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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:05 pm Post subject: Kronos warranty question |
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This is probably one ofr Rich or Dan to answer. If, as a UK resident, I was to import a Kronos from the US, I see on another thread that the PSU is universal, but how would the warranty work?
Would a US warranty on a Kronos owned and kept in Europe still be valid provided the unit were shipped back to the US in the unlikely event of it needing a warranty repair?
This may be of great interest to us European customers as it looks like the price differential between US and European RRPs will be big enough to make it worthwhile importing from the US on an individual basis, even after paying local import duties and sales taxes. Plus, IMHO, Korg USA offers far and away much better support than I have experienced with Korg UK... I'm not trying to be controversial here, it really is just my personal experience. |
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GregC Platinum Member
Joined: 15 May 2002 Posts: 9451 Location: Discovery Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:18 pm Post subject: Re: Kronos warranty question |
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DaveBoulden wrote: | This is probably one ofr Rich or Dan to answer. If, as a UK resident, I was to import a Kronos from the US, I see on another thread that the PSU is universal, but how would the warranty work?
Would a US warranty on a Kronos owned and kept in Europe still be valid provided the unit were shipped back to the US in the unlikely event of it needing a warranty repair?
This may be of great interest to us European customers as it looks like the price differential between US and European RRPs will be big enough to make it worthwhile importing from the US on an individual basis, even after paying local import duties and sales taxes. Plus, IMHO, Korg USA offers far and away much better support than I have experienced with Korg UK... I'm not trying to be controversial here, it really is just my personal experience. |
Who would pay for the shipping ? You ?
Korg us and korg uk are separate distributors
Where do sales/profits derive from to provide warranty services for a country's customers ? _________________ Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994 |
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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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I would expect that I, as an overseas customer, would bear the shipping costs, or at least those costs that are over and above a domestic customer.
I'm well aware that Korg USA and Korg UK are entriely nseparate companies, hence the question I've posed. I am extremely underwhelmed by both Korg UK's pricing and their quality of support. I asked my usual music shop contact to get a price on a couple of Korg accessories last year and they (Korg UK) refused to give my contact a trade price, and I'm talking about Digital Village here, not a small independent shop. It would be understandable if they were cutting profit margins to the bone, but the exact same items were avaiable in the US at 1/3 of the price (that's ONE THIRD of the price). That's why, if possible, I may well preferr to import a K73 from a US retailer and hopefully benefit not only from a substantial cost saving on the purchase, but also from the superior Korg US support, albeit with extra shipping costs where necessary since I am overseas.
If Korg USA are offering such a superior service and such better pricing that it's worthwhile importing from the US to Europe, even if you have to fund the cost of any possible warranty returns yourself, don't Korg USA then deserve to benefit from your business, indeed, haven't they earnt it? |
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Bertotti Platinum Member
Joined: 10 Jul 2010 Posts: 3384 Location: Middle of nowhere
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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There was a similar issue in the states in the past with cars. Much cheaper to buy on one side to the border then the other. I'm talking Canadian border, word was there was huge fees when switching titles and some serious warranty issues. I don't know what became of that but it was quite common for some to buy on one side and import hence the changes in fees, taxes, and warranty.
I would think that if to many import fro the states something similar would happen but also maybe it would wake up Korg corporate to the EU plight!
I am just guessing here of course but it seems reasonable at least in my own mind. |
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GregC Platinum Member
Joined: 15 May 2002 Posts: 9451 Location: Discovery Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:31 am Post subject: |
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DaveBoulden wrote: | I would expect that I, as an overseas customer, would bear the shipping costs, or at least those costs that are over and above a domestic customer.
I'm well aware that Korg USA and Korg UK are entriely nseparate companies, hence the question I've posed. I am extremely underwhelmed by both Korg UK's pricing and their quality of support. I asked my usual music shop contact to get a price on a couple of Korg accessories last year and they (Korg UK) refused to give my contact a trade price, and I'm talking about Digital Village here, not a small independent shop. It would be understandable if they were cutting profit margins to the bone, but the exact same items were avaiable in the US at 1/3 of the price (that's ONE THIRD of the price). That's why, if possible, I may well preferr to import a K73 from a US retailer and hopefully benefit not only from a substantial cost saving on the purchase, but also from the superior Korg US support, albeit with extra shipping costs where necessary since I am overseas.
If Korg USA are offering such a superior service and such better pricing that it's worthwhile importing from the US to Europe, even if you have to fund the cost of any possible warranty returns yourself, don't Korg USA then deserve to benefit from your business, indeed, haven't they earnt it? |
I think you will find that your outbound/inbound air freight charges are going
To be cost prohibitive- get a quote to see. I am guessing you will incur customs fees, especially for electronics.
2nd, and this is strictly opinion, I suspect that the respective co's do not
Want to market out of their territory where that territory is already represented. Some agreements might exist, too.
Good hypothetical topic. Let's see what happens. _________________ Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994 |
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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:51 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I'm fairly sure there are agreements in place to stop them marketing products in another distributor's territory. However, there's nothing to stop a shop selling a Korg product to an oversea's customer. That being the case, the question to be answered is would the warranty still be valid and under what terms would it be serviced. I know many products are simply returned to the shop you bought it from for amy warranty repairs, so as far as Korg USA are concerned, they'd still be receiving the returned unit from a USA based dealer, although the customer is potentially based overseas.
If some of the figures being mooted for the European RRPs turn out to be correct, then even with international shipping fees, it could still be an attrractive proposition. Import duty and sales trax are a moot point as these have to be paid somewhere along the line whether it's bought from the USA or locally in the UK. |
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EvilDragon Platinum Member
Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 1992 Location: Croatia
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:56 am Post subject: |
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Ah... feels good being here in Croatia where our law doesn't infer paying import duties (customs) on musical instruments...
VAT is 23%, though |
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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:24 am Post subject: |
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The last time I bought musical gear from outside the EU, the import duty was 3.5%. UK VAT recently increased from 17.5% to 20%. |
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steve m Senior Member
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 256 Location: AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:18 am Post subject: |
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I have bought many products ( including keyboards ) from USA retailers and had them shipped to Australia. The prices are genarally about half what I would pay in Australia, and even with shipping costs added ( which are very reasonable if you shop around - lots of options now online trade is booming ). Warranty is the only issue, however with the exchange rate as it is this is becoming a no brainer.
If I can purchase a synth for US$3000 and that same unit in Australia is AU$6000, the warranty issue is no longer relavent. I could send it back to USA for repair, jump on a plane and take it back for repair, or even throw it away and get another one and be no worse off.
Import duty hs never been a problem, as most dealers are happy to mark the item with a value of less than $1000 if asked.
Eventually the Australian distributors will lose so much business to overseas trade, they will have to wake up and start pricing their products realistically. If they are waiting for exchange rates to make up the difference they will have a very long wait. _________________ Steve M
Kurzweil K2000, Yamaha CS1X, Minimoog, Oasys76, GEM Promega 3, Korg PA3X, Kurzweil PC3K8
Too many toys are never enough! |
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robinkle Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2011 Posts: 382 Location: Norway
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:57 am Post subject: |
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I went in to GuitarCenter.com and I got this huge banner, saying: Now we ship to norway, taxes and duties calculated, but there are no products to buy... :X Hope Kronos becomes available. |
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RichF Senior Member
Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 435 Location: Hoboken, NJ
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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If a Korg product is bought in the USA, the warranty is honored only through our USA-based authorized repair centers. The customer is responsible for the international shipping to and from the service center.
Hope this helps.
-Rich _________________ Richard Formidoni |
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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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Rich, thank you for the clarification, it's very much appreciated! I realise you must be mindful of marketing agreements between the various world-wide Korg distributors.
If the UK pricing estimates turn out to be accurate, then I think there may be more than one European customer importing from the US as they could still afford to send it back and forth a few times before they'd start losing out to the local pricing with a local warranty. |
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RC-IA Approved Merchant
Joined: 16 Jan 2004 Posts: 971 Location: FR
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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RichF wrote: | If a Korg product is bought in the USA, the warranty is honored only through our USA-based authorized repair centers. The customer is responsible for the international shipping to and from the service center.
Hope this helps.
-Rich |
Hi Rich,
I bought a K61 in the USA, i live in France, but i can't register it on korg.com (it keeps saying: products purchased outside the USA are not supported). Since i'd like to ask KORG Usa for the new designed data wheel (mine don"t fall, but it's just really easy to take it off, serial 116).
thanx a lot |
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panrixx Senior Member
Joined: 13 May 2011 Posts: 448 Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall, UK
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: Kronos warranty question |
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DaveBoulden wrote: | This may be of great interest to us European customers as it looks like the price differential between US and European RRPs will be big enough to make it worthwhile importing from the US on an individual basis, even after paying local import duties and sales taxes....... |
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see this personally.
If you take the Nova Music advertised price and deduct $400 for a maximum possible discount that makes $3,399 for the K88, plus shipping. Add 5% Import Duty (cost+shipping), then 20% VAT to that total. Then add the courier's import fee for carrying out the paperwork, say £15. Lastly, factor in the exchange rate charge.
Working on those figures, but ignoring exchange rate charges, I could save £205 if I imported. This assumes exchange rates are stable (which they are not). It should be remembered that you can also negotiate discounts with the UK dealers (I did), which is the basis for my calculations.
Based on that, I think I'll stay were I am because (to me) that is not worth the possible hassle should a warranty claim arise. |
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DaveBoulden Senior Member
Joined: 20 Nov 2009 Posts: 314 Location: Kent, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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This topic was posted before any kind of UK pricing was made known... at the time it seemed a K88 might actually cost £3800 in the UK, so compared to that, importing would have been a very attractuive proposition. |
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