Catalog sale warning

[gj62]

It is flat out illegal in some state for companies to avoid liability for warranty service regardless of where the product was purchased if the defect is life threatening.

As I mentioned, whether legally required or not, any type of recall on products have always been honored by the dive equipment manufacturers.

However, it is not illegal for ScubaPro, etc. to not provide parts for free under the "original owner" warranty. This is what you lose when you purchase through LP, etc.

...you can sue the bejessus out of a company that has not sales agreements.

Not sure what you mean by this. It is legal for Halcyon to choose not to sell to my shop, etc...

 

[zboss]

Not sure what you mean by this. It is legal for Halcyon to choose not to sell to my shop, etc...

Halcyon CERTAINLY has the right to sue you if you are selling their products without a sales agreement... yes... we are saying the same thing.

 

[gj62]

Halcyon CERTAINLY has the right to sue you if you are selling their products without a sales agreement... yes... we are saying the same thing.

Well, you can sue anyone, but they won't win.

They can refuse to sell to me, and they can sue me if I call myself an Authorized Dealer if I am not, but assuming I acquired the equipment in a legal transaction, they can't prevail legally to stop me from selling it.

 

[The Kraken]

zboss,
I must agree with gj62. Once a product has been sold to a private party by a manufacturer, that party has the right to do with the product whatever it so chooses. It is the right of ownership. What you put forth is analagous to this:
If you purchase a new car directly from Porsche it is against the law for you to sell that car to another party.
A manufacturer has the right to choose its distributors, deny distribution from others, and even pull the line from existing distributors.
What a manufacturer cannot do is give preferential pricing to one distributor without offering the same pricing structure to rest of its distribution, this falls under the unfair trade practices and is greatly frowned upon by the government.
However, manufacturers circumvent this law by using a loophole in that same law. They may offer an extra 15% discount on purchases if the distributor places an order of $X. The dollar amount of the purchase required to earn the additional 15% discount may be so great that the small business owner, with limited inventory investment capital, cannot afford to take advantage of the offer.

 

[Allison Finch]

[The nautre and tone of your post implied that LP was the source of the problem.]


I never said that LP was the source of the problem. Reread the post. I said that I had a problem (unknown nature) with the product from the beginning. I simply contacted Suunto who told me of the problem THEY have with LP selling their products. They told me that they did not know where they were getting the stuff. I never blamed LP for selling defective gear, simply selling gear that could not be serviced under warranty. Still buy the gear, just beware.

I never claimed the equipment was defective. As far as it being a software problem, I still needed help with it from someone. Who better that the manufacturer? Indeed, they knew just what to do. That was all I was looking for.

 

[gj62]

I never said that LP was the source of the problem. Reread the post.

Well, here is what you did say:

Catalog sale warning

Hmm, warning, but I agree you did not say problem...

I want to warn folks about a problem I had with equipment I bought from Leisure Pro.

This pretty much seems like you are blaming Leisure Pro. In fact, LP had nothing to do with your problems.

I paid 120.00 for the interface and now I'm high and dry for servicing.

No, you aren't.

If you had contacted LP before posting, or read their policy, you would have found out that they would have replaced your cable if it was defective under their own warranty policy. As you found out, Suunto will provide tech support regardless of where you purchased.

Just be careful what you buy if you are buying big ticket items like BC's and regulators.

Why? Some manufacturers will still honor their warranty, and for those that don't LP will warrant the equipment. Besides, how often have you heard of regs needing warranty work? It has been discussed and agreed that all manufacturers will honor a recall regardless of place of purchase or where you are in the ownership chain (new or used).

I think most folks here were simply saying that before you indicated that purchasing equip from LP was problematic for warranty issues, you should have called LP and given them a chance to correct your problem. I'm glad it worked out for you in the end, but your initial post did not give LP it's fair due.

 

[RICHinNC]

What the H*** is the good of having your cake if you cant eat it??????????
I never understood that one.

 

[gj62]

I never understood that one.

Me neither - what the devil are you talking about?

 

[zboss]

Well, you can sue anyone, but they won't win.

They can refuse to sell to me, and they can sue me if I call myself an Authorized Dealer if I am not, but assuming I acquired the equipment in a legal transaction, they can't prevail legally to stop me from selling it.

probably right... I am taking from the experience of the beer industry.

 

[oversea]

LeisurePro issues aside, as I have and would in the future purchase thru them, the response from Suunto says alot about their customer service and integrity. After all, regardless of where you purchased the computer, it was still manufactured by them. Do they make "gray market" caliber products that are inferior to what they peddle directly? How can they tell by the serial # that a product is "gray market" but don't know who they sold it to originally? There are simply too many sources for online scuba gear for the manufactures to not have a hidden hand in things, even if it is limited to them not aggressively pursuing the secondary market. Try this for example: they allow their products to be sold in these secondary markets cheaper than their 'Authorized" sources with the understanding that they won't be burdened with warranty expenses. By not being forthcoming about this practice you could avoid alienating your current dealer base. We can't blame it on the mistaken belief that because this is "life support equipment" that only your LDS should sell it. If someone died using equipment purchased from LeisurePro that the manufacturer refused to service, would an American jury throw the liability case out of court? Could Suunto compete against companies like Aeris with out internet sales? Even though this may sound like the ranting of some conspiresy theory lunatic, look at Halcyon as proof of this. You can buy their gear online, but only from an authorized source, at a fixed price. Can someone find an online, discount source for Halcyon gear, besides used on Ebay? None to be had at LeisurePro, DiveInn, etc. Shows that a manufacturer can control the sales of their product if they have the will to do so.

I agree with this. It is manufactured by them, offer some service. They apparently were paid for it if you have it. If it does not work out of the box, offer some support, if it dies later, well I guess you are on your own. I am glad I got my smart com from a dealer as there was a recall last year. They even gave me full credit for my smart com so I could get the airz nitrox. I don't know what my point is because I have just supported both sides of the argument.