[1000mp] Sending a message to Yaesu

[Garry Shapiro]

Pete, N4ZR said, among other things:

> There are only three logical reasons I can see for running a backlog in a
> service operation:
>
> 1) lack of service personnel
> 2) lack of service facilities for them to work in
> 3) seasonal fluctuations, making staffing for peak demand too expensive.
>
There are at least two more:
4) an inefficient work process flow
5) an unexpectedly high rate of returns

Several posters have pointed out that radios appear to be stacking up at
incoming and at shipping, adding a week or more at each end; that supports
number (4). But this, and all the complaints being voiced about the core
problems with the radios,  makes (5) seem all the more likely to be the core
reason for the delays.

Pressure on an overwhelmed shop to get the backlog down may in turn be one
factor in the inadequate documentation provided the customer--e.g. the
handsful of unidentified parts, with no explanation. OTOH, my MP returned
from the Yaesu shop in 1999 with a similar unidentified handful of parts, so
that may well be SOP at Yaesu. Perhaps their assumption is that most owners
do not own a technical manual and could not ID the parts, anyway, which
would be a poor excuse indeed. I think most people who buy a high-end radio
want to know exactly what went wrong with it; I certainly do.

In the case of a persistent design or manufacturing flaw, the manufacturer
might not want the customer to have information that would expose such a
condition. A manufacturer who claims no knowledge of a problem well-known to
and discussed by multiple owners on a reflector like this suggests that very
thing.

Several "satisfied" customers have thought it reasonable to point out that
their units perform as they should. But this is not a political election
wherein 50.1% "wins." A $2000+ piece of "mature" equipment--something that
is well past its pilot production days---should go out the door with a very
high reliability factor. We don't know how the MP's or MkV's score on
this---and Yaesu is unlikely to tell us---but I think a 95% "good unit" rate
is pretty poor in such a case. That's a 1 in 20 chance of having to send
that new radio back to the manufacturer, to languish on his shelf and in his
lab for a month or more! So I do not think that "mine works....what's the
problem?" contributes much to this discussion.

One owner of two MP's mentioned that his radio had been in once and returned
in 4 to 6 weeks, and described himself as "happy". Such a turnaround, for
most owners and especially those with only one radio, would be excrutiating.
And, for those whose radios are out of warranty, the repair cycle appears to
approach infinity. I would not consider sending my MP--which still exhibits
the problems it had when sent to Yaesu on warranty three years ago---back to
their shop, for any reason.

The fact that so many have contributed to this thread, and the willingness
of some to make a strong personal, visible and audible protest at a public
event is of itself a strong indicator that there might be an unusually high
problem rate with these radios. Lack of satisfactory responses by the
manufacturer merely pours gasoline on the flames.

Garry, NI6T