Batboard

Motorola wonders why other manufacturer's are snatching up bits and pieces of their market share?

I recently tried to order what amounts to a piece of double sided tape, from Motorola. They will not sell it to us. I have a CT 250 with a cracked case. So, no big deal, just recase it, right? Wrong, according to Motorola. On the top of the case, where the channel and volume switches are, there is a small rubber piece, with adhesive on both sides, that goes between the case and the plastic escutcheon that shows the channel numbers, for the channel knob. Can't order it! In other words, you cannot recase a CT 250 radio. What kind of a crock of **** is this? Do I have to be a Motorola factory trained technician, to know how to recase a radio? Who do these people think they are dealing with? I'm not some monkey who is working out of his daddy's garage or basement workbench. We don't need P.S. rated portables, and the new Relm B&I radios (RPV516s and RPV599s) will work fine for us, at less than half the cost of the most inexpensive Motorola radio that we have ever purchased. And, guess what? Relm will sell us the parts that we need!! Motorola radios are some of the best quality radios ever made. It's too bad that the same cannot be said of their management.

/rant off

Why them dirty low life peter puffers.

Don't mind me, I'm just drunk, that's all.

It's been a while since I guzzled Captain Morgan.

It's been a while since I guzzled Captain Morgan.

dude... too much information...

I'm not sure what's up with Moto, maybe they're trying to drive away all of their public service customers so they can make nothing but cheap throwaways and nextels.

The part you are looking for has a part # of 3385703Z01, and is readily available, at least to authorized service centers. So the radio can in fact, be re-cased, by piece parts or by buying a full kit.

Tony

Tony Soprano wrote:The part you are looking for has a part # of 3385703Z01, and is readily available, at least to authorized service centers. So the radio can in fact, be re-cased, by piece parts or by buying a full kit.

Tony

That's kind of my point, Tony. We are a fully certificated FAA repair facility. And I can buy controller and transceiver boards, for the HT 1000s, but I can't buy a piece of double sided tape? Apparently, Motorola is only concerned about it's customers that spend millions a year with them. What is wrong with selling a piece of double sided tape to an outfit that has about 90-100 Moto radios, so that they can control their own turnaround time, and do certain repairs themselves? It's not like I am asking them to sell me an OMPAC, and doing the repairs out of my garage. Hell...........once I recase the radios, they get tested on an IFR 2975. It's not like we are some fly by night outfit.

I do understand your point, and I don't necessarily agree with their position. If there's anything consistent with their policies, it's their inconsistency. Why they would sell you circuit boards but not a piece of adhesive is odd. But one thing is for sure, I do think that they want to control their repairs through their MSS network and through their own repair facility.

Maybe call them back with that part number, maybe you'll get another person on the other end that will sell it with no hassle. That goes for lots of things, if you don't like the answer you get, call and hope for someone else!

I did call someone else. I called our VP of logging operations, and told him that I was recommending we switch to the Relm radios. I would not recommend them to anyone in Public Safety, but for business users (especially those that want to do certain amounts of their own maintenance), I would highly recommend them. For $400, I used to get a four channel radio from M, that I can't even buy a piece of double sided tape for. For under $200, dealer cost, I can buy 16 channel Relm RPV516As. And, get this........when I call them and tell them I need tech support for a certain model radio? I get a technician who works on that product line, not a salesman. And Relm will sell us any part that we want for the radio.

If you are lucky enough to be a Motorola MSS, then I can see why you would have no problem with this situation. But, for those who cannot get the designation, it is more hassle than it is worth, to continue to try to support M radios.

WalMart sells two sided tape....

57Shasta wrote:WalMart sells two sided tape....

Yes, they do. Hell, I have two sided tape here. However.........my labor costs the company way too much, for me to be spending time cutting the tape to match the pattern on the top of the radio. The point is: Motorola is trying to force everyone to utilize their depot, for even the most simple repairs. Why? Greed. Plain and simple greed. They want to increase that recurring service revenue. In addition to being an FAA repair faciility, we are also an ISO 9001 certified MRO. And we can't be trusted to recase a CT 250? Marvelous.

kmoose wrote:

57Shasta wrote:WalMart sells two sided tape....

Yes, they do. Hell, I have two sided tape here. However.........my labor costs the company way too much, for me to be spending time cutting the tape to match the pattern on the top of the radio. The point is: Motorola is trying to force everyone to utilize their depot, for even the most simple repairs. Why? Greed. Plain and simple greed. They want to increase that recurring service revenue. In addition to being an FAA repair faciility, we are also an ISO 9001 certified MRO. And we can't be trusted to recase a CT 250? Marvelous.

I follow you, to a point. However, what would be so bad about buying the parts cash-and-carry from a dealer? Might be a day or two difference in time, but unless you were buying one piece at a time, is it really an issue?

Tony Soprano wrote:

kmoose wrote:

57Shasta wrote:WalMart sells two sided tape....

Yes, they do. Hell, I have two sided tape here. However.........my labor costs the company way too much, for me to be spending time cutting the tape to match the pattern on the top of the radio. The point is: Motorola is trying to force everyone to utilize their depot, for even the most simple repairs. Why? Greed. Plain and simple greed. They want to increase that recurring service revenue. In addition to being an FAA repair faciility, we are also an ISO 9001 certified MRO. And we can't be trusted to recase a CT 250? Marvelous.

I follow you, to a point. However, what would be so bad about buying the parts cash-and-carry from a dealer? Might be a day or two difference in time, but unless you were buying one piece at a time, is it really an issue?

That's the avenue we are taking now, Tony. The sourcing of the part is not the issue that I have. The issue is the arrogant attitude of "you aren't qualified to change this part". I can see why they will not sell the model labels, as this would allow someone to "relabel" export radios. It just bothers me that I have to spend my time sourcing parts that are as easy to change as this one. *shrugs* I'm probably being too sensitive about it.

Motorola's desire to keep people from doing "field upgrades" is why items such as escutcheons, labels, etc are now on restricted order. What they should do is offer a core exchange. You bring in a ued 16 channel esc. and leave with a new one (at cost of course) than they know you weren't trying to "steal" the precious 14 more channels from them...

or you can just buy a nice Kenwood TK-290/390 series with a 2 year warranty, much better quality than the POS CT ceries. The Vertrex VX-210 is also a very AFFORDABLE small radio with a 3 year factory warranty and is pretty rugged. And both Kenwood and Vertex will gladly sell you all the parts you need without requiring you to sign an EULA, give your DNA or fingerprint, nor will they send goon letters to your home if you build one out of parts.

Kmoose, I compleately understand and agree with your point. I have had to buy an IC from the local MSS before because it didn't have anything on it but the propriatary /\/\ part number on it, and I couldn't cross it. Had to pay like $15.00, IIRC. When I got it, the replacement part had a generic part number on it instead of the
/\/\ number. I crossed it, and can buy them, from a retail mail-order company, for $5.00, shipped! And no, the MSS didn't have it overnighted or anything, took about a week to get there. As for your label, try silicone RTV, more commonly known as "Permatex". Comes in a variety of colors to suit any decor , and works quite well for the labels. I know, I have used it for that before.