Re: important... RD and Boge

[u3109@calv1.cray.com (Mike W. Young)]

On Thu, 20 Oct 1994 13:39:38 -0400
Stulen James <JSTULEN@dcm.dofasco.ca> wrote:

> ----------
>|From: quattro-owner
>|To: quattro
>|Subject: Re:  important note about boge shocks availability
>|Date: Wed, Oct 19, 1994 7:44PM
>|
>|Eliot,
>|
>|stuff deleted

>I have had great service from RD.

[stuff deleted]

>One my Turbos failed in under a year so I call RD.  They offered to charge 
>me for a new one, send it to me and refund the money when I returned the old 
>one.  I said this was no good since I live in Canada so they gave me they 
>Boge USA number in Atlanta GA.  I called the guy there and told him I was 
>dealing with RD and the situation.  Incredible but true, he took my address 
>and the shock # I wanted and six days later it arrived at my door.  This 
>kind of blows your "no warranty from Boge USA" accusation to bits.  (I have 
>been billed $10 by the Canadian shipping company, but I haven't paid it yet, 
>if ever).

>I guess RD is good if they have your stuff in stock, anyway, that's my 
>story.

>PS I wish I had more happy stories like this when trying to get warrantee 
>work/parts.

Greetings James,

First, I think you are attributing the statement "no warranty from Boge USA"
to Eliot Lim, when you meant to Blow MY  "no warranty from Boge USA" 
accusation to bits".

Please re-read my message, I did not claim that purchasing Boge from RD 
would be with, or without a valid warranty.

I did suggest that if RD were not authorized by Boge USA to sell 
Boge products, THEN the Boge products would be without a valid warranty.

Also, the great service you are attributing to RD, was in fact provided
by the distributer (Boge), and not the retail outlet (RD). You actually
wrote that RD said, in effect, to call somebody else if you don't like
the way they want to replace your failed Turbo Gas shock. 

If RD had sent you the shock without your "Core deposit" on a credit card,
then they would have in fact provided the same service Boge did. 
But, RD did not.

I have new respect for RD because they could have got burned (via mailorder)
for their cost if they shipped the replacement to you and you "blew them off"
by not returning the failed one. 
Boge would probably not give RD a credit without having the bad one in return.

Are you familiar with the term "Grey Market"?
This is when you buy a product in a foriegn market place, and import it
directly, bypassing the manufacturers authorized importer/distributer.
Buying grey market products is cheaper because you are not paying for
warehousing parts, or paying saleries to distribute and sell it wholesale.
It *IS* risky because if the product fails you are stuck with either 
returning to its home market for warranty repairs, paying for the repair, 
or just "Blowing it off" and buying another one.

Bet you did'nt know you are a Grey Market kinda guy, eh?

Perhaps they are not called "Boge USA", but rather "Boge North America"
Maybe the Canadian distributer would have honored your warranty.
I don't know or care. Audi is buying my shocks until 50,000 miles or 2/96.

Grey Marketing has been common in the mailorder camera business for years. 
It surfaced in the automobile industry in the early 1980's, but 
as consumers learned (The hard way) that the products lack local support, 
demand for those products fell, and grey market is less common today.
Kamei, Zender, BBS, Recaro, and Bilstein took actions to prevent Grey
Market distribution of their products. 

I suggested to Eliot that he check with Boge for specifics of the delay.
My concern was that perhaps without knowing, Eliot might have purchased
shocks imported direct from Europe by RD. 

Eliot related that he was completely comfortable with RD, and that RD 
has met all of his expectations. That's good enough for me.
As long as we're all happy...

I did'nt understand why you could not return your bad shock to RD
because you live in Canada. My guess is that you did not want to pay 
for shipping...  in either direction.

>From what I gather, the only loser will be the shipping company.

I'm certain with their pricing RD move alot of Boge products.

I like the way Boge stood behind their product for you, that's integrity.
Look it up.


Regards,

Mike Young   (u3109@cray.com)