Aqualung and gray markets...FYI
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imasinker
Contributor
I think It is buyer beware! Some of us have to drive miles to a LDS. Maybe these gray market companies will create price wars? Thing is why doesnt aqualung and other companies allow people to buy direct from them. I understand that people with the mom and pop shops ( little guy) needs to support his/hers buisness and I am all for that 100 %. I dont think it will drive the small shops out of buisness. I havent bought online yet, doesnt mean I wont either. To me warranty means alot to me when I buy a higher priced items. If I go to the dollar store and buy a pen I am not surprised if it breaks after a few times of use. tell me anyone of you hasnt done that before!! That to me applies with anything I buy. I know certain companies (online stores) dont have manufactures warranty, some do, but as the question has been asked, just how are these online companies getting these products? Someone has to make a very large order from the suppliers and that suppiler must deliver them. Maybe these bigger companies just dont like the idea that BULK shippments of their products result in ONE companys allowance to sell that product at a lower cost. Funny HUH
They have to make a token chest pounding to keep authorized dealers kissing their backside and holding the line on the big markups, but in the end, the place LP got the stuff from paid Aqualung as much for it as the next guy, and bought a whole lot more to make a profit on volume rather than high markup. Gray market probably accounts for 30% or more of their volume. It's a delicate balancing act wholly dependent on a pretext.
Here's the thing. I don't think it's the consumer's job to police for the manufacture. So why punish the consumer? Should the consumer ask the dive shop to provide proof of a current and legitimate agreement between themselves and every manufacture of every product that the consumer may potentially purchase?
Ridiculous.
Aqualung claims to track each product by serial number, and then says it cannot determine if the product is new or not.
Hogwash. You can't have it both ways. If you know when the product was manufactured, and a consumer purchases it in good faith - and remember, we're not talking about buying from the back of a van, but from a storefront company - then Aqualung should warranty the product.
A new diver doesn't know LeisurePro from ScubaToys or their LDS - nor should they have to.
This is not like buying a copy of a DVD. This is buying the actual product that the company made in their manufacturing plant, and then the company saying that they won't warranty it because the consumer didn't get proof of contractual agreement form the retailer.
Rubbish.
And remember, Aqualung HAS BEEN PAID for the product. Even if it ends up in LeisurePro's hands, Aqualung still got paid for the product from someone. It's not like the goods are stolen.
Manufacturers need to stop punishing the consumer for the result of their own business plan backfiring.
Ridiculous.
Aqualung claims to track each product by serial number, and then says it cannot determine if the product is new or not.
Hogwash. You can't have it both ways. If you know when the product was manufactured, and a consumer purchases it in good faith - and remember, we're not talking about buying from the back of a van, but from a storefront company - then Aqualung should warranty the product.
A new diver doesn't know LeisurePro from ScubaToys or their LDS - nor should they have to.
This is not like buying a copy of a DVD. This is buying the actual product that the company made in their manufacturing plant, and then the company saying that they won't warranty it because the consumer didn't get proof of contractual agreement form the retailer.
Rubbish.
And remember, Aqualung HAS BEEN PAID for the product. Even if it ends up in LeisurePro's hands, Aqualung still got paid for the product from someone. It's not like the goods are stolen.
Manufacturers need to stop punishing the consumer for the result of their own business plan backfiring.
Also given that a warranty involves the manufacturer WARRANTS the product to be free of defects in materials and workmanship, I'm still trying to figure out how the absence of that contractual agreement retroactively induces defects in a product in sealed factory packaging. If we could better understand how that works, it could have far reaching military application - tear up a contract and all the enemies planes start mysteriously crashing.
Noboundaries
Guest
I love this place!!!! Only on ScubaBoard can the topic flow from Grey Market scuba gear to Nuclear Terrorism in less than two pages!!!! Where do we go from here?
Pearldiver07
Contributor
For years they said that catalog sales would be the end of the LDS.
Now the fight is on between the LDS and the on-line.
Let's face it - Darwinian theory in action. If the LDS doesn't adapt and survive, then it will go the way of the dinasaur.
The LDS has something to offer, but you can only pay so much for that. If they over estimate what you'll pay, they'll go away.
But I will say that I paid more for my original OW cert than the local shops in Texas are charging now. Something's gonna give. But on the whole, I'd rather pay a decent instructor more than carry a dive shop that can't get a good business plan going.
I guess that those that don't offer something the student/customer wants for the right price will go away. Others will survive. What we tend to forget is the number of dive shops that are mainly in business to bring in enough bucks to stay in business and finance a heck of a dive travel itinerary. Those are the ones that will go, not those run by someone who understands what is worth paying for and what is not.
Setting mandatory price structures has never worked as a methodology. It will eventually fall in this industry as well...
Now the fight is on between the LDS and the on-line.
Let's face it - Darwinian theory in action. If the LDS doesn't adapt and survive, then it will go the way of the dinasaur.
The LDS has something to offer, but you can only pay so much for that. If they over estimate what you'll pay, they'll go away.
But I will say that I paid more for my original OW cert than the local shops in Texas are charging now. Something's gonna give. But on the whole, I'd rather pay a decent instructor more than carry a dive shop that can't get a good business plan going.
I guess that those that don't offer something the student/customer wants for the right price will go away. Others will survive. What we tend to forget is the number of dive shops that are mainly in business to bring in enough bucks to stay in business and finance a heck of a dive travel itinerary. Those are the ones that will go, not those run by someone who understands what is worth paying for and what is not.
Setting mandatory price structures has never worked as a methodology. It will eventually fall in this industry as well...
garyfotodiver
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Repeat, repeat. There is a Seaquest Latitude BC sitting in my dive bag. It came from LP with all the manuals, tags, etc., that I saw when I bought one from an LDS.
Looks like real merchandise to me.
I just filled out the Product Registration card and stamped it. Can't wait for the reply.
Looks like real merchandise to me.
I just filled out the Product Registration card and stamped it. Can't wait for the reply.
SeaHound
Contributor
The more I read these posts the more anti-aqua lung I get. Same with scubapro. This elitist BS makes me want to not buy their products even from the grey market.
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