[TenTec] K3 vs Orion One

Tue May 13 23:44:44 EDT 2008

I, too, have encountered vy poor response from TT customer "service."  What a shame that their good

products should be so poorly represented by their public face.  I certainly hope that TT has another

source of income other than ham radio because they (1) do not know how to sell their radios to hams,

and (2) have a customer service with terrible people skills.  

To TT:  (1) publish some b&w text ads to teach hams how to adjust and use your ORIONs.... these rigs

are poor just of the box and if a user never explores A LOT, he will bad-mouth the radio, etc.  The ORIONs are

not your father's receiver and are best operated vy different from earlier generations of ham radios.... users

and potential customers MUST have this info from the factory... some "Tech Talks".... to get their radios

to perform to full abilities (good stuf on this topic in the manual is not enuf).

(2) hire an otherwise retired loquacious ham to be the first answer to ur customer service phones and Internet.

Tell the guy that his job is to FIRST make the customer feel valued and SECOND to promise to get answers to

the problem AND THEN GET BACK TO HIM FAST.  Hams are unique customers who WANT TO TALK and a smart

ham radio company provides that chance.... warm fuzzy is the best start, followed up with real hard answers.

PLEASE TT, we want u to succeed and put out these great products.... you should have already--with the ORION One--

have been the rig of choice for the majority of hams based on their performance.  You have to ask why that is not true.Charles Harpolek4vud at hotmail.com > From: k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com> To: tentec at contesting.com> Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 11:29:19 -0700> Subject: Re: [TenTec] K3 vs Orion One> > On Tue, 13 May 2008 13:11:04 -0400, Dick Green WC1M wrote:> > >Elecraft is performing at a very high level thus far. > >Unfortunately, by not addressing many outstanding firmware > issues,> >I feel TT has basically abandoned a large group of loyal users.> > There is a HUGE difference between the two companies in user > support and online presence. The Elecraft list has hundreds of > posts each day, upper level Elecraft management (like the two > owners, one of whom is the chief engineer!) is always monitoring > it, and responds directly when needed. That list is separate from > the K3 beta list, which they also actively monitor and contribute > to. > > By contrast, TenTec's presence on this list is limited to posting > a list of used/demo gear once or twice a month and VERY occasional > responses by a salesman to the most outrageous misunderstandings > or negative comments about products. > > In other words, Elecraft respects their customers by actively > participating in the email lists, listening to the traffic, and > learning of their customers' needs and desires, while Ten Tec > seems to consider this list so trivial as to be unworthy of their > time. > > I find that quite sad. The late Al Kahn, K4FW, co-founder of Ten > Tec, and before that co-founder of Electro-Voice and strong > supporter of Heathkit and ARRL, has long been one of my heroes. > > 73,> > Jim Brown K9YC> > > _______________________________________________> TenTec mailing list> TenTec at contesting.com> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec