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There are some unscrupulous people who are down right selling under false pretenses and deception. This is what we know and feel you should know when shopping for an air dancer.
1. There is a company here in California who purchased some extremely poor fabric overseas and is passing it off as 1.3 oz coated ripstop. This material tears apart in only a 2 weeks. This person is selling air dancers fabrics for under $100 and trying to unload all of his poor quality material. We can’t tell you who for legal reasons, but if you talk to someone who is claiming to make and sell 1.3 oz ripstop air dancers for under $100, chances are good that you are talking to this person.
2. There is another company in California that claims their air dancers are made here and that they are made of such a good quality material that you require a 1 HP fan just to use them. This is false. The imported 1HP fan on the market is an inferior fan. The air dancers he claims to make are imported from China and are of poor quality. His prices are very low and that is why. Yet another deceptive gimmick to take your hard earned money. This person is also importing cheap nylon gorillas and cold air inflatables.
3. eBay. Need I say more. If you enjoy getting ripped off, that’s the place to go. The false claims, misrepresentations and their useless rating policy where everyone leaves a “prodded” complimentary remark so that they get a good one back makes this a risky place to purchase anything of quality. Just this month (Dec 2009) we came across a listing that said they use “Non-Rip Oxford” material, so you NEVER has to replace it”. We reported the fraudulent listing, but it just goes to show that is you are a serious business owner, keep far away from there for air dancers.
4. Fly Guy two leg knock offs being misrepresented. When shopping for a two leg dancing air dancer, you need to always get a “patented Fly Guy” for that dancing effect. The companies that make or resell these knock off never show you a video, or if they do, you will notice that the unit simply flaps its arms and that is all. A genuine patented Fly Guy will truly dance. We have seen some videos from the knock offs where they take a still photo of a two leg knock off and through video effects, they make it wiggle. We find that to be the height of deception. These people will always tell you there is no difference and that they simply just can’t call their unit a Fly Guy for legal reasons, but the truth is, in our small industry, the patent on the Fly Guy is strictly enforced, and although a Fly Guy costs a little more, the result is worth the investment.
5. Fake factories abound. There are only a handful of genuine manufacturers in the US with 3 in California and only a few more in the USA. The remainder are resellers or even worse, part time eBay storefront resellers with Ads on Google. These companies simply want your money and have no regard for the results you get or that you are receiving a unit that will simply blow apart in just a couple weeks, not to mention their 1HP poorly made fans. A quality fan is not judged by horsepower as many people think, but by the quality of the speed switch, components and most importantly, the amount of copper in the electromagnetic motor. A 3/4 HP is all that is required to produce the 5000 CFM required to operate an air dancer.
6. Websites with no pricing, or pricing that is just too low or showing cartoon renderings of air dancers instead of the actual product. The website with cartoons instead of photos should be obvious to avoid. The companies without pricing as simply trying to get you to call. These companies believe in keeping the consumer “uneducated” about the product and attempt to close your sale while you are on the phone with them. We educate our customers, provide all pros and cons, publish all pricing, material and warranty info along with testimonials from customers. We encourage our customers to shop around, but simply ask and hope that they will call us before they purchase so we can help you avoid a costly mistake. If a reputable company offers you a good deal, we will confirm that to be true. If you are being deceived by companies, we will point that out to you.
7. Shortcuts and Sales Gimmicks to watch for include not listing the weight of the ripstop and most common is the claim that a fan is better because it is 1HP. That just means the fan is more inefficient. We are aware of the sub par 1HP and it is simply not a well built fan. Even US made 1.3 oz units are not the same. There are many other factors that go into the quality of ripstop material including origin, tightness of weave, coating type and how it is applied, along with “dimensional stability, which is the measure of stretching. In addition, artwork can be applied in a well stitched fashion or it can be poorly stitched with cotton thread. The proper manufacture of an well made air dancer is more complex that it appears. Simply put, you want to be an educated shopper. Although these are very cost effective, they’re still a few hundred dollars and up. Don’t get ripped off.
BOTTOM LINE ON AIR DANCER
An Air Dancer is Velcro attached to a fan that blows 5000+ cubic feet of air a minute. That is the force of a hurricane. Can you imagine a light nylon flag left in hurricane force winds and exposed to constant sunlight for 3 to 6 months? It will shred apart and the sun will break down the material. An air dancer has a tremendous amount of powerful air and constant motion 8 to 12 hours every day. The seams need to be made with a specific threading and commercial locking stitch. The material and pattern needs to be made to withstand this abuse and because you can not print or paint on the proper material required for a quality air dancer, the lettering must be cut, glued and stitched on one letter at a time using boat sail insignia cloth which is designed to be put on sail boat sails and spinnakers. This is a very expensive material as is quality 1.3 oz tightly woven ripstop. Ripstop requires a tight weave with a double sided coating of Silicone or polyurethane to give it what is called “dimensional stability”, otherwise it will twist and stretch and lose shape.
Our Construction, Materials, Workmanship, Service and Warranty
Material
We use only time tested, proven and proprietary UV inhibited double poly coated 1,3 oz ripstop material. A three foot section of our air dancers are worth more than all the material used to make the inferior units or any imported air dancers so commonly seen on cheap websites.
Seam Work
Our sewing equipment uses a time tested durable 6 thread stitch and is double stitched with all seams inside the air dancer to protect the thread inner body seams from sun exposure. Our lettering is also zig zag stitched with a 6 threaded machine to disburse the load of the stitching on the lettering and to maintain the highest level of material integrity for a longer lasting unit.
Thread
We use only Hemmingway and Bartlet V69 polyester thread designed and used almost exclusively for the yacht racing industry sail manufacturing. It is the best thread available anywhere. It has UV protection. Others use a lightweight nylon and many simply use a basic cotton single stitch. Our Velcro is genuine name brand Velcro known for it’s superior construction.
Lettering
We use only proprietary Dacron boat sail insignia cloth from the yachting industry’s leading supplier. It is cut, adhered and stitched on. We then allow it to set in the sun for 10 hours for extra adhesion and our lettering is sewn on with the same V69 highest grade polyester UV inhibited thread that we use on the seam work mentioned above.
Hardware
We only use time tested 3/4 HP 18” fans and we are currently offering a $30 UPGRADE to the B-Air Big Bear 2 fan which is considered the industry’s gold standard fan.
Warranty
We offer the strongest warranty in the industry. Our B-Air fans carry an exclusive 3 year warranty and a factory direct 5 year warranty on the housing case. Our standard fan has a 2 year warranty and 5 years on case. Our air dancer fabrics are covered for 3 month for complete coverage of material, lettering and seam work and our seams are covered for 6 months. We also exclusively cover shipping both ways on fabric returns for repair or replacement under warranty and we cover shipping one way on fan return warranty related issues. Units must be returned for review to determine if a warranty issue. If not, we will work with you to discount a replacement should the damage be the end users fault. We actually expect our new TANK Fibermax units to last 25 to 50% longer and we will adjust our warranty after they have been out for over 6 months (estimate 06/01/2010).
Service
Our office is open from 5am to 6pm daily and you will rarely ever get a voicemail. We review your needs, budget, logistics, type of business, visibility and location with you to determine the best and most cost effective solution that will yield you the highest return on your purchase. We are very helpful both pre-sale, but most importantly we are there to assist you post sale. Everyone is helpful when they want your money, but if there is a problem or you need assistance post sale, that is when a companies service really shines. We have a fantastic customer service history and returns or refunds are virtually unheard of because we are upfront, honest and provide a high quality unit.
Repairs
Where very often others will tell you that the unit you sent in for repair is no longer repairable, we actually go through your unit and using special glues and ripstop seam tapes and kit glues, we will go through your entire air dancer and do what we can to extend it’s life span for you.
Innovation
We are constantly testing and developing prototypes in an effort to always provide the finest made and longest lasting air dancer possible
11 Years Established
Our company has been providing design, sales and service of high quality manufactured air dancers for over 11 years. Our corporation runs on a lean and effective business model that allows up to be efficient thereby keeping overhead lower while taking those saving and investing them into quality materials and workmanship. Our volume allows us to sell at the prices we sell, which you will find to be below wholesale on air dancers and hundreds below market value for our other products.
Results
The use of an air dancer in front of your location, whether used daily or just a couple days a week, will consistently increase your sales by at least 10% and we can give you a number of random referrals of existing customers that will confirm that.
Summary
Summary of air dancer purchase
We tell our customers that when you are shopping for an inflatable, NEVER shop on price alone or you will certainly be disappointed and lose potential new customers when your cheap unit fails or fall apart. Remember, you are purchasing advertising and our products will outperform any other form of advertising for bringing customers into your store. Dollar for dollar, there is no better investment you can make to gain new customers.
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