Pacific Western Rail Systems (NOT an advertisement)

[Anonymous]

I was planning on buying an item from PWRS, but received a word of warning on, uh...another forum. Has anyone dealt with them? If so, is there any warning you'd give me.

Thanks in advance.


Matt

[Anonymous]

All I know is that thy aren't the cheapest. Why do you even need to buy from Canadian company and pay for shiping to USA?

[Anonymous]

hi matt, their service is not the best i have ordered a few of the Intermount5ain mystery cars over the years,their service is not very great and sometimes it can take forever to get i ordered one 2 years ago, and it took 5 1/2 weeks to get after i ordered, and i had preordered. So i have not bought from since,
On the other hand Canadian Model trains is a very good store, i have nothin but kind words for them, they are very friendly, and helpfull, and the shipping is top notch!!
hope this helps matt

Daniel

[ouengr]

I have bought from them in the past but not recently. They do tend to be more expensive than other vendors but in many cases they are the only source for there custom run cars. I did have a problem with one order and they did make it right.

[Paul3]

Ah, PWRS...

1). Never give them your phone number, unless you want daily phone calls begging you to buy their stuff. And they won't take "no" for an answer.

2). Never give them your credit card information, as they will charge you for stuff you don't want, and they will charge you before they actually ship the items.

3). Never argue with them online, because they have never taken any criticism well at all.

Having said all that, they do make a nice product, tho' pricey. But whenever dealing with them, use long handled tongs to keep them out of your wallet and off your phone.

For example, I was not aware that Canadian Model Trains was PWRS, and I signed up this past Saturday at the Springfield, MA train show as being interested if they were to make a 5-axle F-M C-Liner in New Haven paint. They asked for my phone #, and stupidly I gave it to them. Since then, I have gotted daily (yes, daily) phone calls from an 866 area code (British Columbia). I let my answering machine pick it up, and every time they don't leave a message. Hmm... I wonder who that could be? I looked it up online, and while the exact number appears to be unlisted, the number is the same area code and exhange of both PWRS and CMT. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together and get PWRS being PWRS again.

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

[Anonymous]

Hello Paul

Canadian Model Trains is not related to PWRS in any way. Canadian Model Trains is located in Ontario not B.C.. Their phone number is a 905 area code. They just moved to a Mississauga location.

I thought I would let you know this because you have been misled somehow.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3

Ah, PWRS...

1). Never give them your phone number, unless you want daily phone calls begging you to buy their stuff. And they won't take "no" for an answer.

2). Never give them your credit card information, as they will charge you for stuff you don't want, and they will charge you before they actually ship the items.

3). Never argue with them online, because they have never taken any criticism well at all.

Having said all that, they do make a nice product, tho' pricey. But whenever dealing with them, use long handled tongs to keep them out of your wallet and off your phone.

For example, I was not aware that Canadian Model Trains was PWRS, and I signed up this past Saturday at the Springfield, MA train show as being interested if they were to make a 5-axle F-M C-Liner in New Haven paint. They asked for my phone #, and stupidly I gave it to them. Since then, I have gotted daily (yes, daily) phone calls from an 866 area code (British Columbia). I let my answering machine pick it up, and every time they don't leave a message. Hmm... I wonder who that could be? I looked it up online, and while the exact number appears to be unlisted, the number is the same area code and exhange of both PWRS and CMT. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together and get PWRS being PWRS again.

Paul A. Cutler III
*****************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*****************

[Anonymous]

Word of Caution:
Pacific Western are straight up crooks, and unethical business man. Poor Service, and charging in advance.

Canadian Model Trains: Is way overpriced, and the owner is a pretty arogant man.

My recommendation try, Otter Valley Railroad, Modellers Choice, or Niagara Central Hobbies, those place have execellent prices and service.

[tommyr]

Hi;
The area codes for B.C. are 250 or 604.
Tom

[prospekt mira]

I have ordered from both. PWRS went to some trouble to find me something I was looking for, and accepted a return without problem when they mistakenly shipped me a reservation I had cancelled several months earlier. They did phone me a couple of times, but Dan I think it was was quite polite and seemed well intentioned.

CMT I've spoken to once. He was also polite and I had no problems with them.

Perhaps being iin management has given me thick skin, but I really don't think either of these guys seemed to be crooks or arrogant (or at least not as much as 80% of the jerks posing as corporate management these days).

PS much of the canadian prototypes the previous two handle are also carried by Credit Valley. Bad web site but nice store.

[ereimer]

866 is toll free area code , can be anywhere in the US or Canada

[Meyblc]

Run for the hills and stay away from Pacific Western Rails. I was a "customer" of theirs 2 years ago and I would have to say that I had a nicer experience getting my wisdom teeth extracted than I did dealing with them.

At first they seem to be very helpful in locating items that are not so easy to find. Once they have you on the phone, they never stop calling. They also pump you for your credit card number.

In my experience, the sales man "Mike" was more than happy to charge my credit card on 3 seperate occasions for items that he had found for me from my "wish list". He never bothered to call first and get approval to charge my credit card and have the items sent. This may not seem like a big deal to some except that each of these items he found were not in his inventory. He had found them thru other dealers an because of this, had to tack on "additional" charge for his efforts. A perfect example of this is my Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 that he found for me in the railroad that I model. He charged me $325 for this item. I've since learned that you can find these locomotives all day long for between $80 - $125 on the internet.

Buyer beware........These guys are good at locating those "hard to find items" but they will also charge you an arm and a leg for it.

[Ballantrae Road]

Geez. I've dealt with them a few times. Yes they aren't cheap. But their web site lists hundred of items. I know they couldn't possibly stock everything so I know on some items they have a long delivery. Make sure you know what "In stock, just arrived, available, and coming soon "mean before you place an order. I did have to wait a few weeks for a back order, but the fellow who contacted me via e-mail was very courteous. I have never been called by them, other than the first contact. I order from their website. They contact me by e-mail and no problem. Would I deal with them again? Yes, unless they do something to make me change my opinion of them in the future.

[cacole]

I thought PWRS advertised in Model Railroader or Railroad Model Craftsman, but can't find their advertisements in the latest issues.

I have ordered from them once. They are right on the border somewhere between the U.S. and Canada, and had a Washington State return address when I dealt with them.

They had a set of six InterMountain covered hoppers custom decorated for the Illinois Central. They were more expensive than any other InterMountain product because of the custom order, and it took a couple of months to receive them, but I had no problems.

As a general rule, everything they sell is a custom made model, so prices do tend to be high.

[Anonymous]

I'll echo what others have said. Based on my experience, you may expect terrible service, long delays, and unexpected costs added on without explanation.

I waited nearly two years for something that was supposed to take two months ... when the item finally arrived, it came complete with a bonehead decorating error (PWRS's fault entirely) that caused me to have it completely reworked elsewhere.

Meanwhile, they were emailing and calling every few weeks to try to sell me more. Just awful.

[Anonymous]

Holy cow!
And I thought HobbyCircle was bad....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dimastep

Holy cow!
And I thought HobbyCircle was bad....

At least PWRS hasn't disappeared without notice.


Matt

[Meyblc]

About 8 months ago there was a long thread over on the Atlas web site forum about Pacific Western Rail. The Thread eventually got locked up by the Atlas web site moderator because it got pretty nasty. If you can find it, it is a "must read" because the president of PWR came on the forum and pretended to be a “normal customer”and defend his company from some heavy criticism. Somehow people quickly found out who he really was and it just got UGLY read fast.

If you want to know about Pacific Western Rail, you really should check out the Atlas Web site and use the search field. Hopefully it is still there in the archives.

[Anonymous]

i cant find it darn! i want to read it

[DrummingTrainfan]

Well my dad got a rather large shipment of stuff that he ordered from them in *drumroll please* 2003! I think that's enough said...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DrummingTrainfan

Well my dad got a rather large shipment of stuff that he ordered from them in *drumroll please* 2003! I think that's enough said...

Do you mean just recently?

[Meyblc]

I was able to find that lengthly thread over on the Atlas forum. For those of you interested in the good and the bad, here it is....

http://forum.atlasrr.com/archive/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39832&SearchTerms=Pacific,Western

[Anonymous]

I JUST STARTED BUYING FROM PWRS ABOUT A COUPLE WEEKS NOW AND HAVE HAD NO PROLEMS. I KNOW IT TAKES ABOUT 2 WEEKS TO CLEAR PACKAGES FROM CANADA TO THE US. THEIR PRICES ARE A LITTLE HIGHER BUT WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING YOU WANT AND ME THE PRICE DOES SCARE ME ANYWAY.

[bandofan]

I know this is an old post, but I had to let others know about the disturbingly bad customer service.  I decided to join their "Porter's Club" quite a while ago.  They kept bugging me about the need for them to familiarize me with how the Porters club worked online.  I finally gave in.  The salesman that trained me via phone was nice, but I didn't realize that during the training, I must have accidentally left something on the list of things that I wanted.  Several months later, they billed me for the item.  When I called them to say that the item ended up on my wish list accidentally, the lady that I talked to acted as if I were a criminal.  The item sold out almost immediately, so they only managed to drive me away for a very long time.  Fast forward a few years.  I recently saw a kit on their website that I really wanted and could not find anywhere else.  The kit has been discontinued for years.  When I called and asked about the kit, they said that they could get anything from this manufacturer.  When I explained that this kit was no longer in production, the salesman repeated that they could get anything from this manufacturer.  I tried to explain that the kit was discontinued and wanted to know if it was in stock.  The salesman responded by saying "Well maybe I should just kill myself if I can't get your kit".  Those were his exact words.  All I was asking was if they had it in stock because I knew the manufacturer doesn't produce this kit any longer.  It appears that the sales staff might need some training in working with customers.  They have heard from me for the last time.  Never again.

[mbinsewi]

Thanks for the update.  There is a member in here that worships them.  I've never bought from them.

Maybe others will come out and give their experiences.

Mike.

[PRR8259]

I haven't dealt with them in years.  They were very pushy and very expensive, and would call me far too often.  I would be interested in the new 50' box car, but I absolutely do not want to buy it from them.

John

[BATMAN]

I buy from them because they are close to where I live and so I don't have to pay to ship.  I get a lot of gift certificates for them as well, as people know, l would rather have that than a case of beer for favours done. That being said I am loyal to the best price and while I give them the chance to match a price I see elsewhere, sometimes they do sometimes they don't. 

They are just another online shop as far as I am concerned, I shop for price and it doesn't matter where it comes from. I bet there is not an online retailer that hasn't pissed someone off at some point, so if they rub you the wrong way don't give them your business. 

They do a huge volume of business so I guess they are doing something right.

I often make offers to retailers on an item and they accept 90% of the time if it is reasonable. It is in my nature to barter and I never have to have anything, so that makes walking away easy. 

It is not unusual for me to have a $1000.00 or more credit at PWRS and I won't use that as an excuse to pay full retail. I shop their sales and it eventually gets used up.

 

[deckroid]

Back in 2007 or 2008, I bought a couple of series of cars from them. One of the series is the green Saskatchewan grain car. It has a hyper-realistic paint scheme and numbering... I have 2 boxes plus the secret car that only people who ordered the full set get.  It's... ok. The wheels didn't like code 82 track, but other than that they were fine.  A bit spendy and I had to wait for like 3 months for them to be made... oh, and there was an optional email service that would let you know when the 1:1 cars were going to be in your area.  I did finally see one when I was up in BC a few years ago.  Pretty cool.  Every so often I am tempted to put them on ebay or take them to a swap meet as I don't currently have a layout and I wouldn't run them if I did.

 

Yeah, PWRS could be a bit pushy on the phone and they would call whenever they were going to come out with something in the future or to let me know when anything Northern Pacific came across their radar.  Which was often, as previously stated.  But as with anything else, if you don't have a good experience at a brick and mortar store, you don't generally go back.

[tloc52]

I have purchased from them each of the last 3 years. Absolutely no issue. I pretty much get a daily email from them but that is it. They do have things in stock others do not which was my reason for buying from them.

TomO 

 

[csxns]

PRR8259

I would be interested in the new 50' box car, but I absolutely do not want to buy it from them.

Same here i just wish that Scale Trains or Exact Rail made them PWRS needs to change how they do business and i will buy a few they do look good.

[riogrande5761]

Water under the bridge years ago.

I am interested in a a couple of the new boxcars but am not pleased at having to order from them; they will be a bit spendy and postage may be as well.