Rusty In Lousiville,

I had a negative experience and would *not* recommend Universal Radio.
Alternatively, I *would* recommend C Crane Radio and/or Grove Radio:
I have made satisfactory purchases from both.

Good Luck
From sdl in Maryland.


Eric F. Richards wrote:
"Rusty in Louisville" wrote:

I would like to get some opinions about
Universal Radio, Inc., located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

My reason for asking is they seem to never ship on time
and always have to back order, sometimes taking 30 days
or more to back order.


I've had similar experiences. You are told the product is in stock
until the order is completed, then they tell you the item is
backordered.

I did want to test a Ten-Tec RX-340 there, and when the lady who
answered the phone asked someone else if I could test the radio, she
was told, "hell no, that's a $4000 radio."

So I drove to Ten-Tec and was given free-reign to play with the
radio.
I bought one, from Ten-Tec, two months later.

All that said, Universal is kinda the lesser of two evils in the
shortwave supply biz. I look elsewhere when I can, such as Ham
Radio
Outlet or one of the myriad national mail-order scanner shops.

sdl wrote:

I had a negative experience and would *not* recommend Universal Radio.
Alternatively, I *would* recommend C Crane Radio and/or Grove Radio:
I have made satisfactory purchases from both.

I agree about Grove Enterprizes. They have an especially good return
policy and rarely charge a restocking fee if all the literature and
packing materials are included in the return.


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On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 22:37:01 -0600, starman wrote
(in message ):

sdl wrote:

I had a negative experience and would *not* recommend Universal Radio.
Alternatively, I *would* recommend C Crane Radio and/or Grove Radio:
I have made satisfactory purchases from both.

I agree about Grove Enterprizes. They have an especially good return
policy and rarely charge a restocking fee if all the literature and
packing materials are included in the return.


And I'll agree about CCrane. I had a problem with an used radio I bought from
them (and the problem was not very great) and they went so far out of their
way to make sure I was satisfied that it embarassed me!

I tried to talk them into taking some money ($25?) and they just wouldn't let
me give it to them.

If CCrane has something I want, I'll buy it from them without comparison
shopping - I could care less if they charge more; I don't mind paying for
quality.


And just wait 'til I tell y'all about their battery charger!



Gray Shockley
----------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio+ w/RS Loop
Justice AM Antenna
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
---------------------
Vicksburg, MS US

"starman" wrote in message
...
sdl wrote:

I had a negative experience and would *not* recommend Universal Radio.


No experience here with Universal Radio but I would whole heartedly
recommend R&L. I won't go into details here but they were very good to me.

73 Tom KI3R Belle Vernon Pa.

"Rusty in Louisville" wrote:

I would like to get some opinions
about Universal Radio, Inc., located
in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. (snip)


I've had mixed results with Universal Radio - one order went well and
another didn't. I've had slightly better results with Burghardt
(www.burghardt-amateur.com) and their prices are often better. However,
since you added a shortwave newsgroup to your message, I should point out
that their primary focus is on Amateur Radio, with very little shortwave
equipment.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

Dwight Stewart wrote:

"Rusty in Louisville" wrote:

I would like to get some opinions
about Universal Radio, Inc., located
in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. (snip)

I've had mixed results with Universal Radio - one order went well and
another didn't. I've had slightly better results with Burghardt
(www.burghardt-amateur.com) and their prices are often better. However,
since you added a shortwave newsgroup to your message, I should point out
that their primary focus is on Amateur Radio, with very little shortwave
equipment.

I've had less than pleasant experiences with Universal. The staff seems
almost surly and almost equally unfamiliar with the equipment they sell.
Prices are higher, by quite a margin, over other dealers. My personal
preference is R&L Electronics in Hamilton, Ohio, just north of
Cincinnati.

Dave K8MN

I purchased a hand held antenna from Burghardt and was charged $15.00 for
UPS Ground. They don't notify of shipping charges until you receive it, at
least the time I ordered.

Honestly that was my problem since I didn't ask. The truth of it is, that is
far to expensive to charge. Keep product costs down, make up the difference
in shipping I guess.



"Dave Heil" wrote in message
...
Dwight Stewart wrote:

"Rusty in Louisville" wrote:

I would like to get some opinions
about Universal Radio, Inc., located
in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. (snip)

I've had mixed results with Universal Radio - one order went well and
another didn't. I've had slightly better results with Burghardt
(www.burghardt-amateur.com) and their prices are often better. However,
since you added a shortwave newsgroup to your message, I should point
out
that their primary focus is on Amateur Radio, with very little shortwave
equipment.

I've had less than pleasant experiences with Universal. The staff seems
almost surly and almost equally unfamiliar with the equipment they sell.
Prices are higher, by quite a margin, over other dealers. My personal
preference is R&L Electronics in Hamilton, Ohio, just north of
Cincinnati.

Dave K8MN

"Newsgroup Lurker" wrote:

I purchased a hand held antenna from
Burghardt and was charged $15.00 for
UPS Ground. They don't notify of
shipping charges until you receive it, at
least the time I ordered.


I noticed your message was posted from "news.uni-berlin.de." You are in
the United States, right? If not, $15 is not excessive to ship something to
Germany. However, if you're in the USA, you're right that $15 is a little
high. However, I don't know why they would charge that. If I remember
correctly, they only charged me about $15 (also UPS ground) when they
shipped two handheld radios with extra batteries and chargers. Perhaps they
have a minimum shipping charge or something.


Honestly that was my problem since I
didn't ask.


Well, it is certainly a good idea to get all the details before ordering -
something I would recommend with any mail-order transaction.


The truth of it is, that is far too expensive
to charge. (snip)


Agreed.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

"Rusty in Louisville" wrote in message
...
I would like to get some opinions about
Universal Radio, Inc., located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

My reason for asking is they seem to never ship on time
and always have to back order, sometimes taking 30 days
or more to back order.

Rusty in Louisville

I've ordered from them before and never had
any delivery problems.

Backorders are usually a function of the leadtime
from the manufacturer (all of them are in Asia)
and not the dealer. This issue cannot be helped.
It's the nature of supply vs demand.

Of late however, I've been ordering from
Texas Towers http://www.texastowers.com/
for ham related items and also Grove Enterprises
http://www.grove-ent.com/ for SWL items.

Both of these Dealers above were able to get me
a better price on a given item in several cases of
purchase over the quoted price from U.R.

"Rusty in Louisville" wrote in message
...
I would like to get some opinions about
Universal Radio, Inc., located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

My reason for asking is they seem to never ship on time
and always have to back order, sometimes taking 30 days
or more to back order.

Rusty in Louisville


Had significant trouble with an R8B order. They did not ship as they
promised and the worst part was they lied to me. The office manager was
exceptionally surly when I called and asked what had happened. I doubt they
know the first thing about good customer service.