M Basta
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- Oct 22, 2015
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Fascinating thread. Good, honest debates and I learned some stuff about the retail side of things that I didn't know before.
I've bought from B&H before but not Adorama. Decent experience; nothing negative and nothing extraordinary. Just a good, normal transaction. I'd think the Adorama experience wouldn't be too different from B&H.
Bottom line here though is that it appears that big retailers like Adorama will have to introduce more personalized "handling" of warranty cases on Chinese dashcams if they want to capture an audience that's already accustomed to that type of service from the smaller retailers we know here on DCT. It's now clear to me that "service" comes at an added upfront premium (not too dissimilar to the "bundled" sd card). That added premium is not necessarily unreasonable if the service is good, but I would like a discounted option if I don't want it. Some people just want the dashcam and little else. I certainly don't want to be charged for a "bundled" sd card, however. Ever. I have plenty of Sandisk High Endurance 64gb ready for action.
My guess is that a retailer the size of Adorama wouldn't change their current policies on this, so if they instead offer the same product at a lower price point with the explicit understanding that it's the customer responsibility to handle the warranty process, then I think that's a great alternative for customers. Options are good. However, if there's no price incentive (i.e. if retailer X is offering WR1 at $99 with warranty service, and retailer Y sells at the same price but doesn't provide that added level of service beyond 30 days), then obviously there's little/no incentive to buy there. Having said that, considering the dashcam business is relatively new, maybe special handling of warranty cases by retailers is in everyone's best interest until the industry matures enough to a point where the manufacturers can establish some kind of domestic presence and handle that aspect themselves.
It will be interesting to see how all of this unfolds, and how certain retailers choose to proceed ... not just on this product, but any upcoming products, from any manufacturer.
I'll be watching.
I've bought from B&H before but not Adorama. Decent experience; nothing negative and nothing extraordinary. Just a good, normal transaction. I'd think the Adorama experience wouldn't be too different from B&H.
Bottom line here though is that it appears that big retailers like Adorama will have to introduce more personalized "handling" of warranty cases on Chinese dashcams if they want to capture an audience that's already accustomed to that type of service from the smaller retailers we know here on DCT. It's now clear to me that "service" comes at an added upfront premium (not too dissimilar to the "bundled" sd card). That added premium is not necessarily unreasonable if the service is good, but I would like a discounted option if I don't want it. Some people just want the dashcam and little else. I certainly don't want to be charged for a "bundled" sd card, however. Ever. I have plenty of Sandisk High Endurance 64gb ready for action.
My guess is that a retailer the size of Adorama wouldn't change their current policies on this, so if they instead offer the same product at a lower price point with the explicit understanding that it's the customer responsibility to handle the warranty process, then I think that's a great alternative for customers. Options are good. However, if there's no price incentive (i.e. if retailer X is offering WR1 at $99 with warranty service, and retailer Y sells at the same price but doesn't provide that added level of service beyond 30 days), then obviously there's little/no incentive to buy there. Having said that, considering the dashcam business is relatively new, maybe special handling of warranty cases by retailers is in everyone's best interest until the industry matures enough to a point where the manufacturers can establish some kind of domestic presence and handle that aspect themselves.
It will be interesting to see how all of this unfolds, and how certain retailers choose to proceed ... not just on this product, but any upcoming products, from any manufacturer.
I'll be watching.
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