Price fixing?????

[Thebuffalo]

Have a mate here who is in the market for a new boat. Went and got a quote from a dealer here in Darwin. The dealer here is the only Dealer for this brand of boat.

We tried a dealer down south who gave a quote that was 14K cheaper. No BS. Give or take abit for electronics etc.

When he found out that we were from the NT he told us to go through the local guy.

He advised us that he wasn't allowed to sell interstate and that we have to support our local guys.

Why should we support them when they have a monopoly and rip us off?

Same thing happened with another brand.

You lot on the east coast have a choice of dealers in most cases and can end up with a fair price.

Are they allowed to do it? sounds like it is price fixing of sorts? what are your thoughts?

[Wahoo]

GEEE
i would tell them to shove it up his ar$$, then Email the boat builder and let them know that you would like to buy one of his boats but it wont happen because of this, maybe you can buy factory direct, if it was me i would tell the to shove it but only when the shop is full of PPL, but thats just me

hope it works out for ya


Daz

[FNQCairns]

Contact the accc, our current government took some of their power away in the interest of comprehensive dishonesty but they might have a few baby teeth still. Give them the flick IMO your money is better spent on another brand, suspect the boat builder will be in agreement (quietly) thats what industry associations are for.

cheers fnq

[mik01]

GEEE
i would tell them to shove it up his ar$$, then Email the boat builder and let them know that you would like to buy one of his boats but it wont happen because of this, maybe you can buy factory direct, if it was me i would tell the to shove it but only when the shop is full of PPL, but thats just me

hope it works out for ya


Daz

ahhahaha -

sorry, it made me laugh.
yeah tell em to stick it or, tell the dealer that he isn't selling interstate because you are paying him in his state, and picking it up in his state, therefore he has no worries.
or can you take that quote to your local dealer and tell him you will buy interstate unless he matches it?

Wahoo was on the money also - contact the manufacturer and outline your concerns and you might get a different outcome.

if all else fails, post the name of the dealer and the make of the boat so that we all know ;)

[sid_fishes]

or just come anywhere for a holiday and buy the boat, and see how you go , but then theres the service side of things

[Bin455]

Hey Mate, Im in Darwin too and had the same expierience. I went to all the dealers up here when looking at boats, when I found the boat I wanted I went to the dealer to get a quote. All went well untill I went back to get a price with some more extras and was quoted a totally different base price. I end up emailing 5-6 boat yards over QLD and SA and got quotes up to 3-4k cheaper. One quote I got from SA was for the same make hull and trailer but with a yamaha motor instead of the merc I was being quoted for here and was still about 3k cheaper than darwin. I rang the dealer in SA and asked why he was so much cheaper and he told me not to worry he was still making good money at that price, he aslo said that down south they had to be competitive or they would go broke. When I confronted the dealer here about the price difference he first said that no one could do it cheaper than he was....he then said if I can a setup cheaper elsewhere then do it......so I did.
I end up getting a better setup with a 4st motor( i was looking at a 2st) better warranty, sounder thrown in, and full boat and motor cover in town for about 500 cheaper. The Boat yard I bought from was the only one I hadnt been to and turned out to be the best (for me anyway).
And I can honesty say I couldnt be more pleased with the service and product from them.

After talking to dealers up here and then down south I can pretty much garantee we pay more from some dealers up here because they know if we dont buy certain makes of hulls and motors from them we have to go interstate.


Phew that was long winded!!
Bin455

[Ryan.S]

Cant imagine they would knock you back if you rocked up with the cash and drove your boat back to the territory. That would have to be ok! Sounds stupid to me mate. Pays to shop around huh.

[Thebuffalo]

Thanks for the replies.

The bit about buying interstate and driving it back was a thought we had. When we spoke to the dealer down south he stated that he would do it so long as we could prove we were from NSW (drivers lic) can you beleive that.

The brand of boat is very well known and has a very good rep. It has an internal ballast system.

A lot of dealers up here say it is freight etc. This is usually BS. Ford and Holden pay the same delivery prices as a yard in Geelong etc. May be a bit different.

They have us by the balls so they think they can do us over. Most people don't haggle on the prices.

Anyway, just venting mostly.

Any dealers in Qld happy to sell interstate make yourself known. Where I live we have to barg our stuff over. It can come through Karumba or Darwin.

There are three of these boats comming to the island that I know of.

Thanks for the replies.

It's not Fisher boats by the way.

Now, have to go fishing.

[mini696]

Inform your local guy of the cheaper price, and he should match it... If he doesn't I would make the trip down south.

[Scott nthQld]

I'm guessing you live on Gove Penisula if everything is barged over from Karumba?

The excuse that I can't sell interstate is BS, all that would happen is you may have to pay double stamp duty on registration (one lot in state of purchase to register trailer for transport, and one lot in State of residence when it is changed over). But that is a matter for the Govt transport dept of those states, nothing to do with the dealer. The only problem I can see if it was some sort of code of cunduct agreed to by all dealers from the manufacturer and if it is broken, it can jepoardise their business with them.

You are best to follow others recomendations and contact the builder first, asking questions about freight to the dealers etc and if no result, take it to the ACCC. Failing that, if you have any freinds/relatives in another state, get them to make the purchase for you, without registration, and get them to 'sell' it to you for a dollar to avoid any extra stamp duty. From there, its just a matter of filling out the transfer of warranty documents and forwarding those to the builder.

[Mindi]

Why dont you just name the dealer and the boat..? surely not defamatory to report a good or bad deal...thats where we all stand to benefit from learning from other's experience.