Durham Radio Closed Forever

[hypersight]

Sorry to hear them go. Made many purchases and had great experiences with them. My first purchase from them was a President HR 2510 way back in 1995. Sad to see them go.

From their website:

We regret to inform you that Durham Radio Sales & Service Inc. after nearly a 25 years in the industry - closed its doors forever at 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 14th. We would like to thank our dedicated staff, loyal customers and friends for your continued support and for many great years in this hobby. Unfortunately, times have changed and it has become impossible to remain competitive in this industry without making drastic changes to our business model. We have decided that it would be better to close the business rather than change the products we carry and reduce customer service.

If you need product support please contact the manufacturer.
If you've recently ordered something and it did not arrive, please track your shipment to make sure it's on the way. If tracking is not available please contact your credit card company for a refund.
For any legal issues ie. contracts, creditors etc, please contact Jason Sklar at 416-498-9200 for more information.
email: contact_us at durhamradio.com

Durham Radio web site is Closed for Maintenance.

[slicerwizard]

Damn. Good thing I dropped in last week and stocked up. Wonder where all the inventory will end up.

[savage308]

noticed they didnt have any powerex AA batteries for a long time and never called when they got any in good thing i got some from amazon

[kevin2525]

That's a real kick in the teeth.

[mciupa]

Originally Posted by slicerwizard

Damn. Good thing I dropped in last week and stocked up. Wonder where all the inventory will end up.

Maybe Amazon. On-line shopping is killing "bricks and mortar" businesses.

[jwt873]

Too bad..

I spent a fair bit there over the years on ham gear. I even had a couple of things on my wish-list that I was going to buy from them. Sad to see a Canadian dealer go.

[Jay911]

I am disappointed to see any business in the hobby going down, since we have so few of them.

Having said that, my reason for not using Durham or Radioworld in the past was that the cost was too high.

I just did a price comparison between Radioworld and Scanner Master in the USA to order a 436 and ship it to my house in western Canada. I used the Ontario Radioworld location because until recently the one here in Calgary didn't exist.

Using the cheapest shipping available and taking brokerage and taxes and exchange rate into consideration, the price from Scanner Master was less than $4 Canadian more expensive than Radioworld. When the dollar was at or near par a few years ago, it wouldn't have been a fair fight.

Now that there is a local dealer, I can avoid the shipping and just go pick it up locally, so that makes it better, but in the past, there was no reason to pay 25-33% more to get shipped almost the same distance but on a different side of the border.

[smason]

Agreed. Most of my gear is from Universal Radio, or Scannermaster. Canadian dealers are getting better on ham gear (finally) but scanners are still priced out in the stratosphere.

[bigcam406]

sad. great staff there. sign of the times I guess.

[exkalibur]

When Canadian dealers are charging the exorbitant prices they are, I'm not surprised. It's a shame since Durham had superior customer service compared to the miserable staff at RW.

[DaveH]

Sad to see them go. I didn't do a lot of business with them, mostly smaller stuff, but for that their service was pretty decent, especially Lee.

Dave

[bigcam406]

Originally Posted by DaveH

Sad to see them go. I didn't do a lot of business with them, mostly smaller stuff, but for that their service was pretty decent, especially Lee.

Dave

agreed. have been a customer there for many years and i cant say anything bad about their service.Lee always was willing to go the extra step for you. definitely going to miss that shop.

[SnIpErKiD98]

It’s with great sadness that Durham radio has closed their doors forever. I was in Radio World today talking to the guys and no one had any warning. Their website states that they just couldn’t compete in the radio industry anymore. I guess Radio World it is for anything now.

[mrweather]

Originally Posted by exkalibur

It's a shame since Durham had superior customer service compared to the miserable staff at RW.

I've had nothing but great service at Radioworld. YMMV I guess.

I've purchased a few items from Durham Radio over the years and had nothing but great service from them too. Bought my first handheld from them (Alinco DJ-180 + accessories).

[slicerwizard]

Never had an unpleasant experience at DR.

Never had a pleasant experience at RW.

[FoeHammer]

I got my yaesu vx6 there many years ago still use & love that radio

[webstar22]

Originally Posted by exkalibur

When Canadian dealers are charging the exorbitant prices they are, I'm not surprised. It's a shame since Durham had superior customer service compared to the miserable staff at RW.

Ok so it wasn't just my impression of them.

[ratpatrol]

I found them to offer stuff that RW wouldnt stock. I doubt the rent was a problem but more so that hams buy everything from china now.

I understand dealers need to make money to stay in business but look at all those mouths getting fed at RW. I heard they sell more Minelab than CB radios and scanners

Sad to see them go as I now dont have a source for the real anderson poles now