That's not exactly the story we got. But it's not far off enough to make a difference. We were one of the largest stocking Dacor dealers for many many years, selling hundreds of thousands of Dacor gear. In fact, we just ran out of service kits for Dacor regs in the last year or two.
Ultimately, I think it was a smack in the face. For more than two decades we were providing life time parts guarantees. Imagine you're a store owner and you tell a customer, "buy this reg, get it serviced, and you'll never have to buy parts again." Which is the sales pitch we successfully used for 20 years. Then one day, that customer comes in with his 4 regs and we have to tell him, "sorry mate, parts are gone, those regs are effectively junk." Now, when we witnessed what was about to happen, we literally spent thousands of dollars buying every parts kit we could find (we only just ran out). But still, our customers got screwed. And we look like the bad guy. I can't support a manufacturer that is okay with us and our customers taking a smack in the face like that. We immediately dropped the Mares line. I will never support them. I don't believe you should either. But that's just my opinion.
There are plenty of great regulators out there. You might as well buy from a company with a good reputation. In my opinion, Mares sullied their rep more than a decade ago. And frankly, their gear is just so/so anyway.