I was a Kenwood dealer for over 20 years before I retired and from day 1 (1983) when Kenwood brought their landmobile line into the states, they had a very definitive policy. It wasn't as strict as some of the newer contracts are trying to enforce, but the contracts I signed had the following 2 things: What is your general business area (usually defined by counties) and #2.....was all sales must be face to face...in other words the beginning of making sure the products weren't sold wholesale or via means such as the internet.
Now this didn't preclude me from selling products in Venezula, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Idaho, California and many other places. I sold the product and may have shipped it, but I had met with the customer either in their location or in my location. So even being in Wisconsin I was able, LEGALLY, to sell any place I wanted to, and this fit the letter of the contract. I sold repeaters to Ham's all over the US....BUT...I did meet with these persons at one time or another...whether it be a swapfest of Hamvention or even by accident on vacation. The reasoning behind Kenwood and other manufacturers policies is not a restraint of trade, but in essence was developed to make sure the customer got the best of service. These companies that sell other brands of 2way via the internet and other means have no way of offering the support a local dealer can. And I'm not talking just Service, I'm talking all the support they need...licensing, access to tower sites and on and on. These contracts are LEGALLY binding (at least in Wisconsin), because I never signed one until my lawyers looked them over and gave me their legal opinion. There were times when certain lines we sold required us to sign contracts that weren't legal and our lawyers pointed this out and x'ed out the offending sentences and paragraphs. This was never a problem as they were accepted after the modifications when the contract company checked State laws in the state we were doing business in. In summary: I don't think Kenwood cares if hams buy TK850's or any other gear from a Kenwood dealer out of their area. This is a very small percentage of the dealers sales and really don't impact the spirit of the contract. 73, Gregg R. Lengling, W9DHI, Retired Administrator http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org K2/100 S#3075 KX1 S# 57 Member: ARRL, RSGB, RCA, WERA and ORC Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
