Re: filmscanners: The Nikon 4000 and Genuine Fractals

[Arthur Entlich <artistic@ampsc.com>]

Hi Phil,

Your problem may be bigger than the lack of Genuine Fractals.

What you have received is probably something called gray market goods. 
They are very commonly sold among mail order retailers.

To briefly explain the difference between white market and gray market,
white market goods are those which are packaged with the intent to be
sold within the country they are being offered in.  So, these are
goods, in your case, that Nikon specifically packaged for the US
market.  As you noticed, they may have different bundling, manuals (like
some come in 16 different languages for international markets but only
English and Spanish and maybe French for North America) and sometimes
even different power supply designs are incorporated (since line
voltages are different in different parts of the world, and have
different reliability).  For instance, the product might not be UL
approved for the US, or CSA approved for Canada, which each have
different standards of safety in the electrical safety aspects.

However, there is another reason why gray market goods get sold in the
US.  For some retailers, this is because they do not have authorization
from the manufacturer to sell the product or even the brand.  This can
be because the manufacturer wants to restrict how many retailers sell
their product in a certain area, or because they do not want the product
deeply discounted in retail, (some retailers refuse to agree to maintain
a certain makeup), or it could be that a retailer has lost their "right"
to sell a certain brand due to complaints about them or not properly
servicing their retail customers, so the manufacturers refuses to sell
to that retailer any longer. 

There is still another reason this can occur.  Some manufacturers offer
different pricing methods depending upon the place they sell, based upon
local competition, cost of distribution, servicing, warranty, etc.  For
instance, if labor costs are very low in a country, the cost of
maintaining a warranty service on a product might be considerably less
than somewhere else.  Shipping costs may be more or less.  Also, the
length of the warranty period may be different as well, again based upon
competition or customer expectation.  For instance, a number of products
that are sold in the US with 90 day warranties come with 1 year
warranties in Canada, but we pay a bit more for that in the retail
pricing (in general, repair costs are also lower here, due to lower
salaries for professional and lower dollar value). We get better
warranties because in Canada warranty length is a big selling point
(Canadians tend to be less free with their money and expect more
commitment from the manufacturer to get loyalty) and has become an
issue in competition of products.

Gray market goods often come with an "international" warranty.  You
might find that warranty specifically EXCLUDES it being valid in the US,
so read it thoroughly.  Even if it does not, the warranty might be void,
as a manufacturer can refuse to warrant goods which were sold through
unauthorized channels.  You might find the store instead offers to "take
care of warranty repairs" through there own channels, and this could
spell trouble.

So, I recommend you speak to both your retailer and the manufacturer (in
your country) to make sure the warranty for the goods you have will be
honored by the manufacturer or distributor in your country, or you might
end up with either no warranty, or having to ship it to France or
somewhere else.

Art

Phil wrote:
> 
> Hello List,
> 
> I'm in the United States.  I ordered the Nikon CoolScan 4000 on the
> internet.
> 
> The day after I ordered it, I got an e-mail from the retailer.  "Call us as
> soon as possible about your Nikon 4000 order!"
> 
> I called them.  They told me that the stock they have of Nikon 4000 scanners
> is "meant for the international market," (he meant outside the United
> States) but that the scanner and software bundle is identical.  I told the
> man that if it's the same scanner and software bundle, to please complete
> the order and send me the scanner.
> 
> I received the scanner in the mail.  It DOES NOT HAVE GENUINE FRACTALS
> 2.0!!!
> 
> So:
> 
> If you are outside the United States, and you have purchased the Nikon 4000,
> can you please tell me if your scanner came bundled with Genuine Fractals?
> 
> and
> 
> If you are inside the United States, and you have purchased the Nikon 4000,
> can you please tell me if your scanner came bundled with Genuine Fractals?
> 
> I would really appreciate your response.  After I receive word from the
> list, I'll take a deep breath and call up the retailer on the phone.  I'm
> afraid that maybe the software bundle for the "international market" is
> different from the software bundle for the US market.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Philippe