Re: Ada vendors and the art of selling used cars

["McDoobie" <chris@dont.spam.me>]

In article <st7kvy4p0b.fsf@aonix.fr>, Reivilo Snuved
<odevuns@iname.JUNK.com> wrote:

> "McDoobie" <chris@dont.spam.me> writes:
> [snip]
>> 
>> I'm checking around for a good Ada development environment, and I
>> wouldnt mind picking up a copy of GNAT Pro or the Aonix toolchain. But
>> "contact our sales rep" is irritating as hell.
> 
> NOTE : I am posting this message on behalf of Greg Gicca, Director of
> Product 
>        Management with Aonix (his newsserver is currently down) 
> 
> Chris,
> 
> We at Aonix have specific published prices and discount policies that
> can not be varied from by a sales person or other employee without
> approval from a VP or higher.  We do not publish prices due to legal and
> country reasons.  The legal aspects tend to be that any price published
> is only valid when published and can change at any time. Thus publishing
> it in a public forum puts out prices that could be misleading.  Also a
> price for a particular country may have adjustments due to shipping or
> other concerns.  Secondly our prices for a particular currency are based
> on the exchange rate at the time of sale (quote).  Our fixed price
> schedule is based on US dollars (we have to pick one currency).  The
> daily price in French Francs, or even the Euro will vary.
> 
> When Aonix produces a quote for a particular product or set of products
> it is very common for the purchasing agency to ask for the relevant
> pages from our product catalog that list these prices, and discount
> policies.  We can not vary from the prices or policies as stated above. 
> We in fact "never" want to be the position of having one representative
> quote a different price from another company representative, regardless
> of geographic region or country location
> (taking into account specific country differences, currency, etc.)
> 
> Any price quote you thus receive from Aonix from one individual will be
> the same quote you would get from any other.  Used car type pricing
> tactics are against our (and most other) Ada company policies.  If you
> ask us for a price for a product it will be that published in our
> product catalog.  If you ask for discount policies it will also be that
> published in the product catalog and will clearly show that a larger
> quantity purchase would save money on per product costs.
> 
> The one exception to our publishing prices is the ObjectAda Special
> Edition product.  It is published as being for free as a download from
> or web site, at:
> 
> http://www.aonix.com
> 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Greg Gicca Aonix Director of Product Management
> 
> adamark@sd.aonix.no.spam.com

Wow. You really gotta jump through hoops on price issue.

Now that I understand the reasoning behind this, it doesnt seem so
annoying.

Normally I plan in advance what tools I'm gonna buy, then I save up the
money and pay for it in cash or through a debit card.(Learned my lesson
about credit cards.) The reason being is this...There are plenty of good
and honest salespeople out there. And I  hate calling up the salesperson
and putting them through all the hassle of getting a price quote
, and them expecting a sale, when I'm not even certain I'm gonna buy the
thing.  It makes for an
unpleasant experience for both people. It's much simpler when I know how
much money I need to put together, then I call the sales rep and say "I
wanna buy product X. Heres the dough. Pleasure doing business with ya.
Talk to you again sometime."

However...I suppose I could contact a sales rep. Suppose I'll give it a
shot.

Thanks.

McDoobie chris@dont.spam.me