Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Mini Maz - best price

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Mini Maz - best price

    Originally posted by mattyj link=1124275179/0#13 date=1153140742
    I hear what youre saying lochness - theres good reason to pay a higher price if you know that after sales service will be top notch.<snip>

    And yeah, I didnt buy from a site sponsor, but I did buy from a reputable dealer, who offered training, let me play with a grinder in the store, and who said if anything should ever go wrong, just bring it straight back and well fix it up for you. Theyre based locally, not likely to close down and leave me stranded any time soon.
    <snip>

    What I dont really agree with is using these forums to shop around; I think its best to do the leg work (searching for and contacting the vendors, asking lots of questions) yourself. <snip>
    A significant issue here, I think....

    There is nothing wrong whatsoever with doing the legwork and shoping around- people do it every day...However...What can irritate intensely is when a member spends hours with a sponsor (either via email, phone or in person) discussing pros and cons, ad infinitum. Suddenly, the frequent emails or calls disappear and then there is no response whatsoever to follow-up communication...

    Some time later, said sponsor finds out that the person concerned has purchased the unit discussed from another outlet (perhaps saving a few dollars), perhaps without even the support of a warranty andwithout even paying us the courtesy to allow us look at "the deal" to see if we are able to price match...

    When that person returns for advice- perhaps because they chose to purchase a box rather than a package, we as sponsors feel as if we have been comprehensively shafted, and if the response is somewhat delayed, blunt or non-exisitent, its probably well and truely justified IMHO.

    Fortunately, this might only happen once a week or fortnight...but- it does happen and it is incredibly irritating.

    So guys, play fair.... We just ask for a fair margin- nobody works for nothing and its unfair when the minority expects sponsors to do exactly that...

    End of rant!  

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Mini Maz - best price

      ^The retail business can be fickle, 2mcm! I know what youre talking about and it constantly amazes me how people can take up the time of sales people and not even come close to making a purchase, then or ever!

      I try to only get information I need and be as precise and succinct as possible. If Im not interested making a purchase, I will indicate pretty early that that is the case. Hence the internet is useful to me. I can research to my hearts delight on a product and when the time comes, take my information and do the legwork on finding out prices. I dont need to take up salespeoples time because I can straight away say to them "Im looking, and I know what Im looking for." Generally, this helps them to do their job because they arent wasting time giving me information I already have.

      We have a good friend who is the best salesperson in Australia for a certain type of green tractor , he is full of stories about farmers who get him to do the whole quote thing for them and then just walk away from the sale. So, I guess that it doesnt matter what level of sales you are at, there are still people who will waste your time! Its a fact of life and I guess that this kind of customer is not going to go away quickly! But the good sales more than make up for them I am sure!

      And I know it can be frustrating for you, because you cant treat them any differently as you just never know if they are going to fork out the 400 grand for that big tractor or the 3 bucks for the coffee.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Mini Maz - best price

        I hear your frustration 2mcm!

        And youre right, you guys arent like the sales people in a department store - youre more involved in your businesses than that, and supporting members of this community. its only fair then that we, when we start to shop, play fair.

        And I guess it goes without saying, that if you dont shop with a site sponsor (which is ok), make sure that youre going to get a good deal in terms of after sales service. Dont run back to the people who helped you after you shafted them, wanting more help!

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Mini Maz - best price

          I know a retailers who consider CS type people difficult to deal with. Not in an interpersonal sense though but people who can potentially consume a lot of time then walk away if the price isnt right.

          Most people on the forum are reasonably knowledgeable and computer literate and have some confidence in purchasing items over the internet.

          I have for example purchased a lot of motorcycle accessories over the internet from the USA. In this case there can be a lot of incentive, like a 40% savings on some expensive items over buying it here. You also have much greater choice of parts and to top it off, end up getting your parts quicker and easier (just a trip to the post office to pick it up).

          I dont see the same advantages though with appliances generally. I personally wont quibble about paying more and buying locally. The problem is in Perth though that you often have to mail order anyway.

          There is also the second hand market, I look a lot in the quokka here in Perth on the internet which is how I got the Bezzera.

          I think it is smart to look for ways of saving money but the margins on most of this equipment is not that high anyway so I will buy local, if I can and maybe pay a bit more.

          Grant

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Mini Maz - best price

            Mazzer in Italy has not delivered a Mazzer Mini (either standard dosing grinder or electronic dosing versions) to its major Australian Distributors (such as Saeco, Diamond Services) for some time, my understanding is that if they dont get their next orders out of factory prior to Italy closing down for Summer Holidays we wont see any significant stock in Australia till Sept/Oct.

            So I wouldnt be expecting any significant price cutting on remaining stocks of Mazzer Minis by those suppliers with stocks - theywould be crazy.

            So if you are desparate for a grinder in that size and capacity you may need to look at Macap, Rockys or Compak.

            Comment


            • #21
              And there you go......

              following on from above......

              My Rockies arrived last week (yes direct from rancilio), and

              my Macap M5s & M4s are in port awaiting customs clearance right now ( hoping to get a nice chrome MC4 to take to aromafest with me but could be touch & go to get the container delivered to us by Friday) and

              my next consignment of Macaps leaves the factory within 10 days because after that they will close down for the August holidays and there will be no more stock consigned until they re open 4 weeks later!

              Oh happy days...the stock is here!

              Regardz,
              FC.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Mini Maz - best price

                I work in the IT industry and we get a fair bit of tyre-kicking too. Clients want a proposal, then want detailed architecture, then will just take that and try and implement it themselves. Or they shop around to all the other integrators around town to try and get free advice. The art is giving someone enough of a "taste" that they come back to you. Weve also had clients take our proposal, give it to one of these accountancy-turned-"business consultant" practices and have them put it out to tender.

                Some retailers do go on the defence (or offence) when dealing with a CS-type person: perhaps they feel that theyve lost the power (we all know that knowledge is power) and dont like that, because it means that they need to work to get the customers business, and cant just baffle the customer and steer them towards their preferred brand/model. But the same could be said of lots of businesses.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Mini Maz - best price

                  FC

                  Have you any Macaps in the shop yet?  Love to come and have a look. 8-)


                  Kent

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Mini Maz - best price

                    Another issue is that it seems to me incredibly difficult to get good advice on this level of machines. Who do you listen to and who do you not listen to? What differences between machines are significant and what are not? How do you find out?

                    Of course, the best way to find out what suits your needs best is to go and actually use the things. All of the models under consideration. Head to head on the same machine, with the same coffee. But, precisely because of the shop and leave attitude that Chris was talking about, there are few people that are set up to do this. Which makes sense. This sort of a trial is a real service provided to customers that they should be prepared to pay for, not just expect to be provided with, then drive off and save $20 or whatever. So maybe vendors should think about offering this sort of thing as a service that you pay for. $50 or so for an hours demo of different coffees on different machines with different grinders. When were talking a $2500 + spend, its only a 2% investment to make sure that you get the right returns. But this might be an example of coffeesnob logic vs business commonsense!

                    Cheers,

                    Luca

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Mini Maz - best price

                      FunkyBrew..thanks for the enquiry. The container should have been released to the transport depot today or maybe tomorrow morning (will telephone them tomorrow & see what gives), so we should have the goods in store by Tuesday.  Heres hoping.

                      Regardz,
                      FC.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Mini Maz - best price

                        Still no Mazzer Minis (either traditional dosing or electronic versions) in Australia as far as I can tell.

                        Italy has closed down for August Summer Holidays - wouldnt expect to see any stock till October at the earliest, unless Mazzer got stock out prior to Summer shutdown.

                        If anyone has got any news on stock or availability of Mazzer Minis - (either version) it would be useful to hear.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Mini Maz - best price

                          A few Mazzers arrived in OZ last week and I got some of those I had ordered yesterday...and theyre all gone- there may be a few more later in the week, if Im lucky...

                          In the meantime, if you can find one you will probably have to pay full tote odds...

                          Chris

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Mini Maz - best price

                            I recently shopped around for a 5 day holiday.
                            It was going to be either Southe Molle or Vanuatu.
                            Vanuatu got ruled out because I didnt feel like arriving at 1am and then still have to shuttle it to the hotel.
                            For a start Id be paying for that nights accomodation. Sheesh!

                            Anyway, during my research when it looked like Sth Molle might be the go I was lucky to find a nice young lady that seemed to be going the extra mile.
                            Long story short, I made sure I got her name and direct number so that when I called back I didnt just land in the queue and end up giving my business to a "lucky" operator.

                            She did the work, she got the sale!

                            It shouldnt matter what the item is.
                            Its only fair to reward the right person with the sale.

                            It pays off for the buyer too.

                            I had a minor glitch while waiting for the boat to transfer me to the island, so I called her and it was sorted within 10 minutes.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X