TheVoidDragon

My problem here isn't so much that there's a charge for it (i'd be fine if i was something like 50p, but even that's likely to be much, much more than it cost to make) but it's the it's a cost of £4, about 75% of the cost of an entire new kit, which to me entirely defeats the point of being able to request spares in the first place when they cost close to the same as the complete model.

I think this is part of the problem; as far as i can see, there is no FAQ or anything along those lines that says they'll charge under certain circimstances. All i can see is the ability to request spares, nothing about costs or anything like that. As i said before i'm unable to show where it was from because it was purchased quite a while ago. They've said they have the parts and are keeping them until i pay the £4, so it doesn't seem to be a case of not having them.

The VE day set is a collection of other kits in a different box, in this case it's the 1/76 Churchill that is missing a part, which is the same as the one that was/is available seperately from what i've seen.

It can't be returned for several reasons; it's partially built, the tank is part of the VE day set and it was bought quite a while ago. The only real option is getting a replacement part, or buying an entire new kit which doesn't solve the problem at all. Assuming they know their own prices, i don't know how they can justify charging £4 for a very small part of what is a £6 - 7 kit, around half the price of the complete kit for a single part of which were are supposed to be 22 of these in the box. If that £4 cost is just for postage, that's even more absurd. The item can easily be fit into a small envelope with a 2nd class stamp. And like it said, what makes it even worse is that looking around i've seen mentions of people being sent their replacement parts for free. Infact i even saw one that asked for an optional payment after the parts had been dispatched, although that was from a few years ago. They replied to me quickly which is nice, though.I'm not saying the service is completely terrible, it's good that they offer replacement parts in the first place, but i hope you can see why i'm not happy at all about this.

That's what's annoying me the most, £4 for a really small part when the kit itself is only slightly more than that, and if i did buy a new kit all it does is pretty much ignore the problem; i'd still have one i could never complete. I was told by someone they were free replacements and i've seen quite a few other people mention they got replacement parts for free as well. £4 is just a really silly price no matter how you look at it. If i was asking for something like 75% of the kit to be replaced then sure, i could understand it a bit more, but it's a single track suspension piece.

So i'm completely unable to complete a 1/76 Churchill i have due to a missing track spring/suspention part. I sent a message asking for a replacement and was told it would cost £4 postage, but someone else (how i found you could ask for spares in the first place) had told me they'd never had to pay postage and lives in the UK as well. Were they wrong about that? £4 postage seems absurd, especially when it's a very small piece and the entire kit itself only costs around £6.