And another sale gone, another one down... another one bites the dust!

[Zagnut]

Somebody PM me the list of "brand X's" and I'll start the email onslaught! Maybe I'll even start wearing a sandwich board everywhere I go.

Scubra Pro - sounds like
Sea Quest - I believe is one

Which brands treat you all the best? Which brands treat you all the worst?

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Flame away, but Halcyon has been great.

Called about a power inflator that bubbled slightly. They put me through to the head of their manufacturing department, who apologized and explained that they had gotten a bad batch that they thought had been weeded out. Gave me an RMA and offered to call for a pickup. Overnighted a new one on nothing more than my promise to return the old one.


Beuchat USA has also been great as it relates to regulator servicing (I hate the LDS that sold it to me, so I send direct to the manufacturer for service). One day turnaround and they pay for half the shipping.

 

[Genesis]

Without the criteria its impossible to know who's on the list

For example, is it manufacturers with threats about discount pricing? That would be nearly all of them, if not all.

Is it those who twist your arm to be a dealer? That would be nearly all of them as well.

Gotta be more specific.....

 

[Zagnut]

Halcyan = good on warranty items

Beauchat USA = good servicing experience

One day turnaround is prett darn good. It seems like when I was researching gear before my big purchase, I read up on Beauchat a little bit..I believe it was regs and computers.. and I got mixed reviews if I remember correctly. What is your opinion of their gear performancewise?

I ended up going with Zeagle Ranger(BC), Mares V16 Epos(reg), and Genesis REact(computer) and my wife got smae config with the exception of the BC. She got a Zeagle Zena. I'm very happy with my choices, although the reg is a little heavy. How do the manufacturers of my gear treat you all as LDS owners?

 

[cmay]

Zagnut once bubbled...


If they do such a high volume in sales, where are they keeping all that gear?... in their "small" showroom?

A small "showroom" with gear displayed, and a very large warehouse offsite.

 

[cmay]

Genesis once bubbled...
in the highest-cost-of-overhead market in the United States.

Ever price real estate (for sale or commercial lease) in NYC? I have. Ever investigated NYC's extraordinarily punitive tax structure? I have. Ever looked into putting a business there? I have - and damn near threw up.

If LP wanted a "low cost" marketplace they'd be in Omaha or, gasp, somewhere in the boonies in Florida.

Who says their ware house is in Manhatten, or even in NY for that matter.

 

[Genesis]

Their shipping manifests and labels, along with the online tracking on their shipments.

Its coming out of NYC.

 

[Zagnut]

I guess I'm not exactly sure of all the criteria possibilities. Help me come up with some of the less obvious, if you could.

Do they ALL try to force you to sell their gear exclusively? My LDS sells Genesis (BCs, and computers), Zeagle(BCs, mask, fins,and misc. small stuff) Mares(it seems like I only remember seeing regs), Sherwood(I believe BCs only). That's all I can recall off the top of my head.

Which ones set minimum pricing requirements?

 

[cmay]

Genesis once bubbled...
Their shipping manifests and labels, along with the online tracking on their shipments.

Its coming out of NYC.

Did'nt know that. Thanks. I would think they would find some cheaper real estate.

 

[Genesis]

on pricing restrictions its basically ALL.

I have seen the agreements for Suunto, Scubapro/Uwatec, Oceanic, DUI, Tusa and a few more. Halcyon PUBLISHES their policy where everyone can see it.

It would probably be easier to identify a list of those who DO NOT price-restrict. I suspect you would find that list fits on the fingers of one hand.

As for forcing exclusivity, Scubapro DOES NOT. One shop here has Scubapro and a few other lines in their shop, including Mares, who are direct competitors. It is my understanding that Atomic and Scubapro both will not give you a dealership if you sell the other, and that this has to do with bad blood between the companies (some of Scubapro's former engineers started Atomic!)