Grey Imports Q&A
 

IMPORTANT NOTICE
PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY

THIS NOTICE IS TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS FROM
UNLAWFUL TRADE PRACTICES

ONLY DEALERS DISPLAYING THIS SIGN OR WHO ARE LISTED ON THIS WEB SITE AS DEALERS MAY OFFICIALLY SELL, SUPPORT AND SERVICE HARMAN/KARDON, JBL AND INFINITY DOMESTIC BRANDS WHICH ARE LISTED ON THIS WEB-SITE FOR SALE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA .

IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT ABOUT A DEALER PLEASE CONTACT US AT

Tel: +27 (012) 665-0185

IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT A SMALL QUANTITY OF HARMAN  BRANDED PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN GREY IMPORTED INTO SOUTH AFRICA AND  HARMAN LOGOS  AND BRAND NAMES WHICH ARE COPYRIGHTED TO HARMAN INTERNATIONAL AND THEIR REGISTERED AGENTS ARE BEING USED WITHOUT CONSENT. THIS ACTION  MIS-REPRESENTS THE BRAND AND IT'S RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL LEGALLY IMPORTED HARMAN BRANDS
HAVE SERIAL NUMBERS ON THE BOXES AS WELL AS THE BRANDS!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SERIAL NUMBERS HAVE BEEN  DELIBERATELY REMOVED FROM THE BOXES AS WELL AS THE CHASSIS OF GREY IMPORTED HARMAN PRODUCTS. OBVIOUSLY THIS ACTION IS DESIGNED TO HIDE THE SOURCE OF THESE PRODUCTS AS THERE ARE CURRENTLY MAJOR  LAWSUITS UNDERWAY TO ENFORCE BRAND COPYRIGHT BY LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AGAINST GREY IMPORTERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA!

 3D SOUND INVESTMENT (PTY) LTD  RESERVES THE RIGHT TO INSTIGATE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS IN CASES WHERE SERIAL NUMBERS HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY REMOVED FROM HARMAN BRANDED PRODUCTS AS WE USE SERIAL NUMBER TRACKING TO SUCCESSFULLY FIGHT CRIME IN SOUTHERN  AFRICA

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL 3D SOUND INVESTMENT (PTY) LTD SERVICE OR SUPPLY SPARE PARTS FOR ANY GREY IMPORTED HARMAN BRANDS!

 PLEASE NOTE: THAT GREY IMPORTED PRODUCTS
DO NOT CARRY FACTORY GUARANTEES
OR FACTORY SUPPORT OF ANY KIND.

PARALLEL IMPORTS ARE GREY IMPORTS WHEN THEY ARE NOT SANCTIONED
BY THE COMPANIES THAT HOLD BRAND COPYRIGHT

What are grey Imports?
Goods that are parallel imported without the legal sanction of the manufacturer or their distributor who also holds copyright on the Brand. These units are then sold cheaper by companies whose only claim to fame is that they will beat any price. Beware of companies that base all their marketing only on price. They only want your money and by illegally importing branded products on which they have no rights to sell or service - you are left high and dry when problems do occur. Please note that such dealers also use famous branded products to get you into their stores so that they can sell CHEAP no-name-house-brands that they import - which by the way, they make huge profits on!

IF I buy on the Internet from an unregistered dealer is it "GREY"

YES IT IS!
Products imported by a WEB company are not supplied by Harman International and have absolutely no service support or access to spare parts in South Africa. All goods parallel imported must be clearly defined according to South African law (Please read the text at the bottom of this documents outlining your rights.

Can parallel imports be legal?

YES - but is only in extreme case where manufacturers have chosen more than one distributor in an economic area for the same brand This is not the case in South Africa for Harman Branded Products. 

Where do grey goods come from?
Unknown - Grey imports are not purchased from the legal manufacturer or their representatives due to legally signed distribution agreements with each country.

Grey goods are generally supplied by dubious business people who obtain goods from unknown sources and far from cutting down middlemen it actually increases the number of people in the supply chain. The possibility of these goods having been obtained illegally by misappropriation cannot be discounted. Also most imported grey products are discontinued items that are already obsolete by the time they are offered for sale in Southern Africa.

Irresponsible Companies that sell grey imported products invariably go bankrupt as the service and goods returned costs eventually destroy their profitability. Leaving frustrated and angry consumers as well as shareholders of these companies high and dry without any legal recourse.

Can harman/kardon and Infinity systems be legally parallel imported.

NO!
Harman-International sign international distribution agreements with their distributors relating to imports, sales, service and guarantees for each economic area. 3D Sound Investment (Pty) Ltd is the sole distributor for harman/kardon and Infinity Systems in Southern Africa.

Are Parallel/Grey imported goods guaranteed.

NO!
Harman-International empowers their distributors by agreement to give a manufacturers guarantee on products imported by the distributor for each area. The official Guarantee offered on new products distributed by 3D Sound Investment (Pty) Ltd is two years on Electronics i.e. Receivers Amplifiers and Tuners and two years on mechanical products i.e. DVD players and CD players from date of purchase.

Are there international manufacturers Guarantees for harman/kardon and Infinity Systems?

No!
Only harman/kardon and Infinity system products  that have been purchased in South Africa through 3D Sound investment and their appointed dealer network carry a (Harman-International) manufacturers guarantee. Even units purchased in an other country by an individual are not guaranteed in South Africa but are still serviceable at a price on presentation of an original sales slip.

Can a grey importer offer a legal Harman manufacturers guarantee.

No!
Without official access to the service and spares departments of Harman-International a manufacturers guarantee is impossible. Businesses purporting to give such a guarantee are in breach of the copyright act and are misrepresenting the brand. Furthermore any guarantee offered (which is normally a lesser time period than the official guarantee) cannot be carried out by official service centres and as parts are not made available for grey products any repairs would be due to cannibalization of another unit or pirated none standard parts being used. Also many grey imports are from areas with different power standards and this often leads to the product being modified for South African voltages. All electronic components imported into South Africa have to be approved by the South African Bureau of Standards for safety reasons. This is often bypassed by grey importers who may smuggle incorrectly sourced units in, modify them, and sell electrically unsafe units to an unsuspecting public without the approval of the S.A.B.S.

The guarantee that a grey importer offers is also meaningless without access to harman service channels as most components are designed for and are unique to harman products these are also protected by international copyright law.

Please note that the the product design, the brand LOGO and the entire product including all its electrical boards that carries the brand LOGO of harman manufactured products is copyrighted to Harman International this includes the design of the product as well as all harman designed internal components and its advanced circuitry.

How do I know if the product you bought has a guarantee?

Phone, mail, fax or email us the Model and serial number of your product using the numbers and addresses below...

PLEASE NOTE:

The South African Government has enacted law the law described below which clearly states that a person who grey/parallel  imports a product must clearly advertise the fact it is not sanctioned by the brand holder and has no official guarantee.

The following article describes this law!

Local "grey" importers who sell branded goods which they have imported – Must clearly indicate that the products are not covered by a manufacturer's service, warranty or support this include the support of the local distributor.

The department of trade and industry has declared it an unfair business practice for retailers not to tell consumers that they're not authorised by the manufacturer to sell these goods. A notice declaring this business practice unlawful was published in the Government Gazette.

Retailers of grey imports must now include a prescribed warning, in all their advertising, websites and brochures, saying:

"The authorised South African distributor of this product is under no obligation to honour the manufacturers' guarantees/warranties or to provide after-sales service for self ("grey") imported branded products."

This effectively means everything grey imported has to be clearly marked as such! Failure to comply will lead to civil prosecution for infringement of the act.

 Official importers who have signed trade agreements with factories to brand products in South Africa and are responsible for service of officially imported products.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED INTO BUYING A GREY PRODUCT WITHOUT BEING PROPERLY INFORMED THAT IT IS NOT  IMPORTED FROM AN OFFICIAL SUPPLIER THEN IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO DEMAND ALL YOUR MONEY BACK.

Or Email us at:

info@3dsi.co.za

Dealer Enquiries are welcome!