Here is how NOT to put out a new detector

[Pastor bob]

Advertise the heck out of it beforehand. Put out you tube videos of it in action. Get everyone excited about it. Take a bunch of pre-orders.......and push back the delivery dates by weeks and months.
Fisher did this. Tesoro teased the heck out of us with some new machine they were supposed to come out with but never did. Minelab got us all excited about the Go-Find which has been a dud and now Garrett's new machine which I am excited to see (after all it has been in videos for several months) gets delayed even more. I think many of these manufacturers think we are just a bunch of hicks who will wait forever while they build up the hype. I would hope that these folks would realize that we spend hard earned money on their products and many of us do not want to be teased for months before getting to handle the machine. Maybe I am wrong but I don't like the way these companies bring out new items. Now since I am grumpy I just have one more thing.....GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

[Elton]

Pastor Bob ...... I think it is more the advertising agencies who hype up the releases.Granted the company approves these tactics......I don't know if Tesoro pays an agency or not.

There is an old saying in advertising..Even bad publicity is good publicity.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Delays are better than getting a machine with defects... good luck and I wasnt on your lawn..lol.

 

[REVIER]

Fisher...not sure which one you are referring to.
Tesoros...just a strange little company but they mean well...they just execute poorly.
The Go Find....what were they supposed to do tell you the truth and admit they designed a toy?
Garrett...I bet it still stings when they think about all the hassle for their customers when the AT Pro came out...and all the money they had to spend on return shipping and whatever else to get it all right.

This time they are being prudent which is smart.
New product rollouts can be dicey for any company in any industry so I am sure they are not delaying anything on purpose just to frustrate customers, they just want to make it as right as they possibly can before worldwide release.
They were ready to go but then they added some new features per customer requests to improve them further so that changes things up a bit, new programming and whatnot, and sometimes you change one thing it affects others.
Better to be safe...and a little late, than sorry.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Roll outs of new products are very problematic for just about every company. I worked retail for a number of years due to a back problem and saw a major manufacturer of firearms introduce a new Semi-Automatic Shotgun that was supposed to shoot any length of shot shell made. The company invited merchandise buyers from a number of major companies to a dove shoot in Ga. They gave each buyer one of the new shotguns to use for the day and the appropriate shells. The shotgun would not eject the empty shell. The company spent another six months working on that model before it would operate as advertised

I personally never purchase an item that has not been on the market for a period of time due to the flays that are normal in new products. Even items that could be hazardous to operate (IE: Automobiles) have flaws that require correction after they are put on the market.

Manufacturers do not always test their products as well as does the consumer Time and testing Cost Money. It is sometimes cheaper to repair an item than it is to delay the delivery of a new item. Your competition may bring out their new item and seize the market while you are testing.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Its called product advertising......my advice wait until others buy and read the forums to find out the truth good or bad...

 

[marcomo]

Bob, the best advice I can give you is to understand the psychology of selling...understand the conscious and, more importantly, the sub-conscious techniques that are used in marketing.

Sales and marketing try to create an urgency to buy...99.9% of the time you will be better off or at least no worse by not making an impulse purchase. Pre-ordering an unreleased detector with no unbiased reports is an impulse purchase.

And George hit it right on the button, new products often have problems that are corrected as they become apparent over time.

 

[doc holiday232]

I may be missing some good deals,but this is WHY I NEVER buy a used anything.

 

[BarryL]

Its called product advertising......my advice wait until others buy and read the forums to find out the truth good or bad...

X2

 

[Waterdog]

If a company is going to release a new product they should have had a least been working on it and have had something to show for their efforts. Announcing they are coming out with a product, Taking Pre-orders and then make you WAIT for them to get it right. I Pre-ordered, WAITED, Then I canceled my Pre-order as did others. I am going to continue metal detecting as I have thru the years, and maybe 6 months or so down the line after I know it works I'll get one lightly used at a reduced price or so after someone else proves it works.

 

[Welgund]

From what I saw from Garrett release video they were probably ready to go forward with the release of the AT max but the testers requested a few changes like the Volume control and z link pairing buttons and probably a few other things they had to go in and add. The AT Max they had in the video is different from the one they are advertising on their website etc moved some buttons around, added volume control etc. I would rather have a company listen to what people want and change it before release instead of afterward.

 

[Pastor bob]

My problem with this is that they put the pie on the window-sill and then make us wait forever before we can get a slice.

 

[doc holiday232]

Why don't they consult with REAL MD'ers BEFORE they produce a prototype.

 

[kingingkunsan]

Why don't they consult with REAL MD'ers BEFORE they produce a prototype.

What you want in a detector may not necessarily be what others want. Hence production of prototype and then get feedback from several. I suppose they could send out a survey asking us MD'ers what we would like in a machine but still button layout and other technical issues would have to be sorted out in the field. IMHO

 

[Mike Hillis]

I was excited about the new Garrett until I saw the frequency. Then I yawned and looked away. I don't need anymore EMI detectors.

HH
Mike

 

[Southwind]

Its called product advertising......my advice wait until others buy and read the forums to find out the truth good or bad...

I suspect they're just wanting to let the public know something new is on the way. So many have complained because of nothing new and they're just putting the "pie out" to let the public know there is something new on the way. Good or bad way to do business I couldn't say, but I believe that's what we're seeing.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Now since I am grumpy I just have one more thing.....GET OFF MY LAWN!

You forgot to say "Please."

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Its called product advertising......my advice wait until others buy and read the forums to find out the truth good or bad...

I suspect they're just wanting to let the public know something new is on the way. So many have complained because of nothing new and they're just putting the "pie out" to let the public know there is something new on the way. Good or bad way to do business I couldn't say, but I believe that's what we're seeing.

And it could be they tease and tease so you won't be buying the other manufacturers latest, greatest?

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Didn't the company that builds the Macro Racer 2 do that?

 

[lytle78]

Poor is.

Very small businesses which make the devices we depend on often have issues with timely launch of production hardware.

The amount of trsting one of these companies can do at their factory is sadly limited due to several facts:

First with a couple of exceptions the engineers of the designed these things don't use metal detectors

Second – the soil and rock mantle of the earth is incredibly varied from place to place and we take these detectors and use them and all kinds of incredible places

Third because of the first two factors companies send detectors out to be tested by people who are trusted to be knowledgeable and competent at giving useful feedback.

This is the so-called Proto type testing phase – the feedback from that often results in changes to detector software and even hardware .

Then while poor souls in the marketing department are trying to get lined up to sell the darn thing when it's finally ready.

Guess what – sometimes it doesn't all line up right.

We're talking about companies with a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand employees – tech companies with tens or hundreds of thousands of employees routinely make bigger messes.

How about we cut our friends who make these wonderful devices – a little slack!