A Rant

[rrinker]

Prior to the Walthers buyout I never had any problem getting P2K spare parts - either Life Like had them made or all Chinese production is NOT this way. Seems harder than ever to get after Walthers took over - starting with the "no receipt, no parts" policy which ties right in with Walthers refusing to enter into distribution agreements unless you have a fully incorporated business. The small guys who sell at train shows have mostly been reduced to selling only those things they can still get - apprantly Horizon will sell to them, and Atlas, since they are still independent. All this supposedly to 'save' the LHS from undercutting Internet retailers, but at the same time, Walthers expects participating dealers to honor the prices in those sales flyers they send out - no matter if when the dealer purchased the inventory, he paid more than Walthers wants him to sell it for.
Couple this with the prices (MSRP anyway) of P2K locos going through the roof. Pushing $500 now for AB sets of E units with sound, and they don;t both have sound decoders in them for that price.
And add in that is you should happen to need something directly from Walthers, you will be charged an insane amount for shipping, and then have to wait while it comes by the slowest shippign method they can find, or you can pay an extra $5 on top of what you already paid for shipping to have them sent is USPS Priority. It's liek those rip off artists on eBay who charge you $10 for shipping and when you receive it you see the postage on the box is $3. Your alternative is to find a hobby shop that will still order for you (I know of a few, so it's not that hard) and then wait. ANd wait. And wait some more. Because Walthers charges THEM the crazy shipping too, so they wait until they have enough orders to jusify the cost. Once upon a time, Walthers was greatly needed and provided a much needed service to this hobby. What they've become today is not in that same spirit. The small one man operations need some sort of buffer that a distrubtor provides. Large volume producers really don't - the added layer only adds extra cost for someone to move the item around in a warehouse, in oen door and out another. Walthers seems to get a pass no matter what they do, because they were there at the beginning. It used to be possible to vote with your wallet - don;t liek something, or somebody's practice? Don't buy their product. But when nearly anythign you'd want to use is exclsuively distributed by a single entity like Walthers or Horizon, it comes down to putting up with it or getting out of the hobby. Horizon at least seems to be very content to let Athearn run as a pseudo-independent company. Walthers seems to have put a tight rein on Life-Like.

--Randy