but there's a good reason not to.
From my conversations with manufacturers over the last two weeks I am aware of more than one that I believe may bend - or break - on one or more of these issues.
Getting one or more of them to bend on ALL of them is another matter, and will take more work - and a bunch of signatures.
But one must reward those who you convert, even if only partially, if you want success.
And "reward", in this case, means listing them on the "Good List."
If you separate out warranty from the sales restraints, then you have no loaf at all if someone does the first of the bullet points. That's no good for the diver; it effectively leaves you where you are now, with LP (with their own warranty), SS or DiveInn being there, but all with "ship and wait" warranty service. Second, warranty is really a
sales issue - at least that's how the threatening signs are playing it in the dive shops.
On the other hand, if you get a manufacturer that will commit to the first point - no price, sales, or warranty restraints on their dealers - then we get a BIG chunk of what we're after. Yes, the service issues remain, and are still worth going after, but a big, and immediate, benefit gets shoved out to the consumer.
I think the three - price restraints, method of sale restraints, and warranty issues - have to go together in that first bullet.
Finally, the petition contains the following language:
Finally, warranties must apply to all goods sold "new" to the end user or consumer at retail, irrespective of who actually performs the selling.
That sounds pretty concrete to me, but I'm most open to wording that would make it even stronger....
I'm also trying to separate out the three issues in the "Good List", which gives a manufacturer an incentive to get listed for a
partial endorsement.
I suspect that the dive publications won't touch this with a 10-foot polespear. Especially Rodales, which was implicated in the SRA lawsuit by the FTC many years ago. I could be wrong about that though. We'll see.
Part of this campaign involves printing up tank (and bumper - small size for the bumper, but good for the tank) stickers. I'm working that issue right now - it may take me a month or two to get them in, due to the lead times for quantities (I intend to run several thousand) but I'll get 'em and make 'em available at very close to cost (a buckish a piece in small numbers, less if you want a bunch of them for a club or something similar.)
Plus, of course, resources like Scubaboard, and anyone who is willing to spread the word to dive clubs and others. I will be doing some outreach to the dive clubs that I am able to find as well, and encourage others to do so also.
I'l see what I can do about the contrast on the buttons. It looks fine on my monitors here (I have both an LCD and a tube to check it on) but that I'm sure I can improve. I may be able to lighten up the background; no promises on that one.... I like the texture though; it gives it more of a "parchment" flavor.
