Just Called Kellyco

[canslawhero]

"The Truth Is Out There...and It Hurts"

[Mountain Mike]

My buddy called Kellyco today to ask about his EQ order today. They said they are still in the dark and haven't heard anything from ML. I'm hopeful it will be soon though. 

[dewcon4414]

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Just people excited to get a new toy blowing off a little steam. If Minelab would come out with a statement of clear actual facts as they are in this moment of time, it would help a lot. It is all the uncertainty that is driving people crazy. I am a big fan of laying it all out and let the cards fall where they may.

One thing I learned running a service department. Call someone the moment things are getting delayed and be honest with them about it... generally no problem. People just want to plan their lives. But keep them in the dark and hanging means someone at the counter pounding a fist and yelling. It is not the lack of machines right now that is the issue, it is the lack of credible information. Minelab may not be able to help with delays in development, but this information thing or lack of it is totally under their control. They are choosing to keep people in the dark, and that is not sitting well with many people.

Wow, you are right on Steve.... you may never get to test another ML machine lol.   So Steve, did they want their machine back?   I betting you could rent that baby  right now for top dollar...... there would be another line lol.

[Rick K - First Member]

OK, on Findmall, somebody in AZ claimed that his dealer told him he’d have his on Saturday!!

Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links

[Steve Herschbach]

People talk about testers being afraid they might piss off a manufacturer because they won’t get another “free” detector. Interestingly enough, I appear to be valuable because I speak my mind. The trick is to not be rude or stupid, and I see neither in what I posted. Just good solid advice should someone choose to pay attention to it. If that was enough to get me “canned” then I would not care.

As far as I know nothing has changed since Minelab’s last statement regarding detectors shipping. One thing to keep in mind when reading Minelab notices. It appears to me that “shipping to customers” is the same to them as “shipping to dealers”. The key thing is units are on the move on the way to end user hands. I am “pretty darn sure” it really is a shipping and logistics thing, but if you want to then ignore that and go with whatever rumors you like best.

[relicmeister]

When my dealer said he didn't expect more than a few detectors and not for several more weeks, I became so frustrated I emailed Minelab in a very civil way asking for REAL information. Last night (4 days later) they did respond, but only to reiterate the same vague storyline- the initial units have been shipped to distributors and the dealers will be advised of how many and when, and due to the extremely high demand they are behind schedule but committed to covering the preorders as soon as possible. 

Im glad they cleared that up?

[Rick K - First Member]

Hopefully Steve is right, that this is just a logistics issue.

think about that for a minute.  Manufacturer builds device In Malaysia- it may or may not then go to OZ.  In any event, it comes to ML in the mid-west someplace.  Then it goes to distributors, then to dealers, then to me.

my iPhone X came direct from the factory in China to me - zip.

The whole manufacturer - distributor - dealer - customer model is doomed - IMHO. It will change.

[Redneck]

Poor Rick Kempf,  .   He lives in the desert where its hot, and has no access to a few cold ones.  How can we get him to relax?

Could someone give him a new teknetics pinpointer to play with meanwhile?   I heard he likes First Texas toys.

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, Rick Kempf said:

Hopefully Steve is right, that this is just a logistics issue.

think about that for a minute.  Manufacturer builds device In Malaysia- it may or may not then go to OZ.  In any event, it comes to ML in the mid-west someplace.  Then it goes to distributors, then to dealers, then to me.

my iPhone X came direct from the factory in China to me - zip.

The whole manufacturer - distributor - dealer - customer model is doomed - IMHO. It will change.

Metal detectors are too small a volume of sales to support dedicated logistics and shipping infrastructure akin to a company like Apple.  Apple has sold 77 million iphones in the first quarter of FY2018 alone (Oct - Dec 2017) and has a total revenue in the quarter of $88B.  Compare that to the parent company of Minelab which in all of 2015 generated $21.5M in revenue (1/16000 of Apple) and only half of that was related to metal detector sales.   You can literally do the math and see what you envision is not happening anytime soon in metal detecting land, unfortunately.  Apple = SpaceX, Minelab = slow boat from Malaysia.  

Minelab transparency would be great, but it isn't going to make the detectors get here any sooner, unfortunately.

Not sure most of the targets are going anywhere either, so sit back, relax, detect with what  you have if you can or help us point out things in the manual we don't understand or complain about something really important like:  what's up with no Equinox accessory pricing or availability information.