Why Buying Local Can Pay Off In The End!

As a business we realize that anything can be purchased off of the internet at a greatly discounted price; at times at or below what a small business may pay for this same product. I won't get into the problems with the inner workings of the electronics industry that make this possible but will try to sum it up with a short story. Recently I spent time with a customer in our showroom demonstrating an in dash navigation system that we are excited about. Weeks later the customer was in our showroom again when I learned that he had purchased the unit online because it was a little less expensive and he didn't pay tax (which technically he is suppose to claim at years end.) Of course I was not happy to lose a sale to the internet especially because I spent my time educating the customer on this system. About 3-6 months after this product had been on the market there became a known issue with one of the product interfaces. After learning of this issue we contacted our vender, obtained replacement units for all of our clients who purchased this unit from us, and contacted these clients to set them up for exchange free of charge regardless of whether or not they had yet experienced this issue. Shortly after this, the customer that choose to purchase his product online walked into the showroom complaining about this known issue. I made him aware of the common problem and told him he had to contact the company he purchased it through to get the problem resolved. Long story short, he got nowhere with the company he purchased the product from as they told him to contact the manufacturer, and the manufacturer told him he had to deal with the company from where the product was purchased. In the end I had to charge him our labor rate and a new part to finally end his frustrating endeavor. Although product issues are nothing we can control, we pride ourselves on providing great service after the sale for those who see the value in what we do. Unfortunately the online stores are merely taking money in exchange for a box.