[Icom] happy ending to the texas tower customer non-service
Duane Budd
[email protected]
Tue, 26 Mar 2002 10:23:32 -0500
Arrgghhh!
That was supposed to be a PRIVATE response.
Apparently, I do not know how to do so on this reflector.
Any help?
Duane Budd
[email protected]
Johnson City, TN
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On
Behalf Of Duane Budd
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 10:10 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Icom] happy ending to the texas tower customer
non-service
Interesting response, George.
K5ZZ, a friend in Greenville, TX, has told me that he does
not shop there because of the poor way he has been treated
IN PERSON within their store.
Ah well - different strokes...
Duane Budd
[email protected]
Johnson City, TN
**All outgoing Email is screened by Norton Antivirus**
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On
Behalf Of George, W5YR
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 12:36 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Icom] happy ending to the texas tower customer
non-service
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
----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD,
[email protected]
Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan W6OLD,
[email protected]
Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/