Guess I thought that new is new regardless of whom you buy it from. Once you register the product with the manufacturer and the serial number matches up as being one of their legitimate products then why wouldn't they honor it ? Am I missing something obvious here ?
There may be more, but two companies in particular, Aqualung (who is also Suunto & Seaquest) and Scubapro officially refuse to allow their products to be sold via the internet in the USA, and dictate the selling price of their products by their authorized dealers. The same restrictions don't apply outside the U.S., so their products can be bought at substantial discounts from dealers outside the U.S., and from some U.S. merchants, including Leisure Pro.
AL and SP will only warranty the product in the country in which you bought it, and only if bought from an authorized dealer (or perhaps anywhere in the EU if you buy in the EU?)
If you buy Aqualung, Seaquest, Suunto or Scubapro over the internet or outside of the country, or from other than an authorized dealer, you have no factory warranty. Leisure Pro offers their own warranty on AL and SP merchandise since the manufacturer won't stand behind the products. Some people find this acceptable; some don't.
Most other companies, including Oceanic, Atomic, Tusa, and a bunch more allow internet sales and discounting of their products by authorized dealers.
Periodically, someone crops up and alerts everyone to the fact that LP sells so called grey market AL and SP stuff that doesn't have a factory warranty. Some of these people are truly surprised by this; some figured they would never need the warranty and then did need it and are angry about their decision, some are authorized dealers who get ticked off that they are losing sales to internet merchants, and I am sure some have other motives.
In my opinion, that is the issue. I am sure others would disagree.
Bottom line, if you are buying AL or SP, compare the price from the authorized dealer and elsewhere; factor in any required annual service you would need to to maintain the warranty, and decide if the price difference is worth it to have the factory warranty. Act accordingly.