Unbelievable Hornby Repair Service: TT120 Class 08 - The Verdict!

They keep some back for replacement purposes.

I had to send my Blink Bonney TT120 and also the KAWV 00 back. I’m convinced they sent new ones, not complaining and thanked them. Mind you I don’t run either of them I’ll keep them in the box! Thanks for the report, and good luck!😊

It just may be that the problem existed on the TT120 but was missed then was put back in repaired stock and unlucky you received it as a replacement. I would ask for the parts and do the repairs myself. Great video, Jersey Bill

No, the paint on the pickups are to hide the phosphor bronze material, from view...the pickups come nowhere near the chassis block, the main problem was a the sprung keeper plate contacts..careful cleaning and service all thats needed..

Bad luck. All my TT loco's have behaved perfectly and are excellent! Well done Hornby, keep it up.😀

Hope all your locos get sorted! My digital Trigo loco is sick with a motor overcurrent issue - going back to Hornby.

Good glad everything is going well for you

I think a lot of people are looking at this from a bit of a wonky angle: a lot of the time in the repair world, there will be a shelf full of repaired examples that have been returned to stock configuration. When your loco gets there, it will be repaired in due course, but it’ll go onto a big shelf of broken locos. The replacement will be sent to you from their ‘Repaired’ stock as such It’s likely not to be the same loco you sent in as that would take too long (in the eyes of a big company like Hornby, as apposed to your local in-house mender at the local model shop). Hornby have to do it in this less personal/more industrial style because they’ll be getting A LOT of through-put, probably a lot more than you think. I’ve no info if that’s what Hornby are doing in this instance, but it sounds like it by the way of your returned model being a different unit. I’m surprised they’re doing this with something personal as models, but efficiency will ALWAYS be a goal for a company because of the old adage about time equating to bunce. :)

Those foam bits in the packaging is what I call “Ghost Poo”

Sorry to hear about your woes. Made in China and probably not QA and tested in the UK doesn’t help.

Interesting. My 08 also has some damage to the buffers and coupling after someone knocked it off the track.,Need to send back to Hornby.

As seems to be the case a little too frequently, people are voicing concerns over failures and general quality issues. I've had a number of locos go back (which, as I live in France, costs Hornby a lot considering they organise a free pick-up and, obviously, return to France). There must be some point at which it becomes more cost-effective to increase quality control than to have disgruntled customers (who many not come back). There will always be some things that slip through the net but, nonetheless. I'm determined to stick with the scale by now but, unfortunately, I am tending to expect the worse and be pleased when everything is okay. Not quite how it should be...

What were the issued with the other two? I hold my breath every time I start up my locomotives. So far only an HM7000 decoder failure

I trod on a pendolino driving car and crushed it. Sent it to Hornby for repair. Got a new one back no charge!

For a new scale it aint looking bright aint it? If that was one of my engines replaced I would have a FIT.. One of the reasons why N-scale is my thing...outside of the occasional 1:700 scale ship (I'm picky about which ones I get, and I have 2 to finish), RC car, 1:64 truck/lorry, or plastic military models. Yes the internals are simpler to maintain, but if the couplers fail...it's just a screw, I can tap, and replace the coupler box if needed, or replace the coupler it's self. I'd also like to advise, that seeing these videos gives me a heads up. NEM pockets failing? I'll just glue the darn thing on, as it'd be to costly to pay for customs to get the engine overseas & back, and as I do N scale, I only have 2 standards, both fall under the knuckle coupler. As for pickup issues...I regularly have to maintain my pickups due to the nature of my collection, I see this as a possible end to my UK sub-collection before it's even begun, as Hornby is the only one available here, and even then in limited numbers, but then again..there is Bachmann...I'm not gonna pretend that they make good or bad models because 3 of my flagship locomotives previously were Bachmann (A Santa Fe F7A, CSX GP40-2, followed by a Southern Pacific GS-4), so maybe I pay a lil' extra to gamble. Though, I also do have another issue...supply...it's easier for me to hunt down obscure inter-war era railroad equipment than it is to find any European railroad equipment, and a cheaper costs too, and that is excluding the Japanese...especially any Shinkansen...those seem to be as common as a certain famous group of articulated steam locomotives produced by ALco.

Just a reminder what complex delicate models these are.

Hi since tt120 started I have 9 engines and 7 have gone back the latest three are two class 50’s and intercity 125 very disappointed with Hornby

Yeah have to say that their repair department is very good. However you also have to ask why?. Are they trying to keep us sweet because so much is going back to them?.

I still don’t get how Hornby can stay in business with the crap they send to their customers. I have trains from all kinds of manufacturer, and they are probably the worst when it comes to quality, detailing & value for money.