Today, Kogan, the supplier of cheap TVs and other products ranging from camcorders to Blu-ray players and more, announced it was now selling “brand” products from Canon, Samsung, Nikon and Apple.

I would advise against buying any of these products from Kogan for a number of reasons. I have asked all of these companies where they stand in regards to warranties and other issues as Kogan is not an authorised Australian reseller as far as I can ascertain.

This means, from our investigations, that they are being imported from 3^rd parties in at least Hong Kong, which means that as the sale cannot go through in Australia, you are PROBABLY subject to warranties etc under Hong Kong rules.

The exception to this is Apple, as their Director of Corporate Communications, Fiona Martin tells Auscam “Apple's one (1) year limited warranty for iPad applies to the hardware product manufactured by or for Apple that can be identified by the "Apple" trademark, trade name, or logo affixed to it. Full details of Apple's Limited Warranty for iPad are available at http://images.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/NA_iPad_Warranty_v20.pdf”

Apple is fiercely protective of it’s brand and reseller rules and contracts, probably more so than anyone else, so as Kogan is NOT an authorised Australian distributor, I would be very wary of anything more than getting a repair under warranty if there is a failure. So for example, if an iPad or other product arrives and has items missing such as the correct power supply, a manual that applies to Australia etc, don’t hold your breath.

Nikon replied to our query with “Unfortunately no one is available to comment”. This normally means that legal action is being looked at.

Canon responded, by saying "... Canon Australia has no direct relationship with Mr Kogan or any of his affiliated companies".

Perceived cheaper prices may appear attractive (already many of my journo peers have seen holes in Kogan’s offering, such as exorbitant freight costs) so I would advise extreme caution buying from this source unless you are absolutely sure you are covered under every eventuality.

In other words, as in any other major purchase, do your homework to avoid being caught out. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

David Hague

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com