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Watch out High fashion arc being sold at discount prices by some Ontario merchants this But experts from the Ministry of Consumer and Com Relations suggest shop pers should look further than the price tag before they buy Our office has been receiving reports of a lot of grey market watches portable radios and small appliances for sale recent says Marilyn of the ministry s Consumer Ser vices Bureau Grey market products are foreign made goods not intended for sale in Canada Dealers port them to sell at reduced prices While the practice is legal it may not serve con sumers best interests in the long run says the term grey market came about because it isn t clear who benefits Manufacturers can get rid of large quantities of goods that were unpopular in their intended market But other companies and retailers say price undercutting makes it impossible for anyone to make a reasonable profit The only thing that s definite in the grey market is that the con sumer s problem isn the quality of the goods says Gurevsky Many are The difficulty comes when something goes wrong with the product and warranties aren honored in Canada Warranty repairs frequently won t be made even if an iden tical product is sold in Canada For example certain jewellers here may be authorized by the manufacturer to sell Brand Swiss watches Those dealers pay part of their profit to help cover advertising and warranty service costs But grey marketeers might buy a big shipment of Brand wat in Switzerland for a low price They can sell them for less than the authorized dealer That should be good news for the consumer but there a catch Grey marketeers haven paid to support the set up of a repair service and when the con tries to get their watch fix the service centre may simp ly send them away We seen many cases where repairers don t have the parts to fix a product even when the con wants to pay for the ser vice Gurevsky says Many grey market goods we see for sale in Ontario are small tronic products A model cassette recorder may look just like model Al234u yet have com pletely different inner work ings Owners of grey market now being sold may soon ex pcnence similar problems Although repairers may have every confidence in their abilities to fix them the parts for some of these models just won t be available in Canada Some grey market retailers fer store warranty on goods But rely on quick turnover high volume sales and may change locations frequently Con sumers are reminded store war rarities are valid as long as the retailer is in business Authorized dealer signs Not manufacturers issue or signs so consumers who don t see them should ask for the dealer s association with the pro ducer Isabels and in French and English Thest will indie ile the product was pro bably made for he Canadian market On electrical appliances look for Standards Association or Ontario Hydro A warranty registration card to be sent to a Canadian address If the address is outside the try the unit probably t im ported by an authorized dealer tor Information on variety of consumer issues write lo the ion Information Ministry onsumcr and Coin Street 1st Toronto Ontario THE HERALD Wednesday April 1991 Page THE LEVEL The biggest mortgage breakthrough in a decade Only at Canada Trust If your mortgage is coming up for renewal consider the benefits of our unique Split Level Mortgage it your mortgage is coi you should consider the benefits of The ultimate in flexibility and control J he ultimate in flexibility and control The best of both open and fixed term mortgage features Avoids putting all vour mortgage eggs in one basket Ability to pay off faster bite size chunks Call ami biaiuh to find out more You can get a 1 rate reduction for six months with our new Split Lev el Mortgage If you re mortgage or getting a brand new one before July 1st just come in and see us before April 30th Ask for details Canada Trust fie ftieiUly Main at James 8772266 OPEN TO 8 MONDAY TO FRIDAY SATURDAY TO