"DEALER OF THE YEAR"
DECENT PRICES, NICE SELECTION OF RADIOS & ACCESSORIES, AND STELLAR CUSTOMER SERVICE
One of my worst years medically, yet one of the best years for us all, regarding new radios and sunspots, it's time to pick the dealer/shop that impressed me the most. I've bought a variety of equipment from different dealers over the years, and it's often hard to distinguish a business that stands out, above the rest, unless circumstances and a good memory prevail.
I've picked BELLS CB as the "DEALER OF 2024", so let's get on with it before the ball drops tonight and we wake up in 2025 (and Bells is beginning their 57th year of business).
I've bought accessories, radios, and other related gear from a variety of dealers over many decades, and I'd like to tip my hat this year to Bells CB! In the last year I've bought a President George FCC and President
Washington from them, and all of my conversations have been via Text, because often, many of my questions come up after hours, and they're and hour ahead of me (I'm in Texas and they're in Florida).
Some questions had to do with pricing, some about stock levels, and a few that came up regarding the President Washington. I didn't expect, and most likely, you shouldn't expect zippy answers all of the time, but it surprised the heck out of me when I got replies to texts I had sent about or after 6p.m. CST, later in the evening that same day. I was impressed.
"Now that
is how customer support is supposed to work, pre and post- sale..."
My believe the President Washington was one of the first ones available to the general population, and not long after setting it up (a day maybe), I had the weirdest problem occur, so I sent a text about it later that day. I received a reply that evening with some questions for me (if I recall it would have been around 8 or 9p.m. that night) which I answered the following morning around 5a.m.
Later
that morning I received word that they had contacted President, who in
turn, was interested in getting their hands on my Washington, and they (Bells) assured me
that a replacement radio was on his shelf and ready to be sent to me. Now that
is how customer support is supposed to work, before AND after a purchase!
It turns out, after I had disconnected everything (mic, external speaker, DC power, and coax), and then reconnected everything (after checking coax jumpers for shorts) the problem couldn't be replicated... So throwing my hands up in the air, I texted them (not an easy thing to do with my hands in the air) that it seemed like all was well, and if they didn't hear back from me after the weekend, it was okay. What I did do (after sending the text) was to replace the 2 coax jumper cables. They were both old pieces of coax, and many times it's easy to overlook something like this, because they've always been connected, and working fine in the shack.
I was thinking, that by disconnecting one jumper from a known good radio on the bench, and putting the Washington in its place, perhaps something happened, although it looked fine to my VOM. The second piece of coax was connected to a switch box going to a dummy load I'd put in place earlier, so if this was something that didn't show up when checking them for shorts, or twisting them back'n forth to try and replicate the issue - it could still be one or both pieces.
Nonetheless: the issue never reoccurred, and it was working great!
I've had 5 solid months of operation since then, and I'm happy it wasn't the radio. I even happier about the outstanding response I received from Bells CB. They seem to realize that when the playing field is even (like an item priced the same as every other dealer), that something has to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack, and that something my friends, is customer service!
I'm not saying every other deaker sucks at this, BUT, because of this one experience, when I'm in the market for something new to use (or review) I'm always going to check their website first. Of course, no one sells everything, so if BELLS doesn't happen to sell what I'm in the market for, I (like any one of us) will look around at the other options. Otherwise, I'm a BELLS CB fan, and won't hesitate to recommend them to someone else.
P.S. - If you're a fan of Bells, AND, a NASCAR fan, you might want to follow this fellow in 2025 as well:
In today's age of the Internet, comments/reviews (good or bad) seem to take on a life of their own, and from my experience with Bells CB, they're quite aware of this, and go the extra mile to help us - the consumer. No one can predict the future to see where the effort they extend will go. In this instance, it's gone to being named "Dealer of the Year", by my meager Website and Blog.
Happy New Year to you all, and see ya in 2025!
73
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