furuno bully boy tactics at Sydney show....???

[roydsy]

Here is my recent experience with purchasing overseas:

I purchased a eagle seacharter 642igps for around $800 posted and received in 4 days from order (my local store quoted me best price ($1470) and 10-14 day wait. After a few trips it stop reading bottom and would only work some of the time.

I packaged it up and returned it to the importer in NY, USA.

8 days after I first sent back, my brand new sounder arrived all packaged up. I only paid postage one way and its working well now.

I can afford to send it back many times with the money I saved.

This experience hasn't deterred me from purchasing overseas, it has reinforced it.

roydsy

[Grand_Marlin]

grand marlin alot of your advice is good and alot of it is very bad.

Still waiting Brock ....

[snelly1971]

Still waiting Brock ....

SSShhhhh Pete...I think he is HIDING

Cant wait to when he produces all the bad advice you have given

Mick

[bundylundy]

Re original post: If a company advertises an international warranty (which Fruno has) then it should be honoured by it's local dealer/repairer regargless of which country it was bought in. As to the bully boy tactics from local reps, this is what is going to force people to look o/s. Nothing gets up people's noses (especially mine) is salesmen and reps saying you'll be sorry if you don't buy from us.
With regard to buying from the US, I am in the market for a 7" Plotter/Sounder combo and wether I buy locally or buy O/S will ultimately come down to price. One I have been researching is $1450 including duty and GST but the best local price I can find at the moment is $2200. I can wear a couple hundred dollars for local service and backup warranty, but $750 I think not. My spin on things anyway.

Jeff.

[outsiderskip]

i bought my unit from cascade marine in states
after 6 months i was getting condensation in it
Taylor marine fixed it, a month later same thing happened again so i took it back to tailor marine they fixed it and gave me a bill for$450which i refused to pay i sent a email to usa saying they fixed my sounder without telling me and they found front cover was faulty.2 days later got a call from perth and got my sounder back at no cost to me

pete

[lowry]

Et al above

I definitely agree with some of those comments

But one thing that everyone needs to consider when comparing prices from AUS to the US you are not comparing apples to apples. The costs associated with running a business here as opposed to the US are VASTLY different. Minimum wages are MUCH higher and workers comp, super and insurances are all higher (some are non existent in the US) and what about GST? What if someone (your boss) turned around to you and said he/she was reducing your wage because workers in the US are doing the same job for $15K less would you accept that? Of course not.

While you think that the difference is "cream" being banked into importers accounts it might not always the case. Does anyone know the mark up in the US compared to AUS on electronics? I'm not sure but in percentage terms i'd bet it would be similar.

Another point… why should any importers be forced to replace your overseas product when they have no value added reason to do so. It costs them time and money to replace and repair a unit AND they didn’t even make any profit from the sale in the first place? Of course they are not going to tell you to buy OS because then they are all out of work. You can get upset about it or accept that every person in their right mind would do the exact same thing to protect their jobs/security etc.

I recently bought a 585 from my local tackle shop. I looked on the net for OS prices and could save around 40% but still bought locally employing the old adage ‘caveat emptor’… I’m sure the majority of OS purchasers will have no dramas with warranties etc but I wasn’t willing to take the chance. You are all perfectly entitled to buy OS to save money but I thinks its unfair to simply assume you are being ripped off by local importers because of the price difference.

BTW I’m not in the importing business haha.

[quigley595]

It's as simple as this......

YOU are the purchaser. You want to buy o/s, then do it.... want to buy local, then do it.

Problem as I see it is that many local retailers / wholesalers have been on the pigs back for way too long, and they have been taking advantage of us. All they think about is ... how much money can I make out of this? I have too many examples of this that its not funny.

Sure, they are there to make a living (and a more than reasonable profit is not begrudged to them.
Sure, they are available to provide some advice (some of which is good, some not so good).
Sure they have costs and overheads, which we all recognise and are prepared to pay.
Sure we should support them, but only when THEY start supporting US in a meaningful way.

No one disagrees with retailers making a good profit, but I believe that NO-ONE can justify HUNDREDS of percent profit margin, on the majority of their goods, and still be able to look you in the eye and say that I'm not trying to squeeze every possible cent I can out of you.

So back to my original comment... if you want to be all fuzzy and warm and be proudly supporting the little aussie battler retailer, then go ahead and continue to buy locally.

Frankly, I have had better service, delivery, pricing and assistance from o/s retailers on expensive electronic products than I have had locally.

If my Sounder/GPS blows up and I cant get it fixed satisfactorily by the original o/s retailer, then bugger it.... i will simply buy the new model (again from o/s).I will probably STILL get it in a timeframe which is acceptable to me, maybe quicker than from the local, and more importantly........ I will STILL be paying less for BOTH units, AND I will NOT feel that I have been ripped off, AND I will probably end up with a later model unit.

So to all the locals out there........ you want MY support, you give me YOURS, and something more than, "yep, the spotties have been biting well off the point in the last few days".

Don't get me wrong here.... I would LOVE to support the locals on big purchases, and I'm not a tightarse, but you reap what you sow.

A silly pissant little example..... I recently was in the local tackle shop to buy bits'n'pieces. One of the rods which just happened to be in the ute had a broken rod tip guide. 10 bucks thank you very much! WHAT THE??? for a 60 cent guide and less than 60 seconds work???? Not being the argumentative type, I paid it.... but I am buggered if I will even ENQUIRE about the cost of a reel service!

By all means, make your profit gents, but I would say that you would make even MORE if you made LESS (and that was deliberately phrased that way).
But more importantly, EVERYBODY would be happy.

I have seen these type of posts on here before, and I never posted a reply. This time, I posted this out of frustration only, and I'm NOT trying to start an argument. Back to my original point.... its YOUR money... you do what is best for you.

[John Martin]

Guigley595, I agree with you mate......spend your money wherever you want. BUT do not expect the business where you DID NOT spend you money to bend over and assist you for service (dealer or distributor).

I believe the above is what prompted this thread but like all threads they move off topic. If you are not happy with (I'll quote from your post) "little aussie battler retailer" then call the Aus distributor directly. From my experience they listen and rectify bad service that is reported about their dealers. After all it is the distributor that honours warranty, not the local dealer.

I was in the market for a Furuno 620 and I have done lots of research both here and OS. In fact I even checked out the UK prices as I travel there often on business. My research of this product indicates a price diffs is about 10-20% (US web dealers) bearing in mind that 10% of that is local GST. So, where do you get (I'll use your quote again "justify HUNDREDS of percent profit margin"? Is this just GROSS EXAGGERATION

I'll support my local dealer and since I am in IT maybe he'll be in business long enough to support my business one day. Also your example about the rod guide being replaced for $10. If you had supported your local dealer with larger purchases he would probably have done you a favour and replaced the guide for no cost but if he's got to rely on making a living from replacing rod guides then you're lucky it only cost you 10 bucks! Did you say (quote)... "but you reap what you sow" Oh, yeah, that's life hey, it works both ways.

Thanks BCF, I have my 620 and it is sweeeet

[quigley595]

John,
I am not going to get into a slanging match on this one, but just to answer a few of your points..

do not expect the business where you DID NOT spend you money to bend over and assist you for service
I don't expect that, and I can accept that... and why indeed should they??? I am happy to live with that.

If you are not happy with (I'll quote from your post) "little aussie battler retailer" then call the Aus distributor directly
No mate.... I have better things to do with my time than whine to anyone about poor me. Besides... I have a better way of showing my dissatisfaction. I buy a lot of gear.... I just choose where I buy it.

So, where do you get (I'll use your quote again "justify HUNDREDS of percent profit margin"? Is this just GROSS EXAGGERATION
Nope.. not "gross exaggeration" as you put it mate... I could write pages of examples which would waste everyones time. Read this thread (and others). You will find many examples.Heres a couple from me.... Lowrance 337DFc At the time I bought it, best price in Aus was $1600. I got it delivered (from o/s), to my door for $750... (and thats AUS dollars). Now... unless my CBS maths fails me, thats more than a 100 percent price difference.
Same sort of story on an Icom M402A VHF.
Granted, I can't truthfully say what the percentage profit margin was, but hey...let's be honest here


Also your example about the rod guide being replaced for $10. If you had supported your local dealer with larger purchases he would probably have done you a favour
OH!!!!! I see the light now. So THATS what I have been doing wrong! If I had spent thousands of dollars with him, I would (maybe) have got the 60 cent rod guide done for cost, or even better... FREE! But to be more professional though, he IS my local dealer, and I DO use him for just about all my purchases, including quite expensive rods and reels. Charging 10 bucks for that is simply profiteering, in anyones language. Got to be at least a 2,000 percent profit margin there.

Did you say (quote)... "but you reap what you sow" Oh, yeah, that's life hey, it works both ways.
Yes, I sure DID say that... and this is the one point on which you and I agree.

Thanks BCF,
Yep.. I use them too... (BTW, they weren't the ones with the 10 buck rod guide!)

One other thing we DO have in common.... I've been in IT for 20+ years.

[John Martin]

quigley595, no slanging match mate, just a difference in opinions. Your points are all valid (in your opinion) and I think mine are valid (in my opinion)

[peterbo3]

Here are some real life figures. Raymarine C80 screen & GPS receiver..........$3615
locally. Price ex the US based on an exchange rate of 82 cents.............A$2218. And Raymarine Asia in Sydney will honour my warranty.
My Furuno 585 arrived from the US on Monday. I ordered the unit on the previous Friday. I will not make people vomit by revealing how little I paid for it, even at an exchange rate of 79 cents. Had I purchased at 88 cents I would have got it for just about free.

And in the unlikely event that it does stuff up, it will go back to Furuno in Seattle & I will probably get it back quicker than I would from Taylors.
And it will need to stuff up a whole lot of times before I am out of pocket.