Garmin Price Fixing Post from other newsgroup

"Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message
...
Gotta raise the BS flag on this one. I don't buy it at all. I have gotten
absolutely ****TY service, MANY times from the "full-service", high dollar
"official dealers"... It ain't just the internet distributor working out
of
a rental storage unit with grey market goods that gives you crappy
service!!!


First, there are no guarantees, but I can assume you did not go back to them
right? Why did you choose them in the first place?




Same issue has been around for YEARS in the SCUBA equipment industry. The
manufacturers strong arm dealers. So large numbers of people all go "grey
market" via the net, so the manufacturers threaten to not honor any
warantee
for products bought outside the "official dealer network" (law suits are
pending...) SCUBA equipment is as expensive as the manufacturers want it
to
be. The dealers still pay the same wholesale price, and determine their
own
margins based upon any SPIFs. "Official Dealers" provide dog**** service
anyway, so why SHOULDN'T I go to the cheapest guy? I have to double check,
and sometimes fix their work anyway. My Golf Foxtrot bought a new
regulator
and comp from an "Official Dealer" SCUBA shop. This is LIFE SUPPORT
equipment. They ****ed up the set up, and she ran out of air at 85 fsw
because of a free flowing reg. From your "full service", high dollar
"official dealer" no less...


IT's not my dealer, so tell all your friends, tell the BBB, life's not 100%.
Don't like it, don't buy that brand any more! That is the whole point. If
the brand is controlling its distributors, then it should stand behind them,
and here your complaints. If not, DON"T BUY THAT BRAND.

So what if a dealer wants to sell a GPS below MSRP? Garmin makes the same
amount on their wholesale pricing. They are just trying to manipulate the
market a bit. Why don't you check out the WxWorx receiver for their marine
applications (where they have real competition.) Ain't no way in hell the
aviation version of the product will be less than $5K. The marine version
is
on the market now, and less than $1K. I seriously doubt there will be much
difference in the boards...


They already conrol wholesale cost, so this is really isn't the point at
all. You have a choice, don't buy it if you don't like the price. Garmin
knows that this will lose some customers, but they hope to have a better
outcome in the long run.

Call it what it is, price fixing. They bought UPSAT (don't really know why
UPS bought Apollo anyway.) Only a matter of time before Garmin starts
playing nasty. They already started in my opinion with their attitude
towards legacy product owners. I am a Garmin owner, but get a real slimy
feeling ever since they moved corporate off-shore to dodge taxes. Let's
just
wait and see how the WAAS upgrade that has been promised since last summer
for legacy units ends up.


Slimy feeling? Corporate moved off shore? Do you have an actual example of
service from Garmin you did not approve of?


Our only hope is that Bendix/King can pull their collective head out of
their ass and build some truely competitive products to force Garmin into
a
more competitive position.


Garmin was likely started in a garage like half the companies in the world.
Why don't you start a company and give everything away, while giving great
service. We will see how long you last before the conspiracy theories
start.

Its pretty obvious you have a Naderite fear of businesses. If not, I would
love to know what you do. Doing business with you is either hell or heaven.
I can't tell which.