Buying overseas vs supporting local

[Jurgens Smit]

Hi Guys,

 

Currently I am in the middle of a major upgrade to my road bike.

 

For the guys that have ordered groupset components from Overseas - Evans, bike24 etc. How has your warranty support been? Would you do a major upgrade again from online stores?

 

For the local guys running Ultegra or DuraAce Di2, what warranty issues have you had and how did the local supplier / LBS assist you?

 

In the end is the cost of nearly 2.5 more worth having local backup or no?

 

Thanks

Edited March 28, 2017 by Jurgens Smit

[RiverInTheRoad]

2.5 times the cost? That makes it quite simple. You can buy a spare groupset and have enough cash left to have it fitted.

[ricochet_rabbit]

buy 2 sets, still cheaper and you have your warranty sorted too.

Chain Reaction also provide a three year warranty on Dura Ace components. 

[Mopkop]

evans and merlin for the win!

 

The only schlep will be shipping it to them IF something was to go wrong. Do some reading up on possible problems and how to solve them before going electronic.

 

Hell at 2,5 times the price you can buy new if something was to break

[andydude]

Wasn't there a case, and I'm thinking it's in an Act somewhere, which says that as long as you bought something legally then the agent in which ever country must honour the warranty?

 

And this buying overseas vs local is so ironic.. a "local" shop which sells 95% foreign products wants you to support "local".

[Jurgens Smit]

Wasn't there a case, and I'm thinking it's in an Act somewhere, which says that as long as you bought something legally then the agent in which ever country must honour the warranty?

 

And this buying overseas vs local is so ironic.. a "local" shop which sells 95% foreign products wants you to support "local".

 

Starting to look for something similar to what you're describing. 

Found This regarding grey goods bought from a store insouth africa:

https://www.michalsons.com/blog/grey-goods-under-the-consumer-protection-act/8162

[fanievb]

Wasn't there a case, and I'm thinking it's in an Act somewhere, which says that as long as you bought something legally then the agent in which ever country must honour the warranty?

 

And this buying overseas vs local is so ironic.. a "local" shop which sells 95% foreign products wants you to support "local".

 

local agents are under no obligation to honour warranty in respect of direct imported goods

[Jurgens Smit]

local agents are under no obligation to honour warranty in respect of direct imported goods

 

What about goods bought while travelling abroad?

If I study a semester abroad and upgrade my bike while there and I move back, will you still have no local support?

[lechatnoir]

Wasn't there a case, and I'm thinking it's in an Act somewhere, which says that as long as you bought something legally then the agent in which ever country must honour the warranty?

 

And this buying overseas vs local is so ironic.. a "local" shop which sells 95% foreign products wants you to support "local".

 

Apparently is the case for cameras. But good luck getting the local agents to honour a warranty like this.

[Mongoose!]

What issues can there be on a groupset that requires a warrantee honour - to be honest?    

 

Frames and wheels yes.

 

But a groupset?

[fanievb]

What about goods bought while travelling abroad?

If I study a semester abroad and upgrade my bike while there and I move back, will you still have no local support?

 

same difference

 

see below from a thread on MBB, guy explains it perfectly

 

https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/405341-Imported-Galaxy-Note-Warranty-Issues

 

 

 

 

Grey are not fake products, those are black, grey are products brought into the country through unofficial channels, its not only Samsung that does it and its not only south africa, every manufacturer in every country in the world has the same policy, that why laptops get advertised with global warranties, if you moved to London and took your LG tv with you your warranty would be useless toy ou there, same with any and all other products you buy. The serial number is how they track that its not an official import.

 

Remember it costs them money to repair this product and having come through unofficial channels there is no way to determine if any alterations were made tot he device by the grey seller, which is something that has and does happen often, electronics are sent to a country for specific reasons and in some cases there are slight differences in devices depending on the country based on the countries laws, signal requirements and what not depending on the type of product.

 

Also the other risk in grey imports and its literally luck of the draw, is local customs charges for unofficial imports of electronics can be as much as 300% of the sale price. I have personally had a parcel stopped at customs and was contacted to provide a copy of the original sales receipt, clearance fee was R25 and an additional duty fee of 70% was imposed, by the time i got my ram it was already above the current retail price in part because of shipping time, but also that serious duty fee, that kit was R1800 when i ordered it @ R950ish, but the time it arrived the market price had dropped to about R1300/R1400 and by the time customs had screwed me i paid almost R1700 for it, basically only saving R100 off the price of when i ordered it but R300 more than what i would of paid had i walked into computer mania. Official importers like Samsung pay at most a 15% duty fee, something to do with market promotion and economical growth, at one stage the private and commercial import duties were both bellow 100%, but once they changed official to a cap of 15% they greatly increased the maximum private import to prevent people from doing exactly what you are about to.

 

If they don't check it you are likely to pay no import fee, maybe not even a clearance fee, but if they run that through an x-ray they will most certainly stop it, open, and then decide if and how much they will charge you to actually get it. If they request an invoice they will calculate it against the current days exchange rate, so if the exchange has shifted you could end up paying a clearance fee based on an amount higher than what you actually paid for the product and legally speaking up to 3X that amount. Although i do know many people who import products and in most cases its 70% - 100%, they have to be in a really **** mood to go higher than that.

 

 

[Ferro]

Not like there is any problem getting local agents honoring warranties on local sales either.

[Jurgens Smit]

Not like there is any problem getting local agents honoring warranties on local sales either.

Hey now, It's only Monday

[Jurgens Smit]

What issues can there be on a groupset that requires a warrantee honour - to be honest?    

 

Frames and wheels yes.

 

But a groupset?

 

With electronics funny **** happens dude. Anything is possible

[andydude]

local agents are under no obligation to honour warranty in respect of direct imported goods

 

Of course they would say that. Give me some case law! And not an opinion that you posted lower down.

 

Companies are known to shy away from their responsibilities. Just because they do, doesn't mean it's correct or legal.

[FBSP]

I will only buy from local dealers in an emergency situation, have been buying online for 10 years and even with the odd warranty problem it's still much much more cost effective. The local dealers really take the piss with prices. China is such a massive market now for carbon rims frames and parts and they are more than happy to send you a new product if you return the old ones. I have been riding their carbon mtb rims for 5 years and still good. Do the research and save thousands.