Archive November 2009

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More Happy Customers ...

I have received so many emails recently from customers complimenting us on our service and competitive prices that I felt the need to add another blog entry. We are very grateful for the feedback received as it shows us that hopefully we are getting things right for you all. For any new customers who are perhaps browsing our site, I hope that the feedback will encourage you to order from us and for our existing loyal customer’s, thank you very much for your continued support.

Well, here goes with the latest batch of ‘Happy Customers’.

“In reply to your mail re order 837, yes did receive it very quick for which I was most grateful. This model seems to be scarce to find so I was delighted to find you had one and therefore I send many thanks to you also I will check your site for any model kits I need in future.
Best regards”
Len C

“received promptly and in good order. Kids scoffed the sweeties before i realised they were there.....
Cheers and Kind Regards”
Tony S

“Hello Tom.
Thank you for the feedback email. Yes, the order did arrive (far sooner than I expected) in perfect condition. I will not hesitate to use your website again, Many thanks for an extremely smooth transaction.”
James.

“Tom, Thanks you for the email. I am pleased to confirm that the order was received fully intact in a timely fashion and my boys are enjoying making and playing with the models.”
Angus

“Tom, very pleased with the service - very fast delivery and the products were sold at a very competitive price, will have no hesitation in using your site again,
Regards”
Dave

“What a very nice touch to get an email asking how the order was. Very happy is probably the most suitable expression. Great price, absolutely no hesitation to say that you are more than capable to deliver the goods.
Cheers and thanks, , , , , I’ll be back”
Peter H

“Hi Faith,
The parcel arrived safely today. Thanks for your excellent service.
Kind regards”
Chris D

“Dear Tom
The order was received promptly, and everything was ok. Have already added your shop to my favorites list.
Regards”
R. Taylor

“Hi i received your e-mail about my order i placed on the 4th order no 801 i received the order the next day everything was in 1st class condition. Many thanks would order again.”
Mrs. B. Adams

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ...

We are all being told these days to recycle as many things as possible. I personally have made many changes to my life to incorporate recycling as much as possible. At The Model Catalogue we also like to do our bit and some of you may have noticed that recently your orders have been delivered in boxes that have previously been used for hairdressing/beauty supplies. The reason for this is that I now have a contact at a business just round the corner from us who supply to the hair and beauty industry, and once a week I pay them a visit to collect the boxes that they would normally throw away. It is a win-win situation as they are able to dispose of their boxes and we are able to reuse them.

I also have had a few friends move recently and they have very kindly saved the packaging paper that removal companies use and again we have found a good use for these in packaging our items for dispatch.

Airfix News

Airfix LogoI have just received news from Airfix that their supplier problems are going to impact on a number of planned 2009 releases. Their release dates have been put back to 2010. Below is a list I have been provided with. Note that the 1:24 Mossie doesn't appear on the list! Phew...!

A01039    Bell P-39Q Airacobra
A01073    Grumman Widgeon / Gosling
A01080    Bristol Fighter
A02002    Supermarine  Walrus MkII
A02013    Ilyushin Sturmovik
A02031    Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
A02096    Hurricane MkIIc
A02337    WWI "Female" Tank      (New Part Tooling required)
A02708    Afrika Korps
A03014    Blohm & Voss Bv141
A03034    Petlyakov Pe2
A03053    Focke Wulf Fw189
A04048    Westland Sea King HAS.5 / AEW.2
A04049    Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B / S2-C-D S Mk50
A14201    HMS Illustrious (New Tooling)
A50059    HMS Illustrious Gift Set
A50060    Battle Front

Lots of new Revell kits now in stock

Revell LogoWe have done a massive catch up of Revell stock over the last few days so keep an eye out for the new products in the store. I will be publishing a list of all the new items in a few days but in the meantime you might want to have a look before I do because we had so many kits to get in that we only got one or two of each. Most importantly they are all at the extended sale price. I very much doubt you'll get them cheaper elsewhere. This sale is going to end very shortly so if you want to get recently released kits at great prices check now before the prices go up again. Then of course there is the issue of VAT going back up again... Hurry hurry!! Click on the Revell Logo....

New stock coming in ...

I have been receiving a lot of communication lately from customers enquiring about new stock coming in. I have to say that we are currently running quite low on stock as we have had such a huge increase in sales lately that stock levels have fallen lower than ever before.
 
Well the wait for new stock is nearly over. We have just placed some very large orders for new and exciting models which we hope to have delivered and live on the site by the end of November.

I realise that the Christmas rush is in full swing at the moment but I just wanted to put your minds at rest regarding delivery in time for Christmas. We deal with all our orders with great speed and we would not want to disappoint anybody with a late delivery.

So please keep an eye on our website for the new models and we hope that there will be something there to meet your requirements.

Replacement for SC Johnson's (Future) Klear ... an update

SC Johnsons Pledge KlearJust a quick update to yesterday's post about Johnson's Klear. I was doing a bit more sniffing around and saw that Johnson's had brought out the replacement for Klear earlier this year. It is called Pledge Klear and it is sold in Waitrose and online at www.ocado.com (among other places presumably). I bought a bottle today and tested it out on a clear piece of plastic. It seems to have the same properties as the original product although they have added a strong perfume scent so it doesn't half "pen & ink". It is also a biege milky colour as opposed to the virtually clear original product, although it doesn't seem to have an impact on the finished effect.

In fact there is a discussion chain at Britmodeller.com that I somehow didn't pick up on which confirms at least one view that it seems to work fine.

Replacement for Johnson Wax (Future) Klear...

Johnsons KlearMany of us, including myself, love to use Future Klear as a versatile alternative to clear varnish, however is has apparently been discontinued by SC Johnson, the manufacturers. I understand this decision was limited to the UK and it is still available elsewhere, but that is little help to us Brits! The howls of anguish could be heard up and down the country, followed by a mad rush to the nearest supplier to stock up!

With the short term solution out of the way the race was on to find a viable alternative. As for myself I have been looking in places like DIY stores and the main supermarkets, but have not found anything that looks like worth testing.

I was getting a little frustrated but then I stumbled on a revelation on Britmodeller.com. If you are an ardent Johnson's Klear fan you should put aside a minute or two to read it!

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=35896

Frequently Asked Questions ...

One of the things I get asked on a very regular basis is regarding shipping. This breaks down into 2 sections being "can we ship worldwide?" and also "how much will my order cost to deliver?"

Hopefully the information below will help you all out.

Yes, we ship worldwide on a regular basis so please don't be put off ordering from us because we are UK based.

Regarding the shipping costs - the best thing to do is to proceed with your order and when you get to the section for shipping, add the shipping address and then you will be presented with various shipping options and costs (these cover UK and worldwide). All of this can be done before you have to input any payment details. Should you feel that you don't want to proceed with your order then this can be cancelled but we would hope that you would proceed to checkout.

Back-ordering: What should customers do if an item on the site is not in stock?

Because our inventory contains such a large range of kits it is difficult to make sure that we have items in stock for each all the time. Nevertheless one thing that you can always do is request that we order one or more in for you the next time we place an order with the supplier.

How should you do this? Very easily; near the bottom of the product detail page there is a link that states: Question about the product. Simply click on this and it will take you to a page that loads the product information together with a number of text boxes to allow you to send a message to us.

All you have to do in the case of a back-order request is ask us to order one of them in when we next place a stock order with our supplier. We will email you once it is in stock so that you can go online and buy it.

Plastic kit searching now even easier...

New Catalogue SectionsFor many weeks, on and off, I have been working on a complimentary catalogue section to make searching for plastic kit models even easier.

The new system is based on searching by brand and the sub-sections are very similar to the sections that can be found within each manufacturer's official product catalogue, the idea being that if you are browsing the catalogue and find a kit you are interested in buying, you will be able to find it pretty easily online too.

I still need to do a little work on the images, which are all generic manufacturer logo images, however that should not take long.

It adds a new dimension to your kit searching options and I really hope it makes your life just a little bit easier for you.

Happy Customers ...

Not wishing to blow our own trumpet (but we will) we wanted to share with you some of the recently received comments from our customers. We really appreciate feedback, positive or negative, in order that we can improve the service we offer you. Well, here goes ...

"Thanks. All goods received OK. Everytime, a first class service. If you were on Ebay, you would get FIVE GOLD STARS!"
Phil U

"Hi Tom,
The order arrived promptly and in good condition, excellent service.
Thanks,"
Bill.

"Tom, just to say a huge thank you for the fantastic service and products you supplied over the past few months nothing that I can think of that you don't have in stock.
kind regards"
Ron

"Just to say that my order arrived promptly and in perfect condition. Very impressed! Keep up the good work."
Sam

"Hi Faith
Thanks for that my sons have just discovered its cool to make models, have been telling them for years.
And I have just discovered your web site, nice cheap paints and great service"
Regards John

"Dear Tom,
I received the envelope with the sheets of decal paper I ordered. Your service is very good and the shipping was very fast."
Pietro A

"I received the package today and i want to thank you also about the bubble gum that was really a pleasent surprise to get,really i always wanted that somebody will enclose something ELSE except the order i made.and you did it !!! thanks a lot."
Nery

"Hi Thanks for the follow up on the items that I purchased from you. They all arrived in good condition and were very well packaged.
Many thanks."
Kaz T

"Excellent service. The item arrived the following day. Your web site is easy to navigate. I will have no hesitation in purchasing from you again."
David H

"Thankyou the order and subsequent orders, were received promptly. I am very happy with the quality of goods and service that you provide. I hope to order from you again soon.
Many Thanks and Best Regards"
David N

"Just to confirm that my order arrived safely, very promptly. So the service was faultless!
Very many thanks,"
Andy Y

"I have to say that I am very pleased with your service. Quick and reliable. Will definitely shop again with you.
Kind regards,"
Kahtan A

"Hi Tom, my recent order was received in excellent condition and in good time, as have all my purchases from you, excellent to deal with.
Best wishes,"
Mike.

"hello tom,just a courtesy email regarding orders received prior to order no 661 you provide an excellent rapid service that i would recommend to any one but orders may slow down until i have made the kits that iv,e got for now.unless i see anything i require.ttfn!"
Sam W

"Many thanks for the courtesy email - its not often that online retailers take an interest in what customers think!
I found The Model Catalogue through a google search for an Airfix B29 Superfortress - all other model retailers were out of stock,
except for The Model Catalogue - and the find was made all the sweeter when I realised you had a 25% sale as well! (An excellent idea by the way, certainly makes prices much more competitive).
I was so impressed with the speed and quality of service that you will note I have also recently purchased a Revell Lancaster.
Both of my purchases arrived very soon after placing my order, and exceptionally well packaged - my 3yr old daughter particularly likes the freebie sweet chews and the large bubble wrap - she likes to ride her scooter over it to pop all the bubbles!
I found the site easy to navigate, and the search facility both accurate and quick. My only suggestion for improvement would be to break the categories down yet further (eg Military Aircraft - pre WW2 - WW2 - Post WW2 - Modern), but that really is a minor thing.
All-in-all, a fanstastic service, and I am very sure that I will be buying again from The Model Catalogue. I'll be signing up for the email newsletter very soon! I hope you've found my feedback useful to you - I would of course always be willing to provide further comments and feedback should you so wish.
Kind regards,"
Steve B

"Every occasion on which I have placed orders, the Items have arrived almost in the return post, and I don’t think that I have ever had to wait longer than two days.
I have recommended your site to others, and will certainly be using it again, if only to keep re-supplying my stash of lead shot. The sale you have on at the moment is also much appreciated, as the Mk.1 Spitfire that I ordered, with postage, was still £3 cheaper than the kit on it’s own from your competitors.
The recent re-design has also made a difference, with fewer items crammed into overloaded categories, so it is a lot easier to find what you are looking for.
Yours sincerely"
Ges

"Hi,
My order was very well packaged and promptly received despite the numptys at Royal Mail.I will be using you again in the future.
Many thanks"
Duncan

"Thanks for the excellent service and prompt despatch. I will not hesitate to purchase from you again"
Steve

"Hi Tom,
Thanks for the courtesy e-mail, nice touch! The order was delivered just as you said – great service and will definitely use you again.
Regards"
Brian

"Yes kit arrived in good order and I am very happy with it will definitleybe ordering from you again"
Dave

"Hi Faith,
I just got the model today and it looks very good. I was excited like a little kid who got a gift for the holidays.
Thanks a lot (and also for the 2 candies, my little sister will like it)."
Eilon.

"Yes kit arrived in good order and I am very happy with it will definitley be ordering from you again"
Paul C.