Stewart Firehawk from USA?

[cj]

I'm after a Stewart firehawk 16:9 motorised Stealth Trapdoor screen, which I can get for £1,000 cheaper in the USA (after shipping, tax, duty etc.). I know it will be a 110v motor, but besides that is there anything else that I may have overlooked? I'm assuming I'll be able to power the screen with a step-down transformer.

Cheers,

Colin

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Colin,

The only other thing to consider is that the firhawk material is easily marked. Just ask those who saw the one at the Event. It came direct from Stewart. If it was for one of my clients it would have been rejected!...Still for that sort of saving you can afford to send it back to USA....

Gordon

[edward]

Make sure you get it right, Colin.

Stewart's after-sales support has to rate among the worst in this sector. They gave me wrong information and were not intersted in fixing the problem until I shelled out another small fortune.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hmmm, from what I've read over at avs, the Stewart after sales is second to none. They even replaced a guys screen after his son had marked it with a marker pen.

I think the problems stem with the UK dealer, and not Stewart Filmscreen.

Gary.

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

I would say that Anders and Kern, the UK distributor, are actually one of the best companies I deal with. Of course, if you buy direct from US they will not be interested in helping you out if anything goes wrong. Your US dealer will be your point of contact then.

Gordon

[Gary Lightfoot]

Gordon is right - avs no longer ship oversees due to the hassles of customer support, plus the fact it costs a UK dealer more to buy a screen from Stewart than it would for us to buy the same screen from the states. There was some dealer complaints about that - quite understandable too, so it was stopped.

Any idea why that is Gordon?

Gary.

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

I was a main complainant to A+K about their pricing. This was covered about two years ago on this forum I think. I never complained about other dealers. Only about the fact UK pricing made dealers less competative worldwide. A+K had a maeeting with Stewart and the end result was not a reduction in pricing but instead a ban on international trading by dealers....

As a distributor I caN tell you the following have to be paid for somewhere. Staff, insurance, rates, service, demo stock, duty, shipping, leeway to deal with exchange rate fluctuations, dealer margin, credtit facilities.

Many US manufacturers do not think about foreign distribution when they set their US pricing. This means there is not enough margin available for the manufacturer to be able to sell to the distributor and the distributor to be able to make a margin that is "do-able" to sustaiin the product in their country. The result is that the UK pricing of some products has to be higher than the equivalent US price. This is not always the case of course. If you are a distributor who doesn't want to actually distribute (ie if you want to act like a retailer in US but instead in UK) then it is possible to be a sole dealer and sell at a competative worldwide pricing.

Hope this explains a little.

Gordon

[Gary Lightfoot]

Thanks Gordon.

Gary.

[Mark Grant]

I don't think Edward has said if he has imported his screen, or is having trouble with a UK dealer ?


I was the one that caused Gordon to complain to Anders and Kern.

AVS had a promotion on the then new Grayhawk, I was going to buy one, posted about it here, a few members did order from AVS and received Grayhawks.
Gordon was a bit unhappy, as the price delivered to UK including VAT and duty was less than Anders and Kern (UK distributor) would sell Gordon as a Dealer a Grayhawk. Hardly fair on UK dealers.

Someone actually posted me an Anders and Kern dealer nett price list, marked confidential I did not ask for it, it just arrived in the post......it was posted from 'down south' not 'up north'

The prices that A+K had been charging UK dealers certainly were more than a UK home user could import from USA, even paying retail prices in USA.


When I first enquired with A+K a few years ago about buying a Stewart screen, they would not give me a guide to the price on the phone, I knew exactly the screen I wanted ?.
A local dealer then contacted me, he also would not tell me the price. He wanted to visit my house to look at the room first?
He eventually agreed to send me a price - I really had to ask for a price.....

By this time I realised the dealer was trying to charge me about £2000 more than a DIY import, hence my search for better pricing.

As far as I know, it is still possible to import Stewart screens, but usually the fixed type, as a USA dealer ordering a 220V screen from Stewart gives the game away

If Stewarts UK pricing was more inline with USA pricing, then maybe 10 times as many screens would be sold here. They are the best screens, without doubt.

Just a shame that A+K add such a huge fee just for handling a box.

Do we have anyone from Anders and Kern on the forums?

If I ever get round to building an extension for my new AV room, I will certainly ask Gordon for a price for a fixed stewart screen. Fixed screen pricing is a bit more affordable than UK electric Stewart screens.

Mark.