AOA no longer carrying FX???

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Just a consolidation of what read over the past several years ... Not a personal take on subject.



A LOT of folks complained of price gouging, getting warranty services and / or support for the guns when FX was having QC issues during new model introductions & massive market growth etc ...

Read AOA had the exclusive FX importation rights and all other dealers wanting to sell the product had to go threw them ... Thus the likely culprit for the price being higher than many felt was palatable to other world markets and exchange rates.

What happened in reality between FX and AOA behind closed doors we'll likely never know, With the huge success of Extreme bench rest events & other FX sponsored events it looked like all was going great for both ... until it was ant. 
 
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My guess, the conflict of interest mentioned by FX relates to a distributorship vs.dealership. Generally, a manufacturer restricts its distributors from retail sales. If allowed, strict price control may be imposed to prohibit direct competition with the rest of the dealer network. With the frequent new products released by FX, the distributor's potential control of the flow of inventory could also be an issue for the other dealers. With FX USA now in NC, the US resource for warranty repairs is provided, and maybe distribution too, if its not manufacturer direct. Could be, FX wasn't willing to risk the potential problems of a distributor/retailer, and AOA was not willing to be "just" another dealer. The dealer profit margin, based on MSRP, may be thinner than other brands too, who knows? And with both being closely held companies, personalities sometimes get in the mix. 
 
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So it's a little dangerous to speculate, so take all of this with a grain of salt, however I believe what happened was that after AoA lost their exclusive distributorship of FX, they started pretty seriously talking up Daystate rifles and talking down FX ones. There were several first hand accounts of this posted to the forums. Seeing AoA steering customers towards the company they did still have exclusive distributorship over may have ruffled a few feathers over at FX. Obviously this could have been one of a couple factors, I also noticed AOA seem to be pushing daystate rifles really hard to make them look good at extreme benchrest. This, combined with something that may have happened behind closed doors we're not privy to, probably contributed to the rift. 


 
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Another aspect that I believe had ALOT to do with it was the huge problem they had with warranty repairs and the length of time it took to get the gun back to the customers. And many times the problem with the guns were not fixed, necessating the need to send it back to AOA. AOA was also charging shipping fees that were quite expensive for guns under warranty. OTOH I sent a Impact (under warranty) to FXUSA and they paid the shipping both ways. Needless to say some people did not like the way AOA was treating them for something that should have been taken care of in less time and for less money. 
 
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Another aspect that I believe had ALOT to do with it was the huge problem they had with warranty repairs and the length of time it took to get the gun back to the customers. And many times the problem with the guns were not fixed, necessating the need to send it back to AOA. AOA was also charging shipping fees that were quite expensive for guns under warranty. OTOH I sent a Impact (under warranty) to FXUSA and they paid the shipping both ways. Needless to say some people did not like the way AOA was treating them for something that should have been taken care of in less time and for less money.
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^^^^^That! ^^^^

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some recipe....

1. recruit experienced salesman

2. create a US based company

3. wait a while on the market but don't waist time - build a service center.

4. hire well known legend for the service center and convince everyone that every product has been touched by the "handyman"

5. get strengthen on the market and cut off the middleman 


 
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Another aspect that I believe had ALOT to do with it was the huge problem they had with warranty repairs and the length of time it took to get the gun back to the customers. And many times the problem with the guns were not fixed, necessating the need to send it back to AOA. AOA was also charging shipping fees that were quite expensive for guns under warranty. OTOH I sent a Impact (under warranty) to FXUSA and they paid the shipping both ways. Needless to say some people did not like the way AOA was treating them for something that should have been taken care of in less time and for less money.
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WHEN I had to send my Daystate Huntsman and RedWolf in to be looked at under warranty to AOA, I questioned WHY I had to pay shipping at all or at least split it and I pay just one way. It was explained to me THIS way, If you buy a new car with a bumper to bumper warranty and you have to have it fixed under warranty, it is up to YOU to get it to the dealer to have it worked on, and not them to get YOUR car to them. It make sense explained THAT way, not pleasant but accurate.
 
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Another aspect that I believe had ALOT to do with it was the huge problem they had with warranty repairs and the length of time it took to get the gun back to the customers. And many times the problem with the guns were not fixed, necessating the need to send it back to AOA. AOA was also charging shipping fees that were quite expensive for guns under warranty. OTOH I sent a Impact (under warranty) to FXUSA and they paid the shipping both ways. Needless to say some people did not like the way AOA was treating them for something that should have been taken care of in less time and for less money.
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WHEN I had to send my Daystate Huntsman and RedWolf in to be looked at under warranty to AOA, I questioned WHY I had to pay shipping at all or at least split it and I pay just one way. It was explained to me THIS way, If you buy a new car with a bumper to bumper warranty and you have to have it fixed under warranty, it is up to YOU to get it to the dealer to have it worked on, and not them to get YOUR car to them. It make sense explained THAT way, not pleasant but accurate.
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That’s absurd . If my brand new vehicle broke down due to a warranty issue . Roadside assistance will pay to have it brought to the nearest dealer . Ask me how I know that . I worked as a warranty advisor for a dealership for years . With that said not every warranty is the same . Some take pride in taking care of their customers and some don’t . 
 
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Pretty surprising because AoA used to do warranty service for FX. They also used to be the sole united states distributor for fx.



They have lost their warranty repair title and now their distribution of fx guns is lost too. I think it has to do with Daystate. Also perhaps fx and AoA relations have soured as time has gone on. There is a good reason why fx cut warranty repair through AoA and started their own repair center here. AoA was more of a temporary solution to the overwhelming warranty request coming from the U.S. 

This is all speculation so take it with a grain of salt.


 
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