Jman423 said:
This thread is doomed to fail.
1st: Customers shouldn't be privied to such concerns by a dealer. On the flip side, you have no other way to confront those dealers. Tough spot to be in.
I wasn't going to comment on this thread because I believe this type of thing has no place in this forum as all it does is show dissatisfaction with dealers and the manufacturer which in my opinion is detrimental to all parties involved. I'm glad you said it too. I've dealt with some dealers via phone calls and learned that what things seemed to be were in fact not true. They have also done the same thing by calling me. Posting a thread such as this is in my opinion; poor taste. I bit my tongue because I've often backed Tom very publicly but Jman's post here I have to agree with.
2nd: You've now tipped off your competitors and they know it's pissing you off... and working. Most of them will use that to their advantage.
3rd: I think a lot of what takes place here on eLightbars, with ANY brand, is friend-to-friend sales, or motivation by rivals to beat their competitor at any cost. It is a highly concentrated area for all of that to take place, and I think that's why it seems occur so much.
I know this is in fact the case with MANY dealers across MANY lines. I don't have my own products to push or compete with. I have several people on this site I consider friends so I have also given the friend discount to several. Additionally, I'm an active first responder as many other dealers are. While sometimes it might just come across as a dealer trying to pad their numbers, what Jimmy says here has a valid point. I have gone above and beyond to help fellow LEO's and even more so for K-9 handlers. I am sure there are dealers that are Firefighters that do the same thing for their profession. I also try to take care of people I have worked with in my state so I understand people helping out those who are close to them. I find it very hard to make a huge profit off someone that I could possibly be relying on to stick a finger in a bullet hole to keep me from bleeding to death one day. Might sound trivial to a non-first responder, but those of use out there know what I am talking about.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anything said in this thread. Customers are always going to push the envelope to get the cheapest price, so they are going to continue to attempt to have businesses price match.
which is why on hard quotes people should be doing formal quote sheets (with expiration dates on the quotes), not just PM's. I've learned that the "this dealer will give it to me for this" isn't always true.
Jamey@NNE said:
Unfortunately thats the business we are in. Its not only feniex, there is dealers doing the same for all manufacturers star, code 3 , fedsig and whelen. This site has a lot of dealers and a limited customer base.
I couldn't agree with you more Jamey. This site is not geared towards the average end user as much as it is geared towards the people who are in the industry. If we are relying on this site to be the source of all of our sales then we are hurting. This site often acts as a whole sale group.
For most dealers Feniex is the value line. While all I have is Feniex and
SOS; Feniex is my value line and biggest seller for good reason. Not everyone has their own lines or are willing. I'm sure Jared agrees with me as he is staying in the U.S. for his stuff (and not the LEDO's of the world making silly claims of American manufacturing.)
There are often state/city and other contracts that get factored into pricing often. It is very hard to know the true circumstances behind each and every deal. I use to get upset, however; It is a nature of the business we are in and even more so on ELB.
Ultimately, at the end of the day it comes down to what is good for the first responders out there. At least in my eyes.... that's what it should be about.
Jman423 said:
On a positive note in this thread, at least those of you that are bidding low are actually delivering product and not stealing customers' money.
Negative... Dave's customers had screenshots of low price list that he took money for but failed to deliver on products. I've followed up with them to at least get them taken care of though.
