VHF Tips

[JohnMckroidJr]

Local warranties have been good. I buy them via West Marine for FF and VHF radios. West Marine generally has high prices, but they do price matching with Amazon and stores within 50 miles of the location of purchase. I recently replaced my VHF with a Standard Hx210 which has a $20 rebate through the end of Sept 2020. It's a no-frills radio but has a 20hr battery versus most the others that are usually less the 12hrs. West Marine's price was 99.99, but a discount electronics store had it for 84.99, so West Marine matched the price. West Marine's 1yr warranty was $10, and extends the MFG 3yr warranty to 4yrs. So if I have any problems with the radio over the next 4yrs, I just bring it into West Marine, and walk out of the store with a brand new radio the same day! It is well worth the $10 for this kind of insurance as opposed to multiple phone calls, shipping, and waiting months to get a replacement from the manufacturer.

The one caveat is after you have replaced it once, you must buy another warranty so that the next time it breaks, you can repeat the exchange process. If the item is no longer available, West Marine has allowed me to use the value of the item towards the purchase of another. This is great for upgrading Electronics.