Kwun, Sorry to contact you thru this discussion forum. I am using another computer and I don't have your email address nor can I send email using this machine. Anyway, feel like testing couple of racquets? Poinfore just send me couple of their racquets and just wondering if you feel like testing them. First impression, most of the models are pretty light except for the 5000 series. Anyway, if you have time, just come by to my store on Tuesday after 5:00PM. We're closed on Monday. Also, just received the letter from Yonex stating that my request to open an account and distribute their racquets have been rejected. I have to ask for the letter eventhough they promised to send it to me after I called and heard the news. No reason stated on the letter. Just stated that account cannot be opened at this time. Interesting huh..... Wonder why they don't want to write down what they said to me over the phone..??? Oh well... Oh ya, you might want to try the Gosen Roots Aermet. Excellent string. It just pops! DSC
tony. Not meeting yonex retail outlet specification is one thing. Not returning a reply letter/email/phone call unless it was asked nor providing reasons of rejection is pure arrogance. Maybe you'll learn about it once you enter the job market. BTW, one dont need a retail store space to sell new yonex stuffs. And u said you knew everything about yonex.
Yonex dealerships Cooler, now that you mention it, the line that Yonex fed David previously about not qualifying as a Yonex dealer without a retail store is a load of BS, unless they have different policies in different regions of the country. Badminton Warehouse in Chicago is a Yonex dealer, I e-mailed them a few months ago and they informed me that they do not have a retail store. Maybe they are concerned that they already have several dealers in California and won't dilute the market there any further in order to protect those existing dealerships.
Re: Yonex dealerships Hi All, First of all, I don't want to create a fight or anything. Second of all, to make things clear since most o fthe discussion about this was done when Kwun was presence at my store, Yonex did not grant me to distribute products because "too close to another retail store whom they had 17 years of business with and don't feel comfortable." The "too close" is approximately 30+ miles within the Northern California (San Francisco, San Jose, Mt. View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, etc.) where there is only 2 retail store (including mine) that distribute badminton racquets. I understand their concern. Our location is very good because we are close to all of the places where people play badminton even though we are 30+ miles away from the other store. If we were able to distribute Yonex, people will probably not go the other store because it's about 30+ minutes of drive, more if you try to go during traffic hours. In regards to the distribution without retail store, don't blame Tony Luu. That was Yonex reason the first time we try to open an account. I guess the rules are different for each region/state. At that time we were also much closer to the other store, approximately 5-10 minutes away. They informed me that I need to have a retail store before they can give me an account. I guess they changed their mind. The process of opening an account with Yonex should be in the following order as mentioned by Violet Bernal, the credit supervisor of Yonex, over the phone. 1. Have a Yonex representative look at our retail store. 2. Fill an application while the representative is presence at the store. 3. Submit the application. 4. Wait for an approval. Just getting the representative to our retail store was very hard. He does not seem to be willing to come by. He promised more than 3 times to come by at certain date but always canceled it without giving a call nor setting another date to meet. I had to call him so many times that I believe he think I was harassing him. Then I brought this to the attention of Violet Bernal. She tried to contact the representative but was not successful in having him meet me. Thus, she asked me to submit the application to her directly and I did. I waited for more than a week when it should have been 1-3 days. Since I was kind of impatience and hoping to provide my customers with Yonex product line ASAP, I called. That's when Violet informed me of the bad news. Her supervisor rejected it because of the above reason. Violet is very nice. I wish that I can talk to her supervisor. I was expecting a letter from the supervisor which state the reason that Violet mentioned over the phone, but I got Violet's words and signature instead. The letter just stated that they cannot give us an account at this time. If I remember correctly, it's only 2-3 lines of sentences. It was very dissapointing because first they asked me to have a retail store. Now, when I am farther away than before, they said that I was too close. Dissapointed.... yes... very much. Nevertheless, that's business and the politics of business in the real world. You just have to continue on. DSC
cooler conscience the more i read into david post, i more i see yonex arroganceness. There is a hidden agenda behind it and yonex doesnt have the balls to tell david the real reason the 1st time around nor the second reason was honest one neither. DAVID, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT NEITHER OF THE TWO REASONS GIVEN BY YONEX ARE THE REAL REASONS WHY THEY REJECTED YOUR ACCOUNT but i will decline to give the real reason as yonex have real good lawyers. Also, no show from scheduled appointments by yonex representatives and using front desk secretary to front bad news of legitimate business inquiry really doesnt give me a credible image of yonex. In the end, it is the customers like us who loses because of lack of price competition and heavy on distribution control. Instead, yonex choose to excels in marketing and hype to gain market share. I'd go as far as saying that yonex is holding back grassroot badminton popularity advancement in North america because of their high wholesale priced rackets and supplies. Look at yonex badminton products, way overpriced imo. Let say 200USD buys a mp100. For the same dollars, i can buy a highend golf club (or even a decent 11 piece golf set) or tennis racquet that has more real titanium and carbon fiber than the mp100. Also, under normal usage, that 200USD golf club or tennis racket would last a lifetime but not the mp100. One can break a mp100 just by hitting the shuttle on the frame incorrectly. They snaps like a twig. Lets look at this picture. mp100 cost ~105 USD with 68ti in countries with many badminton players. mp100 cost ~200 USD with no string in countries with few badminton players. now ask why north america have so few badminton players? Yes, it is not the sole reason but yonex aint helping the situation in N.A. now ask yourself why honda, toyota, nissan, mazda are so respected and popular in N.A.? Because they have earned it, thru consumer confidence in quality and reasonable price. Is yonex gonna earn that respect and popularity in N.A. by selling 200USD racket that has no long term durability except a new color scheme? Yonex makes rackets the way they see it and ask consumers to adapt them. Honda, toyota, etc make cars that consumers like and accepts the responsiblity of adapting consumers taste.
Re: cooler conscience Strong words, valid points, people should discuss this more. New companies such as Forza, or their promoters are trying to change this. Yonex wont have their monopoly for too much longer.
I know about Yonex RACKETS...not about the business part. Besides, you learn something new everyday..don't hate cooler...don't hate..I'll school you in videogames...hehehehhehe...=)
Yonex are McDonalds But surely you can see this arrogance reflected in the Yonex product line as well? We've already here questioned the marketing ploy around the Titanium racquets, ti strings, etc. Yonex are becoming the McDonalds of badminton. They don't care about badminton anymore, they want to take over the world. They are crooks. Next time I look for a racquet I will try to find something locally. Fukuda and Racstar are two Swedish brands, Forza is Danish and they all have really good racquets at much lower prices than Yonex. Performance can be just as good. Durability could be worse, but so what if I can buy three of their top models for the price of one Yonex? I don't even dare to play doubles with my MP100 anyway, unless it's with someone I really trust...
Re: Yonex are McDonalds About that 30 mile thing, it doesn't seem to hold valid in other countries. I don't think Mong Kok has 30 feet between two stores selling Yonex. Also have heard that yonex are pretty mean when it comes to sponsorship as well so I do support players using other racquet brands if they earn a better living from the extra sponsorship.
It's boycott time On first impression, it seemed to me to be likely that Yonex was telling the truth about David's shop being too close to an existing dealership - most dealership or franchise agreements do contain a term protecting the dealer/franchisee by granting exclusive sales rights within a designated area that would prohibit the establishment of another dealership/franchise. However, given Yonex's failure to provide David with clear explanations about this non-compete agreement, plus its very callous and unprofessional dealings with him, it seems quite possible that there may be other, perhaps more significant, reasons for denying the dealership. Cooler made a very good point by comparing racquet prices in North America versus the much cheaper manufacturer recommended retail prices in Asia, as there simply should not be such a large increase in price. Even if we consider all the possible expenses involved with bringing Yonex's products to America (shipping, tariffs, overhead and cost of N.American facilities, transportation, etc...), I can't imagine those expenses might exceed 50-70% of the items' cost. Assuming my guesses are not grossly inaccurate and that some Yonex products sell for double the price in the United States compared to Asia, that leaves a 30-50% profit margin on Yonex goods sold in North America, above and beyond whatever profits Yonex makes in the Asian markets. Just what the heck is Yonex doing with this extra profit? It is sponsoring players, teams, tournaments and events around the world, seeking as much publicity and promotion as possible for the sport in Asia and to a lesser extent, in Europe, BUT NOT in North America. Yonex does not seem to be doing anything signigicant to support the sport on this Continent. In an economic sense, Yonex is treating North America very similarly to the way that Spain treated its new world colonies during the 16-19th centuries. Given all the problems that people have experienced with Yonex, as well as their customer policy that treats many badminton enthusiasts without regard to common courtesy, maybe it's time to stop posting "Yonex is best" on this forum and start using a different manufacturer's racquet. Let's boycott Yonex's products and see if we can't change its attitude a bit.
Re: Sponsorship Not too sure if this is true. One of the manufacturer has spent years sponsoring a player using his brand of racquet. When he moved to the Olympic training center, they told him that he must use Yonex or well.... a lot of difficult things will happen, e.g. not being send to the tournament, etc... Again not sure until I really talk to the person... Will try to clarify again when going to US Open this year, if I can make it. However source is very-very reliable and true-to-the-bone dedicated badminton lover. I really would like to send a letter to confirm about this to USAB (which is also kind of controlled by Yonex) but my credibility and conflict with Yonex will create problem. Anybody interested in writing to see if this is correct? DSC
OT:no hate It wasnt meant as a hate message from my last post. I was just going back to your own words that you had posted here before. BTW, i got the video games department covered too.
Re: All good cooler Dude cooler, it was just a word of expression....I didn't mean hate as in "I hate you", it was just a figure of speech. Besides, I'll school you anytime at Soul Calibur...you play StarCraft? I'll school you in that too. And need I say "Tekken Tag"? Besides badminton, my first love was ALWAYS videogames. I always love competitions in badminton...but I know sometimes I can't win them....BUT videogames...THAT'S a new story..hehehe.....What do you play anyways? And about the boycotting Yonex thing...I mean..they do make good products and I love using them...but I JUST MIGHT take part in this boycotting just so David can get Yonex to distribute them in his shop. That's totally messed up and I'm willing to try anything to help David get his rackets...
Re: All good cooler ok, all is cool. On video games, i play pc games only (not console) like quake 3, superbikes and heavy metal. I like to play tekken tag but i think it's only available in console unit and not pc. I like to find a good tekken equivalent games on pc platform. Poor graphics on tv doesnt appeals to me but 1200x1000 on a 19 inch+ monitor does. Ya, i have to foot out big dollar bills to nvidia (kwun must be smiling) On the boycott action, well, i'm not for nor against it. It's an individual choice. But if yonex want to resort tactics on David to control marketing or preserve other hidden agenda of their, that wouldnt be good for us badminton players neither.
Re: cooler conscience well, if Forza would reply my emails concerning getting some rackets to review, that will certainly be a good start. i sent them a mail a couple of weeks ago, and i still haven't heard a word. do you have the email for Forza North America, or Forza USA?
Re: Yonex dealerships the 30 miles thing from Yonex is total BS. albeit a much smaller volume, Tri-City in Fremont also has Yonex rackets for sale.
Re: All good cooler Ahhh...Quake III...I'll kill you in that game too man. And also Unreal Tournament...bring it on! You'll probably blast me to bits considering I haven't played Quake III in a long time...rather go play badminton....hehehe
Re: All good cooler :evil: nVidia is taking over the world. resistance is futile.... muhahaha.... :evil:
Re: cooler conscience someone here had posted forza homepage address but i forgot. i don't know if forza has distribution netowork set up in USA yet. the ceo of forza canada is http://www.badminton.ca/profiles/yungdar.html sorry i cant help u much here
