FWIW, about a year ago I sent my Orion in for a new screen. The lead time
was about 6 weeks - there were 6 weeks of radios in front of me. I also ran
into the same problem when I returned a Centurion.
I question why the work area was down sized. Perhaps the workload has
reduced or lease/rent is out of bounds.
Mike
W8TRN
----- Original Message -----
From: "art N4UC" <n4uc@hotmail.com>
To: "TenTec reflector" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2015 15:49
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Ten-Tec service
I called TT service dept today to check on the repair status of my Orion
that I had shipped to them just after Thanksgiving. I received an email
from them on December 3 acknowledging receipt of the radio. Since that time
I had not heard anything further, but considering the holidays and the move
to the new facility, I waited until today (6 weeks after they received the
radio) to bug them about my repair job. I was told that hopefully they
would be able to get to it in a couple of more weeks. If this holds true,
it means that they will have had the radio for almost two months before
getting it out of the box and onto the bench.
During the conversation I learned that the service bench work area
available in the new facility was only about 1/3 of what they enjoyed in
the old building. All the techs were still there and working hard, but all
were operating with reduced resources. He did say that the only thing
that hadn't been reduced was the repair workload!
It's been several years since I have had occasion to use TT service, but I
seem to remember that at that time I had been contacted in a few days (a
week or less) with an estimate of repairs. I have no doubt that they will
get to this repair as soon as they can, and I do appreciate the fact that
I can still call on the phone and talk to a live person about my repairs.
But at the end of the day the service/support situation will still be a
factor in the decision process for my next radio.
FWIW, I fully agree that an RMA system is a necessary evil in today's
world. That being said, the implementation of the system used by
TenTec/RF Concepts LLC is a bit clumsy and ambiguous if you have any
follow-up communications regarding an existing RMA. But I would much
rather know that my information and expectations have been documented
so that there are no misunderstandings when the repair bill is
received. Still, for complex problems or unusual circumstances there is
no substitute for a 5 minute phone conversation with the tech to follow
up the RMA, and I'm glad that I can still do that with TenTec..
73, Art N4UC
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:02:45 -0800
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Ten-Tec service
From: tentec@contesting.com
Hi John:
I appreciate your willingness to exercise free speech, and I feel honored
we have such a privilege in this great country. However, I would like to
provide some clarification around your unsubstantiated state of affairs
report about Ten-Tec that you have decided to share with everyone. I
obtained my information by simply contacting Ten-Tec and asking, and
below is my interpretation of what was said to me. I share this out of
respect to all Hams on this email reflector so they may understand the
current state of business that I learned of, and in fairness to Ten-Tec
who works hard to provide the radios we use. I do not intend to imply in
anyway that what you say is, or is not correct, but instead only share
the information that I have learned.
RMA
Ten-Tec implemented the RMA system to improve repair services. They did
this because many times they would receive a radio with absolutely no
information on it and what they need to fix. Customer calls later
complaining... you get the picture. Nobody is happy because they spend
hours trying to find out what needs done to the radio, and the customer
spends unneeded time waiting on the radio. Now - you get an RMA number
to return the radio and you can refer to that RMA number for any
discussions with Ten-Tec about the radio.
Repair Dept.
Nobody has quit the repair department. Of course nobody can confirm or
deny that someone wasn't having a bad day, but I am told repair
operations are working quite well now - post transition to being a
division R.F. Concepts , and of course the physical move to another
building.
Leadership
Ten-Tec has a President/COO and a Senior Manager overseeing all
operations at Sevierville location. If you do not believe me, then you
are welcome to contact the most senior manager at Ten-Tec at
865-453-7172, or his email is, jhenry@tentec.com if you prefer that
method of communication. That's right... John Henry is the most senior
manager overseeing Ten-Tec. There is no local CEO there except when the
'one' presiding CEO visits. Why? One corporation doesn't need two CEO's.
Instead, each division of R.F. Concepts has senior executives in charge.
It sounds rather normal to me since I work for a corporation that has
multiple business divisions and each division is assigned a senior
executive accountable for that division.
So here is my challenge to anyone questioning the viability of Ten-Tec.
Please ask a senior leader within the Ten-Tec organization. I have given
you a phone number and an email to use so feel free to do so. John Henry
kindly explained it to me and I am sharing it with you.
In closing, hang in there gang... Ten-Tec is still in business and I know
this because I just checked. We may not hear from them daily, but it
does not indicate there is a giant crater in the ground in Sevierville.
I believe it means they are busy designing, building and selling radios.
Be well & 73,
-Eric
W9WLW
--------------------------------------------
On Wed, 1/14/15, John Rippey <w3uls73@gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: [TenTec] Ten-Tec service
To: tentec@contesting.com
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 7:58 PM
I spoke with a Ten-Tec service guy
some time back before the recent
move.I remarked on the red tape now imposed on customers
before
sending a rig in for service. He expressed guarded
unhappiness about
all the changes being imposed. Not a happy camper. Doubt if
he's still
there.
The "CEO" who took over for the long-time CEO left shortly
thereafter.
No "CEO" now, I guess. It appears everything now is being
directed by
the suits in Colorado. For my money, Ten-Tec risks
deteriorating into
just a brand, rather than maintaining its status as a
separate
stand-alone entity. This will be denied, I suspect, but my
sense is
that T-T's best days may be in the rear view mirror.
Cryptic,
unhelpful comments from the service department may well be
an early
indicator.
73,
John, W3ULS
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