atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Other TDM Phone Systems XBlue Networks Telephones & Systems Sams Club

X-16 will soon be sold at Sams Club on line.
I wonder how much longer the X-45p and the 100-P
will be Dealers only.

Hmmm interesting Bizfon still making it?

So much for making money selling Xblue products.

The move to selling Bizfon equipment through Costco was their kiss of death. I believe that I heard that the return rate was in the high 90% range because phone systems aren't as "plug and play" as people think. They were buying these packages, plugging them in and expecting everything to function to their standards right out of the box.

It is a shame to see this happen with X-Blue. I understand that the national presence will generate a huge influx of business initially, but when the end users realize that they are in over their heads, the returns will start coming in left and right.

Returns or service calls to local companies to get the thing working correctly.

Best Buy tried selling the old Merlin 820 systems quite a few years ago. That didn't last very long either.

Costco sold the SW Bell 246 for awhile

Dumb move IMO

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.......

My opinion of the X-Blue hasn't changed since the first time Ed V. cranked one up using a majic jack in a Charleston hotel room for a bunch of us to play with. It was quality then and still is!

Now as far as the X-Blue executives deciding to market them through Sam's I'm afraid it will degrade their reputation but on the other hand a manufacturer can't turn a profit (there is that nasty word again) unless the product gets purchased by consumers.

I wish them all the best :thumb:

My bread and butter system was phased out about a year ago. I wish the manufacturers would have made a deal with my local Costco to move everyone of them right here. CHING CHING

Anyway, if your an X-Blue dealer get your name visible and make lemonade from this. I personally enjoy working on systems that DIYer's try to set up, they usually are much more appreciative at that point.

I have the e-mail from Ernie Meadows....X-Blue is not selling these X-16s to Sam's Club, a distributor is.

Yes, I've seen the Costco Freedom Phone 246, the Bizfon nonsense, and I wish X-Blue good luck...but as TadiranTechTexas indicated....more work for us.

John, you are correct...the main manufacturers seem to want out of the small system market and into the IP craze. Why fix something that isn't wrong?

Speaking of IP.....the powers that be at X-Blue have stopped development of the VoIP function for the X-16 and the 45/100 series. But they are using R&D funds for a new all VoIP system.
Maybe......???


:shrug:

Good Luck.

My 2 cents.....

I would assume they know who the distributor is, so they must condone it. We get them from distributors too.

Does this distributor's name begin with the eleventh letter of the alphabet by any chance?

Shame on them.

Ernie's e-mail did not say whom...BUT....you are probably correct......

Will this make it more dificult for XBLUE dealers to contiune to sell XBLUE products?

That ould be the only distribution point that I know of other than diret sales. You would think that their contract would have covered something like that. :shrug:

Well, let's look at it this way... You (dealer) go to a customer that needs a small, no frills system with 6 phones,quote the X-16 and the customer Googles it. They find that they can buy it at Sam's for less. What do you think they'r included to do? They'll either buy it at Sam's and either try to install it themselves (which they may be able to do!) or ask you to do the install for them?!

Either way, you lose!

Jim
That's easy you tell them you'll sell them the equipmeent for $1.00 on ONE condition you get to install it for your install price of $xxxx amount.

Followed by it's not the price of the equipment your paying for it's the knowledge to know how to connect it..

Ahhh.....If only life worked this way, that was a nice little dream.

LOL, yeah the problem with that is that if they read the booklet on the X-16 they probably could install it themselves!

Jim, You have more faith in the general public than I do. Read the manual? I have enough trouble getting users to read their user guides.

I'm not terribly smart and I do think that most of what we do is really very simple. It's just that there are a thousand simple things that I have learned how to do.

Yeah, you're probably right.

You're looking at this way wrong. First, don't market the X-16 as the X-16. Call it Jim's Wonderphone 16 or such. The days of the customer caring about the name on the system has been gone for years. It' so easy to make brochures and labels that it isn't even an issue. Contact your equipment provider and see if they have any issues with this. Some don't

Secondly, what do you mean you lose when you install customer provided equipment? I had one heck of an argument with my business partner a couple of years ago concerning this point. If the customer provides the equipment we have utterly no liability. Everything is billable. We don't provide the warranty, free advance replacement, nothing. The customer pays full installation price and pays for any service or training afterwords. Frankly we're getting to the point where it is preferable to install all this stuff they buy from eBay and online vendors. The margins are very high (labor only) and no back side costs.

I've been in the business since 1971 and have seen a lot of changes. Embrace change and work it to your benefit. Any other course of action just causes stress and unhappiness.

--Bill.

The days of the customer caring about the name on the system has been gone for years.

I must respectfully disagree. I know of one system in particular that lives on and on despite the fact that the system itself is a joke and the phones are a 50/50 crap shoot on whether they will work or not. Features you ask, they got nothing in comparison to the other manufacturers that have only been in business less than 20 years. They got that big magic name though so on they go. Oh well, GM was a big name once too.

I really think this was a bad idea on X-Blue's part. Maybe they are trying to save their company from going out of business? I feel it is a desperate measure to save a company.

You can Private lable the 45p and 100+ systems. I don't know about the xblue-16.

maybe Walmart will private label the x16

Durabrand is what they use for their in house electronics