I've been a customer who changed his mind, and I've been a dealer whose customer changed his mind. The needs and concerns on both sides are legitimate.
Under the circumstances I think what the dealer is requesting is reasonable, especially if it's a big-ticket item. The alternative would be for the dealer to charge a fairly high restocking fee, or decline to take the order altogether.
I know of a case where a dealer went out of business because of a single large order (hundred thousand dollar ballpark) that was cancelled. If the customer had been willing to give him time to find a buyer, he would have survived.
A dealer picks and chooses very carefully what to invest his limited funds in, because not everything is a good investment. He needs to put his money into product lines and demo units that will in turn make money for him by generating multiple sales. Having a large portion of his funds tied up in a one-of-a-kind, relatively unsellable item that he never would have chosen (and may not even like) can really hurt his business.
Duke
Under the circumstances I think what the dealer is requesting is reasonable, especially if it's a big-ticket item. The alternative would be for the dealer to charge a fairly high restocking fee, or decline to take the order altogether.
I know of a case where a dealer went out of business because of a single large order (hundred thousand dollar ballpark) that was cancelled. If the customer had been willing to give him time to find a buyer, he would have survived.
A dealer picks and chooses very carefully what to invest his limited funds in, because not everything is a good investment. He needs to put his money into product lines and demo units that will in turn make money for him by generating multiple sales. Having a large portion of his funds tied up in a one-of-a-kind, relatively unsellable item that he never would have chosen (and may not even like) can really hurt his business.
Duke