I think that XP is getting a bums rush with some of the comments posted here . . . . .
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I would love to see some of their other models hit the the States. It's unusual for us to have a back seat when it comes to merchandise
To import OFFICIALLY the entire XP line - other than the Deus - would take a good deal of certification which is an expense that XP is not seeing as a justuiable expense at this point. Also, the models you are referring to have been optimized to the UK and European market which is looking for targets different then what the US hunters are and the ground conditions are signifigantly different as well. I have used some of their units in the past here and was not overly impressed with the performance especially when compared to how well they did in Europe and the UK. The Deus has the ability to be adjusted to address the conditions we face and Version 3.0 (as well as later versions) will show that Alain and his staff are interested in the US market . . . . just not seeing the benefit of redesigning hardware which is what the other models would require versus software changes on the Deus.
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We all paid good money for a Deus and what does the manufacturer or distributor do for us? Keep us guessing about a mythical update?
Would you rather they announce a date and then not make that when they find something that needs additonal attention or another item that is being added? Or like another large detector company went through, put out update after update trying to get things right? They anounced that they are working on a new version and a great deal of testing is going into it BEFORE it will be released. When it comes out it will be right and that is how the factory has approached every release - hardware or software - since 1998 when they opened their doors.
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Yes the machine is good but for close to $2000 shouldn't we expect respect as consumers and decent customer service?
Mighty strong statement there pardner . . . . . . respect as consumers? Did you happen to try contacting your dealer or possibly the US distributor rather than simply posting on the forum here? And "decent customer service" . . . . . from those that have needed service from the US Distributor, 48 hour turn around on repairs and same day responses to most E-mails is pretty decent customer service in most people book. I have had my customers call or E-mail me with questions on upgrades or issues and provided answers real-time or the as soon as I was able to get in touch with the distributor. You might check with your dealer to see what information they have to share.
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Two things XP should do: 1) Hire an American to fine tune their website and manuel. We are not Europeans. If they want to be a major player in this market they have to communicate the great product they have. 2) Hire someone to read the US forums and advise the higher ups.
Have you gone to the US Distributor's website (see below) as that is the US focal point . . . . . . The XP site is maintained by XP in France and there are distributors sites in other countries that are intended to provide information relative to each country so that XP can build and design rather than be a website management company.
As far as "read the US forums and advise the higher ups" . . . . while the US forums as well as many others from around the world are read, the expectation is that the regional distributor is the contact point for questions and not only the factory. If you live in Europe and have a question about Minelab, do you think you send E-mails to Illinois? There are centers in other parts of the world that collect feedback from users, dealers and forums to send back to the factory in France for review.
Virtually none of the manufacturers respond to every post on any of the forums when a question is psoted about their equipment . . . . they do not have the staff for that task.
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XP would do well to tweak their customer relations to address the American market.
XP Metal Detectors Americas is the XP representative in the US . . . have you visited their website or contacted them? In the UK, Regton is their contact and people know that if they have a question, they get with Nigel and his staff rather than trying to reach the factory. This forum is but one avenue for discussions about XP detectors even here in the US and to expect a full time person to be dedicated to review the posts and respond when asked is not being relaistic.
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Be assured that XP is working on taking the Deus to the next level but they do not want to do it as Version 3.0.1, 3.0.2. 3.0.3, etc.
If you are looking for the wesbite and contact information for the US Distributor, their wesbite is http://www.xpmetaldetectorsamericas.com/ - either they or your dealer shoudl be able to address product availability / software release information WHEN IT IS MADE AVAILABLE.
