monoman
17th November 2004, 06:39 PM
Hi All,
I've read the thread on Festool pricing mainly because I have been trying to purchase several Festool product to replace my ELU tools which were stolen. All of the dealers I have spoken to in Melbourne have been quite open telling me that they cannot discount Festool because they are afriad of loosing their dealership.
Now, I never begrudge a company for wanting to charge as much as they like and make as big a profit as they like. After all, it's always up to me to decide if I'll pay the asking price. However, what I can't stand, is when a company tries to control the market, thereby preventing me from finding a cheaper supplier.
I have lodged a formal complaint with the ACCC, and gave them the details of all the companies I had spoken to, as well as a copy of the email I sent to Festool asking for an explaination. No surprise, Festool never responded. Since lodging the complaint (mid October) , I have received over 15 calls from the ACCC investigator assigned to this issue.
According to the ACCC, a company may fix the price its product can be sold for in the market provided they can demonstate that to so IS for the good of the public (unlikely in this case due to the number of competitors), and that they must first seek an excemption from the ACCC. Festool have not done so.
The only other way that a Festool could control the price is where the shop displaying the product, sells the product on behalf of Festool and therefore they do not buy the product from Festool. I think this is unlikely, as many of the stores I spoke to said that they don't keep a big range of Festool because it is too expensive to buy in.
A store in Melbourne is currently having a 20-70% off everything sale. So I called and asked for a price on an OF1400 router. "Doesn't apply to Festool" came as no big surprise. When pushed they claimed it was because the margin was so small they were only making a few dollars on it anyway.
If anyone else has had similar problems, I'm happy top forward info on to the ACCC, or pass on the contact details off-line.
Cheers
I've read the thread on Festool pricing mainly because I have been trying to purchase several Festool product to replace my ELU tools which were stolen. All of the dealers I have spoken to in Melbourne have been quite open telling me that they cannot discount Festool because they are afriad of loosing their dealership.
Now, I never begrudge a company for wanting to charge as much as they like and make as big a profit as they like. After all, it's always up to me to decide if I'll pay the asking price. However, what I can't stand, is when a company tries to control the market, thereby preventing me from finding a cheaper supplier.
I have lodged a formal complaint with the ACCC, and gave them the details of all the companies I had spoken to, as well as a copy of the email I sent to Festool asking for an explaination. No surprise, Festool never responded. Since lodging the complaint (mid October) , I have received over 15 calls from the ACCC investigator assigned to this issue.
According to the ACCC, a company may fix the price its product can be sold for in the market provided they can demonstate that to so IS for the good of the public (unlikely in this case due to the number of competitors), and that they must first seek an excemption from the ACCC. Festool have not done so.
The only other way that a Festool could control the price is where the shop displaying the product, sells the product on behalf of Festool and therefore they do not buy the product from Festool. I think this is unlikely, as many of the stores I spoke to said that they don't keep a big range of Festool because it is too expensive to buy in.
A store in Melbourne is currently having a 20-70% off everything sale. So I called and asked for a price on an OF1400 router. "Doesn't apply to Festool" came as no big surprise. When pushed they claimed it was because the margin was so small they were only making a few dollars on it anyway.
If anyone else has had similar problems, I'm happy top forward info on to the ACCC, or pass on the contact details off-line.
Cheers