I'd like to relate my experiences to date with Prestige.
http://prestigeautotops.com/
Upon the advice of a lister, I put Prestige on my short list for
interior and other fabric goods for our TR6 project. I browsed the "US
Only" site and was impressed with the pricing. A TR6 interior package
with wool carpet and leather seats was about $1016 US. Shipping to the
US is an additional $59.
>From the description, the parts don't appear to be OEM. For the
prices, I still was considering the purchase, in spite of the non
stock appearance. Out of curiosity, I nosed around in the site
designed for the rest of the world. The UK/EU site has quite a few
more vehicles listed, but the Triumph stuff is identical to the US
site, right down to the part numbers. The only exception is the
pricing.
The UK site has prices in Pounds Sterling. The identical kit I was
considering is 523 Pounds. That threw me a little. I didn't think the
Dollar had dropped that much against the Pound. It's been decades
since a Pound was worth two Dollars. I ran a currency conversion
http://www.oasismanagement.com/eurodesk/eurocalc.html and sure enough,
there was a huge discrepancy in price. The US customer is being
charged 35% over the UK price.
I've run across this before when buying from Canada and Australia. It
is usually attributed to an outdated price sheet. When asked, the
vendor will always acquiesce to a "current" price conversion request.
I've yet to see one change their web site as a result of my request,
but they always honor current conversion prices if you ask.
I emailed prestige with that very request. To my surprise, I got a
response telling me that I couldn't "pay in Pounds" because they would
have to then charge me a 17.5% VAT. Huh? What does that have to do
with anything? I asked for a current conversion. Besides, VAT only
applies to the EU and UK. I pointed out this discrepancy in my
response. I was then told that I was right about the VAT, but I still
couldn't pay in Pounds unless my order shipped to Europe. Huh?
Okay, let's make this a little clearer. I sent back a currency
converter link (above) and reiterated my desire to pay the equivalent
of the UK price for the goods. Convert Dollars to Pounds. Insert
number. Click mouse. Voila! $750 US. So, now that we have that cleared
up, please send me the catalogue and sample you offered at the
beginning of this debate.
The response was a list of UK prices and a willingness to honor those
prices. Hey, wait a minute. What's that shipping charge listed there?
254 Pounds? That's $365! Prestige's drone explained that this was the
"true" shipping cost to the US. They requested instructions as to how
to proceed.
I then requested package dimensions and weight. Twice. I let them know
I was willing to use my own shipper to save myself some money. Since
those requests, I've had no response. I wonder why?
I've done some pretty conservative packaging estimates and called
major carriers for quotes. The only way I can come close to that
shipping price (for a one time no discount deal) is to run 30 kilos at
1 meter by 1 meter by 1/2 meter. No way is the package going to be
that big or heavy. Not to mention the discount they undoubtedly get as
a regular shipper.
My business gets about 40% "retail" shipping rates. My wife's employer
gets even more. Her company has a division in Brighton. We did some
rough eyeballing on the existing parts, added dimension and weight for
packing and ran the numbers. She came up with about $80 for shipping
from Brighton to the US. That would seem to jibe with the $59 listed
on the US site.
What's a guy to think?
Just for the record, my communications with Prestige were polite and
gentle. Nothing like my sarcasm here. Those posts are available upon
request to verify the content.
Thanks for putting up with the eye strain.
Andy Litkowiak
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