Trains, No Planes and the GDPR

In this blog, we journey into the interesting world of model trains. Whilst we have all know Hornby from our childhoods, there are new pretenders to the throne. No less than a new company, Accurascale. They have set a new standard in model engineering and see sent the boss out to din out more. We pick up the store in Milton Keynes, the home of the MK Dons and Pete Waterman.

Confused? So are we. However, our boss, Howard Freeman, was dispatched to Milton Keynes on a cold October morning to understand the confusion between model railways and the GDPR and why Accurascale don’t get it.

Now settle down. Model trains may not be your thing but it is a thriving and important market. The amusing part of this is that this was a two day show and exhibitors claimed that there were more people at the show than watching MK Dons at the same venue on the Saturday! We arrived on the Sunday to immense queues full of folk ready to spend a lot of money on this highly addictive hobby.

The Star of the Show

Clearly this wasn’t me. Pete Waterman however was, with his fabulous West Coast Main Line recreation having made an appearance here last year and two appearances at Chester Cathedral. Pete knows how to draw a crowd and raise money at the same time.

However, I did have any interesting start to the show. The first stand we visited was that of newcomer, Accurascale modelling enthusiasts producing high quality locomotives at a fair price. However, not everyone was happy. A tall stroppy northern type had ordered a loco from Accurascale but was not receiving order updates. I listening intently to his temper boil over until he started spouting rubbish about the GDPR. I thought, that, ‘is my job’! So, I intervened.

Know the Rules

The Accurascale young lads were trying to explain that unless the customer who had placed an order subscribed to their newsletter then they would not receive order updates. Well, I cannot resist a spot of interruption so I charged in with my usual challenge of ‘utter crap’. However, I am here to help you understand.

The lovely folk at Accurascale believe that the GDPR is all about consent when it is not. If the shouty northern bloke has placed an order, he has the right to be informed of the progress of that order. This is performance of a contact and a different legal basis for processing than consent. However, the boys believe that unless our northern friend subscribed to their newsletter he could not receive updates on his order. He wasn’t happy about this and rightly so having paid in advance for his product.

His complaint was handled well but the team had been poorly trained and were clearly brainwashed by someone who thought they knew better.

The Lesson

The message is simple here. A customer is a customer, therefore communication with them is based on performance of a contract, not consent.

Prospects that have expressed an interested in their products are based on consent.

What Accurascale believed was that unless you subscribed, you cannot receive updates on orders placed with then. This is simply a failure to understand the regulation and how to apply it. The outcome was a cancelled order and an angry customer who spoke to everyone who was prepared to listen to how bad the service from Accurascale was.

A Better Way?

Accurascale should have talked to us first. The first hour would have been free. Simples.

If you want a chat, please book a call with us or contact us here.