Universal Radio

[N8PHL]

I called yesterday about a PG5G data cable for a Kenwood  radio and was told they had them in stock.
So I told them I would be in today to pick one up.
When I stopped in they said they was out of stock.
So after being mislead yet again I wont be dealing with them again.
R&L I will deal with you from now on.
R&L is always friendly an honest.

[KE5JPP]

I called yesterday about a PG5G data cable for a Kenwood  radio and was told they had them in stock.
So I told them I would be in today to pick one up.
When I stopped in they said they was out of stock.
So after being mislead yet again I wont be dealing with them again.
R&L I will deal with you from now on.
R&L is always friendly an honest.

Ha!  A Ham I talk to regularly lives about 2 hours from them and had the same experience.  He called and was told a large dollar item was in stock and he asked that they hold one for him until he got there.  So he immediately left on the 2 hour trip over there only to find that the item was not in stock and the guy behind the counter told him it has been out of stock for 2 weeks.  Seems to be a pattern with them telling you something on the phone just to get you off of it.

Gene

[WA9ZOH]

I have to admit, I'm disappointed with Lotw. After going through much work just to set it up and working properly on my computer, two years later it is asking me to do it all over again, which is just like I would have to if I wanted to install it on a different computer. At this point in time I refuse to go through it all over again.

[N5VTU]

I have to admit, I'm disappointed with Lotw. After going through much work just to set it up and working properly on my computer, two years later it is asking me to do it all over again, which is just like I would have to if I wanted to install it on a different computer. At this point in time I refuse to go through it all over again.

What does LOTW have to do with Universal Radio?

Stephen
N5VTU

[KG4RUL]

I have to admit, I'm disappointed with Lotw. After going through much work just to set it up and working properly on my computer, two years later it is asking me to do it all over again, which is just like I would have to if I wanted to install it on a different computer. At this point in time I refuse to go through it all over again.

What does LOTW have to do with Universal Radio?

Stephen
N5VTU

Maybe they are BOTH really hard to deal with?

[N3WAK]

I've only dealt with Universal Radio on-line and over the phone, and every one of my experiences with them have been great.  73, Tony

[N1UKX]

I've only dealt with Universal Radio on-line and over the phone, and every one of my experiences with them have been great.  73, Tony

Universal Radio is where I buy and have never had a problem....LL

[N9AOP]

Last fall I was at universal radio to buy an IC7000 to be used in a new command coach being built for our county by a company in the same business complex as universal.  I wanted the mars mod since the unit would be used on mars and shares freqs as wall as the amateur bands.  The sales person said that they do not do that and I asked for the manager.  He said that they would be glad to do the mod with the proper license.   I sent them a copy of my mars license, they did the work and took the unit over to the coach company.  Doing business with them was painless but I wish that the sales person was as well versed as the manager.  If the manager wasn't there at the time I would have had to look elsewhere for the radio.
Art, N9AOP

[SWMAN]

 I have purchased various items from them in the past and never had any problem at all with them. Always good, reliable fast service.
73 Jim. W5JJG

[KG4RUL]

Last fall I was at universal radio to buy an IC7000 to be used in a new command coach being built for our county by a company in the same business complex as universal.  I wanted the mars mod since the unit would be used on mars and shares freqs as wall as the amateur bands.  The sales person said that they do not do that and I asked for the manager.  He said that they would be glad to do the mod with the proper license.   I sent them a copy of my mars license, they did the work and took the unit over to the coach company.  Doing business with them was painless but I wish that the sales person was as well versed as the manager.  If the manager wasn't there at the time I would have had to look elsewhere for the radio.
Art, N9AOP

I would posit that the salesman made the statement to weed out whackos and wannabes who are NOT associated with MARS/SHARES but want to be able to transmit out-of-band.  Since you were able to get what you needed, after properly identifying yourself to the manager as a MARS member, I thinks you really have little to kvetch about.

[AD6KA]

I called yesterday about a PG5G data cable for a Kenwood  radio and was told they had them in stock.
So I told them I would be in today to pick one up.
When I stopped in they said they was out of stock.

Man, that is absolutely inexcusable!
When I was in ham retail and got we call like yours:

1) If the computer showed 1 or 2 in inventory I would
put the customer on hold and go physically check stock
myself and grab one. (Hey, we might have one waiting to
 be shipped and the other already on hold.)

2) Make the sale and tell the customer it's being held for him,under his callsign.

3) We had an "On Hold For Pickup Rack".
I would take a piece of printer paper and in big 3" high letters
make a note with a Magic Marker: "ON HOLD FOR
PICKUP BY KA6XYZ, WLL BE IN TODAY FOR P/U"
and tape it to the item.Total time taken 2 minutes.

This was SOP in that shop, AND should
be in ANY retail business for that matter!

FYI: The EXACT same thing happened to me at Radio Shack when
I REALLY needed a 555 timer chip late on a Sunday
Afternoon. "Yeah, we have those". No, they didn't.
73, Ken AD6KA

[WB8NUT]

Last month I ordered accessories for my new ID-31. Placed the order, received order acknowledgement, but never received an shipping notice. It's just a day or two to ship from Columbus to Cincinnati. When the order did not show up after three days, I sent an email asking where it was (website does not show stock status - big mistake in my opinion). I was sent an email response a few days later saying the items were backordered and would ship on 1/18. On 1/21 sent an email asking for tracking number. A few days later, got an email saying the battery was in, but not the charger or programming cable. I sent an email saying ship the battery, and cancel the charger and the cable. Still no shipment after four days. Called and he said he had not read the emails yet (seriously in this day and age?). Another week went by and the battery finally showed up. My suggestions to Universal and any other retailers.

- We can accept that not all items are in stock all the time. Keep us informed. At the very least, let me know it is on backorder. No communication is unacceptable.

- respond to emails within a day. Email is a better way to communicate since the facts are in writing. No mistakes are usually made as can happen with phone orders. After all, it is the 21st Century. Email is the most used communication method used today.

- If you have parts of the order, ship them for cripes sakes unless the other items will arrive within the next few days. Holding up the entire order for weeks is unacceptable.

- Don't say something will ship on a particular day unless you can actually back that up. Giving a date, then not shipping a thing, and no communication is again, unacceptable.

Needless to say, I will not be rushing back to buy from Universal.

[K8GGL]

Ordered a Yaesu FT-2900R via Universal Radio website on Tuesday 2-7, got confirmation email immediately.  No word until Friday 2-10, when an email informed me that the radio was backordered until 2-23-12.

Called to cancel order, waited on hold 15 minutes before being hung up on.  Called back, spoke with a lady to request order cancellation.  She took my info, then confirmed that the order was cancelled.  I asked her if it was normal to have to wait three days just to learn that the product was backordered ... her one-word reply was "yes".

This company has good prices, but they run the e-commerce side of the business very poorly.  I am a Gigaparts customer now.

[KB7QOA]

- If you have parts of the order, ship them for cripes sakes unless the other items will arrive within the next few days. Holding up the entire order for weeks is unacceptable.

If only part of the order is available, it would be prudent to check with the customer first, not to assume they want a partial shipment.  Depending on what the item is, I may prefer a partial shipment or may prefer to wait and get it in one shot.  It may also make a difference on how freight is charged.  If I was paying for shipping, I would be upset if I had to pay more shipping because they split my order without determining my desires first, especially if an accessory shipped before the item required to be able to use it.

I agree with you on the rest of your points though.  E-mail should be checked several times a day.  Most phones/PDAs/tablets these days can check e-mail, have the employees take turns being the "email on-call" person responsible for checking at least once per hour during business hours.  In my opinion, a company that does any amount of business on the Internet has no excuse for not handling Internet communications in a timely manner.  They wouldn't let their phones ring off the hook for hours on end because somebody didn't get around to answering it, e-mail should be no different.

Just my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it, maybe even less!  :-)

73 de KB7QOA
Jeremy

[N3QE]

This company has good prices, but they run the e-commerce side of the business very poorly.

It's a shame they don't leverage e-commerce better because their website is a vast library of radios and options past and present, and often the best reference on the web for what option goes with what radio (and it turns out they can still get options and accessories for many not-current radios!)

I order from Universal Radio still, but I always call and have them check stock first. This is actually true for a couple other specialized ham dealers that have some internet presence but no good realtime stock status system. The internet page makes a good catalog of what might be in stock but I would never count on it being in stock unless I called to confirm and they actually "went and looked" and promise they're gonna ship it that day. (Meaning, I don't trust their internal stock system either!)

Tim N3QE