Hello
I hope this is the right place, I just want to have a good moan and get this out of my system! Being an Austrian N scale modeller it's often the case that many Austrian N models are repaints of models of German prototypes so that the manufacturers can get a full wack out of the mould. This is absolutely fair enough, there are plenty of H0 scale Austrian models if I would care to change scale, and modelling the ÖBB is unlikely to be as popular as DB given the ratio of modellers living in each country etc. etc. so I was of course over the moon and ecstatic when Minitrix announced for 2008 the ÖBB 1012 in N scale, following on from the fantastic H0 model the year before! A purely Austrian model, a very cool looking design of a state of the art locomotive, with only three prototypes built because of the cheaper Taurus provided by Siemens (another fantastic prototype but used by DB too...).
I immediately placed an order with a German model shop for the two running numbers being made and waited...and waited...and from various exhibitions pre-production models appeared, gradually getting more complete which was of course reassuring but also increased the longing for delivery greatly...and then finally, a few months behind schedule (not a problem because it was definitely coming) it was released at the start of January 2009 - now my order was on the books for a year - so you think it would be covered in the first round of deliveries from the factory? No, of course not. Model shop says nothing. By now reviews of the model and pictures have appeared on 1zu160, so email contact model shop - answer: model not yet released. Hmmm. Now other model shops definitely showing green lights for the model and models appearing for sale on eBay...but still no delivery. Email model shop again, now they have my models but as I ordered some other models afterwards (not to be released until third quarter 2009) they are waiting to receive all of these models too before commencing delivery?! Email model shop to request a partial delivery of just the models actually delivered...yes, of course Madam we will send them next week, i.e. this week, is the reply - but of course: no transactions have gone through to date...so the models will hardly be in the post even now...
...and so I'm a tiny bit worried that in fact my models were never actually ordered from Minitrix, the model shop is crazy and they'll never ever be delivered, but by the time I realise this everywhere will be sold out or charging list price and upwards due to rarity?
Sooo, is it just me, or have I picked the wrong model shop to order with?? It is usual to keep £250+ of models on a shelf intead of fulfilling an order just because other models due in six months have been ordered separately? Should I just try and cancel the order and buy the damned models off eBay? Do some shops actually avoid doing business whereever possible? Have some people ordered from model shops that you can't quite believe actually exist in the end...? Add to that the credit crunch, so every order a good thing and now is not the time to delay getting money in the bank??
Sorry for starting such a self-indulgent thread, but the mind boggles sometimes! Perhaps people would like to share similar experiences? (Please, anyone, tell me that it's not just me...)
I hope this is the right place, I just want to have a good moan and get this out of my system! Being an Austrian N scale modeller it's often the case that many Austrian N models are repaints of models of German prototypes so that the manufacturers can get a full wack out of the mould. This is absolutely fair enough, there are plenty of H0 scale Austrian models if I would care to change scale, and modelling the ÖBB is unlikely to be as popular as DB given the ratio of modellers living in each country etc. etc. so I was of course over the moon and ecstatic when Minitrix announced for 2008 the ÖBB 1012 in N scale, following on from the fantastic H0 model the year before! A purely Austrian model, a very cool looking design of a state of the art locomotive, with only three prototypes built because of the cheaper Taurus provided by Siemens (another fantastic prototype but used by DB too...).
I immediately placed an order with a German model shop for the two running numbers being made and waited...and waited...and from various exhibitions pre-production models appeared, gradually getting more complete which was of course reassuring but also increased the longing for delivery greatly...and then finally, a few months behind schedule (not a problem because it was definitely coming) it was released at the start of January 2009 - now my order was on the books for a year - so you think it would be covered in the first round of deliveries from the factory? No, of course not. Model shop says nothing. By now reviews of the model and pictures have appeared on 1zu160, so email contact model shop - answer: model not yet released. Hmmm. Now other model shops definitely showing green lights for the model and models appearing for sale on eBay...but still no delivery. Email model shop again, now they have my models but as I ordered some other models afterwards (not to be released until third quarter 2009) they are waiting to receive all of these models too before commencing delivery?! Email model shop to request a partial delivery of just the models actually delivered...yes, of course Madam we will send them next week, i.e. this week, is the reply - but of course: no transactions have gone through to date...so the models will hardly be in the post even now...



Sooo, is it just me, or have I picked the wrong model shop to order with?? It is usual to keep £250+ of models on a shelf intead of fulfilling an order just because other models due in six months have been ordered separately? Should I just try and cancel the order and buy the damned models off eBay? Do some shops actually avoid doing business whereever possible? Have some people ordered from model shops that you can't quite believe actually exist in the end...? Add to that the credit crunch, so every order a good thing and now is not the time to delay getting money in the bank??
Sorry for starting such a self-indulgent thread, but the mind boggles sometimes! Perhaps people would like to share similar experiences? (Please, anyone, tell me that it's not just me...)