After seeing Scott Robbins posting where he takes the "high road" in explaining
the switch to Direct Sales, I must state that my explanation below is not as
an "insider," but as someone who knew a few of the managerial folks at TT
on a first name basis and made direct inquiries back when the change was made.
This information was shared with me (and others, I'm sure) but was not
publicized,
and this was proper.
At that time, and now with Scott, good business is good business and he
knows well how to handle that subject. TT is in good hands....
Perry w8au
Prior post:
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The dealer network existed up until maybe 10-15 years ago... (1992,
actually)
TT found that Dealers would take advantage of the "rebates" and kickbacks
offered by JA manufacturers and "push" JA stuff over the TT gear. It
was not possible for TT to compete with this type of marketing. TT gets
no government subsidies as JA's did, (and still do?)
This meant that even if a prospective buyer came in wanting to purchase
a TT item, an aggressive salesperson could alter the outcome.
Unfortunately this also affected the small "basement" sales operations
that many hams had set up with TT. They were not part of the problem
but they too lost their "dealership."
As a result, the major Dealers in the US are dealing JA exclusively with
the exception of accessories and amplifiers. So the urge to visit AES
or any of the big stores is just not there any more, for me, at least.
It appears that TT's factory sales policy has worked, and I'm grateful for
that.
Having a solid reputation will keep that going...
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