N2VZ Enterprises

[KL7JW]

I bought an automatic antenna tuner from N2VZ Enterprises about 5 years ago.  The company website has the following statement that I coped and pasted here: "Life Time no matter what warranty for parts & labor. Unless the case is charred or melted and maybe even then if you have a good story."

It quit working, so I contacted the company by E-mail as copied below:

"-----Original Message-------------------------------------------------
From: John W. Hart [mailto:jhart@kiamichiwb.org]
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2012 4:53 PM
To: bill@n2vz.com
Subject: Turbo Tuner Dead

Bill,
I'm sending this as a follow-up.  I have had some issues with my other email account in the past.

I bought my Turbo Tuner from you about 4 or 5 years ago.  It is dead.  I've checked continuity on all cables back to the board. I found the cable shield on the flat 4 pin Molex plug that plugs into the back of the radio had broken loose at the board. I effected a repair on that problem.  Also checked the on-board fuse and found it to be good.  Turbo Tuner still dead after effecting the repair. 

The Icom 706 MK IIG will not go into "Tune" mode with the Turbo tuner plugged into it.  I can get it to go into "Tune" with a BetterRF Company Module plugged into it.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

John Hart
KL7JW 


John,
I susspect the proc chip.  send it in I will fix and 'll also update the HW and SW. Use the address below.

73, Bill Kantz N2VZ
N2VZ Enterprises
1804 Wall Church Rd
Wall, NJ 07719
 
Tel   609-249-3875
FAX  772-934-3530
 
www.n2vz.com
Bill@n2vz.com   
-----------------------End of quoted Message-----------------------------------


I sent the tuner back to the company in August 2012.   I've had no response from Mr. Kantz after repeated inquiries by phone and E-mail.  He doesn't answer his phone, nor does he respond to E-mail inquiries.  THIS IS A SORRY EXAMPLE OF A BUSINESS and I highly suggest that others AVOID buying anything from him!!

[AA4PB]

The difficulty with some of these small companies is that they are sometimes one-man operations with no backup. You can get some great service when all is well but if the owner gets sick, is in the hospital, or on vacation you may get very poor service for a while. Since he was first very positive and then suddenly disappeard on you, that is what I would expect.

Anyone who expects constant, reliable service needs to restrict his purchasing to the big distributors.

[NK7Z]

I sent the tuner back to the company in August 2012.   I've had no response from Mr. Kantz after repeated inquiries by phone and E-mail.  He doesn't answer his phone, nor does he respond to E-mail inquiries.  THIS IS A SORRY EXAMPLE OF A BUSINESS and I highly suggest that others AVOID buying anything from him!!

See N2VZ Ripoff thread for information:
http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=78382.0

[KL7JW]

The difficulty with some of these small companies is that they are sometimes one-man operations with no backup. You can get some great service when all is well but if the owner gets sick, is in the hospital, or on vacation you may get very poor service for a while. Since he was first very positive and then suddenly disappeard on you, that is what I would expect.

Anyone who expects constant, reliable service needs to restrict his purchasing to the big distributors.

Well, I don't think a 3 1/2 month delay without some sort of reply to my inquiries is in the realm of constant, reliable service, do you?  And, when I bought the tuner, it was only available through his business address.  It's now sold by other retailers, but what difference would that make if service is needed when bought through a major retailer?  AND, if you notice, the link in the follow-on reply to your post shows that this is nothing new to N2VZ Enterprises.  As a former business owner of a 1 man operation (now retired), I can assure you that if I couldn't meet a deadline, I would be certain that the customer was informed and offered another option, or I would return his item and suggest another way to get it repaired.  No communications with a customer base is the best way in the world I know of to go out of business!

John
KL7JW   

[AA4PB]

John, I agree with what you are saying but I wonder why he would take the time to answer your original e-mail and then stop communicating after you shipped it to him for repair. I doubt that he is in the business of steeling old, defective units from his previous customers.

I have no inside information on this particular case but if a business owner has made no prior arrangements for a family member or someone to check his e-mail and communicate with customers then everything comes to a halt if something happens to him. A web page could stay up taking orders that stack up in his e-mail in-box until his contract expires and the hosting company takes it down for lack of payment. That's all I'm saying.

Did you ship with any tracking so that you can determine if it was ever delivered? You could send a letter via registered mail so that someone has to sign for it - at least then you would know the name of someone at the house.

Also note that his address is in NJ so there could be a host of additional problems in recent weeks.

[KA1BIN]

There are people and businesses that lost their property or STILL do not have electricity after all these weeks. Or you could look at the bright side-he could be dead.

This is one of the reasons why many family-owned businesses from the 1970's-1990's went out of business after the owner died or retired, the children wanted nothing to do with the business and the customers.

I remember last year that I had a customer place an order on Dec 23rd around 11PM, and he was very dismayed that he couldn't receive his order by Christmas.
He had the gonads to tell me that if I couldn't handle the order, I shouldn't be in business. I was expected to ship out on Christmas eve an order for around $13.00 over 1500 miles away. I guess he expected me to charter a jet and pay out of my pocket to get his order there.

See why the kids don't want their father's business?

KA1SMC (formally KA1BIN)
(and I have owned my own family business since 1975)

[NK7Z]

Well, I don't think a 3 1/2 month delay without some sort of reply to my inquiries is in the realm of constant, reliable service, do you?  And, when I bought the tuner, it was only available through his business address.  It's now sold by other retailers, but what difference would that make if service is needed when bought through a major retailer?  AND, if you notice, the link in the follow-on reply to your post shows that this is nothing new to N2VZ Enterprises.  As a former business owner of a 1 man operation (now retired), I can assure you that if I couldn't meet a deadline, I would be certain that the customer was informed and offered another option, or I would return his item and suggest another way to get it repaired.  No communications with a customer base is the best way in the world I know of to go out of business!

John
KL7JW   

Also see the "Where's Bill" thread at: http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=81033.0