"damned if you do...."

[DOUGLAS ZWIEBEL]

John, K7SVV said,

"I think some of you have taught Wayne a lesson.  It is a lot less
painful to keep them in the dark than it is to keep them informed.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't."

No John, IMO that is not the lesson here.

The lesson here is that you should only keep people in the dark for a
predetermined about of time, and then you MUST tell them.  Hiding
facts, whether that means that Elecraft just didn't get around to
adequately testing the RX3 to begin with, or that it is just wasn't
fully designed yet, or that they knew it was a problem when placed
into the K3, should only be tolerated by the manufacturer for specific
and limited time frame which they should define IMMEDIATELY upon
discovery.

Most of us can understand and tolerate a hidden delay if it is truly
just a delay.  There is no reason to share every production glitch
with the world on an immediate basis.  But never breach the defined
time frame for expected success without notifying your
customers/clients/followers.

In ethics, we call this the issue the slippery slope problem.  Once
you decide to conceal information (and I listed several options
specific to the RX3 above...and by the way, I have not ordered the RX3
so I am not impacted), you are immediately faced with the problem of
"when to come clean" if the problem/issue is not resolved as
anticipated (either timing or quality or cost or some combo thereof).

Telling yourself, "OK, we'll have that done in a month" can easily
lead to "OK, it will take another month," etc., etc., etc.  Once you
cross your initial time line (which should have been defined
internally by Elecraft...or any company with a product or service,
upon discovery of the issue), you are now in ethical jeopardy.
Further unannounced delays puts you deeper and deeper into the hole.
At some point, you either decide to simply never come clean [the most
unethical decision], or you can't stand your own ethical failure and
do come clean.

Generally, hams are accepting of delays if announced in a timely
manner; including an explanation is even better.  But having
customers/clients/followers "blind-sided" after nine months of
anticipation is clearly a failure of ethical decision-making...and
probably of sound business decision-making as well.

There is no doubt that I qualify as a believer in Elecraft - but not a
maniacal believer.  But I am very, very frustrated.  Over the course
of the last 8 months, I have learned a lot more about Elecraft and
their approach to "life" and I am now able to better temper my
frustration, but I am still frustrated.

In conclusion, the lesson learned is not "damned if you do and damned
if you don't," but rather that "Honesty is the best policy" and if you
need to come up with a "white lie," set a specific time frame or
benchmark (if a quality or cost issue)  for resolution.  If not
resolved as expected, when expected, come clean sooner rather than
later.  Adhering to these simple guidelines will help EVERYONE
concerned sleep better at night.

de Doug KR2Q
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