Unfortunately, while Australia seems to get equal treatment with other brands (eg. Apple), we seem to be a bit down the list with Garmin. Has anyone seen stock in Australia?
Unfortunately, while Australia seems to get equal treatment with other brands (eg. Apple), we seem to be a bit down the list with Garmin. Has anyone seen stock in Australia?
My F5 Sapphire is coming from the USA and will arrive early next week. I was happy to wait for my local retailer for a reasonable time frame, but with Garmin unwilling to say when Australia will get it, I gave up. My VAHR had died and I am without a fitness watch. First world problem, but I have come to rely on it for a lot of feedback.
The decision maker from me was an email from Wildfire stating that Garmin have told them they have pushed back release a further 4-6 weeks, give or take two weeks(!) to ensure the units are customised for Australia and we get the best product experience. What a load of rubbish! In the case of the F5X, I can understand if maps are not ready, but there is no excuse for the other models. Australia is just a tiny market in comparison to the USA, so we don't get equal footing.
What gets me more is that certain retailers - Highly Tuned Athletes - collect payment for the full balance in mid-Feb, well before the watch is due to ship & before they even have any firm ETAs from Garmin.
All retailers would get payment terms from suppliers (i.e. payment due 30 days from stock being sent, etc). Given this, how could they possibly justify charging their customers well ahead of any product availability or shipping details.
Large overseas retailers (REI, B&H, etc) charge only on shipping, which I believe is a fair & logical process. I don't understand why local retailers would be different, however I'm happy to be educated if there's any local nuances I'm not aware of.
Btw, last update I had from HTA (which was from Garmin apparently) was for 3rd week of March availability for their pre-order customers. Obviously that hasn't happened.
That's largely the reason why I'm just waiting until stock is available.. I wasn't too keen on retailers taking full payment, and having to wait.. Or making a deposit for preorder.
That's largely the reason why I'm just waiting until stock is available.. I wasn't too keen on retailers taking full payment, and having to wait.. Or making a deposit for preorder.
Problem with that is that the initial AU stock allocation from Garmin appears to be tiny - this is based on updates from HTA. According to them, pre-order customers will (obviously) get priority & if that exhausts the first stock drop from Garmin, they have no ETA for subsequent shipments. I'm assuming this will apply to any AU retailer.
There has again been "good news" and "bad news". Garmin ended up being quite close to its planned March release date but the news is not as great for Aus customers.
The good news is that limited stock has now been released in a few select stores overseas (principally USA). That is, the watch is now released into the market albeit just at a trickle presently and not yet all models. The Garmin USA website has moved from 5 to 8 weeks to 3 to 5 weeks.
The bad news is that Garmin has indicated due to unexpected demand in USA they are delaying the release in Aus for two reasons
1) Shortage of stock worldwide
2) The main reason is that they are customising the specs of the watch for Australian release and this is actually quite an important job to meet local conditions. Apart from the mapping databases being localised as required they mentioned there is quite a bit they are doing to ensure the specs work as best as possible for Australian customers (more than just hardware such as different chargers but the software as well).
The upshot is that they are indicating they think that will take approx 6 weeks plus/minus (2 to 4) weeks.
I know it is frustrating knowing they are now released but it may still be a few weeks more for Australian customers but it is also great Garmin are ensuring the best user experience for Australian customers once watch is released.
I just posted a "cut and paste" from an Australian supplier, but I got the message it needs to be approved by a moderator? Basically, they are saying 5-6 weeks.
