I just received a copy of this email: "[i]Good Da

F

Fishton

Sealiner
I just received a copy of this email:

"Good Day
I purchased a HDS 7 on e-bay in the US and I am living in RSA.
The problem I am experiencing is: the unit is calibrated in miles/feet ect, I then set the unit to Km/meters ect and the unit will save these settings, but when I turn the unit off and then repower the unit the settings that were saved are now back to the miles/feet calibration.
The second problem is : once the calibration settings have been changed to Km/meters the GPS map automatically puts the cursor into the US, once I move the cursor to South Africa ( East London ) all the previous setting that were made automatically change back to miles/feet, the unit then puts a message saying 'This unit is not set up in this area please contact authorized dealer'.
Could you please help with these problems that I am experiencing?  "

This email was sent to NAVICO for an answer to his question, herewith their reply:-

"Can you inform this customer that these units are now geofenced."

Stephen Burney| Technical Sales Engineer | NAVICO
 
B

Boeing Man

New member
I think you know why........

But anyway, to force you to pay a serious premium for exactly the same product somewhere else in the world :sa:.

No, I don't want to pay double, or to have similiar problems with a Navico product.

I'm thinking for starters, maybe Raymarine C90W.....time to do some researching!

 
 
B

benniejordaan

Sealiner
Hhmm. What if you buy a larnie boat from the states and you want to cruise her back. You will need electronics but when you get back to SA, you will have to bolt the R20k unit off and chuck it into the sea. Then go out and buy the exact same unit for R40k and bolt it on. Suppose if you travel the world you could just buy one for every country???

Fishton, that info must have give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.:beer Kachingching
 
F

Fishton

Sealiner
benniejordaan wrote:
Hhmm. What if you buy a larnie boat from the states and you want to cruise her back. You will need electronics but when you get back to SA, you will have to bolt the R20k unit off and chuck it into the sea. Then go out and buy the exact same unit for R40k and bolt it on. Suppose if you travel the world you could just buy one for every country???
Click to expand...
When buying a 'larnie' boat from the 'states', I presume you are not talking about a 18ft Baronet from the Freestate hey Bennie?  LOL ;)

If you buy a used boat from the States (USA), you will not have a choice regarding electronics, obviously.  But if you buy new, you most certainly will.  You will then be supplied with a non geofenced unit at the current retail price with no surcharge.

If you however tell the boat manufacturer that you can get the same unit from Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, etc. for 20% less, then that boat builder will fit your purchase to the boat for you.  When you get the boat back here and you realise it is georeferenced, you will have nobody to blame other than yourself.
 
F

Fishton

Sealiner
benniejordaan wrote:
Fishton, that info must have give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.:beer Kachingching
Click to expand...
Basic business logic tells us that it all comes down to numbers, i.e volume  / quantity.  The US has a $50 Billion fishing industry per annum.

A single Bass Pro Shops store probably does the same annual sales of Lowrance units as the whole of Southern Africa put together.  And this is why their retail price is in most cases very low.  (numbers numbers numbers)  The US Customer gains from this because of his spending in his own country.  What do you think the Americans would be paying if they bought all their units on-line from an International supplier?

With on-line international purchasing, we (non US residents) can benefit from the average American's patriotism.  The problem with this, is that it stunts sales / growth in developing countries such as South Africa.  Sure we pay more here, sometimes up to twice the price, but that's because we do not have a R400 Billion per annum fishing industry.

So if a manufacturer can put something in place to promote 'patriotic spending', such as geofencing - I might not be happy with paying more than the average American, but I'll support it.

After sales service:
Anybody that has ever bought a Lowrance unit from the States, and has had a problem with the unit will tell you the same thing - the American after sales service SUCKS huge LEMONS!:X:(:cens  This is the down side to "numbers, numbers, numbers".

Lowrance South Africa offers it's customers an additional year to the 2 year International Warranty period, giving you a total of THREE YEARS.

The service at Lowrance SA is second to none, and that is why they win all the International Awards year after year.  This is thanks to Liz Plotz and her staff's commitment to the South African angler.   :sa: :first

So Bennie, the "... :beer Kachingching!"  you refer to is more of a ^^.. here at the moment.  But hopefully with time our SA sales will pick up nicely and our prices will come down accordingly.

So please think twice the next time you want to buy on line and stimulate the US market further.
 
M

Mombakkie

Senior Member
Why would it cost a local retailer/wholesaler more to land a Lowrance unit here than it does a private individual ? Surely a Lowrance agent should get the 20 units he imports at a reduced price from Navico.

So how do local suppliers justify a 100% markup?
 
B

Boeing Man

New member
Fishton wrote:
benniejordaan wrote:
Fishton, that info must have give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.:beer Kachingching
Click to expand...
Basic business logic tells us that it all comes down to numbers, i.e volume  / quantity.  The US has a $50 Billion fishing industry per annum.

A single Bass Pro Shops store probably does the same annual sales of Lowrance units as the whole of Southern Africa put together.  And this is why their retail price is in most cases very low.  (numbers numbers numbers)  The US Customer gains from this because of his spending in his own country.  What do you think the Americans would be paying if they bought all their units on-line from an International supplier?

With on-line international purchasing, we (non US residents) can benefit from the average American's patriotism.  The problem with this, is that it stunts sales / growth in developing countries such as South Africa.  Sure we pay more here, sometimes up to twice the price, but that's because we do not have a R400 Billion per annum fishing industry.

So if a manufacturer can put something in place to promote 'patriotic spending', such as geofencing - I might not be happy with paying more than the average American, but I'll support it.

After sales service:
Anybody that has ever bought a Lowrance unit from the States, and has had a problem with the unit will tell you the same thing - the American after sales service SUCKS huge LEMONS!:X:(:cens  This is the down side to "numbers, numbers, numbers".

Lowrance South Africa offers it's customers an additional year to the 2 year International Warranty period, giving you a total of THREE YEARS.

The service at Lowrance SA is second to none, and that is why they win all the International Awards year after year.  This is thanks to Liz Plotz and her staff's commitment to the South African angler.   :sa: :first

So Bennie, the "... :beer Kachingching!"  you refer to is more of a ^^.. here at the moment.  But hopefully with time our SA sales will pick up nicely and our prices will come down accordingly.

So please think twice the next time you want to buy on line and stimulate the US market further.
Click to expand...
 
J

J_Bay

Sealiner
I don't for one minute believe, no matter who says what, that I can buy something off Amazon.com, and still get in here with shipping cheaper than the local agents can. The simple fact is that we pay to much for imported electronic goods.

When I was in the process of building my new P.C, I was shocked, and mildly nauseated when comparing the prices of the products here, and the prices on Amazon. I ended up buying here, not because I'm worried about "stimulating the American economy", I did that already by buying P.C parts made there, I bought locally because of warranty issues and nothing else.

I will never do this again. When I build my next P.C (soon), all the local shops can go fly, I'm gonna buy the stuff off of Amazon. I've never actually had to return any piece of P.C hardware anyway, so It's a risk I'm willing to take, especially when I could save up to R5000.00 by doing it.

I know it's not a fishfinder, but I'ts definitely still on topic, because all Electronic stuff is the same...we getting ripped buds!!!!
 
B

Boeing Man

New member
Hi Fishton

Your theory of volumes keeping prices down has some merit, however you fail to extend your theory to every other product being sold in the US and SA. I challenge you to find ANY other product that you pay double the price for here in SA compared to the US.

Every other industry obviously does not do the volumes of the US, but they don't find it necessary to mark up their products (this includes fishing/boating/motors products) as much as these products are. There are smaller countries, like ours, that don't charge the same for these products. So I think your theory is rather flawed.

Just maybe if the prices were reduced in this country, more people could afford these products HERE and that would create more volumes, more volumes = cheaper prices, cheaper prices = more volumes, etc, etc....as your theory prescribes.

Geofencing just underlines my opinion of the manufacturer and its inability to contend with the internet and free trade. If other industry players, without the ability to geofence their product, can still offer a comparitively priced serviced product in this country, why can't this industry?

As far as the warranty, my opinion is that if the first one breaks within three years, i'll buy a new second unit and be square with what I would have paid in SA for the first unit.

Sorry but I find it difficult to spend my hard earned cash when I feel I am being ripped off!

 
 
J

J_Bay

Sealiner
If you buy one in South Africa, is it also Geofenced? If it is, what happens if you want to take it with you overseas for some reason, maybe a holiday or something?

Would you then not be able to use your legitimately purchased unit because it is "fenced in", lol, and companies still feel they have the right to cry about "grey" imports. LOL AMAZON ALL THE WAY!!!
 
C

camo shorts

Senior Member
Sorry for a dumb question, I have zero experience with fishfinders, can't one just debrand or un-geofence the unit? (the way one does with a network locked cellphone, by doing a registry hack)
 
F

fedu

Sealiner
With Humminbird you can not, with Lowrance I don't know first time I heard about it.

I just hope my new HDS10 doesn't come this way, otherwize I'm going back to Garmin ot to the new SIMRAD Structure (Side) Scan units.
 
J

J_Bay

Sealiner
Can you not Flash them, like what the guys do with Android cellphones, so that you can run a new rom?

@Mombakkie: They use the lame excuse that it stops "Grey" imports, but it's really just something they do to make sure that no matter how much the local tech importers rip you a new one, you can not buy one from the states!

My thing is, if you have one that you buy in SA, and it's Geofenced, then what happens if you want to use it outside of South Africa, or does Lowrance just say "Meh, tough luck.?
 
H

Haydan

New member
No you can still buy from the US. You just have to get the World Base Map version. Costs extra I think but still a good 25-30% less than buying it in your local country.

It is all a load of crap, Lowrance is simply ripping off anyone using the unit outside the States.

The US version has units disabled (metric units) and has geofencing programmed into it.

I would guess that it costs them more to make a US version that it does to make an international version.

The World map for instance on the world model is they're basic map that has been available for years and has no real detail on it at all and yet it costs more than the US version with the enhanced base map!

Its simple - Lowrance is Ripping off the rest of the world for no good reason. Shame on you Lowrance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top