pjw Never regret the decision to own one. And this is probably the feedback you will hear from majority of L users. It is quite easy to pick few or even tens of unhappy users and make conclusions the same applies to everyone else. It is oversimplification.
It’s more than just a few unhappy users and no one can take the risk of being excommunicated from the closed Londinium forum and the effective loss of support, in some cases warranty withdrawal.
I realise you feel this topic is not a good idea, but after him naming me directly a number of times on social media, especially when the comments have been outright lies, I can no longer just sit and take it. Via his own private network of “friends with benefits”/casual employees, I was trolled mercilessly for more than 5 years. A lot of this on a UK forum where he exerted a lot of control via various relationships with the owner/administration. This forum was effectively Londiniums playground, and he got a lot of advertising and online presence from it. He is not averse to abusing forum members as you see on the way multiple separate posts appear from one person on HB
The whole SOP for Londinium ensures a lack of public comment (due to fear amongst some owners), a complete lack of innovation, the machines being bigged up as far more than they actually are in terms of quality, technology and cost!
Drop shipping is a form of retail business in which the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer.
The seller is responsible for marketing and selling the product, but has limited control over product quality, storage, inventory management, or shipping.[1]^ By doing this, it eliminates the costs of maintaining warehouses – or even a storefront – purchasing and storing inventory, and employing necessary staff for such functions. As in any other form of retail, the seller makes profit on the difference between an item’s wholesale and retail price, less any pertinent selling, merchant, or shipping fees accruing against them.
Now I’m not saying Londinium do this, but it is a business model used by many “retailers”. The manufacturer wants closer to retail prices as they are doing all the work, the drop shipper often wants a decent margin which massively inflates the end cost to the user.
Londinium machines have shown a remarkable lack of innovation over the years, so much so that the small things they have done are hailed as the second coming. Constructive criticism is met by a rabid response from owner and key Londinium influencers, the whole community is energised via Reiss “news” blog in defence and so users don’t get the innovations they deserve, but still pay super high prices for what they are getting. I remember once the Londinium lever group being massively bigged up…when in reality it’s actually around half the price of the clone LSM 54 mm group used in the Vostok and Evo.
I have done a Matrix comparing both the LR24 to a more modern innovative lever like the Evo, but I intend to do a more detailed rundown in future months.
P.S. I didn’t start a war, Reiss did…against me….deplorable behaviour from a business against a home user who tries to help people (for free, I don’t make a profit from my activities). I’m just defending myself because why should I sit back and take it any longer!
