homo maris:
I never suggested it did and neither did Phil. However, he is not posting here to comment because AL threatened to sue him… Phil took a risk in challenging AL’s policies and lost and so did many of us (we lost a great AL dealer). Insight is 20x20 and perhaps if he knew the consequences he would have acted differently. Please remember that this thread is not about Phil, it is about AL policies that customers do not like and want to see changed.
Agreed I'll leave Phil out of it. I should have actually taken it to a hypothetical so as not to implicate Phil.
homo maris:
Dive Sports was the ONLY AL dealer in Decatur Alabama (check the AL website there is no other dealer in Decatur) so he has 100% of the market share without even trying. The only competition is Internet dealers, like elsewhere. His market share is based on his outstanding service so it has not changed much and many customers are just switching away from AL to the brands Phil now recommends.
More referring to the online dealer vs LDS thing, but as has been previously mentioned eariler, that itopic has been discussed..many times...
homo maris:
I only quote US laws because they alone have jurisdiction over business in the US, where they are designed to maintain a free market. I appreciate that you want to contribute to this discussion but please do not change the context from US trade to international or Canadian trade. AL is based in California (sub of Texas Air Liquide, wholly owned by French Air Liquide) and Dive Sports is in Alabama. Both companies do business in states of the US, thus it is US laws like the section 1 of the Sherman Act that apply and not section 45 of the Canadian Competition Act.
Agreed...I actually made mention that this was primarily a US market based issue earlier.
homo maris:
Nothing like cheap stereotypes … actually, I laugh
Actually when I used the term you, I meant it in the plural (and in the general) not you in the specific and was not trying to use a "cheap steretype" merley posing the premise that along with the benefits if the free market system you also get the potential for factors I mentioned to occur. I've seen it happen here, though mostly as a result Canadian manufacturing and production is being replaced by "off shore" international manufacturers who can leverage cheaper labour, thus under cut market prices. It's not the ultimate end of a totally free market approach, but merely one possibility that could happen.
Anyway you're quite correct that this is mostly a domestic price fixing issue, but our two retail communities are not that far removed, so a shuffle either way in your country eventually could affect our retail market...expecailly when talking about manufacturer to dealer cost and MSRP issues.
awap:
Maybe that was true in your father's time. Mine used to say "A fool and his money are soon parted."
I like what whitelightenin is saying. Apeks is just one of many excellent regs. If you have got to have Apeks, you will have to shop elsewhere. If you want a high performane reg at a fair price, it looks like he can accomodate.
My comment to whitelightenin acutally had nothing to do with Apeks in specific. I worked in retail for a few years. Customer service meant serving the customer to fufill their needs and wants. If we didn't have the prioduct they were lookng for, we politely told them where they might find it. Even it was at another store. The good faith and customer gratification brought them back to us wherever they wanted something we carried.
I now own and operate my own business, and give my clients the same treatment. If I can do the job they way they want it done, I'll take them on as a client, if not I'll point them in the right direction...even if it leads to a competitor. It's called profesionalism. I'd rather my clients get the exact product they want, than try to sell them on a different one they did not want to begin with then try to convince them that its the same as what they wanted hence they're getting what they wanted. In other words trying to tell the customer what they want.
This also raises the specter that I was warned against when I first started diving last year. Everyone of the more experieinced divers told me to do my own research, select my product and not allow some store clerk to "sell me" away from what I wanted; whether it be as important as a regulator or as minor as a dive slate. So I guess this only applies if I'm buying stuff from manufactuers that some here like....right?
Everyone on this board has also told me to "get the equipment I'm comforatble with"" and "get the best I can afford". So I find it odd that I'd be compared to a fool, for follwing that same advice... perhaps there many more fools out there.