Buying from the States?

**Quasievil** · 1st June 2009, 20:09

Originally Posted by jono035

There are a lot of businesses in NZ that deserve our support (Quasi, when are those winter SPS gloves ready?). There are also a lot of places out there that don't need to exist and serve no purpose.

Sadly no they arent, it is so damn slow at the moment its not feesable to throw more money at stock.
Sorry dude

**TLDV8** · 1st June 2009, 20:10

Originally Posted by Katman

The reality is that I have learnt through recent experience (and knew prior to that from 25 odd years as a NZ motorcycle consumer) that there is no shortage of NZ motorcycle shop that can't see anything past their overheads, turnover and profits.

There are some small businesses out there, like mine, who recognise that without customers we have no business.

The onus is on NZ motorcyclists to search out those businesses.

You will do well then just as i did through the 80's stock market crash,all because of work ethic,performance,reliability and customer satisfaction.
Without stating the obvious,given the economic climate only those traits will allow endurance.

**Robert Taylor** · 1st June 2009, 23:03

Originally Posted by TLDV8

Would you regard this as good service.
The final straw was having to pay the postage because someone had no quality control and sent a defective product yet continuously blow their own trumpet.
Support local retailers when i get back to NZ,yeah right.

The reality is American retailers know how to succeed when there is competition.
A lot of NZ and Australian retailers seem to think it is their god given right.
Shit service equals no custom.
Integrity and accountability will get loyalty from the customer,that has got US retailers over US$20000 of my hard earned money to date.

There are also plenty of helmet charts on the internet for fitment,my US purchased Arai XD3 ($899 here) fit like a glove and saved over $400 on the current price.
When i asked here why the large difference, i was fobbed off.
the only saving grace for some is the latest imports will be closer to RRP due to the major decrease in the exchange rate,it was total piracy before when i purchased my one.

.

1) Yes that job did go wrong, a simple loss of gas pressure that happens very infrequently but just had to happen to a customer many thousands of kilometres away in another country. That sucked, for everybody concerned.
2)Yes it got sorted out, at further cost to me but I didnt complain about that at all. It had to be sorted.
3) Yes shipping was a disaster because concedingly a staff member stuffed up at this end, less than perfect addressing and tracking, exacerbated by a rather pedantic Australian postal service. Further exacerbated by yourself not exactly being immediately available via modern communication methods.
4) As I recall I was the only guy within many thousands of kilometres actually willing to custom build you a shock long since out of production. So I firmly reject the blanket claim that Aussie / NZ dealers etc are unhelpful. Also, as Steve Cramer was unwilling to build one I wasnt stepping on his toes, something I am also mindful of.
5) Overwhelmingly we have many happy customers. Like every business we will have 3 or 4 tetchy issues per year, thats reality and we always do our best to sort it out and there are often obstacles.
6) Yes there are many bad dealers and many good ones. But a few bad experiences with LOCAL dealers is no justification to tar them all with the same brush and use that as justification in itself to purchase offshore. And of course the less than ideal situation that prevailed with delivery of your shock with a leaking reservoir now in your eyes totally disqualifies me to have any credibility blowing a trumpet about the negative consequences of purchasing offshore!

Bollocks Obamas new subsidies for their agricultural sector really sums it up. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Being small countries we easily get squashed.

**Robert Taylor** · 1st June 2009, 23:05

Originally Posted by Quasievil

Sadly no they arent, it is so damn slow at the moment its not feesable to throw more money at stock.
Sorry dude

Quasi youll get maligned for that, ''never got stock, got it from the States in 5 days, ra ra ara ra ad infinitum''

**Robert Taylor** · 1st June 2009, 23:09

Originally Posted by Sollyboy

The same price may not be matched Robert but some of the NZs service and back up is just bullshit , interesting that he has a pic of an a helmet he just buy , I buy a helmet at a dealer at in Auck a few years ago , and riding along the side plate broke and incidently it was the bit the salesmonkey was having trouble with in the shop so he maybe to blame him or I maybe to blame but probly him , any way it was established as not warranty within the 5 secs that they look at it , so I order a new side plate and 3 weeks later it was still not here ends up they couldnt get one and didnt give my money back so why would I support locals anymore I might as well orders from overseas and save my money and get the same shit back up.
Yo self exclude Robert I know your a good guy just dont wear your pants so high

One of the big reasons that local service is often percieved as such is we dont get the same buy price as the big Yank chains and the cost of airfreighting leaves no margin when you are competing with these same companies. They also operate on very high turnover so the sheer scale of operation can afford much tighter margins. As I have said before its not a level playing field.

**Robert Taylor** · 1st June 2009, 23:12

Originally Posted by short-circuit

How would you feel about the introduction of tariffs then?

A weak exchange rate against $US achieves a similiar result but what needs to happen is that gst and clearance fees should be charged on EVERY good landed in the country. That would provide more employment and a much needed cash cow for a Government that has inherited an empty cupboard.

**Robert Taylor** · 1st June 2009, 23:28

Originally Posted by Katman

I'm a very small NZ retailer and I do exactly that.

It's unfortunate that the majority of New Zealand motorcyclists can't see past the big flashy shops that don't give a shit about customer satisfaction.

Thats a very relevant point and I always myself support smaller operators that run a tight and efficient operation. This country has been built on small business and there are many factors conspiring to destroy it. You get shot down if you dare to open your mouth about these issues and frequently, but bugger them! Proudly, I support my locals.

**elevenhundred** · 2nd June 2009, 12:44

NZ Dollar is up to 0.64 US cents at the moment

**dipshit** · 2nd June 2009, 13:18

Originally Posted by Robert Taylor

Quasi youll get maligned for that, ''never got stock, got it from the States in 5 days, ra ra ara ra ad infinitum''

Yeah, it's "little details" like that kind of fuck things for useless NZ bike shops. Who would have thunk it..??

**dipshit** · 2nd June 2009, 16:29

Originally Posted by Katman

It's unfortunate that the majority of New Zealand motorcyclists can't see past the big flashy shops that don't give a shit about customer satisfaction.

Perhaps the problem isn't from customers not caring about our local retailers.

Take my last big purchase from the US for example. Wanted some mufflers for me SV to replace the horrible standard ones. I approached two local shops for a start. I went into my first local bike shop around 10am on a midweek morning thinking they shouldn't be too busy around that particular time and will have time to go through options/catalogues for what is available for my bike and get some idea of prices. After all they were the major Suzuki dealer for the region and must have had lots of SV owners do the same. But no, that would have been too simple. Both salesmen were busy talking to a travelling rep going through a large pile of crappy gloves. I hung around for perhaps 10 to 15 minutes without even being noticed by them. Fine, obviously they don't want my business. Second shop was a bit more helpful but he didn't really have much of an idea what was available. After finally deciding on a particular set, he said he would get back to me with a price. After one week of not hearing back from him, i thought he didn't want my business either.

Lots of research and searching on the net didn't find any decent NZ online mail order stores. Plenty of US ones though with good photos and descriptions and prices listed just waiting for you to tick the box and punch in your credit card number and postal address. The no hassle convenience was too tempting. A day after i ordered from the US, the second local shop rang back with a price. (over a week later after i inquired) Too f#$%ing late.

I would prefer to buy locally as you avoid the risk of getting held up in customs or hit with an import duty. The trouble is local retailers make things very difficult for you.

I wish there was a bike accessory retailer like this Christchurch shop... http://www.photo.co.nz/ ... is to the camera world. Their prices are very good - even on an international basis. I have friends in Hong Kong that are always offering to bring over any camera equipment i want... but HK prices aren't that much different to the Christchurch shop, so i don't bother with HK stuff and just get all my camera gear from www.photo.co.nz Their web site is well organised and you can always find what you are looking for... and they promote any new cool stuff they have as well... and it is no hassle punch in your credit card number and address and the gear turns up on your doorstep a day or two later. It is a very popular and well-known shop amongst camera enthusiasts in NZ.

If this NZ retailer can do it... then why can't at least one motorcycle accessory retailer do it as well?

**Katman** · 2nd June 2009, 16:38

Originally Posted by dipshit

Perhaps the problem isn't from customers not caring about our local retailers.

Take my last big purchase from the US for example. Wanted some mufflers for me SV to replace the horrible standard ones. I approached two local shops for a start. I went into my first local bike shop around 10am on a midweek morning thinking they shouldn't be too busy around that particular time and will have time to go through options/catalogues for what is available for my bike and get some idea of prices. After all they were the major Suzuki dealer for the region and must have had lots of SV owners do the same. But no, that would have been too simple. Both salesmen were busy talking to a travelling rep going through a large pile of crappy gloves. I hung around for perhaps 10 to 15 minutes without even being noticed by them. Fine, obviously they don't want my business. Second shop was a bit more helpful but he didn't really have much of an idea what was available. After finally deciding on a particular set, he said he would get back to me with a price. After one week of not hearing back from him, i thought he didn't want my business either.

That is my point exactly.

There are plenty of big flashy motorcycle shops out there that couldn't be arsed giving you the time of day.

It seems to me, the smaller the business the more helpful they will try to be.

**Katman** · 2nd June 2009, 16:51

It also seems to me that there are a number of customers out there who have rather bizarre expectations.

For example, I had a customer one day who was wanting a pair of boots. Of the boots that I had in his size one pair were $200 and the other (completely different brand) were $400.

He decided he prefered the $400 pair and told me that if I did them for the same price as the other pair he'd buy them. When I explained that if I did that I would be selling them at well below cost he shrugged his shoulders and walked out.

Even when you try to, you can't seem to please everyone all the time.

**ajw_888** · 2nd June 2009, 17:32

My 2c worth

Support the locals when you can, unfortunately my luck seems to be that once I get to know someone in a shop, they bugger off. Nothing must piss them off more then knowing some clown in trying something on so they can get the size for ebay.
The locals will give repeat customers discounts and ongoing service. Even before Robert T excellent service, Steve at SCP was happy about building one off's and talking option.

For the real commodity items use anyone.

I've imported from Aus, UK and the US, and been lucky with some really good personal service, but from other forums I have heard of many horror stories from the big outlets. ie discounted wheel sets that should have spacer for bolt on - no spacer recieved, lost in the warehouse. Dodgy Brembo knock off's etc.

**scumdog** · 2nd June 2009, 18:38

As an experiment I got the drive-belt for CBs Sporty from the US, even with freight it was $70 cheaper than retail in NZ..

Only down-side was that it took nearly TEN days before they shipped it - but then it was posted on 27th May and was waiting here today...