I know exactly what you're saying about customers Darren. Our business is natural gardening so a completely different target audience, but our customers demand those things too.

We offer free P&P for orders over £50 (slightly above our average order value) the P&P costs us £4.50 or something around there so that comes straight out of our profit margins.

Then you get those people who think because the total of their order is £51 they can then send half to 1 address and half to another. so that would be £9 of P&P we'd have to pay. they then get upset when we tell them can't do that.

Just been reading through this thread, I'm very sorry to hear about Microtech's situation and yep gotta feel for the guys involved no matter what the reasons are behind the closure. Although I've used them sporadically over the years I have nothing but positive experiences using them.

From personal experience when me and my old man had our shop back in the late 80's early 90's we supported all the local meetings and regionals, it was never a strictly '9 to 5' job by any means - a lot of hard work was involved and it was tough back then even before www. started taking effect. One thing I would say when it comes to internet shopping is support your local shops where ever possible.

Good luck guys for the present time as well as the future.

Mike.

Now you see why we turned to distribution too to add another string to our bow......

Live stock levels are not that hard to maintain. The initial setup of it is a bitch, but once its going, it really maintains itself. The store (non rc related) I used to work in had the barcode reader thingy setup to manage stock levels both in our own system aswell as the website whenever goods were run through it, both inbound and outbound. Dunno about the cost of it since it was run elsewhere at HQ.

That said; shame to see Microtech go, one of the UK shops I used the most :(

The running of the live stock does cost as well though, you still need a method/person to get the levels in, enter new stock, monitor prices around the web etc. This can be a full time job, so year on year you have an outlay of 12k for someone to maintain this.

we have live stock on our system is it's rarely actually true. people moving stock between our 2 warehouses or getting it from 1 and posting it from another without transfering it. accepting stock into the wrong warehouse, etc

I work in retail for the RC trade and this is 100% true and a right PITA!

Very sad to see Microtech go, we lost Dom in Evesham a few years ago, lots of helpful knowledge, Raceplace went last year and now Microtech, from Oxford these were our local shops, we were minor customers to all of them and to DMS & MK.

All the very best to Kevin & Keith

Web Only
 

Going web only means you can lose certain distributors who will only supply bricks and mortar shops, I can understand this, but I'm also aggrevated by this, especially in the current financial climate. It's something I've done within the past 6 months, and I'm having to be more imaginative how I get my stock, but maintaining a website is less money, and more time consuming.

Its such a shame to hear about Microtech. I have used them for most of my stuff since I got back into the hobby in 2008. Absolutely nothing but praise for them.

With some manufacturers now selling direct, it must be even harder for local shops. I must admit, almost all of my car spares now come direct from the manufacturers. (Schumacher and Durango) But I still buy most of my electrics through online UK shops such as Microtech. (I have no "local" shop)

Yup, gutted always found Microtech to be excellent. Our club races on Gecko tyres so a lot of us used them frequently. (on a side note I hope someone else starts distributing geckos!!).

It is sad to see a proper hobby shop go, there are a few that I still use, (DMS / Demon) and I try to buy from the UK if possible. However for Tamiya it seems that you get the parts quicker if you buy them from Japan or HK than if you order them from supposed UK stockists.

From a price point of view, its not much different atm, in fact with some of the new kits (like the HB2010) its cheaper to buy them in the uk.

Simply the best.................. Damn!:thumbdown:

But...where would we be if all blindly bought British? Most UK manufacturing died because the product was awful, nothing more or less. We're great at ideas but don't try hard enough to consider the customer/competition. I've worked in manufacturing and the number of people who think they are owed a living is amazing. I was told in one place to "stop worrying abou wasting money, the owner (foreign by the way) will just keep giving us more money to fund the losses", amazing!? UK customer service is appalling compared to abroad, full stop!

Example, I've tried 4 times to get stock status recently of items from 3 different uk places, with a total of 1 response! And they then ignored the follow up.... Only ever had one email ignored when asking abroad, even when asking foreign language only sites, and even when they can't help, they always reply!

I have also NEVER had a us store claim something as in stock which turned out not to be, whereas here....

Sorry, but don't blame the customer :thumbdown:

Still, sorry as I guess this isn't the place, just winds me up sorry mate :o

The sad part is Microtech seemed like they had the good service/stock accuracy etc, real shame for them, sorry to see them go!

sorry to here this but wish i had of known before my order was taken on tuesday of this week explains why nothing has turned up yet and doubt it will now

any one know what will happen regaurds the peeps that still have orders out standing ???

If Microtech were a bank they would have been rescued by now and the directors would be giving themselves big fat bonuses!!:mad:

One other thing. I bet we won't see anyone from Microtech coming on here moaning about their customers. Jeez! :thumbdown:

Does anyone know what really happened?

gutted. I was a loyal customer of theirs before they kindly offered to support my racing. Their website was by far the best in the UK, and really nice chaps too.

will be greatly missed

Very sad.... Microtech was my first port of call for anything I was after.:(

Their service was top notch and will be sadly missed by me.... and many, many others by the looks of this thread.

sad to see another shop go:thumbdown:, and prob not the last.

I have to admit running a company of my own, I have no Idea how my local shop keeps going with all the overheads they have to meet these days. The one thing that I have come to accept is if I need parts for eather my B4 or my MP9 I give them a ring and they get them in, as they simply can't afford to keep the stock on the shelf these days:(. In years gone by I have bought from over the water as the saving just had to be done,BUT only with a few parts for the B4 that between 3 cars we broke quite a few of, but those savings are not so good these days.

Thing is most shops just can't afford to keep the quantity of stock required by our hobby. Those that try must find it very hard.

Your first comment is so true..

I hope your second comment wasnt aimed at what I wrote, since I did say it was a generalisation of what people expect nowadays and not aimed at anyone or any party directly, least of all my own customers...

I think at this stage the ONLY people who know what has happened is Keith and Kevin who I am sure just want to put it all behind them as quickly as possible at present I would guess.....

I could say something to make you all bite like piranhas, specially Chris Long lol:thumbsup:

Go on then!

You can't say that and then say nothing, you'll be leaving us in suspenders!

Such a shame, helped me so much and for that I will always be greatful.

Good luck with what ever the future brings for you, genuinely excellent guys to deal with on all levels

I am shocked in the way Microtech has gone so suddenly. I am in a company where we are finding the current economic climate very hard and I have had to scale back my RC racing because of it. I feel for all in the same position.

Time for customs and excise to start taxing more items that state they are worth £30 when they are worth more like £400 etc.

This would then discourage the dodgy buying from abroad that some people do.

???? how can you do that? If a package comes in, stating a £30 price, unless they open, unpack, investigate prices, tally, repack and then give you a correct invoice, then also chase up who filled in the invoice incorrectly, you would lose money on it rather than gain....!!!

And again, how would this resolve issue's like Tamiya parts?

I know it's not really feasible, but I wasn't stating a particular brand or item. It would be nice for all goods (not just RC Cars). So the country stands a chance of getting out of debt.

I'm not stating how it should be done, just that less money should be lost at the UK borders...

It isn't the amount of imports that is the issue Mike, it is the cost of running a business in the UK that is.... if that got reduced, then it would allow companies to be more 'competitive' in their respective fields.

I really don't think that people buying spares overseas is an issue, as you first got to prove that they would by the stuff in the UK first, and I am guessing, they wasn't, so it isn't they lost those sales, they never had them in the first place. I personally feel this is a 'Credit Crunch' issue, where maybe the Bank was reducing it's assistance.

So on a bigger scale if everyone bought abroad instead of in the UK that isn't sales lost as you say.

Let me think.... not 'everyone' buys abroad, there are certain things you just 'can not get reliably' in the UK, so you buy them where you can.

When people go on about this, you all 'assume' that we would go and buy these items in XYZ model shop, but it just isn't going to happen, like the music industry and pirating, they don't actually 'lose' money, they just are not having your money, as in reality, you would never buy it in the first place.

I use my Local Model Shop (which is in the next town along), and do try to support, but running Tamiya I have learnt to invest in spares than rely on the Distributor/shop to have stock. On my B4, I carry far less, as I know the car is supported and can get the parts within days.

So in the end, those Tamiya parts purchases were never destined for the UK at any real point in time (although I do search), so it isn't a purchase they lost, they just never had.

i bring some stuff in to sell legit for 10th ic and it costs me a fortune to bring em in. carnt get em in the uk otherwise.

most of what we buy is from outside the uk.

That's exactly what they do! The last two parcels I received (both opened and re-taped) were from a US company sending me things for review in Racer. In both cases the duty was the right amount for the US price converted into ££, and then there was the customs charge and then the handling charge and then the carriers admin fee. The 'free' car cost me almost £60!! The last time I did what Mark does...

...they added duty (correctly calculated from the invoice) then handling charge then admin fee then VAT on all of that.

People live in some dream world where they think that because a price overseas converted into ££ looks cheap, that's what it costs. No longer. This is a major area for HMG to create revenue, and they will. They can now add VAT to the duty, and they will not hesitate to come down on any vendor who regularly ships large parcels with $30 value on them. And that's before you get no warranty, no comeback, and a huge bill if you want something replaced.

I only buy, like DCM and Mark, things I can't get here. The cost is no less than UK prices. These days, thanks to AMC in Devon, that's getting less and less. As for Microtech, that is such a great shame - good luck to Kev and KRob.

Just got back off holiday and heard this terrible news. I purchased >90% of my stuff from Microtech and this is a sad loss. Company House website shows no change in their status (in receivership etc). :cry:

Have a look here for an example of a UK company importing stuff from HK/China at great prices:

http://www.giantcod.co.uk/index.php

If they can do it, why can't others? The site has live stock levels and even customer ratings, great service too!

OK, they don't sell any serious car stuff, but maybe they would if enough of us asked for it.
Also, for all I know they maybe on the brink of bankruptcy.:o After all, there was absolutely no warning that Microtech were about to go under.

Still can't understand it... very shocking and sad.:cry:

You only have to look at the company balance sheets to see that from 2005-on stock reduced to such a level that they were by 2009 essentially insolvent ie; the company owed more than that what it had in assets (eg. stock). Assets plummeting and debts soaring just leads to one thing...

Personally I don't think this is 'credit crunch' related, although it probably didn't help matters.

Sad to see another model shop / website go. :(

It doesn't help when everyone wants a discount or "mates rates" though.

Is it really polite of us to be discussing balance sheets and the companies finances here?

Chrissy, when it comes to matters of "appropirate comments" on forums, let me introduce you to two friends of mine, one is Mr Kettle, and one is Mr Pot.

"Hello Mr Kettle"

"Hello Mr Pot"

^^^^^

Neigher of those fine gentlemen could be accurately described as of african decendency by any chance could they????

:D

Ah, think you're thinking of Mr Black, yes, I think he could be. :D

I do think that we should shop trying to drag up such things when discussing a company that;

a) many of us used regularly with more than satisfactory experiences
b) run by such friendly and helpful people who would take the time to advise even if your wallet wasn't with you
c) listened to their customers and gave them what they asked for (great website etc.)

Can I respectfully ask everybody to consider what they post here and if they are happy that they would say it directly to Kev / KRob over a pint then post away .. if not consider why not before putting figners to keys please .

Consider the feelings of those involved and offer them at least the same respect they would offer you, customer or not. Thanks