What the hell is going on with the suppliers???

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

But in fairness, sometimes the 48 hour tracked mail does function properly

Howard

Unfortunately Howard, that’s only because Postmen are instructed to give priority to tracked packets that can be used to compile performance statistics.

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

I recall that Madame HowardB once ordered a pack of printer ink cartridges from the UK for delivery to us here in NW France on a Tuesday, and they turned up in our post box courtesy of the French postal system on the Wednesday lunchtime, pre brexit of course.

Unheard of nowadays of course !!

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Chronos next for the jump ???

Could be, seem to be a bit pushy lately.

Just a thought.

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

“Chronos next for the jump ???

“Could be, seem to be a bit pushy lately.

Just a thought”

Their accounts made up to year end 2025 don’t ring any alarm bells.

My personal experience of dealing with them is clouded with my purchase of a special half-price offer of a set of Dasqua metric micrometers which turned up with the inclusion of a significant quantity of dog hair within the plastic case.

ie – someone’s dog had been kipping on that part of the display.

Bad show all round Chronos – do not insult your customers.

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

I like Chronos, and I’ve purchased probably hundreds of items from them over the years, so I hope they are doing well.

But Howards example is exactly the kind of thing I am talking about. It’s not good enough.

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

Wow! You have suppliers over there? We just have unobtainium here in NZ. Now that international freight charges have become silly, frustration levels are approaching critical…

[Kiwi Bloke]

On Kiwi Bloke Said:

Wow! You have suppliers over there? We just have unobtainium here in NZ. Now that international freight charges have become silly, frustration levels are approaching critical…

You must have some engineering businesses in NZ – where and how do they obtain their supplies from?

[ANDY CAWLEYParticipant @andycawley24921]

Amazon! That’s the problem. Why would you ever visit a shop when you can go to Amazon and have whatever you want delivered the next day. Amazon is slowly strangling the retail trade. You can get most of what you want just like that. and the odd bit of really specialised stuff that you got from the old suppliers is no longer that easy to find.

[ANDY CAWLEY]

On ANDY CAWLEY Said:

Amazon! That’s the problem. Why would you ever visit a shop when you can go to Amazon and have whatever you want delivered the next day. Amazon is slowly strangling the retail trade. You can get most of what you want just like that. and the odd bit of really specialised stuff that you got from the old suppliers is no longer that easy to find.

ABBA – Any Body But Amazon.

I try to avoid it like the Plague but occasionally one has no option. The same applies to eBay.

JA

[File HandleParticipant @filehandle]

Went to Driffield Steam Rally at the weekend. One thing that stood out to me was that there was far less trader stands there this year. Still found gems hiding under rust and the 4 I typically buy from were there however.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I had a feeling as their stocks have been getting very low lately. Bought quite a lot from them in the past but have not used them much recently. Well that is until about 10mins ago when I made use of the discounted prices. A few metric 5C collets and some consumables.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, yes the recent clearance sales seemed to be pointing to the closing down sales, another favourite to delete from my list, but I’ve bought a few bits today, before they disappear, but I might keep an eye out for any other things that might get a bigger discount.

Regards Nick.

[paul1956Participant @paul1956]

I went to their shop and bought a chuck and tooling earlier in the spring. Slightly surprised to get the free run of the warehouse to find what I wanted off the shelves myself. It looked very much like a business that wasn’t thriving and might not survive much longer then.

It’s sad when a supplier has to cease trading and we have less choice of places to buy our kit from. I hope their staff find other employment soon.

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

Oh no, that’s disappointing! 😕

But I had a feeling that something was up!

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

It’s not good that another retailer is closing down. Soon there will be no choice but the online marketplaces.

Haven’t used Chronos much but just ordered a small boring head. Arc euro had sold out of those before the closure was announced.

Robert.

 

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

could be the result of the ready built brigade

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Pity they couldn’t downsize and continue. I remember them when they were a shed in St Albans where I bought my Hobbymat lathe. Their origins are interesting I believe and worthy of a short article in ME&W.

BTW they always did allow you to wander round the shelves  and find a few more items not on your list, like the chocolate isle in the supermarket.

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

Pity they couldn’t downsize and continue. I remember them when they were a shed in St Albans where I bought my Hobbymat lathe. Their origins are interesting I believe and worthy of a short article in ME&W.

BTW they always did allow you to wander round the shelves  and find a few more items not on your list, like the chocolate isle in the supermarket.

I went to Chronos in St Albans and then Dunstable (getting lost in Dunstable). Letting one wander through the stock was a good idea. I occasionally came away with unexpected items such as an ultrasonic cleaner.

I would to think that some good dealers will survive this cull. Perhaps dealers should group together and merge. I know there will be less competition (I don’t think that there was much to start off with) but this is happening with my local country pubs that serve good menus. They seem to be merging to protect themselves.

JA

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

It seems that Chronos are/were also dasqua.co.uk, presumably their importer for the UK, but if you search for dasqua.co.uk a page comes up saying the website is closed.

Who will take on that mantle I wonder, the candidate list is a short one.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

RDG sell Dasqua, few others as well if you care to look.

Same with Glanz tools, Chronos were glanze.co,uk but the likes of Axminster and Tilgear also sell them

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I had used Chronos a fair number of times when starting out. Over the last few years, their web site became more awkward to navigate than it was originally. Their product line also seemed to become peculiar and fragmented. To be fair, they outlasted Ketan’s operation.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason for closure were the same as Ketan’s. Wanting to retire and no one wanted to take the business on?

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

RDG sell Dasqua, few others as well if you care to look.

Same with Glanz tools, Chronos were glanze.co,uk but the likes of Axminster and Tilgear also sell them.

Chronos’s website is registered with the same registrant as Glanze and Dasqua if you care to look, indicating that they were more than likely the uk importers and distributors for the products.

The aforementioned manufacturers will probably be looking for replacements

for their representation in the UK market – however big or small or worth while that is.

Maybe not so much an importer, more of a distributing dealer or master dealer who imports, deals with warranty and technical issues and promotes the product in the UK and to be a single point of contact for the manufacturer within the UK.

An ideal opportunity for yourself IMHO – your knowledge of carbide cutting tools is self evident.

No need of fancy business premises, just a website and a payment card processing facility.

Think about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[howardb]

On howardb Said:

An ideal opportunity for yourself IMHO – your knowledge of carbide cutting tools is self evident.

No need of fancy business premises, just a website and a payment card processing facility.

Think about it.

 

Turning your suggestion into a profitable enterprise sounds as easy as falling off a log, Howard. I wonder whether you’ve adequately considered what would be involved.

 

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

If Howard can suggest how I could match or better the prices for people buying direct from China then it might we worth considering. Certainly one of the reasons ARC was not making enough profit to make the business worth selling on.

I won’t get into what Ketan told me about what ARC had to do to keep their products at the top of google searches or to come up as sponsored items at the top of a search list but lets just say it’s not simple. Same with the cost of adverts in the ME press and in later years providing the “goods” for tests and review as the way it works with magazines is you don’t expect the items back but hope their cost is less than what an advert may have cost.

[Author]

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