Icom IC-M31 got water damaged - Where do I stand?? Contact Icom?

[BogMonster]

Can't say much about the marine stuff except that my base set on my rib works fine but after many years of Icom VHF amateur band sets I won't buy anything else now, except maybe Yaesu, I've got one that must be at least 15 years old and still works fine.

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by alt

I just got a repair estimate from Icom of £45. I don't think i'll be buying any ICOM products ever again

Doesn't sound unreasonable to me, for an out of warranty repair to a second hand radio.

I have a sneaky feeling that you may have scored an own goal though - if you had just asked nicely, instead of immediately shouting the odds over the internet, you might have got a different response. I guess we'll never know.

For the record, I have no problem with anyone outing poor service on RIBnet but I don't particularly appreciate it being used as a pre-emptive threat.

John

[Mollers]

I find it staggering that anyone should buy an electronic product from Ebay, find it to be faulty and then expect the manufacturer to repair it FOC. Who knows what mis-treatment the thing may have received whilst in previous ownership.

Bt then, most of Alt's posts consist of whinging and whining and trying to do things on the cheap.

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by alt

I didn't demand anything, just a polite letter asking if they could 'investigate' why my VHF took in water…

Originally Posted by alt

… I had nothing to lose by posting the item to them as it's dead anyhow.

Originally Posted by alt

If they don't reply ot reply with a 'too bad' then i'm not going to cry over it, ….

Sounds like you already had a tear in your eye.

Originally Posted by alt

I just got a repair estimate from Icom of £45. …

£45 doesn’t sound unreasonable, but a new radio isn’t expensive either.

Originally Posted by alt

…. I don't think i'll be buying any ICOM products ever again ..

Stop crying

Originally Posted by alt

..they want to charge me for a manufacturing defect …

Have they identified the defect and what caused it?

Originally Posted by codprawn

What is the fault? It could be the past owner opened the casing or dropped it or similar or even that it was exposed to some chemical that may have damaged the seals.

Yep - I expect Alt bought it at a bargain price and sometimes these can backfire. Sh!t happens.
As to asking for it to be repaired FOC If ICOM were to agree to this, where would it stop? They'd have no repeat business, 'cos all their old broken units would be sent back for FOC repairs.
Had it been a generic fault, I'm sure there would be loads of threads on here and other boating forums highlighting this.
Pay the £45, or do what you should have done in the first place - buy a new radio with warranty, eg the HX270 which Malthouse has recommended.

[Mollers]

If it was described by the seller as being in GWO, whine at him. Tell him that he's very naughty and that you WILL NOT be buying any more clapped out handheld VHF sets from him ever again!

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by alt

i'll never buy an Icom product in the future,

Originally Posted by alt

http://www.marinemegastore.com

Pretty peeved off, won't be ordering from them again

You'll soon run out of people to buy from

Originally Posted by alt

OK so picture the scenario, you have a budget of £40-45k, and you want a diesel RIB that's capable of cruising around the west Irish coast (7.5m+), with a long range


Suggestions people!!

I can think of a couple, so go on what did you buy?

[Chris]

Bought this as a back up and can't fault it. Really nicely put together.

[alt]

Got a letter from ICOM

"We still have your VHF, xx amount to fix water-damaged 'waterproof' VHF. Read with interest your comments on RIBnet. Bill still outstanding, if payment not gotten within 7 days, VHF will be scrapped"

Well read this ICOM - You can shove your piece o' sh1t VHF up your hole. I won't be buying an ICOM ever again, and rather than pay xx quid (+ postage) for repair of an item i'll just go with a different manufacturer, pay my 100odd quid, get a PROPER WATERPROOF unit and get a warranty with it. While it may seem childish, I will be giving my feedback of Icom customer service (and what I reckon of their waterproof VHF's) to as many people as possible that I come accross - I'll probably get called an idiot from people here for this, but so be it.

OK a bit of a rant I know, according to ICOM the warranty was out of date from DATE OF MANUFACTURE, but does this mean that ICOM units only stay waterproof for for their warranty period and then seals etc. start going bust?

Oh, and watch out for a re-furbished Icom 'Waterproof' handheld - will be for sale direct from Icom any day now I bet - scumbags

[PeterM]

I take it you aren't happy with ICOM then ?

I feel maybe it was a little ambitious to expect them to fix it for free when you purchased it second hand .

I have however also now 'defected' from ICOM to Std Horizon - not for any service or build problems , but I think ICOM are starting to trade a little on the name & charging for the pleasure. I've ordered the std Horizons 750 & 250 for £190 combined . That will buy me about one and half ICOMs !

They should both have 3 year warranty for water incursion !

[alt]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

I take it you aren't happy with ICOM then ?

I feel maybe it was a little ambitious to expect them to fix it for free when you purchased it second hand .

I have however also now 'defected' from ICOM to Std Horizon - not for any service or build problems , but I think ICOM are starting to trade a little on the name & charging for the pleasure. I've ordered the std Horizons 750 & 250 for £190 combined . That will buy me about one and half ICOMs !

They should both have 3 year warranty for water incursion !

Yup I reckon i'm going to go down the Std Horizon route (thanks to feedback from here on their products)

My gripe with the ICOM product was that it is ADVERTISED as waterproof yet failed and could have left me stuck should I have needed to use it for communication. The bigger sickener was that the damn thing didn't even get immersed, only 'splashed' with salt water when I was driving a Thundercat.

ICOM said a seal had failed, yet when I removed the battery (where they claim it had failed) the seal LOOKED fine, which leads me to suspect the gasket/seal wasn't thick enough in the first place.

Anyhow, i'm simply moving manufacturers and won't be buying ICOM products in the future - They probably read this thread and laugh at me as i'm only 1 person but as someone who runs a small business (aswell as trying to manage full time education) I know how important my customers are to me and know how damaging feedback could potentially be - I guess ICOM are too big for this and don't care about the little people

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by alt

Yup I reckon i'm going to go down the Std Horizon route (thanks to feedback from here on their products)

My gripe with the ICOM product was that it is ADVERTISED as waterproof yet failed and could have left me stuck should I have needed to use it for communication. The bigger sickener was that the damn thing didn't even get immersed, only 'splashed' with salt water when I was driving a Thundercat.

ICOM said a seal had failed, yet when I removed the battery (where they claim it had failed) the seal LOOKED fine, which leads me to suspect the gasket/seal wasn't thick enough in the first place.

Anyhow, i'm simply moving manufacturers and won't be buying ICOM products in the future - They probably read this thread and laugh at me as i'm only 1 person but as someone who runs a small business (aswell as trying to manage full time education) I know how important my customers are to me and know how damaging feedback could potentially be - I guess ICOM are too big for this and don't care about the little people

If they are smart they will realise thats its mostly us ' little people' that buy their gear ( or not from now on). Given the whole 'downturn' thingy its dangerous for any company not to be 100% on its game. There will usually be someone to pick up thier lost business - in this case Std Hor !

[alt]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

If they are smart they will realise thats its mostly us ' little people' that buy their gear ( or not from now on). Given the whole 'downturn' thingy its dangerous for any company not to be 100% on its game. There will usually be someone to pick up thier lost business - in this case Std Hor !

I e-mailed them offering to pay for the parts (which were pittence) and of course the return postage, but no good

It's a case of LESSON LEARNED for me. I may be only one person, but this one person won't be buying an Icom product again

[PeterM]

These guys seem to be abou the best prices I could find for replacements if its any use .

http://www.redcar-fish.co.uk/subcat....egory=Handheld

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by alt

Yup I reckon i'm going to go down the Std Horizon route (thanks to feedback from here on their products)

My gripe with the ICOM product was that it is ADVERTISED as waterproof yet failed and could have left me stuck should I have needed to use it for communication. The bigger sickener was that the damn thing didn't even get immersed, only 'splashed' with salt water when I was driving a Thundercat.

ICOM said a seal had failed, yet when I removed the battery (where they claim it had failed) the seal LOOKED fine, which leads me to suspect the gasket/seal wasn't thick enough in the first place.

Anyhow, i'm simply moving manufacturers and won't be buying ICOM products in the future - They probably read this thread and laugh at me as i'm only 1 person but as someone who runs a small business (aswell as trying to manage full time education) I know how important my customers are to me and know how damaging feedback could potentially be - I guess ICOM are too big for this and don't care about the little people

Yes, how dare a second hand product of indeterminate age fail without them fixing it for free.

I recently had to send my M421 back to Icom as it had malfunctioned. The unit was bought less than 3 years ago-but not by me and it wasn't registered with proof of purchase when sold to the original owner.I had to pay for it to be fixed as it was manufactured over 3 years ago even though the purchase date was less than 3 years ago.

How dare Icom not have a crystal ball that tells them when it was sold by the bulk purchasing chandler it came from?

In fact, how dare they charge me a fraction of the cost of replacement for their engineers time in sorting it out?

Grow up Alt. If you want a full warranty, buy a new product and register it with proof of purchase instead of ranting when you don't get your way when a cheapy goes wrong.

[Poly]

Alt - I imagine it was sent back to them with a "fix this or i'll slag you off on RIBnet" type letter too - which is very unlikely to be successful.

[alt]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Alt - I imagine it was sent back to them with a "fix this or i'll slag you off on RIBnet" type letter too - which is very unlikely to be successful.

Nope, I have a copy of the letter somewhere if I can find it i'll upload it. It was a letter asking if they could tell me why my waterproof VHF failed.

Their simple reply was a quote to fix it saying that a seal didn't do it's job and a description of what needed to be replaced.

[alt]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Yes, how dare a second hand product of indeterminate age fail without them fixing it for free.

I recently had to send my M421 back to Icom as it had malfunctioned. The unit was bought less than 3 years ago-but not by me and it wasn't registered with proof of purchase when sold to the original owner.I had to pay for it to be fixed as it was manufactured over 3 years ago even though the purchase date was less than 3 years ago.

How dare Icom not have a crystal ball that tells them when it was sold by the bulk purchasing chandler it came from?

In fact, how dare they charge me a fraction of the cost of replacement for their engineers time in sorting it out?

Grow up Alt. If you want a full warranty, buy a new product and register it with proof of purchase instead of ranting when you don't get your way when a cheapy goes wrong.

How dare me expect a product to live up to the manufacturers claims

[alt]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

These guys seem to be abou the best prices I could find for replacements if its any use .

http://www.redcar-fish.co.uk/subcat....egory=Handheld

Yup spotted that link in the other thread - Thanks

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Yes, how dare a second hand product of indeterminate age fail without them fixing it for free.

I recently had to send my M421 back to Icom as it had malfunctioned. The unit was bought less than 3 years ago-but not by me and it wasn't registered with proof of purchase when sold to the original owner.I had to pay for it to be fixed as it was manufactured over 3 years ago even though the purchase date was less than 3 years ago.

How dare Icom not have a crystal ball that tells them when it was sold by the bulk purchasing chandler it came from?

In fact, how dare they charge me a fraction of the cost of replacement for their engineers time in sorting it out?

Grow up Alt. If you want a full warranty, buy a new product and register it with proof of purchase instead of ranting when you don't get your way when a cheapy goes wrong.

Agree its not down to ICOM to fix products purchased second hand etc. If you by a car & it packs up out of warranty you cant epect to take it back to the dealer saying ' it failed, please fix it for free', but always assumed it was 3 years from purchase ( like cars etc ) , not manufacture . These things could sit on a shelf in a dealer for 8 months then be sold - 3 years can easily become 18 months in this case .

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

Agree its not down to ICOM to fix products purchased second hand etc. If you by a car & it packs up out of warranty you cant epect to take it back to the dealer saying ' it failed, please fix it for free', but always assumed it was 3 years from purchase ( like cars etc ) , not manufacture . These things could sit on a shelf in a dealer for 8 months then be sold - 3 years can easily become 18 months in this case .

Agreed-but if you don't register it with proof of purchase date, there's no other date they can work from.