Warning to others

[Chris Larner]

This may open a can of worms but think it needs to be brought to racers attention.
I placed an online order with JE/Apex last Friday night. All items showing in stock.
I then realised I'd made a mistake. So Saturday I tried to ring and could never get through. I emailed and got a reply saying the item no longer needed was refunded (but paypal have held on to this money?).
So on Wednesday I had no sign of my items so I called up and was told they are busy and my order should be processed that afternoon.
Wednesday afternoon I received a message saying one item was out of stock and will be with them Thursday.
Thursday nothing.
Today/Friday a message to say it was posted.
I know what will happen. Parts/Tires needed for racing on Sunday will turn up next Monday!

Just be warned when using them that you may be let down.
They maybe busy or understaffed but that's not my problem.
Shame as I've used them 100s of times in the past (before the merge) and they have been great.
This will certainly make me think twice when ordering parts in need in a week!

[alex97]

I've had a few issues with them before so I try to stay clear of them as much as possible.

[zienna]

Get your parts from M B Models never fail to get your bits to you by the next day

[Mikey-D]

I've had a similar experience, this was the email reply I received.


We do state ... "Please note that in stock items can take up to 3 working days to despatch during busy periods," on the website

I won't use them again.

[spindles69]

Since using MB Models I will not use any other. Cannot beat them for service. Highly recommend them.
This is not to bad mouth any other online shop it's that they offer such a good service it's not worth going anywhere else.
Inside line racing is another I would recommend.

[DynaMight]

Great, I placed an order yesterday

[Chris Larner]

I normally use either InsideLine because they stock all the parts I need for my Team C cars or MB Models. But this time due to the item I wanted being "in stock" at JE and not anywhere else I placed all the items I needed on order with JE/Apex. Stupid me.
I think the problem is that when it used to be JE Spares they were great but now Apex are involved it's gone to pot!

[tyreman]

I've found that they also share stock between the 2 shops and the eBay stores, 4 points of sale 1 lot of stock.

[Squidzilla]

Mb models have never let me down, I'd deffo recommend them to everyone!

[xfactor]

MBmodels all the way

[Durango racing]

I use mb models and pbm-racing and modelsport all fast delivery service if you order by 2pm you get next day

[SlowOne]

Can't talk about JE/Apex, but another for MB Models here.

I ordered something and was amazed to receive a refund on the standard post charge because the item fitted into a standard envelope that needed a first-class stamp! And it arrived the day after ordering it.

The guy that runs it pitted with me at a meeting - thoroughly nice bloke... whose name I unforgivably can't remember!!

[CHEVY]

MB all the way Michael and ross great
Ordered some spares dpd left at wrong address that tracked down
Were they were at and got dpd to deliver

[racingdwarf]

MB models, fantastic service, Had a problem once when ordered some tyres wheels etc on friday for sunday(cutting it fine but had faith in them as RM 1st nearly always comes the next day) received Email from DPD saying monday delivery….bugger so phoned asked for a change to RM so they stood a chance of coming saturday,really helpful sorted and bingo my parcel arrived saturday AM

I think they were actually offering better service as my order was about £30 and should have been sent RM. DPD would have been great apart from the fact they don't deliver saturday

[adey]

My models, pbm racing and inside line racing are the only ones who I will buy from. Superb service every time without fail.

[njc11]

Originally Posted by Chris Larner

This may open a can of worms but think it needs to be brought to racers attention.
I placed an online order with JE/Apex last Friday night. All items showing in stock.
I then realised I'd made a mistake. So Saturday I tried to ring and could never get through. I emailed and got a reply saying the item no longer needed was refunded (but paypal have held on to this money?).
So on Wednesday I had no sign of my items so I called up and was told they are busy and my order should be processed that afternoon.
Wednesday afternoon I received a message saying one item was out of stock and will be with them Thursday.
Thursday nothing.
Today/Friday a message to say it was posted.
I know what will happen. Parts/Tires needed for racing on Sunday will turn up next Monday!

Just be warned when using them that you may be let down.
They maybe busy or understaffed but that's not my problem.
Shame as I've used them 100s of times in the past (before the merge) and they have been great.
This will certainly make me think twice when ordering parts in need in a week!

With being a former member of staff when JE was based in Manchester I can understand your frustration
To start with you say you placed your order Friday evening, I'm not sure if they open Saturday or not... Let's say they don't, you now have 2 full days of trading going on from the website, eBay and so on.. So Monday morning is the first time the system has been looked at for nearly 3 days... (I'd say most purchases are made in the evenings when people are home from work)
In many instances when I got into work on a Monday we had in excess of 1000 + emails, orders etc so you have to appreciate it takes a lot of time to scan through all this, while also having to deal with phone calls, and customers coming into the shop. We always scanned through first thing Monday picking out the more important emails issues etc and dealt with them first. You have to appreciate sometimes these can get missed.
In this case you said you made a mistake on your order, this order would have been put on hold while issue sorted.. Now in this time the parts etc you have ordered could well have been allocated to another order as your order was on hold trying to resolve an issue. Other members of staff who are processing orders wouldn't have known this and seen said part still available and would have gone on there order.. Until order is confirmed this can happen I'm afraid... The main concern was to rectify your mistake and correct the order and to do this it is put on hold.
All orders are processed in the order at which they came in... And yes the website is live... So if we have 10 items in stock on a Friday night and 12get sold over the weekend unfortunately the last 2 purchases will go on back order and will be sent out once back in stock..
As I have already said it's unfortunate but this does happen.. If the order was submitted correctly initially I doubt very much you would have made the post.
As far as I'm concerned when I worked at JE we used to bend over backwards for customers to sort these type of issues out.. And trust me your issue would have been dealt with in the best possible way.
Some customers from memory you could never please and unfortunately this is part and parcel of being in retail. Ebay customers I'd say could be the worst. As for paypal and refunds sometimes they can take a while to show up. I doubt very much a member of staff would have said you had been refunded and not done it.
Another point on postage... If you need stuff for next day and are desperate for it either use UPS it or special delivery with Royal Mail.. Royal Mail first class is hit and miss.. I don't know why but customers seemed to think 1st class / 1st class recorded meant next day.. Well it doesn't... 9 times out of 10 you would get package next day but sometimes it can take longer please read the Royal Mail website and you will be shocked as to what they state (it was to allow 14 working days for delivery!)
Hope this helps explain a few things... This is a business just like where you work... If people complain over a £10 order time and time again it gives others a bad vibe and would order somewhere else.. Over a period of time same people will also say if said place has now closed " such a shame it's closed" so think before you say anything and order in good time CORRECTLY!
I hope you can see where I'm coming from and all makes sense.... I'm sure there are a lot of people who read this who will agree with me! And there are bound to be people out there who have had issues elsewhere its retail after all

[andoiwebb]

I love the way people seem to think that model shops are evil, giant corporations put there to RUIN YOUR PITIFUL LIVES!! They're generally just small shops with humans running them, whose business can be damaged by a gung-ho keyboard warrior with easy forum access.

I wish everybody that liked to slag these places off had a forum connected to their job. Then, when you serve me slightly cold fries and flat coke, I could go straight onto your forum and tell everyone to stay away from your scabby hands flipping my burnt cheeseburger.

I'm sure all of the people that start these pointless threads are absolutely brilliant at their jobs and NEVER make a mistake? No?

[dobber]

Originally Posted by andoiwebb

I love the way people seem to think that model shop are evil, giant corporations put there to RUIN YOUR PITIFUL LIVES!! There generally just small shops with humans running them, whose business can be damaged by a gung-ho keyboard warrior with easy forum access.

I wish everybody that liked to slag these places off had a forum connected to their job. Then, when you serve me slightly cold fries and flat coke, I could go straight onto your forum and tell everyone to stay away from your scabby hands flipping my burnt cheeseburger.

I'm sure all of the people that start these pointless threads are absolutely brilliant at their jobs and NEVER make a mistake? No?

Good post!

I know the guys at apex and they run a small shop and sell at great prices. For every inconvenience there are a million successes.

[h0m3sy]

I've used JE/Apex quite a bit with the most recent time being last week. I can't say I've had any issues.

[DAVO]

Nothing wrong with Apex models the amount of time it's been open speaks for that.