Sorry, but in my mind that's a description of a horribly managed
company. I recently bought a few I.C.E. coaxial surge suppressors and
they arrived within a couple of weeks, but if I had experiences like
yours I would have given up long ago. It's one thing to have to wait
months for delivery of what should be a stock item, but having to do so
in a vacuum in inexcusable. And this is just my own personal pet peeve,
but ANY company that doesn't even bother to acknowledge emails drops off
my list of suitable vendors. We live in the internet age and engage in
a communications-based hobby, and yet we have vendors who can't use email??
It is amazing how many companies try to sell ham radio goods and
services without even the slightest understanding of the customer
service aspects of dealing directly with consumers. Most mainstream
companies recognize how important customer responsiveness is in building
brand image, and how quickly the lack of it can trash their reputation.
Hams have a deserved reputation for being cheap, but they also tend to
praise extravagantly those companies who merely meet the commercial norm
for customer service so it's not like hams are unusually demanding or
lack loyalty in that regard. The product reviews on eHam are mostly
useless for making product decisions, but they can be illuminating in
other ways. Check out who gets the 0's for ratings ... more often than
not it is for bad customer service, while companies selling junk
routinely get high ratings simply because they quickly responded to
problems.
Before someone jumps on me with excuses for this sort of behavior from
small owner-operated companies, just remember that for every clueless
one that doesn't know how to communicate with its customers there is an
Elecraft or an OptiBeam or an Array Solutions or a Champion Radio
(shameless, I know) or a Fluid Motion or a Texas Towers that understands
what they are doing. Good customer service is the cheapest way to
promote a business and buffer it from occasional execution glitches. I
could make another list of companies who clearly don't understand this,
but the marketplace already knows who they are and several have gathered
mention on this reflector.
73,
Dave AB7E
Doug Turnbull wrote:
> I have place four orders with ICE over the past two years. Two of these
> orders are now filled and I am waiting on two orders, one of which is over
> five months past.
>
> ICE makes a range of really excellent products and I pray that they do not
> halt their production for the amateur radio world for it will be our loss.
> No one produces the like of their product catalogue. It will be a great
> loss if ICE drops the HAM market. I too wish they were a bit faster with
> shipments but have come to realize that an order to them becomes a dream
> that is finally fulfilled at an unknown date in the future. Still without
> ICE I would be at a loss. So long may they exist but perhaps their owner
> needs to do without sleep for the next year - only kidding.
>
> They do answer phone calls if you catch them. I have never received an
> answer to an e-mail but when I managed to contact them on the phone they
> knew my situation and were aware of my e-mail. My most recent package was
> for three HPF and arrived this month! Do no despair but be prepared for a
> wait. I have two orders still in the works. Again who else makes some of
> the products ICE produces. These are good products and unique.
>
> 73 Doug EI2CN
>
>
>
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