Originally posted by goddo31 Good point Hypocorism and thank you for the link to the ACCC.
Reading through the subheadings Was-now advertising, strike-through pricing and comparisons with RRP; I have to wonder how many sellers actually breach this.
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Should we inform the ACCC about DWI in this case? I have to wonder if they are an Australian registered business.
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If you are going to be hit with customs AND the item from DWI ships internationally anyway (implied by $50-70 freight fee), you might aswell just order from the NYC stores...
I think when I am ready to get a K5 I will try and buy it locally. Maybe.
p.s. shall I just call you "R" ?
Hehe, yep I realise ozlizard might get the rags on over what I posted, but real Oz-Lizards are bloody friendly buggers and don't take things the wrong way and we all know they mean well.
True, a lot of businesses try to "conveniently forget" GST on the label but happily mostly only small ones pull that these days. It's bloody disappointing though when "Faux Oz Players" like DWI who shift big-ticket items play that way, and deliberately for suck-in advantage.
Caveat Emptor is NO acceptable excuse on their part. Why do I say that?
Well it's no secret DWI is a grey, fair enough no probs there; but, regarding are they Australian based or not? Well, what can the innocent Fred Nerk determine from facts such as these (Btw the ACCC tries to look at these things through the 'average mums n dads' consumers eyes too, which they should);
- DWI prominently displays (read: solicits by) 4 Aust Landline numbers (diff states). Psst and... let's not ass-u-me that DWI have 4 paid bums on seats in diff states just at the beck & call of poor little guy you and me, they could be 'Aussie' voices from f..in' Bangalore and cleverly redirected over VoIP! Oops, so much for modern i-comms technology.
- You access their online website via a .com.au domain (as we all know you have to be a regd Oz business to get one of those), it clearly gives AUD prices and portends to be true blue, real we'll look after you "mates" type, in fact just about everything except the obligatory kangaroo!;
- But back to being grey;
1. CRK won't have a bar of supporting any camera not originated through their exclusive Pentax Au dealership, and;
2. OK, some might say; DWI gives "their own" warranty, sure they do. But how good is that for Fred Nerk who cops a crook K-5 sensor, and needs to get their AUD1700ish? toy rectified, properly to Pentax standards, and expediently? As good as "genuine" warranty would provide, no questions allowed!
- And is it reasonable to trust a business who openly flaunts Au trading/advertising laws?
You be the judge, don't believe what I say and can I urge you be suspicious of others who might come forth with "Myself/friend of a friend got away with it, so nuffin to worry about, I had no probs with my DWI cam, it's cool." stories too?
Guess where it's MOST likely that customs will be instructed to up their anti and random check many many more parcels coming in when obviously over the 1,000 bucks? And they are NOT stupid nor ignorant of what 'undervalue declaring etc tricks' goes on.
(for those wanting to ignore that there's a high pressure on the Govt to change rules re this enquiry - past experiences always count for Sweet FA! kids.)
Yes, if I were doing the sums and o/s sourcing a body (for myself), I'd feel more comfortable with a credible US mob like B&H or Adorama. YMMV.
Although I have at times seriously considered DWI for some things... either DealX, fleeBay or someone else similar won out.
You raise the matter of, if to 'dob in' DWI. Fair Q btw. (and I suppose we should include others like CitiWide etc., in this too), that's always a personal decision of course, depending on how one views ethics matters, depth of social conscience biting, whatever.
But on that let's never forget that the ACCC is there
and batting for us, open to every citizen to voice their queries or complaints to them, which they DO follow up and will take action (if valid) as per their findings and do make rulings too.
That's my experience anyway, and I have another big Corp in sight for bitching about now (soon), which I'm sure isn't fair playing on certain advt'ing of hot-specials and deserves to be "reprogrammed", else rapped on the knuckles if stubborn, mainly on social equity (discrimination against disadvantaged buyers) grounds.
I always like to grab a deal like the next guy; Otoh quickly get the shits when a trader is over-the-top and could easily suck
me in and leave me hang out to dry, as well as others who might unlucky to be as dumb as me. Money's just too bloody hard to save up for us plebs I reckon.
Really feel for the poor buggers here in limbo too with K-5 orders from Ryda, but at least Ryda is a CRK/Pentax authorised dealer so they're fairly safe - plus the greedy bastards got a decent discount... Hah, so let's lump it on them anyway.
And CRK/Pentax does have a genuine excuse for tardy deliveries of that camera too.
To sum up another of my boring exercises in mindless rhetoric: A few last comments (read: only MY opinions), about buying grey cameras;
1. Current Oz law means we can personal import UP to AUD1,000 inclusive and escape GST and related duties, so based on that, as well as prudence;
(Oops sorry, I neglected to provide the
important full info refs where poss. -added 2010-12-24)
http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5549.asp http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5653.asp
2. Importing DSLR bodies, the general peer consensus seems to be (and I personally tend to agree Fwiw) that it's fairly safe to snap up a good sub 1,000 (incl del), like say a K-x - proven qlty camera, no known or pending issues, not big $$ at stake, so OK to run the gauntlet.
But.. esp for over 1,000 total gear, only take chance rarely and then
only if the saving is too much to resist, and you're comfortable with the alien warranty T&C offered.
(Personally I'd be shitting bricks at the mere thought of ordering a K-5 from o/s or grey, incl greyBay at any price, all things considered.)
3. Lenses on the other hand, usually get the thumbs up for personal o/s acquisition, in part because they're considered less susceptible to needing warranty claims, and/or worldwide warranties are available in some cases from mfgr, others by third party.
(for more on all this, also see WP et al forums for useful peer talk on the goods v bads.)
OK the sig: you or anyone can feel free to call me anything you want to, so long as you don't spare the adjectives, however crude or cutting. And the .R. ? it only stands for Ron (in a dotted way), a parental choice, so don't blame me!
.R.