Model Railroading > What a dumb deal-Walther's

I just don't know how to put this any other way.  I have the latest Walther's sale catalog and I wanted to get an item from it.  I just went to order it and it is out of stock and "no info from mfgr" as when it will be back.  I wanted the roller coaster for a display I set up each Christmas at a local bank.
I can't believe there was an immediate rush to buy it.  I know the catalogs are made in some time in advance of the sending date.
Frustrated.

Sound like poor planning in the advertising department.  No one took the time to check availability of the item!

Rob

I used to stop in to Walthers "Warehouse".  I tried several times to get something out
of their Sale catolog.  Invaribly it was out of stock/back ordered.
zr190

When I would go to my now vanished LHS to roder something from Walther's, they would check to see if
it was in stock.  More than once I got a negative reply.  I would suggest you check Walther's web page
to see what they've got.  should make life a little easier, or at least a little less frustrating.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

I always check stock and if its gone I also dont have a hissy fit over it.

There is one of the roller coaster kits available in Missoula, MT at the Treasure Chest.

(406) 549-7992



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/16 09:29 by fbe.

BAB Wrote:
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> I always check stock and if its gone I also dont
> have a hissy fit over it.

Yes...supply and demand supports pricing. It was an expensive item that nobody wanted, put it on sale and walla, it's gone. Sounds like you were a little late to order one.

One of the ways Walthers could really help brick-and-mortar stores is to work toward an Amazon-style model where your online searches show affiliated stores and retailers, you can order direct from them if Walthers no longer has it in their system.   It would require a lot better inventory systems at the brick-and-mortar, but considering the AWFUL inventory turnover at most hobby shops, it would solve a lot of problems for everybody and might even build traffic back to the affiliated dealers that now get bypassed.

I just ran into this on some long-discontinued Detail Associates product, I've got to believe there are dust-covered parts all across the US, but no way to find them unless them end up on Ebay.  Instead of 'your dealer can order it from Walthers' it needs to be 'Walthers can still find it at your dealer'.

The Walthers web site used to offer links for "Dealers who have received this item recently" or some such. Haven't noticed lately if it still does; I do most of my online shopping at MB Klein now and haven't ordered direct from Walthers in more than a year.

I heartily endorse the idea, in any case, of checking the website before attempting to order anything from them based on the printed monthly Walthers Flyer. Sale items often appear on the website before the Flyer gets to me in the mail, and the print version has a disclaimer about availability.

Once in a while when I did order direct, an item that initially showed up as in stock came out backordered when my order was completed. I like Klein's system, which seems to update its inventory faster and seemingly doesn't allow backordering, much better.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/16 10:16 by toledopatch.

Seems like lately "queing up" and the "Quest"is typical these days. ....and the Paperwork will take years.....

EL-SD45-3632 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BAB Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I always check stock and if its gone I also
> dont
> > have a hissy fit over it.
>
> Yes...supply and demand supports pricing. It was
> an expensive item that nobody wanted, put it on
> sale and walla, it's gone. Sounds like you were a
> little late to order one.


You mean the sale items (which are probably a handful to begin with) are sold out during the 3-4 week lead time it takes for the sales flyer to arrive? Who would have thought. 

I DID check the web site to see if it was in when I began to order the coaster.  When I decide to purchase an item it is MY choice as to when that happens.  My being too late has nothing to do with the order timing.  I said it is for a display I set up at Christmas and I try to add a new item each year.  I have a bumper car, swing, merry-go-round and the Faller Ferris Wheel at this time.  Te coaster was to be next.
I will check the suggestion posted as to a possible location for the coaster.
I was not wining just frustrated by the lack of materials on hand when a product is advertised in a sale catalog.


santafedan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just don't know how to put this any other way.
>  I have the latest Walther's sale catalog and I
> wanted to get an item from it.  I just went to
> order it and it is out of stock and "no info from
> mfgr" as when it will be back.  I wanted the
> roller coaster for a display I set up each
> Christmas at a local bank.
> I can't believe there was an immediate rush to buy
> it.  I know the catalogs are made in some time in
> advance of the sending date.
> Frustrated.

Quite often, I go to the Walthers website and see an item on sale, and when you click on it, it is out of stock - discontinued.  This happens all the time.  They have so many items in their catalogue, that I imagine they have a computer go through and figure out what is selling slowly and needs to go on sale.  Not sure why the computer would allow an item to be listed on sale if it is out of stock.  I see an item go one sale and out of sale several times over a periof of months.

There is a disclaimer in every sale flyer about availability. It's easy to criticize, but the fickle mind of the retail customer is nigh next to impossible to predict. I know, because I have been trying for 30 years.

Tom Y

Ignoring the printed flyer, the problem is Walthers's website will list an item as in stock but when you try to buy it it is out of stock. Surely they have a server that has the quantities of each item they have in stock. They need to interface that with the website so when someone buys the last one of an item it is immediate shown as out of stock.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/16 02:14 by EricSP.

In the internet age, almost everything printed is very out of date.  I thought this was common knowledge by now?

Cheers, Jim Fitch

EricSP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ignoring the printed flyer, the problem is
> Walthers's website will list an item as in stock
> but when you try to buy it it is out of stock.
> Surely they have a server that has the quantities
> of each item they have in stock. They need to
> interface that with the website so when someone
> buys the last one of an item it is immediate shown
> as out of stock.

Agree. And MB Klein, as I cited above, has that capability. I know this because I got curious once and, after I placed an order that included several items that had just 1 left, I went back into "shopping" mode and confirmed that a few of those items now showed as "out of stock" on their site.

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MB Klein, as I cited above, has that
> capability. I know this because I got curious once
> and, after I placed an order that included several
> items that had just 1 left, I went back into
> "shopping" mode and confirmed that a few of those
> items now showed as "out of stock" on their site.

I haven't ordered anything from Walthers online site in a few years but I assumed (wrongly as it seems) that they had "real time" inventory like MBK does.  I've ordered countless times from MBK and always after I order an item, I can go back to that item and the site is updated showing 1 less or if there was one when I bought, then it says "out of stock" - always.  There are a number of other sites which do this as well - it's not rocket science - I would think Walthers should be able to do that in this day and age.

Cheers, Jim Fitch

As said before in this thread, the moment the Flyer is printed it is potentially out of date. I only go to a retailer, manufacturerr or distributor's website when I know that the stocks they show are real time. I have only ever been caught out once at the old Caboose Hobbies. In the digital age fliers and printed catalogues are getting more and more ineffective if used to advertise items that are fast moving. The exception to
this is where the advertiser can make to order that which he is advertising to a given lead time.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/16 08:02 by Parthia27.