Follow-up to the Garmin supply question in Sydney
DJ!
As a couple of people in newsgroups suggested, as well as a
representative of GME Electrophone NSW office, I contacted Bias
Boating at Parramatta (not far from work).
At 2pm today, almost three days since I emailed them my stock/pricing
enquiry, I still hadn't received a response. I figured it was time to
drop in on them and see what they're all about. Of course, I was
hesitatant about two things:
1. Going to a marine activities store and looking like a complete
tosspot as I asked GPS questions 100% related to urban/bush usage,
rather than on the water.
and
2. Going to a store that didn't have enough courtesy to respond to an
email in a reasonable (IMHO) period of time.
Both fears were put to one side as soon as I walked in the store. I
was greeted by friendly smiles and people who were obviously eager to
assist customers.
I started my conversation with the staff member by saying that I
almost didn't come to the store, because they didn't respond to my
earlier email contact. The staff member seemed genuinely surprised and
mentioned briefly that the emails all go to their head office at Lane
Cove. Someone must have been asleep for the last few days ;-) He
assured me that he would contact his head office and raise the issue
with them.
We moved onto the devices in question. They had an AMAZING range of
electronic gizmos in the display cabinets. Not one GPS model - but at
least 15! But Murphy's law prevailed and they didn't have the model
that I was specifically interested in!
So, we looked at the next model up in the range and he carefully
pointed out the differences during the demonstration. And what a demo
it was! The staff member REALLY knew his stuff, and once I'd qualified
myself as a GPS noob, he took his time to show me all of the basics AS
WELL AS the cool stuff. He encouraged me to try everything myself and
ensure that I was comfortable with the way the unit felt in my hands,
could I read the screen comfortably etc etc
Furthermore, he seemed to know all of the tips/tricks/applications for
these things. He knew about future MapSource releases, full specs of
all the Garmin units, PC integration and so on. Quite a refreshing
change from your average 16yo clueless shop assistant you seem to
encounter in most places now days. Honestly - it was the best customer
service experience that I've had in the last six months (if not
longer).
Satisfied with the features, form and function of model I'd chosen, we
started talking price. He pointed out the rrp, and then came back with
a pretty sharp price straight away (almost 18% off). I let him know
that I'd get back to him within 24hrs with my decision, as I wanted to
be playing with it by the weekend.
I got back to work and discussed the experience with a friend over the
phone. He was keen to buy one, too. Half an hour later I got a call
from my friend. He'd phoned Bias Boating and they agreed to do a deal
for two units - knocking a further 6% off the price I'd been quoted
earlier!
I know this has been a longwinded post, but I figured the experience
might useful for a googler (http://groups.google.com/) one day down
the track.
Thanks
Derek (DJ!)
--
From: "Gumby" <hah...@bigping.net>
Newsgroups: bigpond.broadband.users
"It's just cheap opportunism. Just like the bloody
Christians trying to steal Easter and turn a good
holiday into some religious festival...."
Burnie M
have been using them for years.
Info on mapping products is sometimes not the best tho.
Apparently Garmins Metroguide Australia is likely to be further
delayed as they are waiting for extra WA info from Whereis.
I would still compare the pricing to Johnny Appleseed in Brisbane for
Garmin or GPSoz for Magellan tho.
Cheers,
Burnie M
DJ!
<burniem...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>Boating stores are generally the best for GPSR knowledge as boaties
>have been using them for years.
As I discovered ;-)
>Info on mapping products is sometimes not the best tho.
Must have hit the jackpot with this guy, then. He even started delving
into the hacks to create your own vector maps for the Garmins (which
HAVE to use the expensive MapSource CDs).
>Apparently Garmins Metroguide Australia is likely to be further
>delayed as they are waiting for extra WA info from Whereis.
Bugger. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.
>I would still compare the pricing to Johnny Appleseed in Brisbane for
>Garmin or GPSoz for Magellan tho.
The final price we scored them at was $629.00 (eTrex Legend). JA lists
them at $630 + $11 postage.
Only $12 difference, but I reckon I got another $30 worth of
instruction, advice etc on my first visit. =) And seeing the units "in
person" was pretty important to me.
Furthermore, the staff member has offered to give some free training.
My friend (who also bought one) and I are off on a charity rally (as
photographers) in mid-August. The guy from the shop is going to sit
down with us for an hour or so one Saturday, and help us program the
first day of travel (waypoints, landmarks etc). Again - probably worth
$60-100 of extra value to us!
Cheers
DJ!
Paul Stewart
www.gpsoz.com.au
he knows his stuff and replies within 24hours on email and does excellent
quality cables for lower than original prices
Paul
"DJ!" <de...@ausmicro.com> wrote in message
news:6klgkuk1a91e6g12l...@4ax.com...
DJ!
<paul_st...@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote:
>If you need any cables or advice on the units, drop brian an email at
>www.gpsoz.com.au
>
>he knows his stuff and replies within 24hours on email and does excellent
>quality cables for lower than original prices
Just has a look at his site. GREAT STUFF and the prices do seem pretty
sharp. Thanks for the head-up!
Burnie M
>On Thu, 1 Aug 2002 21:49:46 +1000, "Paul Stewart"
><paul_st...@nospam.hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>If you need any cables or advice on the units, drop brian an email at
>>www.gpsoz.com.au
>>
>>he knows his stuff and replies within 24hours on email and does excellent
>>quality cables for lower than original prices
>Just has a look at his site. GREAT STUFF and the prices do seem pretty
>sharp. Thanks for the head-up!
>
>DJ!
But he drives a LANDCRUISER !