I just ordered a new Vyper online last week. Now the local dive shop is telling me that I don't have any sort of warrenty and I should have paid $175 more to buy from them local. Is this true or should I never buy anything from them again?
Online ordering warrenty ?????????
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pw1981
Registered
There is a lot of hoopla in the dive industry about the warranty stuff. In general, the dive shop is correct that the manufacturer likely would buck trying to honor the warranty on stuff purchased from "unauthorized" dealers. In the end, this is nothing more than a profit scheme.
There are quite a few court cases in Federal court on this topic. In fact, there is a Federal Law which clarifies and regulates warranty issues for consumer goods. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act requires, among many things, that manufacturers provide a written warranty with the product and that the warranty clearly state all terms. Unless the warranty states that the item must be purchased from a particular dealer, or dealers, then the clause is COMPLETELY uninforcable under Federal Law. The warranty would have to define who is authorized to sell them in order to gain warranty service - I have yet to see a compliant warranty in that regard. Simply saying "an authorized dealer" is insufficient, it must define how the consumer is to determine that a dealer is or is not authorized. In fact, I have yet to get a fully compliant written warranty with any piece of dive equipment. It says "Lifetime Warranty" on the box and thats it, it has a short warranty sentence, or it has an 'almost' compliant warranty in it - none of which is fully compliant with applicable Federal Law.
If it ever becomes an issue with the manufacturer, then you may end up having to fight with them, but if you let them know that you know your rights as a consumer under the law, most will step down off their pedistal.
There are quite a few court cases in Federal court on this topic. In fact, there is a Federal Law which clarifies and regulates warranty issues for consumer goods. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act requires, among many things, that manufacturers provide a written warranty with the product and that the warranty clearly state all terms. Unless the warranty states that the item must be purchased from a particular dealer, or dealers, then the clause is COMPLETELY uninforcable under Federal Law. The warranty would have to define who is authorized to sell them in order to gain warranty service - I have yet to see a compliant warranty in that regard. Simply saying "an authorized dealer" is insufficient, it must define how the consumer is to determine that a dealer is or is not authorized. In fact, I have yet to get a fully compliant written warranty with any piece of dive equipment. It says "Lifetime Warranty" on the box and thats it, it has a short warranty sentence, or it has an 'almost' compliant warranty in it - none of which is fully compliant with applicable Federal Law.
If it ever becomes an issue with the manufacturer, then you may end up having to fight with them, but if you let them know that you know your rights as a consumer under the law, most will step down off their pedistal.
Yeah
That sounds interesting. You'd think that the online retailers that are not "authorized" would have this information in their FAQ...
JAG
That sounds interesting. You'd think that the online retailers that are not "authorized" would have this information in their FAQ...
JAG
The way most manufacturers handle this is to simply say warranties are for the original owner and not transferable. Since the Gray Market shops are bootlegging from another source- normally overseas - they are actually the original owner, and the consumer who buys from them is the secondary owner... thus - no warranty. And it is very understandable why the manufacturers do this... Since most is bootlegged from overseas, the products were sold to foreign distributors at a discount - but part of the foreign distribution agreement is they handle warranty repairs and claims. So if one of those units is sold to them, then makes it back into the states through bootlegging, then has a problem - it is not the responsibility of the US distributor to fix a problem that should be paid for by the foreign distributor... they are the ones that made a profit from the sale. The US distributor never made a dime off it - why should they fix or replace it??
I know a lot of the manufacturers are getting tougher and tougher on this to try to support their authorized dealers and stop the gray market flow. When the price is virtually the same - I don't know why anyone would mess around with the gray market goods.
For us to sell their goods online with full manufacturers warranty, I've got to agree to their authorized e-tailer agreements, with clauses on pricing, warranty, service, etc.
Is it all legal?? - based on the fine print on the warranty card... who knows... both my brothers are attorneys, and I'm sure they'd love to make a ton of money arguing the point... but that would not get a computer replaced before the next dive - or a reg fixed with free parts, so we just play by the rules and act like a dive shop... go figure... except on line as well.
I know a lot of the manufacturers are getting tougher and tougher on this to try to support their authorized dealers and stop the gray market flow. When the price is virtually the same - I don't know why anyone would mess around with the gray market goods.
For us to sell their goods online with full manufacturers warranty, I've got to agree to their authorized e-tailer agreements, with clauses on pricing, warranty, service, etc.
Is it all legal?? - based on the fine print on the warranty card... who knows... both my brothers are attorneys, and I'm sure they'd love to make a ton of money arguing the point... but that would not get a computer replaced before the next dive - or a reg fixed with free parts, so we just play by the rules and act like a dive shop... go figure... except on line as well.
Scubamedicjoe
Contributor
well the bottom line why most people are going online is because the scuba shops are increaseing the price of the items .
yes they need to make living , but lets be resonable in the prices not a huge mark up.
yes they need to make living , but lets be resonable in the prices not a huge mark up.
scubasean
Contributor
Wildcard:
Pay $175 more for a warranty you may never use?
A warranty is only needed if the product fails within the warranty period. My vyper doesn't have a manuf. warranty, but I bought it anyway (new, on the internet). I've had no issues.
And, the place I bought it from claims to have a warranty that is at least as good as the one from the manuf.
Oh well.
pw1981
Registered
scubatoys:
You make an interesting point about the transferability issue on the warranty that I had not heard. That presents a different set of issues when you factor in grey market goods.
The problem with a manufacturer saying "its grey market - no warranty" is that there is STILL no published or reasonable standard by which a consumer can determine this fact. If I walk into a dive shop or log on to a dive gear web site and see an item for sale, as a consumer, I have grounds to believe and trust that the person selling that item is doing so legally and properly.
It is long established in business ethics that it is not the consumer's responsibility to have to verify this sort of thing. The burden of responsibility falls upon the manufacturer/distributor to seek out unauthorized sellers and inform consumers.
In the end its a customer service and ethics issue for the manufacturer. Someone owns one of their products and it failed... they should honor the warranty on the item so long as all proper maintence has been completed.
Wildcard:
Make sure you use a credit card that offers automatic one year warranty protection... then you get your warranty regardless of where you buy it. Screw the Dive Shops and the manufacturers... if they want to accept Visa then they have to abide by their contract... if not they are in violation and I would take it up with Visa or Amex.
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