Online products....
 

Just making this a sticky as alot of people are actually unaware that there are restrictions on Online products by most manufacturers.

Regardless of what the site says..if its a restricted line theres No manufacturer warranty. Many sites contradict the actual manufacturers, if the manufacturer states no sales, then theres no sales. There arent any exclusions or "special" dealers.

You dont know Exactly what your recieving..It could be B-stock/refurb, transshipped,stolen off the back of a truck,etc...

Believe or not there are MILLIONS of dollars lost every year due to counterfeit products. Yes it happens just like Rolexs. It is not difficult to build an amp,speaker,etc using less quality products. Thus selling for a much cheaper price.

Typically if something is being sold as "Brand New" and its below dealer price, theres a Very Big catch. Noone runs a business to sell products and take a loss on each sale. Again this could result from Stolen,refurb,counterfeit,etc products.

How long will the company be in business after you bought your product? a year? a Day? Who knows? Here is a good example of that...

Online store..

A couple of weeks ago a customer of mine pointed out that this site sold Arc Audio. I checked it out and noticed 95% of the products on their had restrictions. After making several calls to my Reps for such companies as Arc,DA,Focal,JL,Alpine,etc...they in turn apparently contacted this company via attorney. Now notice how the links do not work, theres no contact info,etc. They are simply just gone. YOU could have just bought something from them 2 weeks ago that broke today, and now your left with..NOTHING.
A few other companies that Ive seen tossed around on here have been Etronics, and remotestartdepot. Both of which are currently going under lawsuits from DEI. When a Multi Billion Dollar/ Fortune 500 company comes down on the small guys, how long do you think theyll last?

I will post more on this thread as I think of it, but just trying to make people aware of what theyre getting into. When you go into a store and the price is higher than online, keep in mind these guys have to pay for a Lease,electric,phones,advertising,employees,invent ory,on and on and on....Whereas an internet seller may be a guy or a few guys sitting in a room with a computer and a ton of products that came from who knows where.

--Don

Completely Restricted lines would include:

Alpine (Except Crutchfield)
Alumapro
Arc Audio
Diamond Audio
DEI..Viper,Python,Clifford securty especially
Eclipse
Focal
JL Audio
JVC ARSENAL
MB Quart
Nakamichi
Pioneer PREMIER
PPI
Phoenix Gold
Rainbow
Soundstream
Zapco

Found one for you selling Soundstream products and Pioneer Premier http://www.infinitecaraudio.com/

wait i'm confused, so when those companies have restrictions on their products, only websites that they authorize may sell them? or by restrictions do you mean they only sell it on their own website?

They dont permit online sales AT ALL.

--Don

dam i know plenty of websites that have all of those

I never knew that, nice post with that info. So no manufacturers warranty on these huh?? Thanks for saving me from some future problems.

so the sounddomain.com site cant warrenty phoenix gold products?
and i thought they were a well known site :/

i found this site, it has alpine and others
http://www.woofersetc.com/subcatmfgp...9&1=280&2=1078

2 da max: Yes theres a ton out there and manufacturers try to get them shut down, but alot of times its difficult being that they dont know where theyre actually getting the product from. woofersetc is also one of these..

Analog: Unfortunately when buying online you take a Huge risk. Not online for warranty purposes, but also knowing where the product originally came from. Could have been refurbed,stolen,or even non authentic. Yes stores are typically more expensive, but keep in mind one thing..Overhead. We/They have employees,lease,insurance,advertising,utilities,et c...With selling things slightly over/or at cost they would never last.

Outsider: I should correct some of the above companies. PG does allow Very few companies to carry their products, as does Kicker and a few others. But check with them before buying.

Guys..when in doubt, call the manufacturer directly and they will tell you if you are safe or not. There is absolutely noone that can tell you differently other than them. Regardless of what a website may claim.

--Don

Is Infinity or Kenwood restricted?

No, typically the lower end companies dont place restrictions on their products. Its usually the higher end products that are strict about it, and usually enforce it. Although Excelon does have some restrictions.

--Don

Etronics is a member of the Better Business Bureau. Does that matter?

Nope, just means they paid their annual $50 or so. Any buisness could be part of BBB as long as they want to pay. My business is only registered with D&B because theyre free. I didnt believe in paying to be a BBB member.

--Don

Damn. Thats f!@#ed up. BBB is Bullsh*t Bullsh*t Bullsh*t!!!

so if i were to purchase my whole alpine system from crutchfield it would be under warranty, correct? just making sure before i spend 2k and have something break and be screwed

From crutchfield, yes you will be completely safe.

--Don

ok thank you, its appreciated.

uncle steves canal street NY,NY
 

from what I understand about them they are the distributor for almost 90% of canal ST then the under sell everyone on the block. dude since your in jerse maybe you know if this is true or not cause I've been doing biz with them for about 12 yrs , done at least 100 systems with their products & only seen ONE defective amp &never had a problem w/ pruducts like alpine,diamond, they live for JL & PPI/viper(same co.)amps that is, autotek, soundstream,Kicker they just cant seem to get that alumapro dual 10" bandpass box & zapco :scratch: they also have phonex gold ,audio contol & nakamichi

When in doubt you can always contact the manufacturer directly. Most of Canal street just trades to each other, so they can all have the same brands.
Although Canal street is about half Authorized to sell what they sell, still alot better than an online sale which is completely non authorized. At least there you are still seeing the person that is selling it to you...

BTW..I do carry Alumapro. I dropped Zapco quite a while back, but I do carry Arc. Still a Zeff design with a bit more into it, rather than his own (former) company.

--Don

lol canal street? dude most of their stuff are stolen or refurbs, why you think some of their shiet is so cheap?

Actually, looking at some of the Pioneer PREMIER equipment I have, the warrantee says nothing about online sales, it simply says the warrantee is void if you don't purchase from an Authorized retailer

Actually, then feel free to show me where an online site is an Authorized dealer for Premier products. OR feel free to contact Pioneer directly.

I posted this info FACT based, not guestimates.

--Don

Hey Don,

What about Etronics.com? That's where I got my Alpine HU from because it was like $150 cheaper than Crutchfield, but I thought that it was a completely legit site. Do you mean to tell me that I have no warranty on my HU because I bought it from Etronics?

Unfortunately thats correct. Etronics is in no way shape or form a legit Alpine dealer. The Only online dealer for Alpine is Crutchfield.

If you didnt install it yet, then send it back. Youll be happier later if you ever have an issue..

--Don

Damn, that's not good news. I've had it installed for almost two months now. I really really really hope I don't have a problem with it. :banghead:

Well just hope for the best. Especially with Etronics as they have litigations pending from a few manufacturers due to online sales.

You should receive the amp today. ;)

Actaully BBB can save your butt if something ever goes wrong. I had a Bank that "lost" 2 paycheck that were Direct Deposited into my account. They tried saying it was never received. I went to the BBB, and got everything starightened out in less than 48 hours. It was lost alright... into the bank's own account. Many places unwilling to cooperate will pale at the mention of BBB. But having to pay to be part of them... :sprint: it's bull**** I say.

BTW... Memphis Car Audio is restricted as well.

If you've already bought/installed a product, Is there a way to check whether the product is authentic or counterfeit?

Emil

i think image dynamics is part of that list as well. not 100% on that tho

dont they sell id on sound domain?

yes they do...authorized also.

Hey don I know I wont argue with you but when i purchased my audio set up a month ago, all the sellers i bought from on ebay had 100% feedback with 10k+ feedbacks and all products are warrantied by the Manafacturer as they say, so you are saying if my Kicker sub or PG Amps Malfunction the manafacturer wont carry a warranty on the product that may be correct in some cases but in some they will.....

It doesnt matter what feedback or how many sales a Fleabay member has or what they state in their auction. If the manufacturer states "No online sales" what does that tell you? Are you going to believe the manufacturer or the seller?

Quick example from PG themselves...

AUTHORIZED INTERNET DEALERS:
www.cardomain.com

Above is the list of the Phoenix Gold Authorized internet dealers. These dealers have been authorized by Phoenix Gold because they provide high level on-line service, extensive product support, and confidential data security.

Buyer beware! Buying PG products online from any dealer not listed above will void your warranty.

Paying attention to the last sentence. So obviously buying from a Fleabay member is Not authorized and Will void your warranty.

Yeah so i can report the seller as false advertisement to ebay...???

not really, because they legally bought it. its not like there wholesaling it or selling it with warranty.

Sure, you can try, but I doubt it would get you very far. Im guessing you also bought your alarm online? If so, did you read the side of the box? And the owners manual?

How do you know they legally bought it? Or if its even genuine equiptment?

but would the manufacturers care? especially on ebay?

Of course they would. Wouldnt you if you owned a company and manufactured products and someone else is profiting off a counterfeit of Your product? Or that it fell off the back of a truck and They are making money off of Your product??