Yep, agree there are hams who would and probably do abuse the stated
policy. I guess my personal feelings are if your going to have a 30
day return policy, then you really should include the details of what
that means. In the case I quoted, one guy had a Jupiter and it's rcvr
had problems, so they gave him another one, which had birdies on the
higher frequencies (not unusual for a Jupiter). So he returned it and
ask for a refund, which he got. Then he put a review on eHam, telling
about his problems. Now three years later this guy wants to buy an
Orion 2 and he is refused because of his honest return of a piece of
gear that just didnt work, plus his eHam review was also stated as
the reason he was refused the sale of the Orion 2. Then several other
guys chimmed in and said the same thing happened to them. One guy who
had also returned a Jupiter but gave no review on eHam, wanted to
trade in his Orion for an Orion 2 and was told they would sell him an
Orion 2, but because he returned a Jupiter, he would have to agree to
take the Orion 2 without the 30-day policy. In other words, yes Ten
Tec does have a 'great' return policy, but it is used to manipulate
what they can decide and what they can do to each and every ham.
OK, so there are folks who abuse the policy, but darn, if you
honestly have problems with one of their radios and return it, you
mean they can refuse to sell to you again? Heck, to me, that is just
unethical and truly a mark of insecure management. And it stinks.
So really the 30-day policy should say, yes you can return any rig
within 30 days, but we can refuse to sell you another rig. Also it
should say if you post an honest, but non-positive review on eHam, we
will refuse to sell you another rig. That NOT good practice, in my opinion!
Ten Tec used to be about integrity, but of course that was obviously
a long time ago.
Some of you mentioned the term 'complainer' and if thats your
conclusion, then thats your right. It is also your right to protect
and defend anything that is unethical (my opinion) and potential
abusive to you. I also received a private email telling he how other
companies work and that I had probably just ' burned the bridges
behind me', which I'm sure, based on how this 'policy' is interpreted
and applied by Ten Tec, is correct. I knew that when I spent the
night thinking about whether or not to be reasonable and inform my
ham buddies about this 'policy'. But I thought that in America,
honesty in dealing with American's was, or used to be, considered a
good thing. I personally still believe honesty is a good thing.
Yes, I know that Ten Tec is the only company who has a return policy,
BUT I did not know that it was being used as a tool to refuse to sell
you a piece of their equipment again if you used the 30 day return
policy just ONE TIME. The thing about eHam reviews and if you don't
write a nice one, you can be black listed, is just incredulous, to
me. But it's obviously OK to the majority of the folks on this reflector.
And, to clear this issue, since owning Ten Tec gear since about 1980,
to my recollection, I have NEVER returned any Ten Tec gear to the
factory for a refund. I now have six Ten Tec radio's that are years
past the so called 30-day, no questions asked, return policy.
Have a nice day...!
CW is for REAL hams !
Tommy - W4BQF
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