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Author Topic: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO  (Read 2379 times)

AB4D

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A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« on: October 01, 2019, 06:00:47 PM »

I want to pass along my recent experience with both HRO and Yaesu USA.  I recently purchased a new FTDX-9000mp through HRO, direct from Yaesu.  I owned one once before, and decided I would like to own another.  However, the transceiver arrived with a defect.  The Sub-VFO knob, when rotated wobbled and appeared to be machined slightly out of round. That definitely was not an issue with the other FTDX-9000mp I owned.  I asked Yaesu to simply exchange the knob.  The parts department had one in stock. An easy solution, or so I thought.

I contacted Yaesu USA for assistance. The service manager asked for proof of the defect, and proof of purchase, even though I had just received the unit from them a few days beforehand.  I sent him a video and proof of purchase.  The Yaesu service manager at first, refused to acknowledge the defect even existed, said he could not see it in the video I sent to him.  I sent a second video.  Then, he compared the video to a 9K they had on display, and said "it has the same issue, so that proves it's normal."   He sent me a video of the other radio.  I don't know why, that one did not show the same issue.

I knew it was not normal.  I went back and forth with him about this issue for 2 weeks.  He refused to attempt to resolve the issue.  I knew at that point, it would be necessary to return the transceiver.  I have dealt with this same individual before on another new Yaesu product that had a defect.  In that case, I was forced to accept a "refurbished" radio, in exchange for the new one I purchased, because they could not fix an issue, even though they could duplicate the problem on the bench.  

I had enough of dealing with Yaesu and the SM's poor attitude.  I contacted HRO for assistance.  The manager at HRO asked for the videos I took. He agreed there definitely was an issue with the transceiver.  I sent along the exchange I had with the Yaesu SM. The manager at HRO was appalled of how Yaesu had handled the issue.  I had enough of Yaesu USA, and asked to return the radio.

A few days later, a higher level manager at Yaesu contacted me. He offered to exchange the knob, too little too late. I had enough of the BS, some things are just not worth it.  Yaesu IMO has zero interest in after sales customer service.  

On the other hand, HRO handled the situation in the best manner possible, and ensured the return went smooth. Even though it took Yaesu another week or so to retrieve the radio, HRO stayed on top of things until I received my 100% refund.  HRO continues to earn my business.  Yaesu on the other hand, after 25 years of buying their products and spending tens of thousands of dollars on their products. Their customer service manager Tim Factor, successfully destroyed any chance I will ever buy another piece of gear from Yaesu.   I was prepared to try out the new FTDX-101mp, but that is one sale that is not going to happen.

Buyer beware, Jim AB4D
« Last Edit: October 01, 2019, 06:10:11 PM by AB4D »
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KA4DPO

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RE: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2019, 10:04:30 AM »

Thank you for sharing that Jim and I am glad to hear that HRO made it right.  It is amazing to me that Yaesu would cop an attitude over what should have been an easy fix, especially since you bought their top of the line radio.  I would probably not have been as calm as you if they had tried to pull that on me. 

You dealt with it the right way, you not only hit them in their bank account, but posted it for others to see.   HRO is, and has been, an outstanding company when it comes to customer service, it's nice to know that they took care of you the way Yaesu should have.

In fact, Yaesu should have immediately offered to replace the radio at no cost to you, that would have been the right thing to do.  Instead, they gave you the run around and in so doing, lost two customers.  Because of your post, I will also not be buying the FT-101MP since Yaesu seems to think customer service is a nuisance.

Again, thanks for the heads up, John KA4DPO.
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KA4DPO

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RE: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2019, 08:19:40 AM »

Well Jim, it seems like you are not the only one having problems with Yaesu customer service.

https://www.revdex.com/reviews/yaesu-usa/1122218
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KX2T

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RE: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2019, 07:17:30 AM »

Although Yaesu today is not owned by the corporate giant called Motorola any more and back in 2013 they sold Yaesu back to the original Japan base company thing have never been the same. I use to be a Yaesu Fan Boy, back in 1998 I had an issue with a FT1000MP I had with the front end band pass filters and between the help of HRO in Delaware from a salesman named Bob he seemed to get Yaesu's tech support to exchange a 1.5 year old FT1000MP with a new radio in which they re designed the diode switching in the band pass filter, this all happened in the week before the CQWW Phone contest and they sent the new rig 3 day air so it landed at my home that Friday. If it was up to Yaesu I would still be waiting but Bob at HRO came threw.
I have had more than a few radio's since then and back in 2013 I had purchased a FTDX3000, after 3-4 years I was getting complaints about my SSB transmit signal being wide I borrowed a spectrum analyzer and sure enough it reared its ugly head, first I turned the ALC which seemed to help but not enough. I contacted Yaesu's tech support again and I told them I think it may be in the design of the ALC circuit but they said it's designed to make better talk power and make the radio sound stronger but I said at the expense of taking up way too much frequency space. Again no solution was obtained threw Yaesu's tech support but after reading threw the service manual I did come across a PA bias resting current adjustment in the SSB mode, well the bias was set way to low and even if you baby the ALC at half scale it was still not clean so I raised the PA bias up and that seemed to cure the problem but once you had the radio on for an hour or two that bias seemed to drift so the solution was to run the ALC at less than half scale and use a small amount of compression which limited the peaks but so there was no tell tale signs of the splatter. This was a design flaw and if you ran the radio like the manual tells you sooner or later this problem will rear its ugly head. This issue has also shown up on the FTDX5000 and when you try and tell a local ham he is wide they look at you with two heads, I have one ham 1/2 mile away and has a 5000, he takes up 25Khz with or without his amp on so its the radio, I have told him about it but I really think since he paid all that money for the 5000 how could this be. I also have a ham friend up about 3 miles away who runs a flex 6700 he has a outstanding antenna system on a 180ft tower, he places the pin against the wall sometimes at 60 plus over s9 and he is way under 4Khz wide, clean as can be, he also has a ham up the street from him and owns a 5000, when that guy gets on he also trashes 25Khz of the band, even when running in class A so I do believe its between the ALC design and PA bias drift but Yaesu will not agree to any issue at all.
No more dirty Yaesu for me!
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K1VSK

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RE: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2019, 06:55:50 AM »

Another (of many) reasons why many of us prefer Elecraft. 
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AB4D

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RE: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2019, 06:58:03 PM »

Thanks guys, for the comments.  I agree, Yaesu is not the company it had once been.  Really, I should have known better than to give them a second chance.

K1VSK, Elecraft, no doubt has a top notch reputation for customer service. I once received an item from them, that was a gift from a family member.  However, it had an issue and my initial contact with the elecraft was less than favorable.  I posted about the problem on Eham.  Wayne, one of the owners was quick to respond directly.  Wayne not only apologized for the issue with the product, but also for the initial experience, he offered a full refund for the product, and a discount if I wanted to purchase another product instead.   

Although I never acted on the offer, that gesture from Wayne is certainly in my mind, now that Yaesu has been stricken off my list of manufacturers.  I am shopping for a new transceiver. The K4 is near the top of my list, hard to decide between the K4 or something such as the 7610 or 7851.

Jim, AB4D     
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MI1ESG

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2019, 08:19:26 PM »

Thanks for sharing!

Research shows that it's like 5 x more expensive to win a new customer than to keep the existing one. (Moreover, a select few account for most of a company's profits). That has been handled badly (errm, drop shipping, how much is that, both ways? I doubt that a replacement know would cost nearly as much).

But now, you have a wonderful chance to spend money on some other high end rig! Elecraft K4? The big Kenwood? Or an Icom?

I wish I had 10% of your budget hi.

73,
Chris
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KA4ETV

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2020, 05:02:23 PM »

Yep the only way to buy Yaesu is used. I've had two new models with problems. Brand new radios. Love them but Yaesu service is a joke.
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KA2FIR

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2020, 07:16:45 PM »

What models and problems did you have?
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KEOWRU

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2020, 05:29:20 AM »

I must agree,i got 2 new yaesu radios ,1 is fine,1 a pos.its been back to yaesu 5 yes 5 times,they seem to dish up phony excuse why its me not them.i videoed both in operation showing bad radios problem.this time its been there 3 weeks,i call no reply from anybody.
I asked nicely for choice of 3 replace,refund or fix it.
This ends me buying any more YAHOO chinese built japan branded junk.
Fedex truck has had my radio more than me
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W4KVW

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2020, 04:34:07 PM »

HRO is the Best & I usually buy my New gear from them if they carry it.On the other hand I have owned my last Yaesu as well after Pathetic service from an 857D & a 2800 I decided I was done.I have read many stories where buyers said they were nothing more than BETA Testers for Yaesu so I avoid them like the Plague. YAESU= Yet Another Excuse Simply Useless

Clayton
W4KVW
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KM1H

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2020, 08:52:53 AM »

Quote
Although Yaesu today is not owned by the corporate giant called Motorola any more and back in 2013 they sold Yaesu back to the original Japan base company thing have never been the same.


OK, this is not exactly right.

Yaesu was officially known as "Vertex Standard" since around 2000, when they changed their name from "Yaesu Musen" (or whatever the official name was). Vertex was their two way radio brand, "Yaesu" was their ham radio brand, "Horizon" or "Standard Horizon" was their marine brand.

In 2008, Motorola acquired 80% of "Vertex Standard" (or Yaesu, as shown above). Then, in 2012, Motorola and Vertex Standard created "Vertex Standard LMR, Inc.", which Motorola owned entirely, leaving the ham radio, aviation, and marine divisions to Tokogiken (the company that had been the 20% owner).

So, on Jan 1 2012, Motorola Solutions became sole owner of Japanese based Vertex Standard LMR, and Tokogiken created a new company called "YAESU MUSEN CO.,LTD"

So, the "ham radio" Yaesu was 80% owned by Motorola for around 4 years, from 2008 to 2012 (since "Yaesu" was wholly owned by Vertex Standard). Now Yaesu is again a separate company, but they do not make LMR equipment any more.

Some links to look at and see if it makes any sense:

http://radioresourcemag.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/7799

http://www.vertexstandard.com/lmr/about-us

http://www.yaesu.com/jp/en/company/history.html

If you notice the history graphs, both Yaesu Musen and Vertex Standard claim the same historical timeline up to 2012.
"I am sometimes amazed by what people post, but then I remember that this is the 'zed."


If you believe different point to the appropriate URL.
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KX2T

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2020, 06:36:03 AM »

Thank You Carl for your ANAL review of cooperate postings!
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W9FIB

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #13 on: November 20, 2020, 08:36:56 AM »

I actually found Carl's history lesson quite interesting. I saw many things I didn't know before. Thanks Carl!
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

W3WN

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Re: A loss for Yaesu, Win for HRO
« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2020, 05:58:58 PM »

Quote
Although Yaesu today is not owned by the corporate giant called Motorola any more and back in 2013 they sold Yaesu back to the original Japan base company thing have never been the same.


OK, this is not exactly right.

Yaesu was officially known as "Vertex Standard" since around 2000, when they changed their name from "Yaesu Musen" (or whatever the official name was). Vertex was their two way radio brand, "Yaesu" was their ham radio brand, "Horizon" or "Standard Horizon" was their marine brand.

In 2008, Motorola acquired 80% of "Vertex Standard" (or Yaesu, as shown above). Then, in 2012, Motorola and Vertex Standard created "Vertex Standard LMR, Inc.", which Motorola owned entirely, leaving the ham radio, aviation, and marine divisions to Tokogiken (the company that had been the 20% owner).

So, on Jan 1 2012, Motorola Solutions became sole owner of Japanese based Vertex Standard LMR, and Tokogiken created a new company called "YAESU MUSEN CO.,LTD"

So, the "ham radio" Yaesu was 80% owned by Motorola for around 4 years, from 2008 to 2012 (since "Yaesu" was wholly owned by Vertex Standard). Now Yaesu is again a separate company, but they do not make LMR equipment any more.

Some links to look at and see if it makes any sense:

http://radioresourcemag.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/7799

http://www.vertexstandard.com/lmr/about-us

http://www.yaesu.com/jp/en/company/history.html

If you notice the history graphs, both Yaesu Musen and Vertex Standard claim the same historical timeline up to 2012.
"I am sometimes amazed by what people post, but then I remember that this is the 'zed."


If you believe different point to the appropriate URL.
This is the Zed?  I thought this was eHam...   :-X
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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati.
Ban The DH!
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