Dealer No No List

[kg4yjr]

I made a post last week that well known dealers are just as bad if not worse. An individual expects a certain amount of risk when buying or selling to another individual but we put a lot more trust and have more expectations from a well known business. There's a lot of companies now taking advantage of out of state customers because they can't see the merchandise before it ships, it's easier to rip somebody off if you don't have to look them in the eye and you know they can't walk into your store in front of customers and say: "You sold me a used piece of junk"!
Selling people opened box equipment but saying it isn't used is B.S! They use excuses like "we tested it before shipping" or "we wanted to make sure it had all the parts" but at the same time they complain about small profit margins yet they are trying to say they waste man-power hours doing that with every shipment. What are they trying to say? That we can't trust the manufactures to ship good equipment?
Do stores open up jig-saw puzzles and count all the pieces before selling them? Quit trying to make money scamming customers and making up lame excuses. If you sell equipment at the average market price honestly and with good service you wouldn't be able to keep your shelves stocked.

73
Dave

[wr0t]

The age old saga of selling out of box goods has been around a long time but it seems to be getting worse lately. For that very reason there are only 2 dealers that I use. They know my rules right up front. If it is an opened item ( tape seal broken) and sold to me as new they get it right back and no 2nd chance to make it right.

One of the largest dealers in the country who advertizes that they only sell sealed items pulled that on me about 5 years ago and they got the rig back the next day overnight air.

I have never bought from them since and never will.

Tell your dealer up front what you expect and require and if they cannot deliver, go elsewhere..

[kg4yjr]

wr0t,

I remember your feedback on my post about R & L Electronics last week. You wouldn't believe how many of their buddies on eHam.net (where I also posted the incident) told me since it was only a $100 radio I should just get over it. When they use their money for my purchases then I'll take their advice. Last week they finally offered to help after two weeks, many public posts and complaints later. I told them helping me at their convenience not when I needed it is a bigger insult than when they told me they didn't care if I ever made a purchase with them again or not.

73
Dave

[wr0t]

That is exactly one of the reasons that R&L is on my do not buy from list. Several years ago I visited their store in Ohio while in the area. They were not friendly at all and did not seem to have time to wait on store customers, they were too busy making phone deals..

When I asked if they had a new TS950SDX I was told they did not have time to check stock and for me to call back later.

I did call back later the next day but not to them I bought the 950 from Memphis Amateur Electroncs and I have bnen buying there ever since. They are the No 1 dealer in my book .bar none.

[kg4yjr]

wr0t

Another one of their local customers wrote me and said that Larry actually told him he'd like to do phone and Internet sales only and close his doors to the public. Here is a part of that letter:

>I live six miles from R&L and I will not step foot in the store.
>
>The attitude that you get from them on the phone is the official
>attitude, as Larry Smallwood once told me, "I do not care about wqalk in
>customers, I make more most of my money from phone sales". He gets >fewer complaints from phone sales, phone sales do not walk into his store >to complain directly to him.

He's right because if I lived closer I'd have taken this radio into their store in front of other customers and said, "YOU SOLD ME A USED RADIO AS NEW!!!"

73
Dave

[w8qwl]

After reading the posts on the open box sales, I think most hams want to be the first to open the box so they can say " I was the first to use it". Now this is great, but if we would not try to beat the dealers down on price then maybe we could get un opened boxes. I think most of us are just cheap! Lets go to a swap and twist the knobs and turn the dials and then go home and call the 800 numbers and see if we can get a better price. Looks to me like we brought this on ourselves.

[wr0t]

As a collector, being first to open the box is a must in my book. Would I pay a higher price to get a "factory fresh" untouched rig, you bet!! Same on a used rig, if it has the orig box and packing, it is worth much more to me.

If the dealers would just be honest and say, look it has been out of the box on display for a few days, is this ok? Most people would say sure is.

But if you pay the asking price, you expect to get brand new and that is what you should get... or be told upfront..

[w8qwl]

For all you people complaining about the dealers and how they are screwing you, I just found out that most dealers have a customer "no no " list, so if you are having a problem getting the best deal, you might want to check and see if you are on the "LIST".

[wr0t]

Well, I am sure I am on a lot of them because I do not pay good money for used or return crap. Pure and simple. It's funny though, when I call about an item, I never ask the price up front because to me it really does not matter that much.

What I want is a fractory sealed item sent to me via overnight FedEx air charged to my personal FedEx account.

If they can meet these requirements, I then ask the price and authorize the purchase. I usually don't even use a charge card, I use a direct wire transfer from my bank to theirs..

You would be surprised how many of the dealers refuse the terms with a world of excuses. like, we open and test before shipment, we do not use FedEx, we do not ship via air to anyone. Pure Bull.....

As of now there is only one US dealer that I buy from and that is Marshall at Memphis Amateur. For the rest and for what he does not have, I buy direct from a dealer in Japan.