Glitch News

Normally, we don't make any posts when Webkinz is down, as it is usually part of a scheduled maintenance or a short interruption in play. Unfortunately, the Webkinz World servers stopped responding last night around midnight Kinz Time, according to AnotherKinzDad's thread in our Webkinz Insider forum.

We haven't seen any tweets from Ganz's official twitter account and aren't sure what the cause of the issue is. Since this is an extended downtime, we wanted to keep all of you in the loop so that you don't think you're alone when Webkinz World and Webkinz Newz won't load for you and webkinz.com is down.

 

It appears to be some kind of misconfiguration between the server groups that Ganz has dedicated to Webkinz World, Webkinz Newz and the Ganz eStore, as the servers respond initially and loads some code to indicate that the servers are overloaded. Unfortunately, the information never makes it to the browser and you get either a blank page, broken image, or are told that your browser can't open the page. We'll keep you updated with any information that we can get.

 

UPDATE: I've heard from Ganz directly about the extended downtime. The problem is not with any of their servers or network, but rather with the network switching on the Internet. Ganz's Network Operations team has been working with their upstream provider, who is waiting for hardware replacement to correct the issue. Until then, we must wait. The good news is that the Webkinz servers are all working fine and you do not need to worry one bit about your beloved Webkinz or any items in your account!

 

UPDATE 2: At around 4pm Kinz Time, Webkinz-related services slowly began ramping up and it appears all issues have been corrected, although users have indicated that there are problems with Kinz Phones. 

Congratulations to Webkinz Insider member ssparavier on the adoption of four new January 2012 Webkinz.  Above you can see "Jagger" the Mohawk Puppy with the Rocking Wardrobe, "Twizzler" the Cotton Candy Puppy, "Teeko" the Signature Siberian Husky with the Northern Research Igloo, and "Pebbles" the Blossom Sea Turtle with the Sea Floral Cave. 

 

The reason Twizzler is not shown with a Pet Specific Item is because there was glitch when ssparavier opened the Pet Gift Box.  Instead of being awarded the Cotton Candy Closet, she was awarded the Cedar Toy Trunk which is supposed to be the PSI for the Sleepy Woodland Dragon.  ssparavier has contacted Ganz and is expecting a return call on Monday.

 

Thinking about adding one of these cute critterz to your Webkinz family?  Please consider shopping at Ameriwade, Webkinz Insider's partner store.  Ameriwade features $5 flat rate shipping to the USA and Canada, customers who pay with credit cards are not charged until their orders ship, and a portion of every sale made online at www.Ameriwade.com goes to supporting Webkinz Insider.

Ms. Birdy has returned to Webkinz World, and to the delight of players everywhere, she is super easy to find!  Instead of wandering around the Clubhouse, jumping from room to room, she stays put in the Santakinz Room, and she is there all day long.  To collect your prize, just go to the Santakinz Room and click on her.  

 

Remember, in order to collect all of Ms. Birdy's prizes, you need to click on her once a day for the next twelve days.  If you miss a day, you can't go back and get that prize, unless you spend points at the Ganz eStore.  To learn more about the Countdown to Christmas 2011, please visit the Webkinz Insider WIki.

 

Players who have Deluxe accounts but who have not adopted a new Webkinz in the past twelve months can't participate.  When they click on Ms. Birdy a message pops up saying they are not allowed to get a gift.  Since Deluxe accounts are supposed to have full access to Webkinz World, this appears to be a glitch.

 

Several of our members with Asian accounts discovered the glitch early on Tuesday, and they were able to get in contact with Ganz Customer Service to report the problem.  Although there has not been any official word from Ganz, the word from several customer service representatives is that the programmers are looking into the problem and they hope it will be corrected soon.

 

UPDATE:  The glitch has been fixed!  Now, if you have a Deluxe account that has not adopted a pet in the past 12 months, you can get gifts from Ms. Birdy.  If you missed out on the gift from day one due to this glitch, please contact Ganz to let them know.  Reports from our members are that the Customer Service Reps are giving players 2000 eStore points so that the players can purchase the missing gift.  To contact Ganz, please click HERE.

Last month Ganz announced that, as part of the Kinectimals Game Promotion, they would be awarding players an Exotic Bear Cub Statue on December 10 and a Peaceful Meadow Window on December 18.  As several Webkinz Insider members have discovered, these prizes have already arrived!

 

Some players are reporting that they receive the prize after clicking on one of the floating pandas in Webkinz World.  Other players are reporting that they receive the prize after completing the Kinectimals Video Challenge.  Either way, this is one welcome surprise!  Unlike the Kinectimals Island ATV that was previously awarded as part of this promotion, both of these items CAN be traded and sent by KinzPost.

 

It is unclear at this point what this means for the future of the Kinectimals Game Promotion, specifically what is going to happen on the 10th and the 18th.  As soon as that information is revealed, we will bring it to you here.

 

*UPDATE* 

 

 It's now December 10 in Asian accounts, and members are receiving the Exotic Bear Cub Statue on login to their Webkinz World accounts. It is to be expected that members in other time zones will receive the same login present when their day turns over to Saturday December 10.