By Dave Beeman (Dave_beeman) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I live, hunt, and recreate in the Interior of Alaska, my local Argo dealer has been notified by the distributor in California, that he can no longer sell anything associated with Argo, this is because he feels we only need one dealer. That dealer happens to be in Anchorage, 6hrs away on a good day, 12 hours or better when it is 50 below. All of this has to do with who is buddy buddy with who, the dealer in Anchorage charges as much as 33% more for the same parts and services, this when he lives in a cheaper shipping area(Fairbanks is at the end of the supply chain). I for one am writing and calling O.D.G. and talking to Mr. Jason Boelhouwer at the home office. This just seems so Un-American.

Dave Beeman, TSgt, USAF
Eielson AFB, Alaska

By Dan Harriger on Unrecorded Date: Edit

No, it's not Communism. It's the good ol' fasioned Free Enterprise system. Argo restricts the number of dealers (just like the American Medical Association restricts the number of Doctors), thereby reducing competition and keeping their prices high. Similar to you, the nearest Argo dealer was at least an 8 hour round-trip from where I lived. That's one of the things I considered when I went to but my AATV. As a result, while Argo had some features that I liked better than the Max, I bought the Max because it had a larger dealer network. I not only use it at "home" in Pennsylvania, but I take it on hunting trips to Georgia, Texas and next, Montana. If I break something, the chances are I'll find a Max dealer closer than I would ever find an Argo dealer. And because there were more dealers, I ended up with two or three dealers negotiating for the sale and I got a deal with a manufacturer rebate that ended up below dealer cost. The Argo dealer wouldn't even talk less than list price because he knew I had no place else from which to buy.

By Russell Lee (Bigkodiak) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

This is a problem that I have encountered as well. I would much rather do business with someone I feel comfortable with but she refuses to do business with me because I am closer to another distributor.
My personal belief is that as a consumer I should be the one to CHOOSE which dealer I WANT to deal with. Also this creates a price fixing, monopolistic aproach to business. I think this rule STINKS.
I recently had an opportunity to speak with the owner of my "local" distributor. I explained to him my reasoning and he could only refer me to the manufacturer. Canada may progress well on this type of trading but America was built on COMPETITION.

By Mike on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I also encountered something similar to this problem two months ago. I live close to the state line. The out of state distributor/dealer is about 60 miles away. My in state dealer is about 300 miles away. I was told by the out of state distributor that he could not sell me anything because I was out of state and I had to deal with my in state distributor. I was told that they have no choice in the matter because the factory started this new policy. If I need parts or would want to buy a new machine, guess where I have to go? That's correct, I have to drive the 300 miles. My recourse is that I can have someone from the other state buy the parts from the closest dealer. Silly or what?