[Elecraft] To improve customer service (for the Classic gear)

Thu May 23 20:01:57 EDT 2019

Dave, thank you for stepping up.  Not an easy task. Thank God, you are in transition for Don.  Tough shoes, but you have steady feet.

72 & 73,
Bill
K9YEQ
FT'er for K2, KX1, KX3, KXPA100,  KAT500, W2, etc. 

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Dave Van Wallaghen
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2019 6:47 PM
To: donwilh at embarqmail.com; Doug Hensley <w5jv at hotmail.com>; Don Schroder <donanddeena at hotmail.com>
Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] To improve customer service (for the Classic gear)

Don,

I profusely apologize for the delay and lack of communication. As Don, W3FPR pointed out, Don was and I am a part time employee. For a whole host of reasons, that I won't go into at this time, the transition has been somewhat slow but I am making progress.

The amount of backlog has been overwhelming to an extent. But with Don's help we have managed to whittle much of it down.

I am not making excuses for the lack of communication and will improve my response as I work through this transition. Poor Don is supposed to be retired and still provides excellent support in my absence or heavy workload.

As he noted, my wife and I are on vacation well off of the grid. I do have some wifi here (sitting at the Tiki bar as I write this) but I am pretty much off the grid until next week.

I do totally love the Elecraft customer service paradigm and will continue to strive for that plateau. But it will take me a little time as I still work a fulltime profession as well as this part time venture plus family blah blah blah.

If I remember right, your rig was number 2 or 3 on my priority list and I will get right on it as soon as I return. I appreciate your patience in the interim and will be in touch soon.

73,
Dave, W8FGU
On May 23, 2019 13:03:13 Don Wilhelm <donwilh at embarqmail.com> wrote:

> Doug,
>
> Thanks for the nice words about my service.  When I was doing repairs 
> for the classic gear, I did not have a staff (like they do in
> Watsonville) to send emails when the rig arrives, etc.  I would email 
> customers when I started work on it, ask any questions about what the 
> customer wanted when the RSA form was incomplete. and let the customer 
> know if there were significant delays.
> Then when I finish with it, I would send the report to the office and 
> the sales staff would contact the customer about payment.
> It is tough to keep up with emails, repairs and everything else when 
> there is a backlog of repairs.  So working with a staff of one (me) it 
> is difficult to keep up with customer communications in addition to 
> providing prompt repair service.
>
> I was not a contract person, but a part time employee of Elecraft.
>
> I am certain Dave WFGU (who took over for me, and is also a part-time
> employee) is having similar problems.  In additions, he also works for 
> his Fire Department which has him at the station full time for 
> stretches between 2 and 4 days at a time, and he may not know that his 
> XYL got a repair package in during those days.  I know he is currently 
> on vacation and away from home - so any repair parcels are being held 
> for him at the post office or UPS.
>
> Sorry that we cannot provide the same level of communications that are 
> available out of Watsonville, but we do the best we can.  I had an 
> advantage over Dave because I was not working a full time job when I 
> was doing that legacy repair work.
>
> Some patience and understanding is required, and your tracking numbers 
> can be relied on - I never found them to be wrong.
>
> Do not send an advance check with your RSA repair.  If a check is 
> discovered, it must be sent to Watsonville, and will not be cashed 
> until the repair is concluded.
>
> Also, do not send your classic gear to Watsonville, send it as 
> indicated in the RSA instructions.  If you do send it to Watsonville, 
> expect an extra week delay because it must then be shipped to Michigan.
> The newer (non-thru-hole gear) IS serviced at Watsonville, but NOT the 
> classic gear.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 5/23/2019 1:56 PM, Doug Hensley wrote:
>> Don, I think that is because the early stuff is farmed out to 
>> contract people who may not have an email routine going yet.  The K1 
>> & K2's were usually handled by Don Wilhelm who just retired.  You 
>> might contact Elecraft support and ask them who they sent the rig to, when, where, etc.
>>
>> Don had done all my K1 & K2 work and was just marvelous.  Hopefully 
>> Elecraft keep that kind of talent at hand.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Doug W5JV
>>
>>>>>>>
>>
>> Message: 20
>> Date: Thu, 23 May 2019 17:17:57 +0000
>> From: Don Schroder <donanddeena at hotmail.com>
>> To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
>> Subject: [Elecraft] To improve customer service
>> Message-ID:
>>          
>> <BYAPR02MB58793D242E5910BEE56677F8AA010 at BYAPR02MB5879.namprd02.prod.o
>> utlook.com>
>>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> A good morning to all!
>>
>> I am sitting in my recliner, drinking a cup of java, and doing what I 
>> seem to do best, thinking,
>>
>> I?m thinking; when I sent my computer into the Company for repairs 
>> (under warranty), the Company did something I had never experienced 
>> before. They ?GAVE ME A WEEKLY UPDATE? every Friday by email or phone 
>> call, to tell me the status of my computer! Every week, I knew what 
>> was happening to my computer, (1) had they received it? (2) Were they 
>> working on it? (3) What have they found? (4 ) What problems have they 
>> encountered?  (5) Is it fixed? (6) Have they sent it back to me?
>>
>> On April 8th, I sent my K2 transceiver kit to Elecraft, to look at an 
>> issue I was having.
>>
>> On April 10th, (2 days later) Elecraft received my K2. I know this 
>> NOT because I was notified, but because I researched the tracking number.
>>
>> On May 7th, (29 days later), Elecraft cashed my deposit check that 
>> was sent with the K2. I know this NOT because I was notified, but 
>> because I researched my banking statements.
>>
>> On May 23rd, (today, 45 days later) I am beginning to think I may 
>> never see my K2 again!
>>
>> I?m thinking; wouldn?t it be nice if all Companies kept their 
>> customers ?informed? of a products status when sent in for repairs, 
>> like the computer Company did?
>>
>> I?m thinking; this would be a GREAT improvement to customer service!
>>
>> Don, KE0PVQ
>> Let the lava flow begin
>>
>> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for 
>> Windows 10
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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