HOG First Stage Regulator question

[tbone1004]

I haven't spoken to Jack yet, but it's strange because the Taiwanese dollar has fallen quite a bit in Q4 so the price bump is the opposite of what I was expecting. Will be interesting to see where the money is going to go on Jack's side unless he is prepping for an expansion.....

 

[rhwestfall]

As long as Jim (Northeast), Robert (West) & Ed (South) are my points of contact/interface, I doubt I will have any issues.....

 

[redacted]

As long as Jim (Northeast), Robert (West) & Ed (South) are my points of contact/interface, I doubt I will have any issues.....

I hope you are right.

I thought the same thing about Scubatoys for a while. When they first started, they said they would sell parts for any regulator they sold. Then they started taking little steps backwards. Now, I think they have completely reneged on that.

I am convinced the long term solution is friends in Europe and places like VDH that will put together kits of aftermarket parts to service more common regulators.

Until USA consumer protection laws change, I expect manufacturers/distributors will continue this policy to support inefficient LDSs and the unreliable service some provide.

 

[kr2y5]

It sounds like the demand after black Friday has far exceeded the supply, so raising the prices seemed like a logical thing to do... makes sense to me... next time a sale happens, folks may see it as more of a bargain, since they (we) won't be taking the low prices for granted.

 

[ams511]

It sounds like the demand after black Friday has far exceeded the supply, so raising the prices seemed like a logical thing to do... makes sense to me... next time a sale happens, folks may see it as more of a bargain, since they (we) won't be taking the low prices for granted.

I didn't buy anything this Black Friday, but if you are talking about backordered items then that is usual for HOG. I had a surface marker buoy backordered for months from DRIS until I decided to take a Zeagle one instead. I ordered a wing from Piranha and that took a while to receive also.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Demand for some items was greater than anticipated. I am waiting on D3's and Black Zeniths. Just got off the phone and scheduled date for Jack to have them is the 20th. Next week.

I suspect some were also disappointed because people who did not know any better were telling divers wanting to purchase gear "Oh wait until black Friday, this or that will be on sale!" Then guess what? It wasn't.
We (dealers) had short notice ourselves due to the management change and DEMA being so late. You can also only run a business so long on thin margins. Having enough inventory means having enough cash to get the inventory made and shipped.

There is also the problem of anticipating demand and on what items. Some are big enough to order 1000 of everything and if something doesn't sell this year you push it off as leftover next year, sell to resorts at a discount, or keep some items without branding so you can pawn them off to another brand and let them put their name on it.

When you don't have a huge parent company that can help absorb losses it can be a crap shoot. I try to anticipate demand for some items and still run a lean operation. Certain things like SMB's, spools, gauges, etc. I always try to have. I was about to stop stocking bar gauges since I had a couple sitting around for months. Then I sold four in two weeks. SMB's I have yet to run out. Except last week. Sold eight of varying sizes including my last two six footers. Those are coming next week. With my suppliers it's even more important to look at what trends are.

It also takes money to develop new items and get the prototypes made, test models in, alter them where needed, and get production going. There are some new items coming, a new catalog, and inventory to be determined, acquired, and maintained. You can't do that with fairy dust.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

Chris moved on awhile ago.

That could very well explain why my recent email to customer service was ignored. Chris was always very prompt in discussing replacement parts & wanted to know how something broke.


Edit: I'll try to contact the dealer I got it from. but at that time I bought it HOG was in the same building in Macon GA.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Did you contact your dealer? I tell all my customers to get with me first on an issue and usually I can handle it. Or will handle it and then work it out with HOG after I have taken care of my customer.

 

[TommyAHS]

The other thing to remember is that some of the pricing listed here is based on old numbers. A store can always take care of you if you contact them directly, but so far as listed advertised pricing the numbers are a bit higher as of Jan 1. An example is that a D3 with a non-reversible chrome Zenith 2nd maps at around $470 and the package deal is for a reversible Zenith. And if you haven't met Jack he is a great guy. He's another submariner who has taken the reins of EDGE/HOG. And the EDGE/HOG gear is fantastic kit.

 

[tbone1004]

if $470 is the price, that's going to ruin his market share because the only thing he has going left is the parts availability, but most of us have ways of getting them from Hollis and Dive Rite. To jump that D3/Zenith from $325 to $470 though is going to run most people away. That and the BS about having reversible and non reversible regs, just make them all bloody reversible, it will save money over time only having one SKU and one part to make, Apeks and Dive Rite have both done it and while 98% of the regs will stay one sided, if that's what your two primary competitors are doing, probably best to follow suit....

If he was smart he would drop the D1 completely, ditch the classic first stage, make a reversible second stage design like the XTX. Hell I sent him a boat load of pictures this summer on how the reversing is done. Poseidon has 2 first stages *would be nice if they had a third with a turret*, 3 second stages, Apeks XTX line has 5 first stages, 2 sets of 2 of which are basically the same, and essentially 2 second stages, one with an adjustment knob, one without. Dive Rite has 2 first stages, one second stage. Sell 4 first stages, Edge Epic, D2, D3. Sell 3 second stages, Edge Epic, whatever the octo is called, and the Zenith. The Epic is basically just a chrome D2 with a yoke, so you have 3 sku's, 2 first stages, then 3 second stages, costs go down, people get happy again.

I know 100% fact that if the prices jump up that much I'll never buy or recommend another Hog reg. I believe in what they are/were trying to do, but if I can get an XT set from Dive Rite or DC1/212 from Hollis which are basically the same regs with a bit larger more established company for $430, I'd be a fool not to. Hell at that point you can get an Atomic Z3 for $530, made in USA and higher quality.... There's no reason to take away the one thing that Chris did in the beginning which was getting us quality regulators at a fair price, no need to get greedy and try to make it the next Dive Rite or Hollis that have to be sold at 100% markup just to get the LDS' to sell them, it's BS. Mike and Edd individually probably sell more regulators than every other dealer he has combined and with the cave and sidemount community pushing them to Edd, this site pushing people to Mike, Jim being as active as he is on here, there's no reason to push all of that away. I'm interested to see what Edd will do with the prices being jacked up that high since he has Nick by the balls on Hollis pricing, it'll be interesting to see if he switches over and tries to get the DC1 turret extended like he did with the D3, and then just starts selling and using those if he can get the price down to $350 or so. This is stupid