[Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK

[David Aslin G3WGN]

All my Elecraft kit (K3 + 'S' upgrades, P3, KPA500, KAT500, KX3, K2, W2 etc) was bought via mostly separate orders direct from Elecraft, so multiple experience of this buying route.  No hassles with any of the shipments, but a week or so delay while the VAT/customs process completed.  
Even at today's elevated shipping prices, cost was always less than the W & S price.

More concerning is the lack of accessible service facilities.  Claudio in Bologna is a great engineer and did an exemplary job of upgrading and checking over the the KPA500s owned by members of the 6Gs DXpeditions group; BUT, shipping a returnable item to Italy (or elsewhere in the EU) is now a huge bureaucratic nightmare.
I would hope that Eric and Justin Godefroy (who I do not know, but I understand owns & runs Moonraker) are in conversation.  If not, does anyone on here know Justin well enough to encourage that to happen?  Checking with Eric would be easy, but there may be need for 'encouragement' at the UK end.  Moonraker would get loads of brownie points if they hired an engineer and had them trained on Elecraft products - and given the lack of other service facilities in UK, could have them trained on other products too, to make the hire cost-effective.
73, David G3WGN M6O

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave <dave.g4aon at gmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:12 PM
To: Elecraft Discussion List <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK

I bought my K4D from W&S 2 years ago, but they no longer list much Elecraft equipment and seem to have lost interest.

All my other Elecraft kit came direct from Elecraft. W&S are unlikely to handle warranty or repairs for items bought elsewhere, which is a pity as the only place outside of the UK for service is either Italy or back to the factory.

73 Dave G4AON
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