I will tell you that I was able to get pretty darn close, just not close enough. I can't fault him for saving the money and buying local. Even if I don't agree with how that dealer conducts business it is in fact supporting his local economy. That is something I can certainly get behind.
As far as AMSEC, I have no idea what they knew, or thought was going on. My wild guess is that they had no idea until the complaints started flowing in. As one of the largest manufacturers in the world, they have a very large dealer network. I believe they have over 1,200 security based companies that sell their products nationwide.
I've been on this forum for several years, and have made a habit out of point people towards their local dealers. It is very rare that I get a request where I can not find a dealer within several miles of that person's location. Selling safes has never been a problem for AMSEC, or their dealers. What has become a problem is the cheapening of their product image, and what used to be secure information, falling into unworthy hands.
I call tell you that commercial buyers have become hesitant to purchase products sold at the local sporting goods store. It's not a problem for me, because I sell other lines that protect their products, and have simply moved them from AMSEC products over to one of the others.
This thread has around 500 views. That's 500 pairs of eyeballs that are curious about this topic. People searching for information about gun safes find this site on a regular basis because of the vast amount of information that myself, CB900F, Sturdy Safe, and a few others (I applogize for not remembering your names off the top of my head) have shared here on the board.
Do a Google search for AMSEC BF, and you will find THR threads as the #4 result, after AMSEC's own site. They have no idea that I have probably sold more of their product than anybody else (through other dealers of course). I have sold 10 times less AMSEC product this year than I did in 2008-2009. Some of that is loss to other sources, but much of it is diverting my customers to other brands. They have a local clothing store selling their product. Teenagers have access to safe combinations, and the names and addresses of safe owners. When somebody is up there buying a safe, they will gladly make up information on the fly in order to make a sale.
I can't be a part of that. If anything happens that gives the brand a black eye, that's automatically attached to me as a dealer. I really do hope they get this mess cleaned up. They make some great products, but so do other manufacturers who keep their dealer network in check.