[Icom] happy ending to the texas tower customer non-service

[George, W5YR]

Hi, Paul

I am sorry to hear of your problem with the new 746PRO. I wonder, though,
if you are not tarring Gerald and Matthew with an undeserved brush here in
this particular case.

I must make you aware that I have lost count of the number of radios that I
have bought from them since 1982, together with untold antennas, keys,
coax, and you name it. In all those transactions, some of which included
trade-ins, etc. I have never ever gotten a defective product. I have never
been treated with other than respect and regard for myself as a long-time
ham in this area and a loyal customer. I have never haggled with Gerald
over the price of a radio - he doesn't operate that way. I have never left
his shop feeling dissatisfied or neglected.

Someone else posted that you get what you pay for and with the current
cut-throat situation in ham radio merchandising in this country, I believe
that is a correct assessment. Most of the dealers who operate primarily
over the phone have profit margins that are very small and thus the amount
of time and added service after the sale they can offer is necessarily
limited. Since I have never had a problem, I can't speak from experience,
but knowing Gerald and Matthew as I do, I suspect that they put more
thought and concern into dealing with your situation that your posting
suggests and that you give them credit for.

Let me ask this: where do you live? I live about 6 miles from TT. If I had
a problem I would be knocking on the door before they opened the next
morning. But, if you are in Cincinnati, as your email address suggests,
they may well have figured that for the amount of shipping cost and lost
time involved, you could return the set to be repaired to Icom easier and
more effectively *for you* than sending it to them where they would have to
just send it to Icom - they have minimal repair facilities there and do
essentially no service work. 

So, it appears to me that their response was based upon what would make the
most sense for you, for Icom and for them. Send the broken radio to Icom
where it has to go anyway, if you don't avail yourself of some local shop -
which you did - but which they had no way of knowing about - and get it
fixed right and promptly under warranty and returned to you at no cost.

I know that I am biased by 20 years of favorable experience with TT and its
owners, but I really cannot imagine them literally telling you to mind the
door on your way out. I can see them recommending that you send the radio
to Icom since (a) Icom warrantees the radio, not the dealer and (b) even if
they wanted to, they have no repair facilities . Nothing I have ever seen
in their ads or web site suggests that defective products are to be
returned to them. The one exception would be for a radio that was DOA when
you unpacked it. I would bet money that they would replace it without a
moment's hesitation. When I bought my PRO there last year, I did not even
open the box and make sure the radio was OK, since I knew that if it were
not, it would be replaced with no questions asked. But, that would be based
upon a DOA situation, not a case of my using the radio for a couple of
weeks and then finding something wrong with it.

So, I sense your anger and frustration, but honestly I think that you had a
degree of unrealistic expectation over the transaction and you had the
misfortune to get a radio that failed shortly after you took delivery. But
ask this: what would you expect TT to do if the same thing had happened 6
weeks or 6 months after you got it? Should they be expected to take it back
and give you a new one? What is the reasonableness test here for dealer
support? I believe that it ends with the understanding and commitment to
replace a DOA radio upon delivery. Once the customer has had the radio and
used it for even a short period of time, that establishes that the dealer
provided the customer with a working product and has no further obligation.
Again, the radio is warranteed by Icom, not Texas Towers.

Forgive the preaching, Paul, but as I said I am baffled by your report of
this incident, and I cannot help but feel that your anger and frustration
have displaced some sense of fairness and normal business practice here.

I am very glad to you found a local shop to deal with the problem. We are
fortunate in having one of the best in the country - AVVID - here in the
metroplex area. But fortunately I have never had need for their services
since I maintain all my equipment. However, the PRO will be the exception
since I am no longer up to dealing with an SMT radio!   <:}

Note that this is a private posting as I feel that this sort of
conversation is really not appropriate for the reflector. You have made
serious public negatively accusations against TT and really smeared them,
as was your intention, but I did want you to know that not everyone, as you
imply, is treated as you feel that you were. Gerald and Matthew Williamson
are two of the most decent and honorable guys I know. They have been in
this business for a long time now, and will likely be in it when many
others have passed by the wayside.

I honestly hope that you reconsider any public displays at Dayton which
would seem to reflect negatively more on you than on them. Recall that for
every isolated case like yours, they have hundreds of other satisfied and
repeat customers all over the nation and a lot of the world.

73/72/oo, George W5YR - the Yellow Rose of Texas         
Fairview, TX 30 mi NE of Dallas in Collin county EM13qe   
Amateur Radio W5YR, in the 56th year and it just keeps getting better!
QRP-L 1373 NETXQRP 6 SOC 262 COG 8 FPQRP 404 TEN-X 11771 I-LINK 11735
Icom IC-756PRO #02121  Kachina 505 DSP  #91900556  Icom IC-765 #02437

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paul wrote:
> 
> hi steve   746pro..  you are not going to believe this one...  someone at
> the factory forgot to tighten the nut that locked the main vfo dial in
> place..  it was flopping around like a fish out of water..  2 weeks old from
> texas tower..  they told me  "ship it to icom..  its yours now..  not our
> problem"
>  their customer service reps  practice bending over while they tell their
> "FORMER CUSTOMERS"  "to pucker up"  73  paul