Place to buy Suunto products?

[pasley]

...Bottom line is they made the product and they are responsible for it no matter what they try to tell you.

Uh, actually that may not be exactly correct. I am sure some attorneys will chime in and give is their opinions (multiply number of attorneys giving opinion by 1.2 and you will have the number of opinions given).

The following is my understanding of the issue based entirely on my own life and work experience and does not constitute legal advice, informed advice, knowledgeable advice or even good advice, it is just my opinion.

What is a warranty? A warranty is a written contact between the buyer and seller (there are also laws that specify a product has certain legislated warranties like suitability for its intended purpose etc. and there are implied warranties). They offer the warranty in writting and you accept it by purchasing the product. That said, you have to look to what the warranty says to determine what, if any warranty you have. Many warranties are only to the ORIGINAL purchaser while others transferable.

What makes a grey market item? A product is sold by an authorized dealer to a buyer (usually overseas) who in turn imports it into your country and either sells it directly to the public or to other sales outlets. Why, usually to get around import limitations or other restrictions placed either by governments or the mfg themselves. Sometimes it is to take advantage of price differences like we see with prescription drugs which are cheaper in Canada than the same drug is here in the USA.

If you are buying on the "grey market" you are NOT the original purchaser. The entity that purchased the product from an authorized dealer (most likely overseas) is the original purchaser to who the company owes a warranty. You as a grey market buyer are in fact buying what is technically a used product and you are at least the second and most likely third owner. So unless the warranty is transferable, you have no warranty with the mfg.

By way of example: Grey market was a major issue for me when I was a department head in SoCal for a certain major electronics firm from Japan back in the mid 80s. Their policy at that time was "grey market product equals no warranty period."

The fact that Suunto is a standup company and provided you excellent customer service in spite of it being grey market does not mean that they had a "legal" obligation to do so. Again, it depends upon what the warranty says. Most warranties are limited to the original purchaser.

 

[Glenn V]

For the record, I did contact DiveInn and Sportextreme and they are authorized Suunto dealers.
So now the question is whether or not the great pricing they offer (relative to a LDS) out weighs the issues that may arise from having to ship things overseas (return to DiveInn or Sportextreme) for repair (if you ever even need it).
How many people have had problems with their Vypers that required them to be returned to the factory? Does anyone know if an authorized dealer is obligated to accept a unit for repair that wasn't purchased from them? I'm fairly certain that a local dealer would take a unit in for repair, I guess they just may not have a great attitude about it if you didn't buy it from them.

Thanks.

 

[MudDog]

Does anyone know if an authorized dealer is obligated to accept a unit for repair that wasn't purchased from them? I'm fairly certain that a local dealer would take a unit in for repair, I guess they just may not have a great attitude about it if you didn't buy it from them.

Don't know about "obligated", but *often* an authorized dealer WILL take the unit...it's just that the unit is not covered under a warranty if not purchased from an authorized dealer. The result is you, the owner, pay out of pocket for the repair.

 

[DeepTrip]

I agree, they will take the unit for repair, but will be more fussy about that and minght charge additional cost.

 

[Scott M]

Uh, actually that may not be exactly correct. I am sure some attorneys will chime in and give is their opinions (multiply number of attorneys giving opinion by 1.2 and you will have the number of opinions given).

The following is my understanding of the issue based entirely on my own life and work experience and does not constitute legal advice, informed advice, knowledgeable advice or even good advice, it is just my opinion.

Ditto.

What is a warranty? A warranty is a written contact between the buyer and seller (there are also laws that specify a product has certain legislated warranties like suitability for its intended purpose etc. and there are implied warranties). They offer the warranty in writting and you accept it by purchasing the product. That said, you have to look to what the warranty says to determine what, if any warranty you have. Many warranties are only to the ORIGINAL purchaser while others transferable.

It is not always possible to negate a warrantee simply by saying so. Many states have laws that forbid this exact thing. The law is fuzzy on this issue and anything can be brought to court. All they would have to show is it was the intent of the manufacturer to circumvent a warrantee. However, how motivated would you have to be to file a law suit over an $800 computer. OTOH, if there was a product defect that was getting divers hurt, they would be out of their minds to not issue a product wide recall and take care of it. We have seen this a few times already.

What makes a grey market item? A product is sold by an authorized dealer to a buyer (usually overseas) who in turn imports it into your country and either sells it directly to the public or to other sales outlets. Why, usually to get around import limitations or other restrictions placed either by governments or the mfg themselves. Sometimes it is to take advantage of price differences like we see with prescription drugs which are cheaper in Canada than the same drug is here in the USA.

If you are buying on the "grey market" you are NOT the original purchaser. The entity that purchased the product from an authorized dealer (most likely overseas) is the original purchaser to who the company owes a warranty. You as a grey market buyer are in fact buying what is technically a used product and you are at least the second and most likely third owner. So unless the warranty is transferable, you have no warranty with the mfg.

By way of example: Grey market was a major issue for me when I was a department head in SoCal for a certain major electronics firm from Japan back in the mid 80s. Their policy at that time was "grey market product equals no warranty period."

I have a hard time justifying "grey market". In my opinion this is a huge cop out on the manufacturers parts and just a way to put more product on the market and undercut their own dealer network. These manufacturers know exactly where their products are being bought and sold and to play the game we don't know where it came from is just a load of crap they are trying to force down our throats. If they are so set on stopping it then all they have to do is stop supplying the product to the "grey market" dealers. As to legality, how hard to do suppose it would be to prove the manufacturer knew where the products were ending up? If that could be proven it could then be argued that this is merely a distibution channel for the manufacturer and the middlemen (i'd be willing to bet the product gets shipped right to the on-line retailer and the rest is paperwork) are not actual owners of the product therefore you are the original purchaser. Again, how many are going to go this route at the price of litigation compared to the cost of the product?

The fact that Suunto is a standup company and provided you excellent customer service in spite of it being grey market does not mean that they had a "legal" obligation to do so. Again, it depends upon what the warranty says. Most warranties are limited to the original purchaser.

Agreed, Suunto is an excellent company.

 

[pasley]

Ditto.

It is not always possible to negate a warrantee simply by saying so. Many states have laws that forbid this exact thing. ...

We agree.

I have a hard time justifying "grey market". In my opinion this is a huge cop out on the manufacturers parts and just a way to put more product on the market and undercut their own dealer network....

Again I agree with the majority of your statement. However, it is also possible that given the relatively limited quantities involved, and the use of multiple suppliers, it might be more difficult than you would imagine. I know the certain Japanese company I worked for tried hard to cut off the sources. We were offered financial incentives if we could get information on where certain dealers were getting there grey market product. It was compounded by the limitations ( I litteraly would have a total of 2 of one model TV for all of southern california.) placed on them as to the quanities they could import so we had authorized dealer who augmented they limited authorized stock with grey market product. It was a real headache particularly when we had an irate customer with a TV that did not work right because it was designed for 50 cycles and not 60 cycles of electricity, or the manual was only in Japanese. It is also possible that there is much show made to the authorized dealers who stock the required levels and maintain the floor prices to keep them happy while not looking too hard at the grey market which is also moving product for them.

And finally yes, Suunto is an excellent company.

 

[jeffkruse2000]

10 months after I bough my D3 through LP I had a problem with it. I sent it back to LP and 8 weeks later had a New D3. With the money I saved I could have bought two.