Furuno Waranty

[flybloke]

Ive been hearing all sorts of info about the Australian distributor for Furuno Japan not honouring the manufactures world wide warranty. The Australian distributors own website seems to contradict the manufactures terms.
Relating purely on Trailer boat sounders (620 etc) , and sounders bought from the USA, Could I ask the forum sponsor what excactly is the deal with US bought Furuno sold to Australians? Iv'e read the Fishon site and it confuses what the local boys say.
The way I see it should be is this;
If I buy a Furuno product from fishon, It goes pairshape , I email fishon who then needs to let Japan know of the fault, Japan then authorises the Aussie distributor to fix it(and Im assuming with a fixed compensation payable to the AU distributor) ?
So why should the AU distributor get so cranky about fixing units when they MUST be getting paid or credited for there time, They signed up to the dealership did they not?

[John Martin]

flybloke, I just read the warranty conditions on the JN Taylor website. They trade as Furuno Australia and Tayor Marine and they are the Aus agents for Furuno. It looks pretty straight forward. See section below which I cut and pasted from their site. It looks like if you choose to buy from overseas then only if they are requested by Furuno with an order number will they repair it. I suppose this way they are guaranteed of being paid. But if you buy from an authorised Furuno dealer in Aus then there's no fuss and they'll fix it no worries and without waiting for auhority from the other dealer or Furuno. The same thing happened to me with an electric razor I bought in Singapore. Try get that replaced under warranty in Aus!

quote.....
JN Taylor accepts the manufacturers limited warranty responsibilities ONLY for equipment imported by ourselves and distributed through our authorised dealers. Unless prior warranty authorisation has been received from Furuno Electric Company, its subsidiaries or an authorised National Distributor of Furuno Electric Company, JN Taylor does NOT accept any warranty responsibilities for equipment purchased outside of Australia or through a non authorised reseller. For a full list of authorised Australian distributors please check our web site: www.furuno.com.au

[marco]

flybloke ,
i have had a problem before with a furuno usa sounder and what the go is furuno usa is the company that handles the warranty , they will then contact taylor marine to authorize repairs which they pay taylors for doing the work on their behalf .
what you will find is taylors will make it as hard as they can for you because they did not sell you the unit
( playing dirty if you like ) and by contrast furuno usa is so good that a furuno tech from the states rang me here on 3 separate occasions to try and help diagnose the problem .
the furunos are very good quality and given the price difference between taylors and the usa i would not think twice about doing it again , i was very unlucky with the problem i had .

and i can recommend fishon marine as well , awesome service and very very helpful .

[banshee]

Were you expecting the local (Aussie) distributor to willingly fix your gear after you bypassed them and then have them chase up a foreign company for payment which may be disputed?Mate be a bit fair dinkum about things and send it back to who ever you bought it off.

[battler1]

I agree send it back and let the people you bought it of fix it as they made the profit on it . Hey guy's i need my house painted anyone keen to help me do it ? i can't pay you ! i live in Brisbane and can only do it week days 9 am till 4pm ? any starters

Joe

Were you expecting the local (Aussie) distributor to willingly fix your gear after you bypassed them and then have them chase up a foreign company for payment which may be disputed?Mate be a bit fair dinkum about things and send it back to who ever you bought it off.

[marco]

Were you expecting the local (Aussie) distributor to willingly fix your gear after you bypassed them and then have them chase up a foreign company for payment which may be disputed?Mate be a bit fair dinkum about things and send it back to who ever you bought it off.

what a load of crap , furuno comes with international warranty and yes the local guy should fix it and charge the overseas distributer . IF THE LOCAL GUY WASNT RIPPING OFF THE AUSSIE CUSTOMER HE MIGHT FIND HE WOULD GET THE BUSINESS

[banshee]

Well I guess there is the way you'd like things to be and then there's the way things actualy are,ie the real world,mate you'd have to be off with the fairies to think a company that made nothing on the deal is going to throw money at fixing something that's not their problem (read John Martins quote) and before you go off on some bullshit about consumers rights,think about who the parent company is going to back,the importer of a sizeable quantity of their product or the person who saved a few bucks by not dealing with that company?Further more,why would you want 'the local rip off merchant' (your words not mine) doing the job any way?Taylor Marine may end up doing something in the end,who knows,but their policy is not hard to understand,chalk it up to experience and send it back to the people who banked the profit and stop moaning.

[johnlikes2fish]

tough situation boats travel worldwide you would like to think manufacturers would support their goods everywhere, if my gps sounder breaks down in the USA on my australian registered boat i dont want to ship it home for repairs but buying local is best, why is there such huge price differences between the usa and here it cant be shipping because i can ship one item and still save hundreds on the local price shipping large numbers brings the price down, I can literally purcahse a gps for 50% of the local price including shipping on a $4500 item this is a fair whack of cash

[flybloke]

To Battler1 and banshee, Dont tell me this site has people like you too?
Did I say I was going to buy OS? I was asking Fishon to answer the discrepancy.
Are you school kids?

[John Martin]

Errr, yer we go again.......I thought this had been debated to death but it keeps me away from the TV and out of my shed.

I was helping the oldman (inlaw) and got a price from pat at Fishon marine for a Furuno 620 with a transom mount tranny and I do not think it was that the saving was great when compared to the best deal I could get locally (Trymax in Brisbane) and add to that a $75 cash rebate. The guys at trymax gave me good advice and they seem like a genuine bunch who'll help the oldman get to grips with the new beast. I have not shopped around for other brands but this is just my experience, the difference is not that great on the Furuno gear.

Choice and freedom to purchase from whomever you to choose, this is the beauty of the internet and a strong Aussie $. But remember that people are in business to make a profit and the bigger the profit the happier they are. Same as me, the more work I do and the more I charge the happier I am. If some bloke comes along with a sob story and he did not support me (for whatever reason) I do not even give him the time of day. The importers and distributors are no different and why should they be?

Why are things cheaper in the USA......they just are! It's huge market working on high turn-over and small margins which adds up to huge profits.

[Kristine Sempf]

Hi guys,
I’m interacting with this thread because I intend to buy a Furuno GP37 GPS soon, and am considering buying from the United States. Your comments from both sides of the argument about warranty are useful. I am looking into the contract law aspect– it would be nice to get some legal facts from Furuno ‘headquarters’ – if they are obliging enough. Anyhow, I found 2 web-sales quotes in the United States for the GP37 at US$550.00, with a number of quotes being around US$600 to about US$650. I contacted a few Australian dealers by email, including Taylor Marine ( J.N. Taylor & Co. Ltd.). All quoted me the price of AU$1,090 being the recommended retail price, but no sales’ prices were mentioned.
I would imagine that these dealers are authorised agents of Taylor Marine. There is a vast difference in the price considering that the Australian dollar is equivalent to about US94 cents.
A quote for delivery to Australia by Fedex is US$119. There is a small fee for transfer between currencies, but there are no customs fees or other associated tax for importing the GP37 into Australia. I don’t have all the facts to comment fairly, but it appears that Taylor Marine may be adding substantial amounts to Furuno products because of small turnovers.
As you know, Taylor Marine is the authorised sales/service agent in Australia for either Furuno Electric Company, Japan (info@furuno.co.jp), or Furuno Electric Company’s subsidiary Furuno USA Inc. (furuno@custhelp.com). Taylor Marine is an agent, not a subsidiary of either of these two, and would be bound to some sort of contract regarding warranties.
I contacted Furuno USA Inc. a few days ago regarding this warranty, and quoted sufficient text from Taylor Marine’s web site, including “Unless prior warranty authorisation ……”
I received a response today from Furuno USA Inc. however it was a bit vague and did not directly address the ‘prior warranty authorisation’ clause of Taylor Marine. I emailed back asking for a direct response of either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ regarding prior warranty authorisation for me.
Today I contacted Furuno Electric Company, Japan, with the similar question – response will be a few days.
– just need to wait and see what I can find out.
Looking forward to your comments and help.
Kristine

[disorderly]

To Battler1 and banshee, Dont tell me this site has people like you too?
Did I say I was going to buy OS? I was asking Fishon to answer the discrepancy.
Are you school kids?

You sound like an ungrateful bugger.
You post on the chatboards and receive some helpful replies and then scorn them.
If you want to ask fishon a question why don't you just send them an email?

Scott

[disorderly]

A quote for delivery to Australia by Fedex is US$119.

Taylor Marine is an agent, not a subsidiary of either of these two, and would be bound to some sort of contract regarding warranties.

Kristine,try getting a delivery price from USPS....a couple of items I bought last year cost around the $50-$60 mark for delivery and arrived in about 5 days.

I also talked with Taylor marine prior to purchasing a Furuno sounder from O/S and they begrudgingly told me that they would fix it under warranty..though it would not be their top priority.

If this concerns you have a look at the new Garmin range of plotters..the new mapping looks great and I have had a warranty done locally on an O/S bought Garmin unit.

Scott

[marco]

Well I guess there is the way you'd like things to be and then there's the way things actualy are,ie the real world,mate you'd have to be off with the fairies to think a company that made nothing on the deal is going to throw money at fixing something that's not their problem (read John Martins quote) and before you go off on some bullshit about consumers rights,think about who the parent company is going to back,the importer of a sizeable quantity of their product or the person who saved a few bucks by not dealing with that company?Further more,why would you want 'the local rip off merchant' (your words not mine) doing the job any way?Taylor Marine may end up doing something in the end,who knows,but their policy is not hard to understand,chalk it up to experience and send it back to the people who banked the profit and stop moaning.

WHY DONT YOU ACTUALLY TAKE THE TIME TO READ JOHN MARTINS POST


'Unless prior warranty authorisation has been received from Furuno Electric Company, its subsidiaries or an authorised National Distributor of Furuno Electric Company, JN Taylor does NOT accept any warranty responsibilities for equipment purchased outside of Australia or through a non authorised reseller"




try using a dictionary before gobbing off again , and when the manufacturer states that their is international warranty with a product then that is what each and every local distributer has a obligation to support the furuno international service .

we expect the same service here that if a ship fitted by taylor marine purchased equipment would receive when in the states for instance , local guy fixes it and charges the selling distributer and if you take the time to sit down and read the taylor policy that is exactly what happens .

as for having the rip off merchant fixing my gear , even the most stupidest person would know that the tech guy is not the same guy that sets the monetary policy of the company , so yes i would be happy that the fully trained local tech guy fixes my sounder and charges furuno usa accordingly . thats fair and that is the international policy .

thanks for the insults and it is truelly a shame that common sense and intelligence is in such short supply with some guys on here .

[banshee]

No need to thank me for the insults Marco.....it was my pleasure,but sadly it is you my freind who is turning stupidity into a science....of course you'll get your foreign bought product fixed promptly and without hassel.