PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

[Sean Goddard]

Click the link, read, then goto www.pulsar-electronics.co.uk and email me with your support PLEASE!

PLEASE bear in mind all I have tried to accomplish and how I've tried to help people on this forum.



Click Here

[Beachcomber]

Re: PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

Hi Sean and Happy Holidays!!!

I do realize from previous posts and from visiting your website how much you have tried to promote this hobby and to help those of us who enjoy building, modifying, and experimenting with metal detectors. But in this case I think you may have inadvertantly become your own worst enemy. I can not speak to anything about the laws over there because frankly I know nothing about them. But here in the USA what you are doing with Minelab is called selling a "Grey Market" item. It's legal but hurts everyone! Grey Market items are items that are brought into the country without going through the normal distributors which is what you stated you have done with Minelab. In the USA Grey Market products are rampant in the photography industry. Obviously just like here in the USA Grey Market items are legal. The problem with Grey Market products is they have NO WARRANTY at all!!! The manufacturers say these items were not meant to be sold here and as such do not carry a USA Warranty so if anything goes wrong within what would normally be the warranty period the person who bought is responsible for paying for repairs that should be FREE. This causes a lot of bad feelngs. The person who bought the product feels ripped off. The dealer gets a bad reputation, and the person who bought the product may even be annoyed enough with the product that they will not buy anything manufactured by that manufacturer in the future.

I am not sure how you managed to use Minelab's trademark and logo in your advertising knowing that you weren't an authorized reseller. You say that it happened because you were tired but how did you happen to have thier trademark and logo in such easy reach as to place them in your ad if you were that tired? My personal thoughts on this are that you may have wanted to open this can of worms but that is just my opinion.

As an independant dealer/servicer I don't feel Minelab had the right to tell you that you could no longer work on or modify thier units at a customer's request but then I have said earlier I don't know the laws over there and maybe they do. Still in your response to the letter from thier litigators you told them that you would continue to "reverse engineer" their products which was never even mentioned in thier letter. Here in the states that is called shooting yourself in the foot as you have just given them even more to use against you. You said that your letter to them was an apology for the misuse of their trademark but to me it sounded very antagonistic and not much like an apology except for the first couple of sentences. If Minelab's lawyers read it the same way you may need to hire yourself some very very good lawyers as Minelab has deep pockets and can hire the best lawyers!!!!!

I do understand your feelings about how Minelab treats their dealers as they treat them just as poorly here in the USA. I have to assume they feel omnipotent and if a dealer wants to sell their product they will abide by their rules no matter how unfair they may be. The only reason that they can get away with this is because they have the products that all the rest are judged by. If they didn't make what most consider to be some of best detectors on the market they wouldn't be able to get away with treating their dealers the way they do. This is just my opinion.

I hope that everything works out for you Sean and that the laws in your country are more on your side than Minelab's!!!

HH

Beachcomber

[Brian]

Re: PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

Hi Beachcomber

Whilst I agree with much you have said I don't agree that 'grey' items 'hurt everyone'.
The manufacturer creates the grey market in a country by setting prices that are to high. The U.S. disposable income is supposed to be around 30% higher than that of the U.K. yet we pay up to double the U.S. prices and then lose the 'lifetime warranties'. The manufacturer has produced the item and decided that it can be sold at a far lower price in some countries than others but he has already made his profit.
We are supposed to be moving towards a global economy but it seems only in so far as its suits the manufacturers profits.

[Beachcomber]

Re: PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

Hi Brian,

The only reason that I feel Grey Market items hurt everyone is that even though you can save a substantial amount of money through buying a Grey Market item is that you have no recourse if something goes wrong with the product. With things like metal detectors and cameras that can cost in the $1000 range that is a big risk to take!

I feel bad for you over in the UK as the prices that you have to pay for detectors is very high!!! I can see the price being a bit higher with overseas shipping and import taxes and exchange rates though double still seems a bit steep!!!


HH

Beachcomber

[Brian]

Re: PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

My gripe with buying new through the correct channels does not mean your guaranteed free warranty repairs. Not all manufacturers acknowledge that they have received the warranty card in the 14, or in some cases 10 days that they allow for the machine to be registered. You send your card in ,assume its been registered in some way and then get a shock when they say your not covered. Its a bit annoying that the dealers receipt or your credit card payment slip is not considered good enough.
The system seems loaded against the customer. Many years back I had machines repaired that were weeks or even months out of warranty for free which encouraged you to buy the product again. Now you hear of cases where your made to pay the full cost only days after the warranty has expired.

[Beachcomber]

Re: PLEA FOR HELP ***IMPORTANT***

I think it all depends on the company. Here in the States Tesoro seems to have the most lienient policy toward warranty repeair. Even if a unit is out of warranty and sometimes even if you are the second or third owner of one of thier detectors they will repair it for free. Even though that is not thier stated policy they seem to really try and take care of the people using thier machines. Other companies if you are one or two days out of warranty you have to pay.

HH

Beachcomber