How long before Hornby Collectors' Club Membership is activated?

[Paul-347773]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I subscribed as a new Hornby Collectors' Club member on 9th February and have yet to receive any further information from Hornby beyond the automated email acknowledging payment. I have emailed Hornby customer services to ask when my membership will be activated and received no response after 5 days.

Nothing in my Hornby Account indicates that I am a member of the Collectors' Club, or that my membership is pending. Meanwhile my credit card shows Hornby has processed payment, and my contact details are complete and correct in my account profile.

As a first time member who has no prior experience of Hornby Collectors' Club membership this is far from a welcoming experience, is this normal?

Paul.

[Brew Man]

A five day wait for a response to their emails is not unusual and two weeks is not uncommon. You are best phoning them where they are usually quite helpful. I'm surprised though that your membership is still inactive. Does it appear in yours orders list?

[Paul-347773]

Thanks I will give Customer Support a call.

No, there is no entry in My Orders for the Hornby Collectors' Club membership.

[Brew Man]

Ah, definitely give them a call then.

[Ighten 1707822464]

Should have appeared in your orders as pending then almost immediately as dispatched.. it then goes active though it may take a week or so for the mag etc to turn up

[Peter Stiles]

It may take a week or two for your Magazine (and lanyard! and badge!) to turn up but you should immediately show as a Member. If you bought your membership through the store (and i know of no other way) then it should appear as a Order in your Account details.

Remember that the TT Collector's Club and the Hornby Collector's Club are independent and offer different benefits.

[Paul-347773]

As suggested, I called Customer Services yesterday morning, explained the situation, was to the voicemail of the person who runs the Club, left a message explaining the situation and asked for a call back (left my mobile number).... no follow up.

[Paul-347773]

I did indeed buy membership through the store, received a confirmation email of payment (and the order number) moments later. Nothing shows up in my account, I have received no further communication, nothing in the post, and no reply to the voicemail I left yesterday morning with the person who runs the Club.

[Paul-347773]

Aside from the automated email confirming my order moments after I paid online, I have received nothing more.

[Brew Man]

If you called the Club Helpline, +44 (0)1843 233512 try this one: +44 (0)1843 233502. I haven't tried the Club phone line but have tried the Club email in the past and received no reply. Inefficient working I know, but give the general helpline, (second number above) a try. I've usually had good results with that.

[Paul-347773]

Well I finally got a dead-end response from Hornby on 20th informing me they are looking into it, and will get back to me as 'soon as possible'.

My first impression of purchasing membership of the Hornby Collectors' Club has been very poor indeed. Hornby are painfully slow to respond, play pass the customer around on the phone, don't respond to voicemails, don't call back, and take weeks to answer email enquiries with a response that does not identify the problem, or resolution, or timescale... and isn't even signed off by a named individual.

I'll give it another week then I'm calling this in through my credit card company.

[Paul-347773]

Ok, so an update from Hornby today... The latest is that it can take 28 days to deliver the membership pack... to which I pointed out we are well beyond 28 days... to which Hornby replied that it could be a problem with the Royal Mail.

[Bulleidboy]

There is not a great deal in the Pack - welcome letter, membership card, pin badge and lanyard with window pocket to hold your membership card - it will arrive when it arrives - relax.

[yozzer]

I have been a member for some years and my renewal date was always April, until last year when for some reason only known to Hornby mid February i was advised my renewal was due and i did renew it immediately without thinking. When my card arrived it had a date of 23 February 2023 on it and contacted Hornby and was told that they would sort it out. On Saturday 25th March i tired to access the Members Area for the Virtual Day and could not get access and yet all other aspects of my club membership was the accessible. When i was flicking through one page or another i discovered my membership expired on 23 February so renewed it.

Everything was immediate, my membership date became 25th March, and i could access the Virtual Day. I received an e-mail confirming and more to the point on the Club Forum i saw, 'Welcome Back', plus my Reward Points also increased by 300.

So certainly on 25th March all membership activations were immediate.

[mjb1961]

I joined the club just a few days ago so I could pre order a club exclusive,,all I can say is it must be activated instantly,i made the pre order and was awarded the points at 15% of the purchase price ,,pending obviously,,through logging in to your account it knows you are a member, you don't need to wait for the pack to arrive.