Respectfully, I disagree that it's reasonable to expect machinery to arrive "ready to go", if your definition of "ready to go" implies perfect alignment. Ultimately, if that's the expectation that people get, then the manufacturer should more clearly articulate their position. But to my set of norms, expecting any machine to immediately work perfectly is about as absurd as buying a bookshelf at IKEA and being confused that it's not assembled for you.
Derek, if you were anywhere other than Perth, I'd laugh and ask if you understood how big the US is
As an American, what you describe is such an odd concept, as well - although I'm envious.
I'm really curious about how things work, there (especially given your remote location). Is the local agent an employee of Felder, or a dealer of multiple lines? In a place as remote as you are, do you have any understanding of how that agent is able to keep a technician sufficiently trained and busy? Or how the economics of it work? How many pieces of equipment could be sold in a given day in a geography within driving distance of Perth (which would encompass, what, 2M people?).
Is the cost of machinery very different than the (relative) cost we pay in the US? As some basis of comparison, an A3-31 costs ~$5k USD, delivered, which is about 1/10th the median US household income. The cost of flying a technician to a customer's location (in the US), putting the technician up in a hotel for a night, paying his meals, wages , etc, would mean that it would probably cost over $1k to have the type of service you describe. That's almost certainly more than Felder's profit margin on the machine. I don't think it's any surprise that they don't do this. Besides, this is squarely "consumer" (or "pro-sumer") level equipment, and no other vendors do anything even remotely similar...