yknot:
A somewhat simplified and incomplete explanation. Warranties are not generally offered by distributors but rather by manufacturers. In the case of goods sold by LeisurePro, unless these products are counterfeit then the manufacturer certainly made a sale and profited by it, whether these items were destined for retail sales in Europe or the US. BTW, LP has only been accused of selling counterfeit goods once that I know of. The reason that the distributors deny warranty service for some products is an attempt to maintain a monopolistic hold on certain products thru their authorized dealers.
Also somewhat simplified and incomplete.
Look, I'm nearly the last to defend the LDSs, but before we can beat up the manufacturers, we have to start with an accurate worldview.
There are no blanket warranties* -- each piece of equipment, each and every single one, R190 s/n 123456, comes with it's specific warranty. At the time R190 s/n 123456 is sold by the manufacturer, it comes with a warranty, with specific and precise terms. R190 s/n 123457 may have the same warranty, or an entirely different one.
Which warranty each of these comes with may be a factor in it's price when it's sold.
- R190 s/n 123456: warranteed against all failures ever, free service parts for life, free drinks while you wait. Price: $500
- R190 s/n 123457: warranteed to contain parts. Price: $100
Are they the same product? Well, no. Both products include an R190, but one includes additional goods and services, and the other doesn't.
If I buy s/n 123457 and demand the free drinks, I'm demanding something I didn't buy. It really
is that simple.
Two factors have heterodyned to cause confusion: the common practice of regionalizing warranty policies, and the increasing irrelevance of regions.
Sellers (manufacturers&distributors) have commonly chosen to sell similar or identical warranties, for the same piece of equipment, in the same region. I.e., not only do all the R190s at Bob's Liquor and Dive come with the same warranty, so do the ones across the street at Ed's Scuba Silo. This has habituated many into thinking that any piece of equipment they posess in the nation of EdBob, regardless of origin or original sales terms, should have the same warranty as the ones sitting on Bob's shelves and Ed's shelves.
Combine that common misunderstanding with the the decrease in net-cost of long distance transportation and communication. Now, it's easy for me to order an R190 from GunthersSprocketsDanceMonkeyScuba.com. The R190 from GunthersSprocketsDanceMonkeyScuba.com doesn't come with the same warranty; it wasn't sold with it, I didn't buy it. If I take it to Ed's and demand free drinks, they're perfectly right to ask (on behalf of the manufacturer who will be paying for the drinks) for my free-drink-card, and to decline to give me free drinks if I don't have one.
(Misc. thought: I'd bet it would help a great deal if we quit using the word "warranty" with all it's emotional burden, and used something like "service contract".)
If we can all agree on those basics,
then we can start discussing Minimum Advertised Price and Minimum Selling Price contracts, global warranty harmonization, rude and deceptive LDS staff, etc., but if you start with the fallacy that you're owed something you didn't buy, we can't get anywhere.
--Laird
* In certain jurisdictions, local law may change this a little. E.g., in the U.S. most state commerce jurisdictions require basic "warranties" of merchantability (which are different critters from the warranties we're all used to discussing.) The U.S. federal Magnusson-Moss act also contains some warranty-affecting language. These situations are way more limited than most think, and do not alter the basic point.
