Update: Apparently WeMo took notice of this article and contacted me. They have now sent a replacement unit. I also got an email from the people at Airspy, who mistakenly thought that this blog post was directed at them, which is not the case. The reason for me to choose Airspy is because they make quality products at a really good price, and I plan to do a blog post about using the Airspy Mini as an ADS-B receiver.
Thinking of buying any radios, antennas or other radio amateur equipment from WiMo Antennen und Elektronik GmbHI? Think again!
I wanted to buy an Airspy Mini to use as a makeshift simple spectrum analyzer. Usually, I buy directly from the manufacturer, but I wanted to be sure that if something were wrong with it, then it would be easier to have a seller closer to Sweden, so I decided to buy from WiMo Antennen und Elektronik GmbH in Germany. That turned out to be a mistake.
If You Get a Faulty item, Surely they’ll Fix it? Not So Much…
After ordering the Airspy Mini on the 24th of November last year, I got my unit a couple of days later. I tried it on the regular PC that I use for SDR stuff. Worked for about 20 seconds, and then it hanged. My first reaction was to suspect a problem with Windows, so I re-installed the Airspy driver and software. But the problem persisted. So time to move to my Mac, where I tried it, and the same problem appeared. After about 20-30 seconds, the Airspy Mini stopped working. Being a computer technician I wanted to be sure before contacting WiMo Antennen, so I tried it on a third Windows computer. And sure enough, the same problem on that machine.
Contacted WiMo Antennen and got a return ID-number and I merrily send the unit back and expected to get a replacement unit, because that’s what any other company I’ve ever had to do with would do. But not WiMo Antennen. First I got the runaround that they were moving their laboratory so that it would be a delay. So I waited. Next time I contacted them, my salesperson Björn Hoff told me that they returned the faulty unit to the manufacturer! WTF!? Without sending a new part to me as a replacement? Huh?. Even small companies in China have better return policies than that. So apparently they sent the unit back to ITead in China, without sending me a working Airspy Mini.
But I decided to wait. I kept mailing WiMo Antennen, but always got the same response, “We are waiting for feedback from the manufacturer.”
After waiting for more than two months, I tried to do reclaiming via PayPal. But even though I have a long list of emails from WiMo Antennen und Elektronik telling me that they’ve received the unit and sent it to the manufacturer, PayPal wanted a tracking number, which I didn’t have, so they closed the case.
So, here I am, three months later, still not sure if I’m ever going to see an Airspy Mini.
I buy a lot of stuff from companies all over the world, but this is the absolute worst customer care I’ve ever encountered. So If you are thinking of buying from WiMo Antennen und Elektronik GmbH, be prepared to be shafted if the item you buy doesn’t work.
I know, it’s boring to read the complaints of a dissatisfied customer, but I’m so fucking angry right now that I need to release some steam.
Hi. Sorry that you had such at bad experience with buying at WiMo.
We are usually not so complicated. I dont want to waste your time why this happened. All I can say is that we handled that badly. My apologies.
I will make sure that you will be sent a new Airspy Mini right away.
Ekki, DF4OR WiMo Sales
That sounds great. I'll update the article to reflect that (when I receive a working Airspy Mini).
hope both of you are happy soon after resolving issue and we see happy ending of story
The problem is with PayPal too, because they always *need* a tracking ID and / or a receipt about the item being delivered to the recipient. If that's missing (may be due to the exceptional the cost of it) they will deny any request of the buyer for repayment because the return delivery of the item can't be proven. This is even more problematic, if you have to return something to the originals seller outside the EU, i.e. Asia, and makes this simply to expensive considering original import taxes, VAT and delivery return cost etc. For exactly the same reason I am shying away from buying overseas, although it might be less expensive from the beginning. But if something is happening...
Agreed. I had all the emails as proof, but there was no way of giving that information to Pay Pal. The problem is that you don't get reimbursed for shipping a broken item, and its twice as the already expensive postal service in Sweden. So next time I'll make sure to send it with a tracking number.