Support Your Local Dealer

Subtitle: Buy the Demo

Steve Katz WB2WIK/6

One topic I see tossed around quite a bit is amateur equipment dealers, their service, their worthiness, and any lack thereof.

One amusing story that comes to mind (I can't recall who wrote it, or even where I saw it, but this doesn't matter): A fellow visited a ham equipment dealer and “tried out” a rig. He liked it, but didn't want the “demo” rig, he wanted a “new” one. So, he had them take a “new” one from stock, and ship it to him at home.

When he received the new rig, he was certain it was actually used, or at least the carton had been opened before. He demanded replacement of this “new” rig, with another one that was really “new.”

I couldn't stop laughing at the foolishness of this.

Consider this

Why “test drive” a piece of equipment, then ask for a different one than the one you just tried out? Makes no sense. The “demo” rig is new, it has a factory warranty, but more importantly, it works. Heck, you just used it fifteen seconds ago. Why not take that one? Personally, after spending my time evaluating a piece of gear, if it passes my evaluation, that's exactly the one I would want. Not a different one, that one. I don't want to open a “new” box to be surprised that the new unit inside is dead, or has some problem.

Also, even though I feel a “demo” rig is brand new and worth exactly as much as any other “new” rig, many dealers will offer a discount on the demo rig. I'm not certain why, but what the heck. If I can take the rig I just tried out and liked, and get a discount also, I'm a happy camper.

Personally, I got into the “buy the demo if you can!” mode more than twenty years ago, and it was based on experience with a car. I test drove a new 1982 Camaro IROC, which was a new model year (with a style change, and other changes I had hoped they would not have made), and loved the car. It handled well, “felt” good to me, had plenty of power, shifted smoothly. So, I ordered one just like the one I had test driven.

Big mistake. I should have bought that very same car. That would have not only saved me a couple of weeks' delivery time, but would have saved me two years of incredible headaches, because the “new” one delivered to the dealer and then to me had so many problems I couldn't believe it was a production vehicle. I had to return it seven times to the dealer, for warranty service, in the first 90 days. Every time, service was free and they provided me a “loaner” car, but who the heck needs this aggravation?

Every problem I had was not exhibited by the test-drive car. My “new” one shifted badly, almost like the shifter and gearbox weren't in the same car. My “new” one “pinged” when accelerating, even using high-test gasoline. The test car didn't do that. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: My “new” Camaro came complete without a lower radiator hose clamp. It evidently never had one, couldn't find it anywhere, nor any “tooth marks” in the rubber indicating there ever was one installed. As such, the hose came loose, it leaked all its coolant in about the first 50 miles, overheated, and had to be towed to the dealer.

Can you say, “lemon?” But, darn it, the test-drive car was perfect. I drove it all over the place, in about a one-hour test drive, over hill and dale. I loved it. I hated my “new” car, and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Moral of the story: Just because they look the same, and came off the same production line, doesn't make them the same.

Support your local dealer

Okay, you can stop laughing at me for being an idiot of a car consumer.

I learned my lesson, though, and since 1982 I've only purchased exactly the cars I've test driven, not similar ones. The “test drive” cars are always for sale, and usually at a little discount.

I encourage all of us to support our local ham gear dealers. Reason: If we don't, they'll all go away, then there won't be any. Without a walk-in trade, no ham equipment dealer would need to have a store: They could operate out of warehouses that nobody needs to find, and save a lot of overhead. The only reason for a store is to support walk-in customers.

When you walk in, you not only have the opportunity to “test drive” your new rig, but to ask questions of knowledgeable people about it. You may find other hams in the store who know more than you do, or more than the store employees, about that very rig because they already own one. You might find an “unannounced sale,” which many dealers have all the time but they don't advertise them: The sale is for walk-in customers only. Our local HRO store does this a lot. It helps encourage the local trade, by providing special discounts only to walk-in customers to offset the bite of sales tax and make the “local” deal more attractive.

You might also find the store selling exactly what you're interested in, but in a “used” version, for even less money. When the store sells a used rig, it usually offers a warranty on it - unlike a private seller.

Or, you might find a handful of locals who talk you out of what you wanted and talk you into something better! Listen to them, they may know what they're talking about.

The local store may know about local antenna installers, local used tower deals, local all sorts of stuff that you will never know about unless you're there.

Face to face beats PC-to-PC

When you buy gear at the local shop, you're buying it from somebody, a person you have now seen and chatted with, who can relate to you as you relate to him or her. You can negotiate with a person across a counter much better than you can negotiate with a voice on the telephone or words across your monitor. At the very least, if you have a problem you have someone to deal with, not just some faceless company.

If you're not a pain in the butt (as some people, and surely some hams, are), you can probably get that store employee or manager (or owner) to actually like you. After all, you have at least one thing in common: You're both hams. And if you're there in person, you have another thing in common: You're both local hams. You're far more likely to get a favor, or good advice, from someone you've met.

Here's a cool example: (By the way, I have no association whatever with any kind of ham gear manufacturer, dealer, or anything related to this market.) When I first moved to L.A., I visited our local ham stores, which included HRO, Henry Radio and Jun's Electronics. Many times.

Henry Radio has pretty much gone out of the retail business altogether and now just focuses on building and selling amplifiers. HRO is, of course, a successful multi-store chain, based in California. We have not one, not two, but actually four fairly “local” HRO stores. The nearest one is only 15 miles from me, and used to be closer than that (they moved).

When I first worked with the local HRO, I met a guy who some locals didn't seem to like but I thought he was nice and extremely knowledgeable about many aspects of ham radio, especially Dxing. As such, of course I couldn't wait to ask him more questions, and he always supplied what I thought were excellent answers. He was anxious to give very good advice to people, if they were willing to take it.

I didn't know this guy at all, but then heard him in a few DX pileups over the next year or two, and he did very well. Good signal, great operating. I looked him up, later. Turns out this guy was one of the very few in the world to have 7-band DXCC, 7-band WAZ, and “335 DXCC All SSB,” which means 335 confirmed countries on SSB only, not mixed modes. That's a hell of an accomplishment for a “city guy,” living within the L.A. City limits, as I do.

It was Al, K6YRA. He's still around, and still accomplishing stuff. I'm glad to have met him in HRO, he answered some vital questions for me that only a local would know about.

People like this are all around us. We should seek them out, and one place to find them hanging out is at the local ham radio store.

Can't get there

Well, in some cases, that is a problem. Not everyone lives within commuting distance of a ham radio retailer. But most of us actually do. For those who don't, it's worth making a long trip now and then.

I grew up in New Jersey, and after the big three or four ham radio stores in my area closed up for various reasons, one day wondered, “What would it be like to drive out to AES (Amateur Electronic Supply) in Cleveland? It looks only about 400 miles away, on the map.” So, very early one Saturday morning, I did just that: Drove 400 miles to AES. It was a wise move: I bought stuff there, met some great hams, and had a good time. Good way to kill a Saturday - all of it.

When it's truly impossible to visit a ham radio store because it's just plain too far, an alternative is this one: Buy locally, from local hams who are selling their stuff. You lose a couple of the benefits of buying from a retailer, but it sure beats buying from somebody you'll never meet, via an auction site like eBay. You still get the benefit of a “test drive” (try-out), and the benefit of face-to-face negotiation. You may not get a warranty, but local deals on used gear is fun and beneficial for all. And you save shipping costs, and worries that the gear will be damaged in shipment.

Support your local dealer. Buy locally. Meet other local hams. It's great.

WB2WIK/6