Hattons crusade against dishonesty

This is the part of our site where we document the various scams and rogues which we come across whilst trading. Customers are welcome to suggest additions or pass on their comments.

Other traders beware!

During 2004 we were involved in court action against a Mr Richard Morgan of:

7 Shawley Road
Sawtry
Huntingdon
PE28 5UH

after he paid for an order a cheque for £458 which later bounced.

It took 3 letters to get Mr Morgan to contact us to arrange repaying the outstanding debt, but no payment was ever forthcoming. We were eventually forced to issue a claim through Liverpool County court, where costs of £678.80 were awarded. The claim amount included the wages of the member of staff who processed the application, and also the cost of the administration fees.

Mr Morgan had requested that the order be sent to him immediately by Royal Mail Special Delivery, which is why it was despatched before the cheque cleared. We have now amended company policy so that large orders paid for by cheque will not be sent until the cheque has cleared. Customers should pay for priority orders by payment card.

A later request from us for a Warrant of Execution was approved and bailiffs were sent to his address to recover goods to the value of the outstanding amount.

The outstanding amount stands at over £700 as interest and the cost of issuing the warrant have further increased the total owing.
Update 6th September 2005 - information provided by industry insiders and other victims
Morgan was released from prison on 17th February 2005 and has a new address (believed to be co-habiting with girlfriend Emma Jarvis)
12A Newton Court
Huntingdon
Cambs
PE29 3NQ
His new enterprise is "Trafalgar Models" and also has ebay username richandm2005 and email address richandm2005@aol.com
We do not consider this matter closed

.Update 24th Feb 2006

We have added dates and details of our pursuit of Morgan. See here

The Kettleman of Smithdown Road

We used to have a large layout in our shop where our customers enjoyed seeing different trains running on it, and it allowed shoppers to see items running continuously, before they purchased them. The layout was a kind gift from Hornby as a gesture of goodwill after years of trade between us, given to celebrate moving into our new premises.

The layout was controlled by two R8012 controllers, both fixed to the layout. A popular choice of traction on the layout was a loco from the Thomas the Tank range, as the layout was particularly of interest to some of our younger customers.

Mr Hatton spotted a suspicious looking character (any man holding a kettle as if it were a shopping bag would be suspicious) in the shop and noted that there was a loco missing from the layout. Despite frisking him, Keith Hatton failed to locate the missing R351 Thomas the Tank loco. Later inspection of the CCTV showed that the loco was hidden inside the ketten. Another member of staff had previously frisked the same rogue and found some of our Lledo Vanguard range stuffed up his sleeves (almost an impressive achievement - those things aren't small!).

The final straw came on a Sunday in May when Kettleman struck again. Again the CCTV footage told the story in full. He combed the shop looking for something to steal, and clapped eyes on the layout. He proceeded to discreetly detach the R8012 controller from the baseboard and slipped it into another extremely large pocket. The 32-429 Bachmann Class 24 was put in the other pocket.

The crime has been reported but Kettleman is still at large. The layout has been sold off - it's a shame, but it was forced upon us.

Payment Card abuse

Customers should be aware that there are various ways that a criminal can make fraudulent use of your payment card.

In March 2004 we received a number of orders from one individual; we shall call him Mr Jones, from a part of South London. The credit card details were all fine, and he supplied the CVV number without any hesitation. A few days after the orders had been sent we received a phone call from the CID department of Mr Jones local police station, and were told that this card was being used fraudulently.

Mr Jones’ credit card company had sent him a new payment card, and it had been intercepted by a rogue standing outside Mr Jones’ flat, posing as him. The rogue then signed the card and began spending money on it in shops, and placing orders with mail-order companies. The goods were being sent to Mr Jones address, but the thief was standing outside the property and collecting them from the delivery drivers, without giving any identification. “Much Ado about Toys” from Stratford-upon-Avon were also a victim of the same scam.

The CVV number on the back of your payment card is a number which derives from the address that the credit card is registered at. Some companies will only deliver an order to the address of the card holder – and they use the CVV number to check this.

In the majority of cases, the credit card holder is protected by the card issuer, and the cost of the fraudulent transactions is “charged-back” to the retailer. However, to avoid this situation becoming necessary, it is advised that card holders are careful to look after their card at all times, and, where possible, to use online banking services to regularly check their account to ensure that improper transactions are not being made.

Update: 23 December 2004.

Hattons crusade against dishonesty is gaining momentum and we have had messages of support from many customers across the world. The latest addition to the hall of shame is a Mr John Mackenzie of Wilbury, West Sussex. This individual has been placing orders with stolen credit card details, with various model railway retailers. He attempted to place an order with us, but was unsuccessfull. Seller beware! We are happy to provide more details to other retailers in the industry, to help them protect themselves against fraudulent activity

Landlords nightmare tenant

Meet Andrew Tomlinson. Mr Tomlinson lived at leisure in our former shop, 182 Smithdown Road since early 2004. There were very few rent payments (all late, very erratic!).

He used to work on the Seacat from Liverpool, but for some reason he no longer does - he has never told us why he is no longer in their employ. He said some months ago he will get "the social" to pay his rent but this never developed.

Tomlinsons avoidance of his rent meant we had to take a court order against him, which almost doubled the amount he owed us! He now has a County Court Judgement (CCJ) against him, but no monies have yet been forthcoming. This matter is not closed...

Further miscreants

Latest addition to the hall of shame is the father of our former manager who borrowed £250 to supposedly cover up from his partner a gambling loss on the gee gees, then his son (Ian) did a runner to live in Spain the following week.

Also, Ians well-intending (but un-selfdiscipled) uncle ran up a mega £300+ phone bill in one night whilst lodging at the bosses house by calling a premium rate chatline for several hours when drunk. Both balances are, as yet, unpaid..

	Other traders beware! During 2004 we were involved in court action against a Mr Richard Morgan of: 7 Shawley Road Sawtry Huntingdon PE28 5UH after he paid for an order a cheque for £458 which later bounced. It took 3 letters to get Mr Morgan to contact us to arrange repaying the outstanding debt, but no payment was ever forthcoming. We were eventually forced to issue a claim through Liverpool County court, where costs of £678.80 were awarded. The claim amount included the wages of the member of staff who processed the application, and also the cost of the administration fees. Mr Morgan had requested that the order be sent to him immediately by Royal Mail Special Delivery, which is why it was despatched before the cheque cleared. We have now amended company policy so that large orders paid for by cheque will not be sent until the cheque has cleared. Customers should pay for priority orders by payment card. A later request from us for a Warrant of Execution was approved and bailiffs were sent to his address to recover goods to the value of the outstanding amount. The outstanding amount stands at over £700 as interest and the cost of issuing the warrant have further increased the total owing. Update 6th September 2005 - information provided by industry insiders and other victims Morgan was released from prison on 17th February 2005 and has a new address (believed to be co-habiting with girlfriend Emma Jarvis) 12A Newton Court Huntingdon Cambs PE29 3NQ His new enterprise is "Trafalgar Models" and also has ebay username richandm2005 and email address richandm2005@aol.com We do not consider this matter closed .Update 24th Feb 2006 We have added dates and details of our pursuit of Morgan. See here
	The Kettleman of Smithdown Road We used to have a large layout in our shop where our customers enjoyed seeing different trains running on it, and it allowed shoppers to see items running continuously, before they purchased them. The layout was a kind gift from Hornby as a gesture of goodwill after years of trade between us, given to celebrate moving into our new premises. The layout was controlled by two R8012 controllers, both fixed to the layout. A popular choice of traction on the layout was a loco from the Thomas the Tank range, as the layout was particularly of interest to some of our younger customers. Mr Hatton spotted a suspicious looking character (any man holding a kettle as if it were a shopping bag would be suspicious) in the shop and noted that there was a loco missing from the layout. Despite frisking him, Keith Hatton failed to locate the missing R351 Thomas the Tank loco. Later inspection of the CCTV showed that the loco was hidden inside the ketten. Another member of staff had previously frisked the same rogue and found some of our Lledo Vanguard range stuffed up his sleeves (almost an impressive achievement - those things aren't small!). The final straw came on a Sunday in May when Kettleman struck again. Again the CCTV footage told the story in full. He combed the shop looking for something to steal, and clapped eyes on the layout. He proceeded to discreetly detach the R8012 controller from the baseboard and slipped it into another extremely large pocket. The 32-429 Bachmann Class 24 was put in the other pocket. The crime has been reported but Kettleman is still at large. The layout has been sold off - it's a shame, but it was forced upon us.
	Payment Card abuse Customers should be aware that there are various ways that a criminal can make fraudulent use of your payment card. In March 2004 we received a number of orders from one individual; we shall call him Mr Jones, from a part of South London. The credit card details were all fine, and he supplied the CVV number without any hesitation. A few days after the orders had been sent we received a phone call from the CID department of Mr Jones local police station, and were told that this card was being used fraudulently. Mr Jones’ credit card company had sent him a new payment card, and it had been intercepted by a rogue standing outside Mr Jones’ flat, posing as him. The rogue then signed the card and began spending money on it in shops, and placing orders with mail-order companies. The goods were being sent to Mr Jones address, but the thief was standing outside the property and collecting them from the delivery drivers, without giving any identification. “Much Ado about Toys” from Stratford-upon-Avon were also a victim of the same scam. The CVV number on the back of your payment card is a number which derives from the address that the credit card is registered at. Some companies will only deliver an order to the address of the card holder – and they use the CVV number to check this. In the majority of cases, the credit card holder is protected by the card issuer, and the cost of the fraudulent transactions is “charged-back” to the retailer. However, to avoid this situation becoming necessary, it is advised that card holders are careful to look after their card at all times, and, where possible, to use online banking services to regularly check their account to ensure that improper transactions are not being made. Update: 23 December 2004. Hattons crusade against dishonesty is gaining momentum and we have had messages of support from many customers across the world. The latest addition to the hall of shame is a Mr John Mackenzie of Wilbury, West Sussex. This individual has been placing orders with stolen credit card details, with various model railway retailers. He attempted to place an order with us, but was unsuccessfull. Seller beware! We are happy to provide more details to other retailers in the industry, to help them protect themselves against fraudulent activity
	Landlords nightmare tenant Meet Andrew Tomlinson. Mr Tomlinson lived at leisure in our former shop, 182 Smithdown Road since early 2004. There were very few rent payments (all late, very erratic!). He used to work on the Seacat from Liverpool, but for some reason he no longer does - he has never told us why he is no longer in their employ. He said some months ago he will get "the social" to pay his rent but this never developed. Tomlinsons avoidance of his rent meant we had to take a court order against him, which almost doubled the amount he owed us! He now has a County Court Judgement (CCJ) against him, but no monies have yet been forthcoming. This matter is not closed...
	Further miscreants Latest addition to the hall of shame is the father of our former manager who borrowed £250 to supposedly cover up from his partner a gambling loss on the gee gees, then his son (Ian) did a runner to live in Spain the following week. Also, Ians well-intending (but un-selfdiscipled) uncle ran up a mega £300+ phone bill in one night whilst lodging at the bosses house by calling a premium rate chatline for several hours when drunk. Both balances are, as yet, unpaid..