# Aristo Craft website



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Is it me or is the Aristo Craft website still un-developed?

It seems like every page I bring up is either under construction or just plain blank.

http://www.aristocraft.com/E-8_c_23.html

http://www.aristocraft.com/Steam-Locomotives_c_24.html

http://www.aristocraft.com/PressNews

For a major manufacturer in our hobby to let their website linger in disaray for months, it is very disheartning.


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## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

Randy used your link that you provided and it works fine. Nothing under contruction.


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## Tom Parkins (Jan 2, 2008)

I get under construction for About Us and Press/ News. It does seem strange for About us to be under construction. That should be fairly straight forward. 

Blank Pages.....I believe E8 is blank as it is not in stock. That is true of many items. Perhaps the page should say "Not Currently in stock at the Aristo Warehouse, consult your dealer for availability. Certainly when you go to a show or a bigger hobby shop it is impressive how much stock is out there. Maybe not every road but a lot of stuff still available. 

The Aristo Forum works well. Scott is not Lewis and chime in on everything. Both good and bad. Obviously without Lewis, there seems to be much less participation. Certainly Hey Scott has not replaced the Hey Lewis. 

Aristo does offer some occasional great sales. The ordering from the web page is very easy and the shipping is superb. 

I give them a C+ or B- for the web page. A little effort could easily raise that grade. 

Tom P


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Same here, but I think it's just you


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, the new web site is still missing a lot, basically unchanged from it's rollout months ago. 

Another irritating thing is that there's no lookup system in the store, i.e. normally it's only there if it's in stock, so you can't use it as a reference for part numbers... 

Greg


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Just click to reload the page, probably a cached page you are going to that is out of date. 
Use this:
Aristo


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The "about us" and "press and news" both show under construction... go you get anything on those pages? 

Greg


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

I am with you Greg. Site is very disappointing compared to the past


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I fear that Scott prefers Facebook over a web site... and their forum... although we used to have some really interesting discussions over there, on improving and fixing things, and got into the "nitty gritty"... now anything negative is not allowed, so all those interesting and educational discussions seem to be gone... 

Facebook seems to be a better "Sales" vehicle... can't argue with that I guess... 

Greg


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I met Scott at Pomona a few years ago. I wanted to buy some "parts" - in multiples... 

He just laughed at me...... 

I have not seen any action from A/C that shows me "they are interested in customers"..... 

Their business model is not working.... 

They are running low or are out of stock on merchandise,.... 


sadly - unless some changes are made the course is set................ 

any business 'needs it's customers', and if they are driven away, .... 

what's left........? 


.............Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott prefers Facebook? 

If so how does he expect customers to find his facebook page? 

I just looked through his website and didn't find a single note about facebook. 

Sure I could google it but really. 

Should a customer have to google to find a business location when they are on the companies website? 

I like Aristo Crafts products, but like Dirk said, their business model sucks and is not working for me. 

How many others feel this way? 

I have no degree in business management, but I dang sure could do a better job running the company then the management team in charge now.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

For a while, the sales were announced on Facebook before they were emailed to others, the web site does not reflect the special sales, or at least I can't find them. 

Even Lewis admitted that his only real interest in the web site was to advertise, thus his justification to not have any criticism of his products on "his" web site and more importantly "his" forum. 

Indeed they are his to be sure, but chasing away people because they don't just spout "attaboys" makes the site useless for getting the real answer when you have a problem. 

There are problems, and tips for improvement for EVERY brand, and the discussions of how to improve things is what attracted me there... 

Greg


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

for as much as Aristo Craft doesn't allow negative post on the website forum, isn't negative post on facebook impossible for them to delete or ignore? 

Seems they are much more vulnerable to negativity on facebook.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I can't tell if all these nice sales I've been seeing in my mailbox are going out of business sales or as I hoped an attempt to raise cash for a de-bugged company saving product. The 2-8-0 could have been all that if she fit between the rails and sold in the $400 range, sensibly priced like the mallet. 
Does anybody at Aristo speak Chinese? I doubt it and the middle man just wants his pay check... 

John


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Aristocrafts website is exactly like aristocraftt itself: some good ideas, poorly executed. Their prime mover drive is in some ways a really good idea, but the fit between the wheels and the axles is poorly executed. The Revo is in some ways a good idea, but you can't find it now because of some knd of unclear production snafus and aristo is your sole supplier. The website is potentially a good idea, but its poorly executed: lots of blank, empty pages, no good search function, and moslty the message you get is "we don't actually have this." The idea of direct sales might be good, but its probably death to their dealer network.

I sure hope they are doing ok. I've had lots of problems with aristo stuff, but it can be made more reliable with some work. if nothing else, I'll use their motor blocks and parts to kit bash other things. It won't do the hobby any good if they go under.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

I just spent some time on their facebook page and to say the least, it didn't impress me. 

Am I missing something? 

I didn't see anything that made me want to return to their facebook page.


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

If Aristo is relying on facebook I think they are making a big mistake. I'm not on facebook and have no intention of ever joining. I think it's just a scheme to make Mark Z. rich. It certainly didn't do anything for the investors. I waste enough time on the computer as it is. But, back to the issue. I have a number of railroad friends and most of them do very little on computers and nothing on facebook. 
Bob


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## cocobear1313 (Apr 27, 2012)

Here here Bob!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

If they are going to base their customers communication on Facebook. They will loose this customer. I am not in Facebook and have no intention of joining.

Chuck


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

You guys worrying about Facebook should just relax. it's not a good platform for running a business, and you can't have an online ordering system. They send emails, and the emails link you to the website


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's not worrying, it's the goofy "advertise on facebook", "buy on web site", and "abandon other development on web site", and ambivalent attitude to forum, if I may condense my statements. 

Greg


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

Aristocraft is sinking fast. I saw the same thing when old man Athearn passed away and left the company to his son. Things went down hill almost overnight. The company was eventually sold to someone who wanted it and was willing to put some effort into it. Today it is better than ever. I wouldn't look forward to very many new products and would look forward to large price increases like the LGB products.


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

Athearn better then ever ???? ha ha ha ........ they lost all there molds in china and reddy to roll is gone ..... no parts anymore .... they are half dead


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ouch, lost molds? That sounds familiar... scary... 

Greg


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## Ralph Berg (Jun 2, 2009)

Posted By Bob in Kalamazoo on 05 Sep 2012 12:20 PM 
If Aristo is relying on facebook I think they are making a big mistake. I'm not on facebook and have no intention of ever joining. I think it's just a scheme to make Mark Z. rich. It certainly didn't do anything for the investors. I waste enough time on the computer as it is. But, back to the issue. I have a number of railroad friends and most of them do very little on computers and nothing on facebook. 
Bob



If you do any Railfanning, or have any interest in railroad news, Facebook is a great tool.
There are groups on FB that tell me what milepost trains are at, at any given time.
I've had news of accidents and derailments hours before any news media report. With better photos.

As for model railroading, web-sites such as this, are still better sources of information.
Ralph


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