Hi Dick, From my experience, this is a *very busy* time at Elecraft. My own customer service issues were handled quickly and correctly on both the K2 and now on the K3.
The problems Elecraft is facing right now don't have as much to do with customer service - they're more correctly associated with birthing a champion colt [not that I'm any expert on colt birthing]. Mistakes they make now are going to be very heavily leveraged against them over a longer term. They're being cautious and being sure of what they ship. This much is stated in Eric's Shipping Status Page for the K3. I monitor this list pretty carefully and keep my postings short and infrequent [all current evidence to the contrary]. The only problems Elecraft has had with the K3 so far are two - a) Shipping on time to the original promise date b) Being on time with shipping sufficient volumes to keep the hungry hordes satiated There appear to be no _major_ technical issues with the transceiver from posting I've read on the list. This doesn't mean there aren't any at all, but it's indicative. There were supplier issues that delayed them from July to late October. At volumes such as are expected for the K3, even when it's in mass production, these always happen. At Magellan, we have them all the time with new products. So does everyone else. An Magellan ships unit volumes per year in the millions. We just start slow.... Shipping sufficient volume is quickly beoming a non-issue. They're improving their processes, adding brains and hands, and moving product at a pace acclerated from the early rate. There are reasons (I'm sure) that Elecraft spokespeople are careful about their statements on the web page and reflector - but most of these will be concerned with remaining competitive and keeping secrets they must. Now - the bright side. My continuing impression of Elecraft customer service and support remains very similar to that of white blood cells. This is good - it's the type of system that you can't beat or at least no one has come up with anything better. Elecraft is a small company, is customer-oriented, and has no layered bureaucracy to slow it down. If policy is made, I suspect it's between the principals and their communications skills are top rate. They don't have to go to a higher authority. They're it. I bought one of the early K3 units from the first production run. I came across a number of problems. Each and every one was handled in its entirely in only a few hours. Most of them were my fault, a few were theirs. I believe all of the Elecraft problems I found have been fixed, either in firmware loads or in the manual. Somehow, they couldn't fix me remotely. RTFM is a real good idea. Each and every word in the manual means something and should be understood and followed carefully. BTW, I'm not affiliated with and do not work for Elecraft. 73 & Good Luck with your decision, matt - WA6EGJ K3 # 24 K2 # 2810 == On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:56:44 -0500, you wrote: >I've been reading the give and take on the stress of waiting for delivery. > >I placed my order for a K3 yesterday, depending on a low-stress >transaction. The constant flow of email messaging between the Elecraft >prime movers and the customer community is refreshing. I speak with the >knowledge of the opposite pole of experience: customer dis-service as I >suffered in a work situation. In a nut shell, I'm just at the end of a >difficult project to replace the Land Mobile Radio system of a security >operation; this the result of NTIA and DoD mandates to conserve >spectrum and provide for a "common air interface" and digital >modulation. Let us just say that the products purchased were Brand "M". > Promises for delivery updates were broken almost daily, with >maintenance of our project time line becoming a worthless exercise. >Sometimes, there was no talking with the Big M. They hid behind layers >of voice mail fences and constantly left us hanging. > >In contrast, the free flow of information, even disappointing info, is >almost constant within our Elecraft customer community and between it >and Elecraft. This constructively communicative culture gives me the >confidence to purchase the best radio I ever hope to own. > >73, > >Dick ka1oz _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] 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
