QTH.COM Swap Chat

Lets have this one go to the court of public opinion. Verdict should indicate good resolution. bad resolution, or no resolution.

Here is the issue in condensed form. Ham bought a ht. Ht was defective. Ht sent in for repair. Tech returned it. Problem reoccurred. Ham sent ht back. Tech returned the ht. Problem reoccurred. Ham returned the ht. to resolve the issue, the Tech replaced the ht with a new in box ht. Whats your verdict? Below is the long story from the ham involved.

This is the email the ham sent me. It is not my email. We are having a disagreement about whether the solution was a good resolution to the problem
"QUOTE THE OTHER HAM"
I sent my BRAND NEW ****** to ****** to repaired back in April. I sent them a detailed description of what the radio was doing. All I got back from them was a note saying that the the current draw checked out fine on the radio and that they could find nothing wrong with it. They apparently didn't try too hard, if indeed they checked it all. I got the radio back with the same problem it had when I sent it to them the first time. They apparently didn't do a burn-in test on the radio. I then called *************** directly after telling them the problem I was having. They told me the name of a guy to talk to at Dayton since I was going to the Hamvention like I do every year. I showed the radio to the guy with Icom at Dayton, and the problem with the radio cropped up TWICE while he was testing it out. Kind of funny how******** missed this when I was always able to reproduce the problem and the ****** rep was able to reproduce the problem. I reluctlantly sent the radio back to ******* a SECOND time after the ****** rep who checked out my radio talked with *****. I called Mr. ***** after the radio had been up there after a few weeks. I got, "Oh yeah we checked the radio out and it looks like the battery was bad." The battery wasn't bad! I explained to Mr. ********* in my letter to him when I sent the radio to them the second time that I had tried the radio out on two different battery packs, and the problem still cropped up. I also checked the battery with a VOM meter and it showed proper Voltage, so the problem was not the battery. Had I not talked to Mr. ********* on the phone directly and just let them do things his way, I would still have a defective radio, a new battery probably, but still a bad radio. It was Mr. ****** who said, "I'll just replace the radio." I never said that I wanted a new radio in the first place, I just wanted the radio that I paid good money for fixed, and fixed right. So they replaced my radio, what am I supposed to do buy them a beer now for doing the right thing? It's no sweat off their stack, they had to order one from *********** anyway. I also don't need or want two new radios like you suggested. One is plenty, and I am starting to wish I hadn't purchased this one because it's not worth the headaches I have had to go through with *******I will probably end up selling this radio and just taking a loss and buying a ******, like I should have done in the first place. ******* isn't the only manufacturer out there, and ******** isn't the only repair center out there either. I usually use ************* for all my ****and ***** repair work. I even e-mailed ******** and he gave me some suggestions as to what the problem with the HT might be. ********** knows his stuff. Only reason I didn't send him my radio in the first place is because he is not an *********** authorized repair center, so he doesn't do warranty work. Tell me, would you be happy if you had to send a radio to the same repair center twice for what should have been an easy problem to fix? I have no idea what the problem with the radio was. I am guessing probably a shorted component or bad component. Whatever it was ******** didn't fix the radio. The replaced it

Paul that has to be some of the sorriest excuses for a warranted repair service i believe i've read in quite some time. Almost sounds like Yaesu service repair. I say that because of a couple of cases i know of where no one listened and did work they were not authorized to do. I think the buyer of the HT was more than patient and certainly can support his anger and opinion of how it was all handled. They should have in my opinion and yes i know one should not expect it but to me they owe the person which they did do a new radio and at least a refund financially for the time wasted. I vote for the buyer...

I had to read your story twice because I thought I missed something. You said they sent you a new radio right? Then what's the problem? Yes I would be a upset about the radio going back a few times for the same problem but you are lucky they gave you a new radio. I know a lot of people who had the same trouble as you did and never got nothing but their old rig back and it never got fixed!
Again I understand about being angry for all the back and forth with it but just be glad you received a new one in the end.

larry,
it was not me with the radio issue. it was the other ham. he sent it back twice and the second time he was given a new radio without asking for it. the company simply gave him the new radio. so we are one and one. one person said that he got a new radio stop whining, case closed, and one said too much aggravation the company was wrong even though they gave him a new radio.
ok... its a toss up at this point in time.
happy hoss trading paul w8jn

It's not unusual for a company to replace an item that is intermittent. It really is the best thing to do to keep a customer happy. Would your friend have been happier if he had been offered a refund?

After doing repairs for 30 years there are some types that either require a "shotgun" approach or just not accepting an intermittent symptom on a rig for repair. It's just not worth it.

I'd say your friend was treated very fairly.

from what i read the owner paid for excessive shipping. probably both ways. two times.i take it the rig was under factory warrenty. i think the company should give him something for the extra shipping he had to pay and the crap he went through. they did do the right thing replaceing the radio but he got screwed out of the shipping from the way i read and understand the post. all have a good week !Semper Fi ....

thanks for all the input. this fellow certainly is not my friend. we just had a disagreement on this one. i will not tell you where i stand until the thread runs its course.
happy hoss trading paul w8jn

Paul, once again you choose to stick your nose in something you have no business in. My frustration with this situation involves the fact that the radio wasn't fixed correctly by SARTS the first time, and had to be returned a SECOND TIME! Not only that, but when I talked to Matt Adrian after having sent the radio to him a second time for what should have been a simple repair and he told me that the problem with the radio was a bad battery pack, when I had explained to him that I had tested the radio out using a second battery pack and the problem still existied, can you understand why I would be a little frustrated at a tech that couldn't even read my description of the problem in my letter that I had sent him? Funny how I was able to reproduce the problem every time I had it, and the problem also showed up when an Icom rep. at Hamvention checked it out, yet SARTS couldn't find anything wrong with it? Not sure how much testing they did on it. I don't know why a burn-in test wasn't performed on it to try to reproduce the problem when I sent it to Michigan the first time. Like I have said, glad I called Mr. Adrian after the radio was sent back to Michigan. Had I not called him and just done things his way, I would have received my radio back a second time from Michigan in an unrepaired state. I was somewhat annoyed when he told me that the problem was a bad battery when this clearly was not the problem. I never asked for a new radio to begin with. This was what he offered, and I accepted, rather than take a chance with having them supposedly "fix" the problem only to have it crop up again later. Like I mentioned in my e-mail to you, no problem for SARTS. They didn't have another IC-V80 in stock, so they had to order one from Icom in Washington State. Am I supposed to sing SARTS praises now simply because they did the right thing and replaced the radio, like any reputable business should? If they would have fixed or replaced the radio right the FIRST time, there would be absolutely no problem as far as I am concerned and we wouldn't be having this discussion about it. My frustration lies in the fact that I had to ship the radio up to them twice, and had I not called Mr. Adrian, possibly a THIRD time! Tell me honestly folks, would any of you be happy if you had to ship a radio to a repair center a THIRD TIME? If you have done business with SARTS repair in the past and they fixed your radio, God love ya. They didn't repair my radio and I will never again use or recommend them if I have a problem with an Icom radio. Icom isn't the only radio manufacturer out there, and SARTS isn't the only repair center out there. I choose to buy Icom gear because I expect it to work and last for years, not give me problems from the first day I take it out of the box. If I wanted a POS, I would buy MFJ.

73 to all,
Mike KU4UV

And you're correct Paul, I am not your friend. That's one thing we can agree on at least. Never met you in my life. God bless anyway though.

73 to all,
Mike KU4UV

Mike, no need for all the ramma ramma ramma. often times a rig comes back and needs to be returned. annoying? yes. they did the right thing and replaced your ht. case closed! icom didnt replace my 7700... they repaired it. i sure wish they would have shipped me a new rig! you lucked out.
happy hoss trading paul w8jn

So what was the point of this thread except to stir up another cesspool. One thing never changes...............the one doin the stirin!!!!!!!

x

Bill:

#1: YES

#2: YES

#3: YES

#4: NO

N9LCD

this guy has no guts ! so he must be a side-walk sissy. who only has keyboard courage. ID BURN HIM IN A SECOND IF I KNEW WHO HE WAS. hes just a Coward ! again just my 2 cents !!!

OK, first off, disclaimer: I don't know any of the parties involved, any of the companies involved, am not familiar with the particular HT.

To simply answer the general question(s) involved...

I can't say anything about the repair process itself. However, regardless of how well the repair attempts went or why they didn't succeed, it sounds like on the 3rd try, if I've distilled this correctly, the retailer/repair service replaced the entire radio under warranty (either their own or the manufacturer's) instead of further attempts to repair it.

Why? Maybe it cost too much to repair. Maybe they didn't know how to repair it. Maybe somebody mucked it up further. But most likely, the equivalent of a "lemon law" either kicked in or was applied.

This sounds like good customer service, or at least an attempt at it, and I speak on that from experience in retail.

Yes, Mike got to pay for quite a bit of shipping, and that's unfortunate. But that's tne nature of most repair work these days.

Since he's made it clear he doesn't wish to do business with this firm in the future, I'd chalk the expense up to the cost of doing business, be thankful for his sake that he ended up with a working radio at the end of the whole ordeal, and move on.

But that's just me. YMMV.

73

Hammyguy wrote:It's not unusual for a company to replace an item that is intermittent. It really is the best thing to do to keep a customer happy. Would your friend have been happier if he had been offered a refund?

After doing repairs for 30 years there are some types that either require a "shotgun" approach or just not accepting an intermittent symptom on a rig for repair. It's just not worth it.

I'd say your friend was treated very fairly.

Agree with most of that.....

After doing component level repair, system installation and maintenance of marine and aviation electronics for over 30 years, I can't imagine not being able to maintain my own equipment, and I'd also be ashamed to be a licensed ham and not be able to do so.