On 9/14/07, Richard Beerman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > money to date. As a previous writer to this forum wrote, Elecraft financed > this radio's production by early subscription and not by going down to the > bank for a loan as most companies would.
That's one way to look at it and it is true to a point but does not capture the full picture. What they also did was allow people to get in line to be guaranteed of being the first to get a rig. I don't think anyone would consider this any sort of deceitful tactic. Advance sales is a rather common thing. It works for both parties involved and is OPTIONAL so no harm done. > They have indicated a number of > dates for a delivery of the K-3. While there might no tight contract > regarding delivery, they certainly implied a delivery date to induce further > sales of the K-3. "to induce further sales"? I don't think that position is supportable. If they had said first delivery would be in Nov, would advanced sales have been less? I suspect not. Instead they've given their best estimate of when the K3 will be done. The wise purchaser would have taken those dates as optimistic and would have been prepared for delays. > I think they are getting dangerously close to a descptive > trade practice situation no matter how unintentional. Imagine that the > current excuse for non shipment is a toriod or a screw. How totally > incompetent! They should have had a qualified purchasing agent on board. > They should have had real written contracts with these suppliers to deliver > the components on time with penalties for non performance. It's a business, > for crying out loud! Here I cry "foul". Sorry, but even with "qualified" people on board there is no guarantee that your suppliers are going to perform to YOUR schedule. It is a new development effort and they ALWAYS have issues. This is nothing new and nothing out of the ordinary. Incompetent? Quite the opposite. Incompetent would be shipping late because LOTS of things are not done or ready. To be late because just a few parts didn't come through says that a LOT of things went very right. Contracts with non-performance clauses work just fine between US Government and Lockheed (big stuff) but I'm not sure that a small group like elecraft could get such an agreement in place with their suppliers. You have to have enough leverage with your supplier that they're willing to pay penalties. > I was going to order my K-3 in March, 2008 after everything was shaken out > and the firmware perfected. I think I will be months delayed and I am really > mad about it. Don't excuse these Elecraft guys. They might be great > engineers but they are pretty poor at manufacturing a large numbers of > radios at any given time. Very poor managers in my opinion. So, when I read > all the email on the reflector from the "coolaid drinkers", the guys who > excuse poor business practices to the point of unethical, I see red and > purple! Flame at will because I am absolutely correct. Well I guess you'll be seeing some more red then. The issues that have been experienced are common to manufacturing companies nation wide. I've seen it here where I work. We wrestle with the same issues every day. Not too long ago there was a post to this group talking about the issues / delays at Collins when they brought out the S-line. Same stuff. "Coolaid drinkers?" Geeze laweez Dick, that's sort of harsh. You're referencing a mass murder event and saying we're all like victims of a cult leader? Of course, since you're absolutely correct, there is really not much point in trying to discuss any of this, so we'll just have to agree to disagree agreeably. 73 OM and the group! - Keith N1AS - - K2 5411.ssb.100 - _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
