Effective immediately, all radios including those sent in to RKR, will incur a 140.00 minimum charge to look at a radio, even if it is not repaired. Service time is 125 per hour with the average repair requiring from one to two hours. This means you can expect to pay at least 265.00 plus parts and return shipping for any repair. For customers who sent radios in to RKR which were not repaired, who object to these terms, we will return your unit to you at your expense. I suppose it's possible to change the terms for customer units already received and waiting for service, and I can sympathize with the reasons for doing so, but it still seems strange. Amending an existing contract requires agreement from both sides, me thinks.
My role is passing along information until the owner jumps into it with his own two feet. Helping where I can. His message stated Dishtronix bought the TEN-TEC brand / assets. So, the owner of Dishtronix is the owner. Check it out at http://www.dishtronix.com/ He has his contact information there if you REALLY need to talk with him. I do appreciate the patience, he's getting business in order and eventually all contact information will be on tentec.com, who to contact for sales, service, etc. Hope that helps, again, passing along what I have been authorized to pass along..... 73, KI4JPL John Henry
Never did like Ten-Tec, I bought a new Orion II on a Friday and sent it back on Monday. (160M not working). I also Purchased the First Prometheus solid state Amp S/N 0001 to the tune of $15,000 and got the run around for over 9 months and still had not received an Amp. Very disappointing and very time consuming. Mike at Dishtronix did return my full investment. I wish them well, But it's going to take more than Luck. KK6FR Frank Rossio III
I get the feeling that this strategy may backfire. People buy Ten Tec rigs because they're easy to use, affordable, have great performance, and they know they can call the factory and speak to a technician if something goes wrong. So far, all we've heard from the new owner is that he bought the brand, doesn't have the money to resume production, so he wants $400k from the amateur community to restart production, and is eliminating free estimates and phone/email support. What part of these changes is meant to inspire and encourage customers to purchase a Ten Tec? I highly doubt that Ten Tec's downfall was technicians spending too much time on the phone with customers and providing estimates on broken radios. If they want to start charging Elecraft prices for new gear, they'll need to make a lot of changes in fit, finish, and features beyond receiver quality to stay afloat at the mid to high end.
I wonder if the "new" Ten-Tec will continue to service the older TT gear as they always have? To tell the truth, with Ten-Tec changing hands so many times in recent years I'd be rather apprehensive about buying a new rig from them.
I'm retired and on fixed income. In June of 2012 I purchased a Ten-Tec Omni 7. I paid over 3100 dollars for the radio with the built in tuner. I wanted to buy an American built radio, and I heard many good things about this model. I've been very pleased and still am with it's performance and have had no problems. I thought at the time that Ten-Tec was a viable company, but became very disappointed when the company sold the product line at a huge discount, deflating the value of what I had purchased. Now the company ownership has changed once again and no one seems to know what it's future is going to be. Will they still be in the ham market? Who is going to design and build any new radios? I feel as a customer, that I have been dumped in the trash.
I think people are buying older TenTec second-hand and want to have it up to specs, not inspect or repair their own old broken TenTec equipment. I have older TenTec as well as the new TenTec equipment. Nothing broken. No defects. I feel bad about the comments. I feel bad I have to wait on the sidelines.
I myself understand everyone's criticisms, they are all justified. Only time will tell if his vision of the future will hold true or not. Yes, the new service rates will cut out a bunch of people sending in their units, but a lot will still do it because they know that their "extra contribution" for now will help TEN-TEC through a difficult time. I myself give it a year, then let's see where it got to. Did it succeed? Are there new products? etc.... Regarding vintage rigs, there are places to get them serviced today, check around, there are hams that are known to work on them. Regarding Orion or later rigs, if he can fix them, he will. Regarding future products, there are some in the design phase and if the company makes it through this year, then they will be seen publicly in 2016 / 2017 time frame. Yes, a lot of decisions will tick off a lot of people, but the alternative is VERY well known. The alternative is that RKR would have liquidated TEN-TEC and it's assets through a liquidation firm and all engineering, designs, legacy would be lost. So, I say give him a chance and see what happens. It is up to you. It makes for one heck of a rollercoaster year. And if TEN-TEC succeeds, then policies can shift to a more relaxed customer focused avenue. For those that feel "thrown under the bus", well, don't blame the new owner, that came from the other purchasers decisions. The new owner is trying to clean up this mess, and make the product line and service and the legacy of what was before, become one again. Anyway, I do wish him luck, I hope that most will understand he has the best intentions. Without his involvement, TEN-TEC would not be here today. Let's see where it gets to. 73, KI4JPL John Henry
I supervised a Network Support group for 16 years and completely agree with the rate schedule for phone support but what I feel will make any support effort overall even more effective is a well maintained website and some type of Robo Help/FAQ. Again speaking from experience DESIGNATE Who/What/When maintians this website and hold them accountable, I did the review/update once a week, after a few weeks it was usually no more than an hour long job. It also keeps staff familiar witth the website, nice when you are on the phone with a customer who might be more familiar with the website than staff is! I firmly believe one man-hour of effort on the website support offering will save staff and customers MAN-DAYS of phone calls and emails. GOOD LUCK!
The enclosure business was sold to a local company in Sevierville. They made the metal for the rigs sold under RFC and RKR. Future? time will tell.
