I once had the pleasure of visiting their shop and was like a kid lost uin a sweet shop , i thought i was in model boat heaven !!! My two young daughters near enough had to drag me out kicking and screaming !!! Oh to win the lotttery and spend loads in there !!!!!!!

Following Paul Freshney's request I can say that I have made many purchases at Cornwall Model Boats and had excellent service. I can also recommend RS Components, Maplins and Farnell for electrical/electronic components (I purchased from many suppliers during my projects many/most of which are not model shops).

Ian

I have to disagree with the above and as a first post that is not the way it should be.

My experience with Westbourne is far from good and I am still out of pocket as they will not refund.

Some weeks ago I ordered 9 items from them, all of it small stuff but totalling almost £60 of which £13.38 was postage!!!!!
I then have to chase the order up due to hearing nothing and I am advised that they only have one item in stock and the rest could be months.
They offer me alternatives for 3 items so I recieve 4 of the 9 items in a bag that cost £1.10 to post. There is no revised document to show alternatives have been delivered or what they cost??
I email them confirming what has been received and give them the amount I expect back but there has been no reply.
I rang them again and they promise a refund last Friday but nothing to date.
I then search them on the internet and this is a sample of what I found.
**LINK**

What is your opinion of any dealings you may have had with them and am I getting concerned over nothing?

You only ever hear the bad stuff but I know I will never deal with them again as they are so pigging ignorant.

Regards

John

Another supplier you don't hear much about is Hurricane Models. I bought my Spektrum radio from them and later when I needed to change the throttle stick from ratchet to self centering they were most helpful. As Spektrum don't supply any parts to do this mod, they offered to cannibalise a scrap Tx and let me have the bits (for a small fee of course) but that's what good business is about.

Yes, it is all about communication (or lack of), I am sorry to say.

A short email explaining the situation and giving a resolution timescale saves much irritation for the customer.

I have to say though, that if you are in or around Bournemouth, a visit to Westbourne Models is almost like going to Heaven and very much like the defunct Maritime Models at Greenwich – i.e., there are loads of unusual items in the shop which are not listed online. Unfortunately of course, you can't do that with the purely online businesses.

Paul Freshney

Firstly many thanks for your responses.

I have still heard nothing from Westbourne and my solicitor has advised me on the way forward.

I don't accept service as low as this. They are hoping I will leave my £30 odd pound with them as others have done from around the world but there is no chance even if I end up out of pocket.

On the other hand I feel I should introduce myself.

i took early retirement almost 3 years ago and moved back from Scotland to Cheshire to re-furbish an old 1930's bungalow.

As this came to an end in December 2013 I started to think of my next project and decided model boats were a possibility especially tugs as my Dad worked the tugs on the Mersey many years ago.

To this end I bought Billing's Smit Rotterdam for experts. I love a challenge!!

The kit was fine but the bulkheads were delaminating so Billing gave me my money back.

To keep me going I discovered "Springers" and having scrap wood from all the work I had done in the bungalow "Scrappy Doo" was born and is ongoing. It allows me to practice the skills I need to progress "Smit Rotterdam 2".

I am improving daily and my pet hate, painting, is now coming on in leaps and bounds. I have gone from not knowing what an airbrush was to actually enjoying painting. All right a slight exaggeration!! But I am improving and enjoying it. Many thanks to Bartsharp a really impressive company that cares about their customers!

I am almost ready to start planking SMIT and would ask advice? Do I soak the planks to enable the bending?

Also I have read that varnishing over the paintwork is a good idea.

I have to white line "SCRAPPY" and am thinking if I am going to test the theory it would be a good time to test it.

I would attach some pictures if I could work out how?????????

Cheers to all

John

Hi Colin

I will try and sort out the photo's.

I have not received anything regarding Westbourne?

I have sent a recorded delivery letter today in the hope they will respond.

Regards

John