Elecraft

RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was Cut off date for K3 options?)

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Gary Hvizdak

RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was Cut off date for K3 options?)

Recently Dave (G4AON) wrote

"... having paid a 50% deposit it wouldn't be expecting too much to have a
receipt for the payment, showing what is on order and the balance to be
paid. We are not talking about a small amount of money here."

--

Hi Dave,

Having produced some inexpensive accessories for the K2 that are easily
10,000 times simpler than the K3, I might still be able to relate to what
Elecraft has been going through. FYI, from before Ken (WB2ART) and I began
accepting payments for our original K2 Option Bypass Header kit in 2005,
until all orders were shipped, we spent more time replying to customer
emails than we did working to get our humble product out the door!

If yours was the only K3 order, then it would be easy for Elecraft to
keep you better informed. However, were Elecraft to try to provide their
hundreds (or is it thousands?) of K3 customers with current order status,
and then handle each order a second time just prior to shipping, then
everyone's K3 might well be delayed by a month or two. Either that, or
Elecraft might need to raise their (very reasonable) prices in order to
double their staffing.

I'm certain that Elecraft will provide you with the invoice you require
as your K3's ship date nears. I'm even more certain that you will be
delighted with your K3 when it arrives. By being patient you are helping
Elecraft (more than you know) to get you your K3 as quickly as possible.

73,
Gary KI4GGX

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Don Wilhelm-3

Re: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was Cut off date for K3 options?)

Dave and all,

I can add emphasis to what Gary has said, and I experience it in only a
small way - responding to emails requesting status of kits I have here
for repair/upgrade/build etc., does take considerable time and energy -
multiply that by a very large factor (your guess for the number of K3
orders) and you have a lot of time just to respond to order
status/confirmation requests.

While all of us who have ordered K3s have the same questions, I do not
have either written or email confirmation of my order. I do know that
everyone at Elecraft is very busy communicating with the beta testers,
getting all the production stuff in order, along with their normal
activities, and they are putting in a lot of overtime hours to get it done.

Have patience, try not to bother them any more than necessary, and in a
couple weeks the flood will be cleared and things will restore to
something more normal.

73,
Don W3FPR

Gary Hvizdak wrote:

> Recently Dave (G4AON) wrote
>
> "... having paid a 50% deposit it wouldn't be expecting too much to have a
> receipt for the payment, showing what is on order and the balance to be
> paid. We are not talking about a small amount of money here."
>
> --
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Having produced some inexpensive accessories for the K2 that are easily
> 10,000 times simpler than the K3, I might still be able to relate to what
> Elecraft has been going through. FYI, from before Ken (WB2ART) and I began
> accepting payments for our original K2 Option Bypass Header kit in 2005,
> until all orders were shipped, we spent more time replying to customer
> emails than we did working to get our humble product out the door!

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Phil-120

RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here"

Excuse me? You buy a product from a company, pay 50% up front to help the
company out, and you get no acknowledgement from the company that a) your
order has been received or b) a receipt for your advanced payment. And you
excuse this on account they are busy?

I'm sorry, but I find that unacceptable. American companies pride
themselves on their great service - this isn't even common courtesy let
alone good customer service.

How long does it take to send a non-automated email? Someone at Elecraft is
keeping a track of all the orders (otherwise the'd have no idea of demand)
and an email takes maybe 30 seconds extra per order. Even if they have
10,000 orders (which I doubt very much), that is 83 hours of work, spread
over the last 2 months equates to about a quarter of a person. Of course,
automate the process and you don't even need a quarter of a person.

And of course, telling a customer that you have his order and his money
saves you having to answer the phone when the same customer calls in to
complain - except that doesn't take 30 seconds!

Or is it that we Brits now have a better sense of what makes for good
service than our American friends?

Phil, G8JQH

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Don Wilhelm
Sent: 08 July 2007 14:02
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was
[Elecraft] Cut off date for K3 options?)

Dave and all,

I can add emphasis to what Gary has said, and I experience it in only a
small way - responding to emails requesting status of kits I have here
for repair/upgrade/build etc., does take considerable time and energy -
multiply that by a very large factor (your guess for the number of K3
orders) and you have a lot of time just to respond to order
status/confirmation requests.

While all of us who have ordered K3s have the same questions, I do not
have either written or email confirmation of my order. I do know that
everyone at Elecraft is very busy communicating with the beta testers,
getting all the production stuff in order, along with their normal
activities, and they are putting in a lot of overtime hours to get it done.

Have patience, try not to bother them any more than necessary, and in a
couple weeks the flood will be cleared and things will restore to
something more normal.

73,
Don W3FPR

Gary Hvizdak wrote:

easily
> 10,000 times simpler than the K3, I might still be able to relate to what
> Elecraft has been going through. FYI, from before Ken (WB2ART) and I
began
> accepting payments for our original K2 Option Bypass Header kit in 2005,
> until all orders were shipped, we spent more time replying to customer
> emails than we did working to get our humble product out the door!
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
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Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

_______________________________________________
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Craig Rairdin

RE: RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of moneyhere"

I got a receipt. Maybe they lost your order. You should contact them
directly.

You're right that there's a loyalty among Elecraft customers here that
sometimes defies logic. They completely screwed up my last order even after
multiple emails and phone calls to get it right. It's fine now. They're not
perfect, and I don't see the problem with allowing people to have that
opinion. But they do a good job overall.

Craig
NZ0R

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil Wright
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 8:22 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of
moneyhere"

Excuse me? You buy a product from a company, pay 50% up front to help the
company out, and you get no acknowledgement from the company that a) your
order has been received or b) a receipt for your advanced payment. And you
excuse this on account they are busy?

I'm sorry, but I find that unacceptable. American companies pride
themselves on their great service - this isn't even common courtesy let
alone good customer service.

How long does it take to send a non-automated email? Someone at Elecraft is
keeping a track of all the orders (otherwise the'd have no idea of demand)
and an email takes maybe 30 seconds extra per order. Even if they have
10,000 orders (which I doubt very much), that is 83 hours of work, spread
over the last 2 months equates to about a quarter of a person. Of course,
automate the process and you don't even need a quarter of a person.

And of course, telling a customer that you have his order and his money
saves you having to answer the phone when the same customer calls in to
complain - except that doesn't take 30 seconds!

Or is it that we Brits now have a better sense of what makes for good
service than our American friends?

Phil, G8JQH

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Don Wilhelm
Sent: 08 July 2007 14:02
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was
[Elecraft] Cut off date for K3 options?)

Dave and all,

I can add emphasis to what Gary has said, and I experience it in only a
small way - responding to emails requesting status of kits I have here
for repair/upgrade/build etc., does take considerable time and energy -
multiply that by a very large factor (your guess for the number of K3
orders) and you have a lot of time just to respond to order
status/confirmation requests.

While all of us who have ordered K3s have the same questions, I do not
have either written or email confirmation of my order. I do know that
everyone at Elecraft is very busy communicating with the beta testers,
getting all the production stuff in order, along with their normal
activities, and they are putting in a lot of overtime hours to get it done.

Have patience, try not to bother them any more than necessary, and in a
couple weeks the flood will be cleared and things will restore to
something more normal.

73,
Don W3FPR

Gary Hvizdak wrote:

David Cutter

Re: RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of moneyhere"

In reply to this post by Phil-120

I got a personal message the same day. No, not automated, personal,
referring to my order.

David
G3UNA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Wright" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 2:22 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of
moneyhere"

> Excuse me? You buy a product from a company, pay 50% up front to help the
> company out, and you get no acknowledgement from the company that a) your
> order has been received or b) a receipt for your advanced payment. And
> you
> excuse this on account they are busy?
>
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
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Ken Kopp

Re: RE: "We are not talking about a small amount ofmoneyhere"

In reply to this post by Craig Rairdin

I received an e-mailed copy of my order as confirmation ...

Then another copy of my revision/addition to the initial one,
along with a personal note from Lisa.

FWIW, Lisa rates an "attagirl" and a raise. No doubt -ALL-
the Elecraft folks deserve the same ... Lisa's just the most
"visible".

73! Ken Kopp - K0PP
[hidden email]

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Ed K1EP

RE: RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of moneyhere"

In reply to this post by Craig Rairdin

I received a receipt too, dated April 30. Not knowing your particular circumstances, as one possible explanation, I would suggest maybe the following scenario. My receipt was sent as a PDF attachment to an email. Perhaps your over zealous ISP filtered that mail out as possible spam and dropped it. I would agree that you rightfully deserve a receipt, but maybe there is a little more to the story that isn't obvious.

At 7/8/2007 09:27 AM, Craig Rairdin wrote:

>I got a receipt. Maybe they lost your order. You should contact them
>directly.
>
>You're right that there's a loyalty among Elecraft customers here that
>sometimes defies logic. They completely screwed up my last order even after
>multiple emails and phone calls to get it right. It's fine now. They're not
>perfect, and I don't see the problem with allowing people to have that
>opinion. But they do a good job overall.
>
>Craig
>NZ0R
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [hidden email]
>[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Phil Wright
>Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 8:22 AM
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: [Elecraft] RE: "We are not talking about a small amount of
>moneyhere"
>
>
>Excuse me? You buy a product from a company, pay 50% up front to help the
>company out, and you get no acknowledgement from the company that a) your
>order has been received or b) a receipt for your advanced payment. And you
>excuse this on account they are busy?
>
>I'm sorry, but I find that unacceptable. American companies pride
>themselves on their great service - this isn't even common courtesy let
>alone good customer service.
>
>How long does it take to send a non-automated email? Someone at Elecraft is
>keeping a track of all the orders (otherwise the'd have no idea of demand)
>and an email takes maybe 30 seconds extra per order. Even if they have
>10,000 orders (which I doubt very much), that is 83 hours of work, spread
>over the last 2 months equates to about a quarter of a person. Of course,
>automate the process and you don't even need a quarter of a person.
>
>And of course, telling a customer that you have his order and his money
>saves you having to answer the phone when the same customer calls in to
>complain - except that doesn't take 30 seconds!
>
>Or is it that we Brits now have a better sense of what makes for good
>service than our American friends?
>
>Phil, G8JQH
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [hidden email]
>[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Don Wilhelm
>Sent: 08 July 2007 14:02
>To: [hidden email]
>Subject: Re: "We are not talking about a small amount of money here" (was
>[Elecraft] Cut off date for K3 options?)
>
>Dave and all,
>
>I can add emphasis to what Gary has said, and I experience it in only a
>small way - responding to emails requesting status of kits I have here
>for repair/upgrade/build etc., does take considerable time and energy -
>multiply that by a very large factor (your guess for the number of K3
>orders) and you have a lot of time just to respond to order
>status/confirmation requests.
>
>While all of us who have ordered K3s have the same questions, I do not
>have either written or email confirmation of my order. I do know that
>everyone at Elecraft is very busy communicating with the beta testers,
>getting all the production stuff in order, along with their normal
>activities, and they are putting in a lot of overtime hours to get it done.
>
>Have patience, try not to bother them any more than necessary, and in a
>couple weeks the flood will be cleared and things will restore to
>something more normal.
>
>73,
>Don W3FPR
>
>Gary Hvizdak wrote:
>> Recently Dave (G4AON) wrote
>>
>> "... having paid a 50% deposit it wouldn't be expecting too much to have a
>> receipt for the payment, showing what is on order and the balance to be
>> paid. We are not talking about a small amount of money here."
>>
>> --
>>
>> Hi Dave,
>>
>> Having produced some inexpensive accessories for the K2 that are
>easily
>> 10,000 times simpler than the K3, I might still be able to relate to what
>> Elecraft has been going through. FYI, from before Ken (WB2ART) and I
>began
>> accepting payments for our original K2 Option Bypass Header kit in 2005,
>> until all orders were shipped, we spent more time replying to customer
>> emails than we did working to get our humble product out the door!