You could claim warranty for sure, just send it back to the place of purchase. It may cost you a couple of hundred postage but at least you got a cheaper kite to start with. I don't think the local importer would take your claim, I mean why would he, you didn't support him to start with and he is in no way responsible for the claim.

It would be interesting to see if you did send your gear back how long it would take and if you would ever get it back. I would just be paying a local repairer to fix the issue.

The importers make there money from selling the kites, this pays there wages so they can take photos etc record the faults, replace the faulty gear with gear they have payed for, then they return the gear at there cost to get credit. Do you really think they are going to look after you?????.

90% of the importers are not working for the manufacturers but if this was the case there would be no issue. There is not a lot of money in Kiteboarding you support locals and you get support in return. easy.

dusta said...

Bigwavedave said...

dusta said...

Bigwavedave said...


Au$1200?

You will have to pay GST and import duty on that kite!

Thats $120 GST

and 5% import duty

thats another $180 on top of your $1200

obviously never imported stuff have you ?

all the time. anything over a grand is dutiable

www.homeaffairs.gov.au/

not the brightest are you ?

personal attacks now?

I've imported more stuff than you've had hot dinners.

Anything over $1000 you will receive a call from Customs and you'll be asked to pay GST and duty. Unless you do a dodgy.....then who's not the brightest?

This planet needs more like you

lol i have no idea about the edited posts on the first page . You can go on about how many more hot dinners you've had than me bigwavehero . What you or waxman think of me means absolutely jack .

You bag me for saving money in one breath and then admit to importing RC gear . Why not get your "local"shop to import it for you so he makes a dollar ?


****ing hypocrite

dusta said...

lol i have no idea about the edited posts on the first page . You can go on about how many more hot dinners you've had than me bigwavehero . What you or waxman think of me means absolutely jack .

You bag me for saving money in one breath and then admit to importing RC gear . Why not get your "local"shop to import it for you so he makes a dollar ?


****ing hypocrite

Poor, poor Dusta, read and you will learn. As my statement said i only buy gear when it is not available in Aus. Becoming a importer is a very costly excersise as a lot of manufacturers only take minimum orders between 10-20 grand per order so the more popular parts run out in Aus quickly and parts don't generally get reordered until all stock from there order is low enough to warrant it.

So this initial outlay is out of reach from most local stores, and they actually suggest to buy from on the net and recommend sites and yes sometimes they do buy from the same sites to have the gear in there store but they can't make any money from doing that and if they did you would have to pay higher than the Aus rec. retail price. There is a lot less $ in owning a hoby shop than running a kite shop. I't would be good if you could understand this but you probably wont.

Poor, poor Dusta.

Wow. I was just chasin a yes or no...

poor relative said...

I always buy local when it comes to kites.

..snip..

There are many things your friendly local retailer will give you that the interwebz will not - including a smile - this to me is worth spending a little more.

Kama'aina discounts are never bad either

I agree that people should be buying local but I also think there are some retailers that seriously need to lift their game. There are a couple of retailers you can walk into and get given the cold shoulder and sorry, if that happens then its not a business I want to support.

Bigwavedave said...

Saffer said...

I agree that people should be buying local but I also think there are some retailers that seriously need to lift their game. There are a couple of retailers you can walk into and get given the cold shoulder and sorry, if that happens then its not a business I want to support.

I totally agree. But you wouldn't buy your kite from another store and then take it to your local when you have problems?

There are a lot of reasons apart from saving money why you didn't buy your gear from your local.

- Maybe you have moved in from out of town
- Maybe you bought your gear on a holiday
- Maybe you found a better deal elsewhere

Anyway, if I bought my gear from out of town and went to my local, and they made an effort to help me out, give great service, guess what? I'd be back there again next time I needed to make a purchase. Refusing to help with equipment you didn't sell, whilst being perfectly within the shop's rights is fairly backwards looking - I'd be looking at this person as someone I could secure a sale from in the future. If you are representing the brand by selling the equipment then maybe you should consider standing by it regardless of where I purchased it from. That's called building a relationship.

Also, if you find a good deal from another shop, there is no harm in asking if your local can match it or at least be more competitive. Classic line I have used is "I have found X kite for this price at Y shop, but I'd rather keep my money local, can you do something for me?" It seems to work...

Its funny isn't it we all want a bargin and "some" are ready to screw the local guy to save a buck by importing new gear.
But hey when the dollar drops and the local guy has shut down or is just not interested in that brand of kite what then ?

KTM "Dirt Bike" Australia recently had KTM Global prevent any USA KTM dealer from selling parts to Australian residents, after one dealer continued they lost their dealership.
I know this has nothing to do with kiting but it has a lot to do with Kite shops stocking a product that can be prostituted from O/S.

Personally the service I have been provided from my local Brisbane dealer has had me return to him for all Kite Surfing related purchases.

Even today I rang for an electric pump, he advised me where to buy online and save a $$$.

I suppose what I'm getting at it is what you feel comfortable doing, What value do you put on Service and after sales follow up ?

I'm sure most of us have similar stories of fantastic Deals and follow service from our local guys at one point or other, at the end of the day it is the consumer "US" that decides where our hard earnt $$$ is spent.

Anyone who hasn't got a great local dealer I'm sure if you post here please supply me a pm with the name of a Kite Shop with some cred your inbox will overflow.

The way I picked mine was the guy at the shop owned the shop,There was no ego to deal with, and no Bull S*&t Filter needed.

Its great to find good old fashion customer service still exists, maybe F*&cking hard to find at times but its worth the effort in the long run.

cheers
Richard

Buying a new 2010 kite over seas doesn't screw the local dealer as much as it screws the 2nd hand market.

I agree. It is an issue that's needs to be addressed by the manufacturer.

Exactly what ARSA said - I bought a Best kite from the sunshine coast on the Internet and the supplier basically told me to get stuffed when I had a leaky valve. Thinking very little Best kites I went to my local shop and was told the Best provide great customer service. They sorted out my kite and I have bought 3 kites from that shop since.

Warranty is a manufacturer's issue and manufacturer's need to support the suppliers.

ok said...

what if i go on a holiday with my kite i bought overseas? and take it to the kite shop where im visiting to sort out a warranty issue? will they tell me to go away? or will they fix it and not cry about it being bought from somewhere else?

I'd suggest it depends on your attitude, and the attitude of who you speak with.

Getting good service is a two way street .. being a fair and reasonable customer helps muchos.

so kiting gear prices are not going to get any better becasue there is no competition between shops? Much like the big four banks charging what they like and making alot of money from doing so.

Same people talking the same uneducated crap.


The simple answer is that "all" kites regardless of country of origin will be cheaper in the next 6 months.

The AUD has appreciated between 20 and 35% against al major currencies except the yen.

Given the $US is the major trading currency even EU brands buy their kites in $US from Sri Lanka, China and Vietnam. The Euro has also appreciated against the $US so overall costs of the kites will reduce.

Duty has also reduced another 2.5%, making it 7.5% lower then 12 months ago.

The fact that the Chinese Yuan is pegged to the $US makes no difference "Wishy", so who's the smartarse? WE pay them in $US and sell in $Aud. Ill make it simple for all.

July 10
If the factory price of say a Takoon made in China was US$500 then it would land in Australia for A$820 (inc shipping/duty)

November 10
Same factory price of US$450 now lands for $630.

Thats a landed cost saving of 21%

Unfortunately wages, interest rates, freight, rents have all increased in the 'lucky country' eating into the above savings.

Had the distributors and retailers not cushioned some of the arse falling out of the A$ earlier this year we all would have been paying a hell of a lot more for our kites.

If you can be stuffed importing direct to save a few bucks then go for it. It would be fair to say a high percentage of cars parked at the kite spots are owned by self employed tradies. Seems that the ones who think the kite retailers aren't entitled to make some margin are the same ones happy to stitch us up so they can piss off for a kite at 3pm.

The regular posters should stick to posting on topics they have some knowledge about.

As for cutting out the middle man as Big Wave Dave suggests the simple answer is you would pay the same. The manufacturer inherently charges higher prices when they know the product is going Direct to retail. Also BWD there are minimum purchase requirements per order. Thats where distributers/importers come in. Do you think the manufacturers would have any inclination to deal with 100's of independent stores buying a few pieces each? Ummm they aren't retailers.

For a simple question this thread reads like a bloody comedy.

BTW I have import 100's of containers every year for the past 14 years from China, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, USA, India, UK. I work directly with manufactures in all these countries for both wholesale and retail. And yes I have been to the 2 major Kite factories in Southern China where I could have purchased directly from them for US$300! I bought my kites from Kitepower in Geelong instead.


Out.