendors and have had not a single problem, I have been very satisfied with the goods and the service each of the vendors has supplied.

I mostly choose suppliers who offer free postage - I cannot get my head around sharks (mostly in USA, and a few in UK) who want up to a hundred dollars for postage on a ten-dollar item that the Chinese can post for free.

Alright, so it takes a week-or-two waiting for the postman but it seems some of you guys have waited far longer and still not got the goods you paid for.

Geoff
Thailand.

No No No.
Paypal is not all it is cracked up to be.
 Don't forget it is owned by eBay hence why Paypal is the  preferred, no the mandatory transaction method with eBay, they get paid twice for the same transaction.
Latest bad experience was with Paypal debiting my credit card for some hundreds of dollars before I approved payment.
Long story short, via my bank claimed refund due to unauthorised transaction all monies refunded and haven't dealt with that (HK)merchant since. The merchant only offers payment via paypal which is shifty business and charges steep postage.
Using your bank Credit card for payments are safer.
Yes free postage from China is the way to go.
Back to thread you can always make a claim for a refund to your bank for goods not received.
Been there done that and got all monies refunded.
So if Westbourne haven't delivered the goods or any responses in say ????? a month/couple weeks, claim your money back.
Eventually if everyone claims they get the message whilst you get your money

[Robbie11]

Only very recently started building model boats and to date have ordered on line from Cornwall Model Boats and Model Dockyard, no problems with either. Items ordered in stock and delivered within 3-5 days.

[Paul Swainson]

I have worked in the retail trade and one think I have learnt is make the shop work for you if they want your money.  These are the best steps any one can take before you place an order with any UK company. 
1. Check the list of items for sale. 
2. Make a list of the items you require with catalogue/part number/reference number and the quantity you require with there price. 
3. Ask if they can supply the items and list any item they do not have in stock by Email and await thier response.   
If they want your money they will respond with the items held in stock.  That should confirm that they want your money. 
4. When the request  for what they do have has been received, place the order with one extra stipulation.  If any item can not be for-filling for your order, please do not charge for it on final payment.   
Any item they do not have, ask them to let you know when its back in stock, then and only then place an order for the items still required. 
This way the company must respond and if they do not they should not get your business.   The company with the best customer care will win in the end and those who have a poor customer care will slowly go out of business. 

[Brian60]

What gets me about all this is the fact that Westbourne seem to be a reputable company with large (expensive?) ads in the modelling mags. Yet they offer seemingly awful or no service to their customers.

HOW DO THEY SURVIVE AS A BUSINESS? Has it just become a front for a ripoff company? ie take as much cash by card as possible and then do a fly by night runner? It just seems an odd way to run a company, unless you are Michael O Leary (Ryanair) with a multi million £ company you can't treat your customers like crap and survive, even in his case it began to rub off and they have changed to better customer relations.

[Colin Bishop]

Westbourne are a small family owned business which have enjoyed a very good reputation in the past but it would appear from the comments above that standards have slipped somewhat following the retirement of the original owner. I don't think they can be described as 'rip off' merchants but things do seem to have become a bit disorganised and I would agree with the comments above that it is not good business practice to take people's money when there is no guarantee that the ordered items can actually be obtained within a very short time.

Colin

[chris gillespie]

If you payed by Credit Card...you are ok

Under the credit terms and agreements, clause 75...you are entitled to all your money back, for failure to deliver goods....

It works and is real, was on the Martin Lewis program 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases

 


As Neil says something should be done, this is an all too common theme on these boards...ive never had any dealings with them and I never will under the current regime, who can afford to risk it....If everyone strated going through the credit clause 75 that had issues, the credit card facilitators would soon be clamping down on them.
Cornwall model boats have never let me down..

[Fastfaz]

  Hi Colin,
     I understand what you are saying re the small family business but if you take somebodys money for goods that you cannot supply surely this is dishonest, after all the complaints we have heard of you would think that common sense would be used and at least inform the customer that certain goods are not in stock consequently any payment taken would be adjusted accordingly. Perhaps I am making it too simple but it seems logical to me.
      Regards,
            Peter.

[radiojoe]

If you walk into their shop choose what you want pay for it and walk out with it tucked under your arm,  that they can handle, they are also good at discussing items/querys/problems/ with customers in the shop with the phones ringing in the background, that's not a guess, I was in there some time ago and that's what was happening, in fact one of them who was chatting to a customer went and picked up the phone and put it down again to silence it, after hanging around for 30 minutes I managed to get what I wanted paid and left.
It seems to me they are trying to run the business like a model shop of old while still trying to run the high volume mail order side, and failing badly, Cornwall Model Boats are very good at mail order because that's all they do, If any of you are into model railways you no doubt know of Gaugemaster  that have a very large shop in Ford, where they also chat with customers about problems/ requirments etc. and they also run a very good mail order service and they achieve this because it's run as seperate departments under one roof each with it's own staff so if you phone it gets answered because you are not talking to staff who are serving customers.
As soon as I have I have a bad experience with a company they go on my black list, there are enough very good suppliers out there.

[Leaky Bottom]

Perhaps someone should point them in the direction of these forums to let them see how disatisfied some of their customers are, they may even come on here themselves to explain their side.
 
 

[flack]

Leaky Bottom,

I have pointed them in the direction of this thread by e-mail and wait with bated breath to see if they answer.

Shaun

[U-33]

I don't understand all the fuss...it's dead simple, pick up the phone, give them your list of bits you need, and wait for the reply. Pay for what they have in stock, ask when the remaining items will arrive, and either order them or go elsewhere. Not just Westbourne, but any shop...no problem.

I wanted some parts for my Robbe F-16 tx...called Westbourne, got through after a couple of tries, told them what I wanted, they had all the parts in stock I needed apart from the tx tray...on back order, will be about three weeks. I paid for what I wanted and they promised to email me when the tray became available....couple of weeks or so later I received an email from W/Bourne telling me the tray was in stock if I still wanted it...I did, so I paid for it online and it turned up a couple of days later.

Perhaps I'm lucky, but they've always been ok with me.

Rich