Airspy US - Disturbing and Ongoing Customer Service Issue

[KC1UA]

During that time period, I have made 4 purchases from AirspyUS with not problems. They must just not like you.

You might take note that in my original post, I stated that to date I had never had an issue with them either. I'd guess that's because everything I purchased from them worked like a champ. Of your four purchases, have any of them malfunctioned? If so, I'll be interested to see how you make out. If not? Feel free to post an ass kissing thread elsewhere, just not in this thread. Thank you kindly.

 

[KC1UA]

Was thinking of getting a Airspy but forget it now with a company that is a scam. Good luck!!

To be fair, they are not a scam, they are indeed a legit business. That said, in my experience thus far they do not handle the procedure to replace or refund for defective equipment well. Stuff breaks, and that's the way it is. It's an easy fix in my opinion, and I work for a company that provides easy fixes on the rare occasion that something doesn't work as expected. There is no need to make the customer suffer because something electronic barfs. This thus far has been as opposite to that line of thinking as I have ever experienced. It is completely unnecessary. Airspy devices are outstanding products. This is just an unfortunate situation.

Thanks for your input; it is appreciated.

 

[dlwtrunked]

I understood that but it is a small company and the same people(person) probably hand both.

You might take note that in my original post, I stated that to date I had never had an issue with them either. I'd guess that's because everything I purchased from them worked like a champ. Of your four purchases, have any of them malfunctioned? If so, I'll be interested to see how you make out. If not? Feel free to post an ass kissing thread elsewhere, just not in this thread. Thank you kindly.

To answer you question, I have 11 Airspys total and never had a problem.
(I hope your realize my previous reply post was partly in joking.) Many companies have issues similar and I think you expect too fast a response. I had a Nooelec device fail and it took them 4 months and my nagging. And with them, I am still not sure I ever got totally reimbursed.

 

[GTR8000]

Airspy devices are not the problem, it's the distributor in the United States (airspy.us) which is the subject of questionable support and customer service. Airspy.us is merely a regional distributor of the Airspy product (airspy.com, not to be confused with airspy.us); they do not design or manufacture the hardware.

If you want to purchase an Airspy product but would like to avoid airspy.us, then purchase directly from the manufacturer itead.

Purchase - AIRSPY

High Performance Low Cost Software Defined Radio Receivers

airspy.com

 

[KC1UA]

(I hope your realize my previous reply post was partly in joking.) Many companies have issues similar and I think you expect too fast a response. I had a Nooelec device fail and it took them 4 months and my nagging. And with them, I am still not sure I ever got totally reimbursed.

Thanks for the clarification; understood. I just think this timeframe is unacceptable when the situation could have been easily resolved at the outset with a simple replacement. I can't think of a reason why it can't be easily resolved, and that's the problem. This is a US based company. There's really no excuse, in my opinion. It is not my problem if it's a one-person show.

This is like the SDR version of "it's all fun and games until someone puts an eye out". We'll see where it goes from here. It's a shame it had to get to this point.

 

[GTR8000]

Bottom line is that you've been waiting entirely too long for what should be a fairly straightforward warranty issue. As you said, this is a U.S. based operation two states to your west in the same time zone, not some foreign conglomerate with people who don't speak English well. No offense to the other poster, but anyone who believes that waiting 4 months for support is a "reasonable" period of time...yikes. 😵

Although I use a few Airspy Minis on a daily basis and they perform just fine, I've moved on from Airspy products and instead use and recommend SDRPlay devices. They offer the same 10 MHz bandwidth as the Airspy R2 for less cost.

Oh and speaking of the Airspy Mini, as an aside I had to calibrate every single one of them despite the claims that Airspy products are pre-calibrated before leaving the factory. They were all off by as much as 3-5 ppm until I calibrated them, brand new right out of the box. My RSP2pro was dead balls on despite being a few years old. So $100 for a 6 MHz bandwidth 12-bit ADC Airspy Mini that is going to be off by 3-5 ppm (and the calibration tool is no longer available on the Airspy site, you have to hunt to find it)...or $120 for a 10 MHz bandwidth 14-bit ADC RSP1a that is dead balls on center. You do the math! 👀

 

[W5ATX]

Sorry you are going thru this, I had a similar issue here: SDRTrunk - SDRTrunk Losing Control Channel

being the new kid on the block with SDR's i contributed it to operator error on my end, but the more and more i tinkered, the more i found out i had an issue with the Airspy unit itself. At the end of the day Joe and I had choice words via email, then when I pushed the paypal claim route, he refused to help me completely. Long story short, there was a different chipset used that he advertised, and after I already took screenshots and sent them to paypay, he changed the website to reflect the new chipset number so that I couldn't file the wrong item sent claim, but him updating the website only aided to my claim and I won. He could have easily swapped out the device out but decided to be a PITA about it. The whole experience killed my interest in sdr trunk and i haven't touched it in well over a year. The owner of airspy Youssef is sharp, and a fellow member of the forums, but the airspy.us distributor, joebearcat is a piece of work.

 

[Saint]

Sorry you are going thru this, I had a similar issue here: SDRTrunk - SDRTrunk Losing Control Channel

being the new kid on the block with SDR's i contributed it to operator error on my end, but the more and more i tinkered, the more i found out i had an issue with the Airspy unit itself. At the end of the day Joe and I had choice words via email, then when I pushed the paypal claim route, he refused to help me completely. Long story short, there was a different chipset used that he advertised, and after I already took screenshots and sent them to paypay, he changed the website to reflect the new chipset number so that I couldn't file the wrong item sent claim, but him updating the website only aided to my claim and I won. He could have easily swapped out the device out but decided to be a PITA about it. The whole experience killed my interest in sdr trunk and i haven't touched it in well over a year. The owner of airspy Youssef is sharp, and a fellow member of the forums, but the airspy.us distributor, joebearcat is a piece of work.

 

[Saint]

I have done business with AIRSPY.US on several occasions and have had no problems with them, I just today have been in touch with them to return a product to them from Canada and they have always been strait up dealing with me. I will be returning the product this week. There is nothing wrong with the product I am sending back to them It's for different reason, and they have said I can send it back.
Steve

 

[PDXh0b0]

I have done business with AIRSPY.US on several occasions and have had no problems with them, I just today have been in touch with them to return a product to them from Canada and they have always been strait up dealing with me. I will be returning the product this week. There is nothing wrong with the product I am sending back to them It's for different reason, and they have said I can send it back.
Steve

Trading the hf+ for an R2?

 

[Saint]

Trading the hf+ for an R2?

No, I will stick to my SDRplay RSPdx for HF and sdruno software, I will take a hit 15% restocking and shipping charges but that's the way it is.
Steve

 

[dlwtrunked]

Bottom line is that you've been waiting entirely too long for what should be a fairly straightforward warranty issue. As you said, this is a U.S. based operation two states to your west in the same time zone, not some foreign conglomerate with people who don't speak English well. No offense to the other poster, but anyone who believes that waiting 4 months for support is a "reasonable" period of time...yikes. 😵

Although I use a few Airspy Minis on a daily basis and they perform just fine, I've moved on from Airspy products and instead use and recommend SDRPlay devices. They offer the same 10 MHz bandwidth as the Airspy R2 for less cost.

Oh and speaking of the Airspy Mini, as an aside I had to calibrate every single one of them despite the claims that Airspy products are pre-calibrated before leaving the factory. They were all off by as much as 3-5 ppm until I calibrated them, brand new right out of the box. My RSP2pro was dead balls on despite being a few years old. So $100 for a 6 MHz bandwidth 12-bit ADC Airspy Mini that is going to be off by 3-5 ppm (and the calibration tool is no longer available on the Airspy site, you have to hunt to find it)...or $120 for a 10 MHz bandwidth 14-bit ADC RSP1a that is dead balls on center. You do the math! 👀

The Airspy calibration tool is no longer at the website as it is included in the SDRsharp downloaded installed folder. I look at the 1 Hz level and neither the Airspy nor RSP can calibrate to that accuracy due to the step sizes of the internal synthesis (at best they are going to be accurate in the order of tens of Hz or so of the true frequency across their range--even if you use a disciplined clock on the Airspy or on the RSP Pro2 model twhich allows that also). The use of a GPSDO does give stability but not the accuracy that one might think due to the internal syntheses also. Note that calibration requires an accurate source with highest frequency posible and for those without hardware that would be the pilot on a digital TV channel--but only some of those have high accuracy themselves (ideally 309.441 kHz, rounded to the nearest Hz, above the channel low end) and on some stations, that can be off by as much by a significant amount (which I can see that with the SignalHound). For some of what I do, I do need better than that and it is disappointing that these cannot give one 1 Hz accuracy but they are based on hardware designs not designed to do that. So I wonder how you calibrated them and you should note, that using a different calibration frequency than Airspy used, due to the internal synthesis mentioned above, could lead to different results. So calibration is a problematic thing with these devices with not such thing as "right on". Less than ideal, but reality.

 

[KC1UA]

This thread is getting off track from its original point. I would respectfully request that not happen. Thanks.

Sorry you are going thru this, I had a similar issue here: SDRTrunk - SDRTrunk Losing Control Channel

being the new kid on the block with SDR's i contributed it to operator error on my end, but the more and more i tinkered, the more i found out i had an issue with the Airspy unit itself. At the end of the day Joe and I had choice words via email, then when I pushed the paypal claim route, he refused to help me completely. Long story short, there was a different chipset used that he advertised, and after I already took screenshots and sent them to paypay, he changed the website to reflect the new chipset number so that I couldn't file the wrong item sent claim, but him updating the website only aided to my claim and I won. He could have easily swapped out the device out but decided to be a PITA about it. The whole experience killed my interest in sdr trunk and i haven't touched it in well over a year. The owner of airspy Youssef is sharp, and a fellow member of the forums, but the airspy.us distributor, joebearcat is a piece of work.

Thanks very much for this information. If I have to go that route I will remind PayPal that my complaint will not be the first one against the company.

I simply can't believe how business can be conducted like this. I have not reported this to Youssef yet. Perhaps I'll find out if it is worthwhile. His products are apparently not being represented well in the United States.

I have done business with AIRSPY.US on several occasions and have had no problems with them, I just today have been in touch with them to return a product to them from Canada and they have always been strait up dealing with me. I will be returning the product this week. There is nothing wrong with the product I am sending back to them It's for different reason, and they have said I can send it back.
Steve

Dandy, I'm happy for you! Maybe @dlwtrunked is right and he doesn't like me. I did nothing untoward to cause any hate and discontent. I do know one thing; I am one stubborn SOB and I don't give up easy.

 

[KC1UA]

Based on the comments from @W5ATX above, I made the decision this morning to file a dispute with PayPal. I was shocked to receive an email back from them just under two hours later advising me they had ruled in my favor and were refunding me for the price of the Airspy Mini.

I'm happy to get my money back, but other than that I don't take any pleasure from this at all. It sucks. I never had any issue with this company until something purchased from them was defective, and it turned into this. As I think further about it I likely am done buying Airspy devices despite my love for the things. If this problem occurred with a US dealer I expect it might be exceedingly difficult to recoup anything buying directly from the factory in China, if a purchased item was defective.

I'll likely take the advice of @GTR8000 and start switching to SDRPlay devices. On the few occasions I've had to return something to HRO over the years they have been without hesitation quick to provide support. Yes, I know comparing HRO to this company is an apples and oranges thing, but ultimately regardless of manpower and resources there is in my opinion at this point no viable excuse for a situation deteriorating to the level this one did.

I've killed enough brain cells with this, and I don't have many to spare, so I'm done. Mods, feel free to do what you will with this thread. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and input, and going forward I hope things will improve for the company. Sadly, I choose to no longer be a customer.

 

[GTR8000]

Glad to hear that you're receiving a full refund for the defective product. Sorry, but not surprised, to hear that Joe ultimately blew you off and never did the right thing. Hopefully others considering dealing with him/airspy.us find this thread and are better informed before spending their hard earned money.

To reiterate for those skimming: If you wish to purchase Airspy products and are in North America and don't want to deal with airspy.us, you can purchase directly from the manufacturer itead:

Purchase - airspy.com

High Performance Low Cost Software Defined Radio Receivers

airspy.com

Airspy | ITEAD STUDIO OFFICIAL

Posts about Airspy written by Jing Jin

itead.cc

 

[wgbecks]

Scott,

I am sorry to hear of your ongoing issues with trying to secure a simple RMA to have your defective Airspy Mini replaced. It’s appalling
that Airspy continues to allow Airspy US to market and sell their products in view of their record in handling defective units.

Hopefully, Airspy will see fit to remedy the situation that so badly reflects on them as a company and their product line.

Bill

 

[madrabbitt]

I haven't, and based on my last post I won't. I'm not sure how that would go in any event. I purchased it and they sent it, albeit in a defective condition. It's the events thereafter that became the issue. I'm not sure the CC company would submit a chargeback knowing that I had the product in hand.

Whipping out my past PCI experiance.

Defective on arrival / Broken on arrival IS a valid charge-back category. Your card issuer will ask, at a minimum, have you communicated with the vendor to attempt to resolve the issue. This is normally a 90 or 180 day category.

 

[thewraith2008]

I know this is all moot now, but.
I wonder when a reported "defective" Airspy is RMA'd to this company, who is doing the testing to determine if replacement/repair is issued.
If this seller is only a distributor, then wouldn't it be sent on to someone who could do this testing? (i.e. Airspy HQ or the MFG in China)

In any case, it should have been communicated what the process would be for dealing with this issue and a estimated time frame for all this to occur in and not leave one hanging for a response and fostering uncertainty.

 

[Airspy-US]

It's easy to get on a bandwagon when only one side is known.

Here is the other side:

The customer had an issue. An RMA was assigned but apparently never received by the customer. We had no way to know this.

Our point of view: The RMA was issued, sent in, and they were waiting for repair/replacement and return.
The customer's point of view: They are waiting for the RMA info.

It's easy to see where communication broke down.

When they asked about the status of their return, we informed them that
processing RMAs was behind (and we fully admit this is the case - we are far behind on them but we are catching up).

The customer never mentioned that they had not received the RMA info. We simply assumed they were asking about the status of the return.
When we finally determined that they never got the RMA info, it was re-issued, obviously received, and they sent the unit in.

Within one week they filed a PayPal claim. We immediately refunded the customer.

So it was all miscommunication that was not realized on the part of both parties.

The customer blames us for not fully understanding their side, but misunderstandings happen. When neither side catches that it can drag out because each side only sees their point of view. Again, as soon as we realized the miscommunication we acted upon that and acted upon the refund immediately. We also informed the customer of the misunderstanding, but they said it was not acceptable that we had not understood them completely. We did not argue that point, as it would only have further broken down the communication of an already bad situation.

This simple misunderstanding need not be made into any larger conspiracy.

Please understand that we do not have a full time tech. We don't even have enough RMAs to consider hiring one part time, and the truth is you will never get anyone good to work part time. Our tech is very good at his job (he has a normal 40+ hour/week job elsewhere) but we have to coordinate schedules when he is available and when we are. This is not easy sometimes. We were never meant to be a repair center, but did that at the request of Airspy. We have considered simply letting the factory handle RMAs. We would welcome any feedback on that idea, but the truth is we do not check here often. We believe that was pointed out above. So any feedback can be submitted via our website. It is probably a RR violation to mention that in this thread, as they considered it a violation to mention it in our website in our footer because we are a business, but the website is easy enough to find.

Thank you for your time.

 

[KC1UA]

Thanks for taking the time to come out and provide your side of the story. I respect that. Suffice to say that there was surely a miscommunication with regards to your interpretation of RMA issuance and mine. I'm not going to waste your, my, or anyone's time arguing this in this forum.

I wish you well in your future endeavors.