Milton Keynes Metals?

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Is anyone else having problems contacting these people? I ordered stuff a while back and have heard nothing since, have contacted them again recently to query the delay and still no response. Are they still trading?

I appreciate Covid issues and extra xmas presuures may delay things, but see no reason for a simple lack of communication.

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Have they taken your money?

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Yes – online with PayPal, and I initially had a …thankyou for your order it is being processed email, but that was just an automated one.

Probably no problem getting the money back via PP if necessary, its more the alloyance as I can't progress the current job without one of the items in the order.

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

I phoned up early in the year and asked about a piece of steel. He said yes we've got that. So I went down to get it. The guy then spent about 20 minutes climbing over rusty piles of off cuts spread all across the floor. It was all in the most chaotic unit I've seen. He was licking his thumb and trying to rub the rust off the end of bars. He finally found a rusty piece of what he said was the steel I was looking for. I asked how much expecting it to have been about £30 from looking online elsewhere, anyway he came back and said 150!! And there was no guarantee it was anything other than a bit of old rusty mild. So I made my excuses and left never to return.

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

I've previously used another company who were to be honest – superb (unusual these days) allbeit a touch more expensive than other places – but worth it for the rapid turnaround and cutting service etc.

Unfortunately they don't stock the specific size brass sheet I wanted, hence trying MK. Never used them before but saw they were a 'shopping partner' featured on this ME web site home page so thought they would be OK.

[Ian Skeldon 2Participant @ianskeldon2]

Call me cynical if you wish but I don't think being a shopping partner on here means bugger all except that they use this advertising medium.

[mickParticipant @mick65121]

I had the same problem several years ago, it took three months to deliver my order and then some pieces were the wrong grade, haven't used them since. There are plenty of commercial stock holders on line who will fill small orders with a couple of days turn around. Try Metal4u or cliclmetal.

[Dave Shield 1Participant @daveshield1]

Use M-machine metals very good service. cannot fault them.

Dave S

[SpurryParticipant @spurry]

Posted by Dave Shield 1 on 19/12/2020 18:45:24:

Use M-machine metals very good service. cannot fault them.

Dave S

Seconded.

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

I live in North Yorkshire and used to drive up to Darlington and get my metals from M-machine. I now just order them over the phone and get them delivered. Their service and delivery times are second to none, they also have a vast stock. They have really improved their turn around times of late usually items arrive the next day.

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Try MaccModels.

Earlier this week I ordered some metal from them (Quite a few different sizes). Ordered Monday evening, despatched Tuesday morning, arrived Wednesday morning.

Stuart

Edited By Stuart Smith 5 on 19/12/2020 20:06:13

[gerry maddenParticipant @gerrymadden53711]

Milton Keynes Metals is very close to me but sadly I have vowed never to go there again. Every visit was worse than the previous one, the culmination being when I went to collect some slices of stainless and there was two pieces missing. Apparently one had been cut but had rolled off the saw and had "completely disappeared". The other missing piece wasn't made because the saw's band broke and he didn't have a spare. The spare took several weeks to arrive. I did eventually get one more piece but just gave up on the last one.

My last 'experience' was about 9 months ago at at the time I could not ever believe it was a viable business. If you are getting no responses, I would fear the worst.

Gerry.

[Jim NicParticipant @jimnic]

When I started model engineering 10 years or so ago I bought my first metal stock from MK Metals because they are only 10 miles from where I live. When I saw the "warehouse" I very nearly left straight away. The "unit" was a decrepid corrugated iron shed with many open holes in the walls and roof in a run down farm yard. Inside was absolute chaos with, as Buffer said, metal of all different sizes and types, mostly rusty, rolling around the floor and a couple of collapsing racks with rusty and bent lengths of unidentified metal in random order. However, as a newbie I wanted something to machine so I bought some bits of steel. I was assured it was free cutting as I had asked for and indeed it turned out to be so. I followed the proprieter in to the office, a small very scruffy portacabin, to pay and found more chaos and the only word is squalor. Later I found that I could have bought my metal a heck of a lot cheaper if I had not been in such a rush to get it. I determined to shop elsewhere. Then a couple of years ago on a Friday I messed up the last piece of brass I had that I was machining and didn't want to wait until the following week to progress so I went back to MK. Things had not improved and the only change seemed to be that the owner had got downright rude. I bought my brass and left and will never go back.

I now use mainly Macc Models and M-machine for my metal supplies and recieve excellent service from them both.

Jim

Edited By Jim Nic on 19/12/2020 21:38:30

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Thanks for all the thoroughly depressing feedback folks. A merry Christmas then! At my age, I should have learned by now not to take things at face value, but foolishly 'trusted' this web site to promote reputable companies (to be fair, they may not have been fully aware of these issues before).Still – you never stop learning do you? At least I shall take ALL advertising on this site with a large pinch of salt in future until confidence is restored.

As I said in an earler post I've previously used another company several times who were superb – (that was Metals4U). I'll know better next time won't I.

regards to all

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I'm local to MK Metals & been there a couple of times, as above it's absolute chaos, not sure how they keep going? I don't use them now.

Tony

[Anonymous]

I was thinking of placing an order with them; looks like I've had a lucky escape!

Andrew

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Sounds like you owe me a virtual pint then Andrew

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I have no experience of the Company, but was intrigued to see this, on Companies House:

Nature of business (SIC)

• 46720 – Wholesale of metals and metal ores

.

MichaelG.

[Anthony KendallParticipant @anthonykendall53479]

Posted by Tony Pratt 1 on 20/12/2020 09:56:05:

I'm local to MK Metals & been there a couple of times, as above it's absolute chaos, not sure how they keep going? I don't use them now. Tony

I think it is like many an on-line business – boasts it sells everything in the world, and a big disappointment if you go there. It was a very small portakabin used as an office with broken down buildings. We went hunting for the metal I wanted amongst this, one building having doves in the roof with the consequence of shite on the metal below. That said, I did get what I wanted and I think the on-line trade worked OK.
Maybe it has gone. Could he be taking advantage of small-business handouts from the chancellor? Sadly MK is in tier 4 now so, taking all things into account, credit card refund and going somewhere else looks best solution.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

I can't keep my counsel any longer – this being the fourth time within a week that I've seen that online supplier mentioned.. the one who, as an example, charges this;

Brass Round Bar 7mm

for this;

7mm Dia Brass Round

..other independent suppliers are widespread and just as competitive..

My eyes were opened to this web-supplier when last week I bought 210metres of small dia. black mild steel round from my local family-run stockholder – price £270, dropped in my yard in 3m lengths, with a VAT invoice & receipt.

Just out of interest, I checked whether it would have been cheaper to buy online – the M4U business was the first up – if I'd have bought from them in whole-bar lengths, the price would have been £403+ delivery. As an exact-same like-for-like order in half-bars, the price came out at £699+delivery.. yes, that's what I thought, so I checked it twice more – £699..

Please do shop around and support independant stockists – you could conceivably be paying 2 or 3 times more for your metal than you need to..

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

With hindsight, looking at the stock photos on their website you might get clues, main one being items photographs taken on a rusty,and in some photos obviously wet metal table.

Can one of the admin staff explain exacly what a "shopping partner" is and how a suppler gets on the list?

Robert G8RPI.

[BufferParticipant @buffer]

I use Mac Models and M-Machine-Metals for my modelling supplies. For large stuff when I made driveway edging and plant supports I used F H Brundle who delivered it in 6m lengths that week and were a fraction of the price of the good old metals4u.

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Robert – I've actually messaged Neil Wyatt directly and asked something similar about a "shopping partner" .

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

shopping partner – probably same way this site attempts to drop a farcebook tracker – money.

[Author]

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