Decided To Buy Garrett Axiom

[General Mayhem]

So, I have decided to buy a Garrett Axiom detector, I like what I have seen so far. 

In Canada, Garrett dealers, much like their U.S. counterparts have been taking pre-orders. There are several dealers offering the Axiom at the MAP price equivalent to $3999 USD, once you factor in the exchange rate.

There is a Garrett dealer in town, he sells detectors and prospecting gear, I have dealt with him in the past. To be honest, I never really got a good feeling when I bought something from him. I don't want to turn this into something that it isn't, lets just say, I haven't felt particularly 'welcome' in his store and leave it at that.

Despite the vibe I get from the guy, I was willing to buy from him anyway, as this is a relatively big purchase and should there be any issues it would be nice to be able to deal with someone local. So, we had a back and forth email discussion last night, regarding the Axiom and ordering one. He said he could order me one, the price he quoted was $5990 CAD= $4560USD. So, I decided it was time to negotiate and told him that there are other dealers offering the Axiom pre-orders at MAP equivalent to $3999 USD and that was the end of the conversation, he is now ignoring my emails.

Now granted, he is free to run his business anyway he wants to, he can charge whatever he wants... I get that. Now, if he just replied and said "I'm sorry, but that is the best I can do" I could understand that a bit better, but to just ignore a customer, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm not sure how the pricing from Garrett and dealers work, and it's a topic I don't really want to delve into, as far as I am concerned that's between Garrett and their dealer network. But, as other dealers in Canada are offering pre-orders at MAP and free shipping anywhere in Canada, it would imply that there is still a profit to be made selling at MAP.

As I said before, my preference would be to buy locally, but as this guy is ignoring me now, it doesn't exactly inspire my confidence in his customer service, so that negates any benefit of buying locally.

Anyway, I guess I will be placing an order with another dealer, that is selling at MAP and offering free shipping. I plan on getting the 7x11 mono with 13" DD package. With the difference in price, I can get a 16" mono ($375 USD, listed on Garrett's site) and still have enough left over for a couple tanks of gas, for trips out to my claims. So what do you 'Diligent Detector Prospector' forum reader think?