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Reviews For: Kenwood Repair Service

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : Kenwood Repair Service
Reviews: 45MSRP:
Description:
Kenwood factory repairs
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.net/contact.cfm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00452.7
DL7ISA Rating: 2008-11-18
unable Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The Warranty time of the TS-570DG I had was going to expire in few weeks and the Finales blew. I called the Kenwood Repair Service and they first of all refused to repair the Transceiver, saying the Warranty is almost expired. I had to argue with these Guys on Telephone about the Radios Warranty although it was still there for Weeks! They repaired the blown Finals without charging Money but didnt fix the bad Modulation. I dont want to accuse them of not repairing the bad Modulation to make me send the Radio back in again for Reparation after Waranty Expiration to charge me extra Money, maybee they simply repair one Damage at a time but I happily divorced from this Radio by selling it. Nothing personal against these Kenwood Gentlemen but a Service like this made me stay away from Kenwood Amateurradio Equipment for Years.
G4IPZ Rating: 2008-01-23
Forget them! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a Kenwood TW4100E and a TS520SE. Both work just fine but I wanted a manual for the 4100E and the accesory cw filter for the 520SE for which I gave them the part number. ( know they're both old rigs but....)
Kenwood won't deal directly with the end user in the UK but a really helpful guy from a 3rd party company pursued my requirements for me.

Firstly they denied to him that there was ever any 2/70 dual bander rig called the TW4100E as they had never used the prefix TW on anything.

As for the CW filter, even given the part number, they denied that there had ever been any part with that code, even though it had come from the user handbook.

So as for Kenwood service support - useless, bloody useless!
WB7QXU Rating: 2007-11-26
The worst Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I do not or will not ever own a Kenwood product. I a few years ago I owned a Kenwood TS-440, It spent over a year going back and forth to Kenwood for them to fix it. They seemed to fix one problem at a time, but failed to fix the other problems mentioned. Poor turn around time, and a few times the rig returned with no evidence of any repairs having been made. After a year and a half and $400 + in cost of repairs not to mention shipping. I found a club that wanted it. I took a loss and sold it, and they knew of the difficulty I had, but it was a back up to the TS-440 they were using. I guess it was the only way to recover the loss. Now I only will use Icom, or Ten Tec. Ten Tec is the best service I have ever experienced. They make it righ. Icom is good, I had my 751A serviced by them and no troubles or complaints.
KB7SX Rating: 2007-09-24
Kenwood charged a large amount and didn't fix the problem. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Kenwood charged nearly $200 to replace two parts worth less than $20 in my TS-50S and didn't fix the problem it was sent in for. Phone calls are forwarded to someone's voice mail and are not returned. If you don't want to be ripped off, I suggest checking the independent repair people in this category who have excellent ratings and use them. I expected the manufacturer's repair facility would be the best place to have the rig fixed, but that is not the case. I will not buy another Kenwood product no matter how good it is.
KB2PSM Rating: 2007-07-11
Mixed results Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Over the last few years, I sent my TS-940SAT and my TM-741A to Kenwood for repairs.

The TM-741A came back in good working order. It wasn't a cheap fix, but I was happy to get this classic radio working again.

The TS-940SAT (with the known PS problems) came back working again, but within a few months in which I was able to make just a handful of contacts, it exhibited the same PS related problems. This is a heavy radio and is expensive to ship back and forth. After a few hundred dollars in repairs and over a hundred in insured shipping, I was back where I started from. Disgusted, I put the radio aside and picked up something new and reliable.

In the months that followed, I spoke to a radio repair guy that was familiar with this common problem. He fixed what Kenwood should have (they did not fully repair the faulty circuit which included a cold solder joint) and charged me $30 for the repair. The radio has been working flawlessly for the near four years since- as a Field Day and Contesting radio.

Also, and this really ticked me off, I sent my 940 back to Kenwood in its original carton and packaging. I figured that it was the safest way to go. When they shipped my radio back, it came in a plain brown box with basic packing materials. I wonder if my original box/packaging went to someone else's collection or it just got tossed. You would figure that if you sent your radio back in a box you bothered to save since 1987, that you wanted it and would get it back.
KA0CSL Rating: 2007-07-10
TS-940 SAT Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Kenwood repair is a joke!!! BAD SERVICE, VERY COSTLY $550.00 & I HAD TO RETURN THE RIG 4 TIMES ON THE DAY IT CAME BACK FROM THEM 4 OUT OF BOX FAILURES!!! They never fixed the TS-940SAT and the last time it came back it was so trashed by being sent back and forth by UPS it turned into a claim. It wasnt fixed that time either! All this for a damaged VFO encoder. Dont use UPS! USPS priority mail is in 2 days and they dont beat it up!
W6GF Rating: 2007-06-20
TOPS in my book Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Kenwood West repair is just tops. I had to use them for my TS 480HX. Daniel was very helpful and my repair was accomplished in a week and without a hitch. I have lots of radios. All electronics can have a problem and I have had to deal with other manfacturer's repair people. Kenwood should teach some of them what customer service is about.

George, W6GF
KG6POG Rating: 2007-06-18
Good turn around and fair price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had a problem with my amplifier that cut my receive way back in my TS-480. From the time I sent the radio in to the time I got it back was 10 days. I don't know of a real repair shop near my home, so I really didn't have much choice. But the shop that I used to use would have certainly charged more for this type of repair. In this case I just can't say that the shop I had repairs done earlier on (Best Communications) is the only option in area.

If anyone knows of a great radio repair shop near Redlands California let me know.
WR8D Rating: 2007-05-11
Really nice Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used kenwood east coast repair a few times since i've been licensed in 81. No problems at all. They called me the last time i sent an older rig to them advising me on the fact that the repair might be costly due to the time it would take to really get it done right. I had no problem at all with that or them in any way. They have always done a very professional job for me in the past and i'm sure they will into the future. 73 Guys, John WR8D
KA7YAK Rating: 2007-05-11
Kenwood THD7A(G) Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had my THD7A upgraded to a (G) by Kenwood. When the radio was returned it would not transmit. I sent it back after paying another fee and it was returned with a note saying that the radio was transmitting fine. The radio still did not transmit. That was 5 years ago and the radio is still not working and I replaced it with a Yaesu. I will never again buy a Kenwood product and I consider the company unethical for allowing their repair facility to treat customers the way that they do.