FRS Service and Equipment

Hi Pete... I understand it can be very frustrating when you've been without your rig for a few weeks and not getting what you feel are adequate responses from the vendor.

To answer your question tho... as Geoff pointed out (obliquely) -- satisfied customers of Flex's radios most often do not post about their successes or how wonderful their radios are -- they just enjoy them. We are, indeed, fortunate that Flex has pretty much dedicated employees who monitor these forums and respond when they can with helpful suggestions, troubleshooting tips, etc.

For myself, I can offer two pieces of recent history. a) I have had a 6500 since 2016 which ran pretty much continuously until 2022. The only problems I have had with it are: 1) the SD card needed to be replaced since it was very old, too small and was in danger of becoming corrupted as the firmware increased in size. After submitting a Help Desk ticket, Flex sent a replacement card to me (in Canada) pretty much the next day, complete with detailed instructions for me to install it myself. It was easy and worked the first time!

2) Very recently, I got a 'fan speed' error on the 6500. Again, I submitted a Help Desk ticket. I got contacted roughly 3 hours later and after some initial diagnostics via email, Flex told me the CPU and FPGA fans needed to be replaced and could I please send the rig into them to affect the repair. I shipped it at my expense (it was , of course, WAY out of warranty) and it took about a week to arrive. They acknowledged receipt when it came to them and then contacted me again when it arrived on the tech's bench about another week later. The tech emailed me to confirm the CPU and FPGA fans were defective and that they would replace them at no cost to me. He also asked if I'd like them to replace the side cabinet fans as well (since they were pretty old) at a nominal cost. I said sure and the tech notified me the next day that the repairs were completed and that the rig had been tested and aligned and it was back to shipping for return to me. Shipping contacted me the next day and asked how I would like it shipped out. The rig arrived back at my door about a week later via UPS and it has been working perfectly ever since.

So, long winded way of saying that my experience with Flex has been very different. I do find that patience does help, along with an understanding of how the service industry works. It's not always possible to be 'top priority', especially if there is a particular component that's tough to get, or the problem is difficult to diagnose.

Well, what frustrates me more is the lack of meaningful software updates. It been years since the 3.0 release with only a few minor bug fixes or tweaks. Some of the bug fixes were for self induced problems, some were fixes for the fixes.

How many times has the response to a bug report been “known problem”, but no fix delivered.

My recent experience has been annoying in one respect. After my PGXL was received and waiting for repair, I could not get any information on the status. The real status was that it was sitting on a shelf in backlog waiting for an available technician. As soon as the tech started I was notified and analysis and repair was done within a day.

Two hams in our DX club had the same experience. I would rather they have an additional technician than a technical administrator answering questions on equipment waiting for repair.

It would be helpful if we could get an estimate of when a technician may be available when it goes into the queue. That information would be helpful for me so that we can make appropriate decisions for setting up alternate operating setup to continue our operations. As an example my PGXL was in queue for 3 weeks during the 3Y0 operation. My friends PGXL was in queue for 6 weeks and got repaired last week.

it appears once handed off from help desk technician and the receiving department no one is following the status until it goes on the bench. The status is that it is waiting for a technician, period. When receiving moves the equipment into service queue you are informed.

My 6600 was in for repair 18 months ago and it was in queue one day. Most of the time was spent in transit with UPS.

I think the customer service and management needs to address this perception of poor customer communication. Also regardless of the communication reduce the backlog to one week. Fly a tech in from Montenegro. If you want to be the best then address the service image.

73

Bill

W9JJB

I understand people's frustration with the "apparent " lack of communication from Flex Radio Service. Having experienced that frustration recently, it is understandable. But, the end results is definitely worth the frustration. The best advice I can offer is to have a backup rig/amplifier/ or auto tuner for times like this. It may not be a setup as good as your Flex Radio, but, it will keep you on the air till your radio makes it back home. As for Flex Radio hiring more techs, that's not always as easy as it sounds. Good techs that understand the technology are not that easy to find. And there is a lot of competition wanting to hire them. Same thing goes for software/firmware developers. The developers at Flex Radio are very talented. And finding others with similar talents isn't easy either. And competition for their services is intense. I, like others, get frustrated with Flex Radio for several things. But, Service isn't one of them. I sincerely believe their customer service has been, and still is, top notch. We all need to be a bit more understanding with their customer service as they are very dedicated to providing the best customer service they can.

James

WD5GWY