I do not think this forum has polls, so will ask as a question.

How reliable are these units?

As we know they are less expensive from non authorized dealers (not talking about shady dealers, I am talking about some major respected dealers that are not authorized), but the warranties are not covered.

The price difference is not nominal, for exampl on an mx-800

New Respectable Dealer/Not Authorized Baseline
Open Box Authorized +$55
New Authorized +$235

Are the Warrantees worth it?

Assuming the cheaper unit is new, working etc, it's like insurance. If you never need the warranty, then of course the cheaper one is the better deal.

For some, there is also the issue of supporting the company that makes these. HTM seems to be responsive and customer driven, so supporting them may be a good thing.

With the price difference you mentioned above, I would question the unit itself.

The dealer I priced this at is one of the most respected dealers of computer eqpt on the net, so I would not worry that is a new unit.

I do not know the rules of this forum, so I will not post the name of that dealer.

My "open box" 800 from surfremote appeared to be brand new and was only $26 more than a place like newegg (if that's who you were referring to). Plus, many non-authorized dealers don't accept returns unless the item's defective. That, Mike's phone support and the warranty were worth it to me.

You do realize that HTM gets the same amount of revenue from their wholesaler(s) regardless of whether an authorized or unauthorized dealer sells the remote to a consumer, don't you? I believe HTM's reasoning for authorized dealers is to protect and support these dealers, not to gain additional revenue. Of course, if I were cynical, I'd argue that every "unauthorized" remote sold potentially represents a cost savings since they have no responsibility for repair.

Yeah, but those guys with the open boxes also support the forum (advertise) and are here in the trenches offering help

My open box mx 800 from surfremotecontrol was in perfect shape and works beautifully!

Anthony,

I've got no problem with supporting SRC and BlueDo. I think they're great and have purchased from them on occasion. I was just discussing HTM's warrantee and pricing policies, which I'm not a big fan of as you may (or may not) remember. Besides, I think that both of these guys would still be around regardless of HTM's business model.

bomberjim, yes I meant to support the authorized dealers, the model that HTM chooses to use. I didn't mean additional revenue for HTM.

scottatl, what did you decide to do??

Jim, it was not meant as an insult, Buying directly from HTM will mean they keep all the profit (so they do make more money that way). Going with an authorized dealer means, like you said, that HTM makes the same amount as an none authorized dealer. But all I said is that going with one of the guys that advertise here also helps support RC and those guys are here answering questions (so imagine if you are an actual customer. Now do I like or dislike HTMs policy? as a consumer, no, but I can understand that CIs and B&Ms don't like it when internet prices are a few bucks beyond their dealer cost (and some times less) and so they cannot compete and that HTM wants to cater to them (don't forget the MX is their CI remotes)

this is how I see it
(authorized dealers= someone willing to play by the rules
none authorized dealer = someone that does not care what happens once the remote is bought)

Didn't take it as one. I've never gotten POed at any of the "old guard". I'm sorry if my response sounded like I did.


Good point. But that's true regardless of the business model.


I understand, but here's my problem. Mx-500's/600's/700's/800's and probably 3000's are available all over the net from unauthorized dealers. Why doesn't HTM take action against their wholesalers who are distributing to these people? My belief is that they don't because that would negatively impact sales and therefore revenue. What's the overall result? CI's and BM's aren't "protected" and the consumer gets shafted on warrantee issues. It APPEARS as if HTM is playing both ends against the middle. If everybody "played by the rules" I still wouldn't like it as a consumer, but at least HTM could say they're protecting their dealers with a straight face. Many companies do police their middlemen. Try to buy Bose (yeah, I know) at anything less than the company approved price.

To be fair, HTM offers great products and their customer service and tech support is reportedly top notch as well. I have bought, and probably will buy their products in the future. It's just this one area I have a problem with and it may be more of a rant against the law than HTM. Still, I feel they're playing a little fast and loose with the consumer.

Interesting side note for whoever might be interested. On Newegg's site, an Mx-800 has an extended warrantee available. The cost is ~ $22. Since there is no manufacturer's warrantee, wonder how that works???

I will be honest, I don't work in sales, distribution or anything like that so I cannot say how easy or not it is to keep a tight reign on distribution. Also I agree with you there is an advantage to not doing it and maybe not just price. I agree as a consumer I would rather there not be such a thing, but then again there are a lot of things that I would rather be different. I always see at as things are the way they are, so is it better to go with authorized or not. And that is a decision one has to make on their own and should take into consideration price, warranty and the fact that the authorized dealers we are talking about are here helping support the site both in ad $ money and answering questions.



at that price it is almost equal to an open box

I think it is a no brainer, it appears that open box is basically new. So I am going to purchase from one of the forums sponsors.

the whole warantee stuff in this industry sucks. my customers can go by nec, pioneer or fujitsu plasmas at or very near dealer cost. Usually cheaper than I can buy from distribution. the manufacturers keep feeding product into these channels knowningly. all they do is pay lips service on their sites saying buy from an authorized etailer or retailer. yamaha has a map policy but its never enforced. you can find pricing very near dealer cost. i wish these guys would get it together.