Interesting thread, and I've had the same feelings about this particular
connector - I wanted a second one for a test setup.
Granted that a big company can't stop everything to help one small end
user, so maybe there is a market niche here.
Why doesn't someone (like HRO or even K7LXC? :-) step up and offer Yaesu
replacement parts with a more normal markup? [Or perhaps a Japanese
retail supplier?] I assume they would be doing this if they could make a
business case. If they're not doing it, maybe that means the commercial
value (in some sense) is close to $50.
On the other hand, sometimes someone volunteers to buy a quantity of a
part for resale at cost to needy hams. I would gladly buy two of these
connectors for $ 7-10.
73 Martin AA6E
David Gilbert wrote:
> I agree that nearly $50 is an outlandish price to pay for a replacement
> plug, especially one that based upon similar reports couldn't have been
> too robust in the first place. That being said, I think Jim is probably
> correct that Yaesu might correctly perceive that to be approximately the
> actual cost to them for the administrative hassle of handling such a
> transaction. They certainly don't expect your payment to be significant
> to their business whether you pay $2 or $200, and I'm sure they'd rather
> you went elsewhere to solve the problem anyway.
>
> Some companies value their customers' good will above all else and
> bypass their bureaucracy to send out a replacement part or sample. I
> (and others in my group) did it all the time when I managed part of
> Motorola's discrete semiconductor operations. Other companies don't
> much focus on individual customers (it is actually a valid business
> model even if we don't like it) and either ignore them or "gouge" them
> to make them go away. If you buy from the first category you have some
> measure of confidence that you won't be left stranded no matter what
> happens. If you buy from the second you'd better hope that the
> reliability of the product is so great you won't ever need them, or that
> the lower price you might have paid for the product in the first place
> (as a result of their streamlined business model) offsets any risk of
> ownership.
>
> Yaesu makes some fine equipment but it doesn't take much reading of the
> various online reviews and forum archives to find that they've proved
> time and time again for both rigs and rotators that they fit the second
> category. Given the size of the company and the global nature of their
> business, that might be the right model for them. I suspect there are
> more long term survivors in the second category than in the first.
> Doesn't mean I'd always choose to buy from them, though.
>
> Dave AB7E
>
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