Walthers Website is broke

Like a lot of people Walthers has been my go-to website for ages. But for the past three weeks it has been a running disaster, no matter how much and how often they say otherwise.

I log in, as always. But the minute I move to another page it asks me to log in again. It also no longer keeps a running track of things I add to my shopping cart. Items and images do not load. Links do not work properly.

The new search function is nowhere near as versatile as the last one.

In the past three weeks I’ve tried seven times to go on, do searches and place an order. Never worked.

I finally called customer service and ended up leaving a voicemail message because it has been much more difficult lately, to get a real person than ever before. I try to take into account how much has had to change because of the pandemic, but their service has been deplorable lately.

Anyway, I left my message, which was more a heads-up about website problems than a complaint. I got a voicemail message reply, in which a very nice sounding person basically said the problem had to be on my end because everything there is just peachy.

Walthers just lost a few sales.

If I may ask, why are you ordering direct from Walthers? There are lots of retailers selling their products at various discounts - ModelTrainStuff, Trainworld, ToyTrainHeaven, just to name a few of the bigger ones.

Sheldon

Agreed - The only time I ever order anything from Walters is when it’s on sale and through my LHS. That way I don’t have to pay for shipping.

Walthers is notorious for charging full MSPR on EVERYTHING so other vendors will continue to get my money way before Walthers does.

Tom

I live so rurally that the nearest brick & mortar store is hours away, in a direction I rarely head. They’ll order, but their on-the-shelf selection is usually so slim as to be barely worth a look-over. They price most of what they have in-store the same as the Walthers catalog price. If I order through them I don’t get my Walthers yardmaster discounts, and they offer none of their own on a regular basis. As a yardmaster Walthers member I usually pay no shipping, because I wait to order until my total is over their free shipping threshold, so that and the discount is a big break. There’s also the sales tax matter.

I always compare at least three websites, including Walthers. And I always go with the best deal, factoring in shipping, etc.

Search didn’t work Monday, called them, they kept saying it was all me.

Still broke for me today. 503 error, they said that was my computer, not their server…

Tried on Windows 10, Windows 7, IOS 12 on iPad, IOS 14 on iPhone, same on all…

Oh well.

Right now, at 7:36 EDT, in Maryland, thru Verizon, the Walthers site is working fine…

Sheldon

Yeah, and here in southern Ontario, at 20:29 EDT, the Walthers site is working just fine, too.

Wayne

Well shoot. I can’t figure it out. It continualy gives me error messages, and the few times the site has loaded, it’s slower than molasses going uphil in January. Any other site works great so it’s not from my end. Cleared cookies and all that good jazz, but still not working. I’m probably going to place an order with MB Klein for what I can and order the rest from my LHS.

Tried on windows and IOS. Tried with my phone on Verizon and the computer on WiFi, still DOA.

What browser are you using on windows? I’m using Chrome.

Sheldon

I’be tried chrome, Internet explorer, safari. It just won’t work on anything! I’m not mad, just a bit frustrated.

I’m using Edge, and the Walthers site seems to be working fine. I just tried adding things to the cart, etc., and it all seemed to work. I didn’t go through with actually buying something.

I was on the Walthers site last night looking at sales and bargains.

I had no problems. I loaded up my cart, and will revisit it tonight and see if I pull the trigger.

-Kevin

Contact your ISP. They may inadvertently have graylisted the Walthers URL or throttled it for some reason.

That’s the only remaining place, if the servers and gateways are working correctly and there’s no common DNS or other issue on the client/browser side.

I did have intermittent problems with the Walthers web site last night, but it is working for me now.

I’m not liking the new website appearance or functionality. On Advanced Searches, they dropped the Keyword box, so it is now more difficult to hone in on what you are looking for. For example, “bridge track”. All sorts of stuff shows up.

Rich