The last part of your comment is illustrative of an offshoot of Andrew's argument: depending on what country you're in and what brand is under discussion, you're dealing with that brand's distributor, not the brand itself. Of course, the brand relies on that distributor to represent them well but that doesn't always happen.
And as you also point out, there is often more than one link in that chain. When you submit a warranty claim through your shop, there are potentially two or more people between you and the person deciding on your claim. You need someone knowledgeable and respected from your shop, the shop has to have a good relationship with the distro, and the distributor is hopefully happy and motivated. Lots of potential snags there. And I've seen a lot of evidence in the past of poor work to support customer claims by shops, distributors, and yes, sometimes also the brands themselves.
Jan. 31, 2022, 11:22 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
The last part of your comment is illustrative of an offshoot of Andrew's argument: depending on what country you're in and what brand is under discussion, you're dealing with that brand's distributor, not the brand itself. Of course, the brand relies on that distributor to represent them well but that doesn't always happen. And as you also point out, there is often more than one link in that chain. When you submit a warranty claim through your shop, there are potentially two or more people between you and the person deciding on your claim. You need someone knowledgeable and respected from your shop, the shop has to have a good relationship with the distro, and the distributor is hopefully happy and motivated. Lots of potential snags there. And I've seen a lot of evidence in the past of poor work to support customer claims by shops, distributors, and yes, sometimes also the brands themselves.