Norm S

I bought gold pans etc while in Alaska from AKMining. One of the employees there knew metal detectors well and talked me out of getting a detector they in in stock and told me I would be better off with one they didn't have in stock and I actually bought it from them and shipped it to my home in IL at the time

I think Minelab pretty much led everyone to believe that when they said they were starting to ship that there would be a steady flow of detectors and within a cpl of weeks all pre orders would be filled. No one expected 1 or 2 here and there.. Then Cablea's pops up with them for sale online. That got to everyone. Some people had prepaid months in advance and boom Cablea's get some and they didn't. In my eyes anyone that prepaid should got theirs 1st no matter when they ordered..

Actually Bass Pro and Cabela's are the only two big box sporting goods stores that handle Minelab

I wish there would have been such a thing as a Military discount 55 years ago instead of dislike for anyone in the Military, You were considered a loser and much more.

OMG! Gerry just started a fire storm . There will be people pre ordering the Hurricane Force series before it is announced and be upset when it don't arrive days after the announcement. I already checked Cabela's for a Hurricane Force 5 but It is back ordered so I guess i will wait a cpl of years. Kellyco shut their website down and turned off the phones.. I am # 6000 on the pre order list with one dealer and # 202 with another

Steve is 100% right. Bass Pro now owns Cabela's so that just gave Minelab that many more outlets to sell their detectors. None of the other big box sporting goods stores handle Minelab and that is probably the deal Cablea's has with Minelab. Many companies have national sales agreements with other companies that gives them preferential treatment in one way or another. Most are the promise I will sell a predetermined amount of your product each year in exchange of preferential treatment from your company. In a past life I negotiated many national agreements with companies which gave my company the best pricing and service. It was more about service than anything because if you look around you can always get better pricing somewhere. I am willing to bet that Cabela's gets some detectors from every shipment. Think about how many locations Cabela's and Bass Pro have. Many of us have built relationships with our dealers and in return we get great service and always good advice and help because our dealers are metal detecting enthusiasts and actually use the detectors they sell. My dealer won't try and steer you to one brand or another but he will tell you the best features of every detector in a certain price range. He told me with everything I bought from him once you get it if you need help with settings or what works best for him to call him and he will help. It's the small things like that Cablea's can't do.

I really can't tell you. I found 4 today but they were lying on the ground and found them by sight...LOL

I was out today and hit a copper penny at 8".. Was a 1946. I knew it was copper because of the strong signal I got at that depth. Most of the clad pennies are no more than 4" deep

I didn't see anything at your front door.. You sure you got the right shipment??

I know if I stick with my dealer he is always there to help and answer questions. He told me he had several cancellations and I should be in the next shipment but he don't know how many he is allotted this week but promised I would have it before the end of March. He did say that Minelab confirmed all pre orders would be filled by the end of March. What's 5 more weeks

Just talked to my dealer and he confirmed he is getting some in this week and all pre orders will be filled by the end of March.

Cabela's is a preferred partner with Minelab. They sell more Minelab detectors than anyone in the US. That's why you get the shipped from mfr.

Chase I agree with you 100%. I just like to have a little humor to go along with the wait. I am sure it will be worth the wait. Minelab did their homework and from all I am seeing most everyone is pleased from out of the box performance. Even most CTX users like it

I got this from the Horses mouth. Minelab has 8 testers that has to test each machine in their test garden for one hour. The team is led by Juan. The 1st glitch came when Hugo was scheduled for vacation from Jan 15th - 30th. Well they had to use Jared to replace Hugo but Jared wasn't trained in the Equinox he was an ETrac tester. They had to hurry up and train Jared. After the test is complete they have to turn the detector into Bridget the Irish wash woman to clean them and put a coat of hair spray on them to make the look shiny new. Then they go to Carmen Kristoff to disassemble them and on to Brenda the boxer and after Brenda they go to Maria Mendenez for shipping. Before they go out the door Jaun calls his team together for a stamp of approval and then Bill Barney from shipping signs off before they go to the port. At the port Customs agent Alex Munoze has to sign off then Kirby from Minelab delivers the check from Minelab to cover the shipping to the financial officer of the shipping company and away they go. So now you have it. It all started with Hugo's vacation..

The service centers should have a few Equinox in stock to service defective detectors.. I wouldn't expect anything less.. I would sure hate to be one of the 1st to get an Equinox then have something go wrong with it and send it in for repair to be told we need to replace it but you have to wait until all the pre orders are filled.. After all the pre release hype and the frustrations people are experiencing at the moment you sure as heck don't want to hear about bad service..

Mountain Mike I know Cabela's had detectors what I don't believe is one guy bought six to resell..

The anonymous guy that bought 6 from Cabela's has never stepped forward nor has any of the guys that bought one at a premium price. Cabela's website said allow 7 - 10 days for delivery.. I think the entire Cabela's story is a bunch of BS. Think about it are you going to lay out $5394 for six detectors not knowing if you can sell them at a premium especially not knowing if Minelab shipped all the pre ordered Equinox to their dealers for distribution.. I don't believe a word of the story.. Just one dude bragging to another.

1st of all Bart at BigBoysHobbies did not ask me to prepay. I did it because I wanted to and that way when they come in he didn't have to notify me. I have no idea where I am on the list.. My past experience with Bart has been excellent even when I ordered an out of stock item. I just know I will get mine before those that didn't prepay.. I know a cpl other excellent vendors that would love my business if I feel he slighted me.. I have spent close to 5k with Bart over the past 5 yrs..

Minelab just posted in Facebook that they are shipping in Europe this week so keep an eye on Minelabs Facebook page for latest Equinox updates

Pre pay or not. I do know Cabela's had the Equinox listed as in stock last week. I wanted to check because I know Cabela's is a preferred partner for Minelab. I was tempted but I didn't try and order one. I have been a faithful customer of Bart from BigBoysHobbies for about 6 years. He is straight shooter and is always there to answer questions personally. More often than not the best price anywhere as well but you have to order over the phone to get the best pricing. I do know he is expecting another shipment by the end of the month but doubted he would get enough to cover pre orders.

Cabela's is Minelabs biggest dealer in the USA..

Tiftaaft I agree with you 100%. The detectors are trickling in all over the world. Everyday I see a few more posts about someone receiving notice their detector is being shipped. I thought last week when the 1st few arrived there would be 100's saying they got theirs and maybe 100's of people did get them and just didn't post it online. Knowing Minelab had a delay of about 6 weeks which I am sure caught them off guard I believe they did everything they could to meet the end of January release date. I don't think they were prepared for it but met the release date anyway figuring we will start shipping detectors even though we don't have enough stock built to meet the demand. I don't believe there has been any funny business I think the delay they had caught them off guard and still tried to meet the release date to avoid bad press. The dealers have been overwhelmingly cordial in replying to customers that didn't get their detectors and wondering when they will get them.. When some of the bigger dealers say they got less than 10 it makes you wonder why a small dealer got two.. It seems as though customers that have received their detectors are spread pretty even throughout the USA. initial availability will be limited in all regions due to the very high pre-release demand. Dealers will soon be notified regarding local allocations and shipments. Please contact your local dealer for specific availability information. We will be doing our best to get detectors to all customers across February to fulfil pre-orders as quickly as possible. back

I agree with Joe, we don't know how many pre orders there were and how far behind Minelab is. Seems as though all the dealers went quiet after they shipped out the detectors they received..

I really don't care what I find as long as it's worth something.. I just hope it simplifies a lot of things and makes hunting easier. The silver and rings will come. Nothing like the euphoric feeling you get when you find a ring.. My best find was a class ring that had been lost for 20 yrs. If I could do that again it would be worth it.So I guess finding a ring of some sort and returning it to the owner would be the #1 find.

It's like asking when we going to eat. When I was a kid my mom always said as soon as the potatoes are done.. Back then it seemed like hours even if it was 15 mins. When will the 2nd batch arrive to be shipped out. I am saying in two weeks. Just a telephone rumor that has as much fact as when I was told the Russians were spying on me but that was right after I won the Hillary look alike contest