SDS100 dead.

[KK4JUG]

Deleted

 

[Chronic]

Well, it does make a difference to our agents here. It can make for a pretty bad day to put up with too much abuse. I know many people feel better taking it out on someone, but remember these are people trying to help you and we have protocol we must follow.

This situation sounds like they need repair. It is inconvenient and unfortunate to get a unit that needs repair, but we do have a warranty to cover the repair and we work to make the situation better for our customers however we can.

A loaner Scanner to use while yours is being repaired would be a great customer support idea.

 

[UnidenSupport]

A loaner Scanner to use while yours is being repaired would be a great customer support idea.

A good idea, but very difficult to implement.

 

[mule1075]

A good idea, but very difficult to implement.

It would more than likely be a logistics nightmare.

 

[marksmith]

Definitely agree with the comments above on creating a new SD card for use.

Copying a bad SD card will only screw up the new one. You tested nothing by not properly preparing and creating the new card.

Having said that, have not experienced a bad card in the 100 yet to know what happens. The 535 will just fire up with no back light and a bad SD card error on screen.

I would think the 100 would show at least a flash on the screen if the battery is not discharged.

Mark
SDS100&200/536/436/WS1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

 

[DomChrisOwens]

Well, it does make a difference to our agents here. It can make for a pretty bad day to put up with too much abuse. I know many people feel better taking it out on someone, but remember these are people trying to help you and we have protocol we must follow.

This situation sounds like they need repair. It is inconvenient and unfortunate to get a unit that needs repair, but we do have a warranty to cover the repair and we work to make the situation better for our customers however we can.

I agree, when it comes to tech support and interactions with a company it can be hard to tone down the frustration and instead we need to work together to solve the problems that said customers are having.

that being said.....

I am having the exact same issue with not one but "TWO" BCD436HPs, ive done literally everything that the original poster stated and still no joy.

Sending for repairs doesn't seem like that big of a problem ( other than the wait times I have seen other people mention, and the somewhat shady UPS/USPS shipping situation )
I would gladly pay the $90 and shipping to send at least one of my units in, but from what i have been told because I am in Canada, it cannot be shipped back.......website says "Uniden does not service, repair, or ship units not from the USA" and that you need a US resident to act as a middle man.

Makes me not want to purchase from Uniden anymore, great products, terrible support and business strategy.

 

[buddrousa]

Dear newbie DomChrisOwens Uniden has shipped repaired x36's back to Canada they come back Fedex not UPS or USPS.
A search of the forums here will list many times that happened for the X36 repair campaign over the years. Which leads to the question is how 2 436's failed at the same time? Did the batteries get put in backwards? Did you get a defective charger?

 

[mciupa]

because I am in Canada, it cannot be shipped back.......website says "Uniden does not service, repair, or ship units not from the USA" and that you need a US resident to act as a middle man.

Makes me not want to purchase from Uniden anymore, great products, terrible support and business strategy.

If you live near the American border, why not have it delivered to a USPS Post Office box and then pick it up?

I thought this thread was about SDS100. Why are we discussing BCD436HP?

 

[UnidenSupport]

I agree, when it comes to tech support and interactions with a company it can be hard to tone down the frustration and instead we need to work together to solve the problems that said customers are having.

that being said.....

I am having the exact same issue with not one but "TWO" BCD436HPs, ive done literally everything that the original poster stated and still no joy.

Sending for repairs doesn't seem like that big of a problem ( other than the wait times I have seen other people mention, and the somewhat shady UPS/USPS shipping situation )
I would gladly pay the $90 and shipping to send at least one of my units in, but from what i have been told because I am in Canada, it cannot be shipped back.......website says "Uniden does not service, repair, or ship units not from the USA" and that you need a US resident to act as a middle man.

Makes me not want to purchase from Uniden anymore, great products, terrible support and business strategy.

We can ship to Canada just fine. It may take a bit longer depending on customs, but if it says that on our website, it should be changed to say US and Canada.

 

[KJ5IK]

So, it has been back about 2 weeks. Would have posted sooner but I've been busy with work. Paperwork says the control board was changed. Had to input the unlock codes for the upgraded receive capabilities and the scanner has been working fine ever since.

 

[Joe_Blough]

This situation sounds like they need repair. It is inconvenient and unfortunate to get a unit that needs repair, but we do have a warranty to cover the repair and we work to make the situation better for our customers however we can.

Not saying this is true with Uniden but the reason warranty repair in the US is inconvenient and unfortunate is the dirty little secret that no company is required to provide warranty service. They only have to pretend to. This takes the form of making the customer ship the product back at their expense and making them wait weeks, only to have the product come back unrepaired. The customer then sends the product back again at their expense, waits weeks, then has the product come back unrepaired again.

You see, the manufacturer already has your money. They have nothing to gain by spending theirs to provide warranty service. They know the customer will soon tire of having to repeatedly ship their product back only to have it come back unrepaired and give up. The manufacturer doesn't care if you never buy their products again and tell 100 other people who never but their products again because there are millions of people who will. They can also legally send you a refurbished unit for the brand new one you just purchased 31 days ago. Did you pay for a refurbished unit or did you pay for a new one?

This is why you should always send (usually for free) or take your product back to the place of purchase for an immediate refund or replacement if you are still within the return period. The retailer has buying power that the individual consumer does not. This forces the manufacturer to issue the retailer a credit for the defective item or risk losing millions of dollars in future sales. Let them try and tell Walmart or Amazon that they aren't going to issue them a credit for a returned defective product and see what happens.

This is also why manufacturers include a card in their products telling you not to take the product back to the retailer but to deal with them. Issuing a credit to the retailer, as they should, costs them money. Paying to send your product back unrepaired costs them peanuts in comparison.

Why wouldn't you take or send it back for an immediate refund or exchange vs jumping through hoops on the phone following some scripted troubleshooting procedure that you know isn't going to fix the issue, pay to have the product sent back, wait weeks, then have your product sent back unrepaired, or at the best get a refurbished unit after having paid for a new one?

You can go to Amazon and read horror story review after horror story review of people who sent their brand new product back to the manufacturer for warranty repair (because the enclosed card told them to) when they were still within the Amazon return window. I can't for the life of me figure out what these people were thinking. Amazon will even have UPS come to your door and pick up the defective product and have it shipped back to them at no expense to you.

Of course if you are outside the retailer's return window you are stuck.

 

[UnidenSupport]

Not saying this is true with Uniden but the reason warranty repair in the US is inconvenient and unfortunate is the dirty little secret that no company is required to provide warranty service. They only have to pretend to. This takes the form of making the customer ship the product back at their expense and making them wait weeks, only to have the product come back unrepaired. The customer then sends the product back again at their expense, waits weeks, then has the product come back unrepaired again.

You see, the manufacturer already has your money. They have nothing to gain by spending theirs to provide warranty service. They know the customer will soon tire of having to repeatedly ship their product back only to have it come back unrepaired and give up. The manufacturer doesn't care if you never buy their products again and tell 100 other people who never but their products again because there are millions of people who will. They can also legally send you a refurbished unit for the brand new one you just purchased 31 days ago. Did you pay for a refurbished unit or did you pay for a new one?

This is why you should always send (usually for free) or take your product back to the place of purchase for an immediate refund or replacement if you are still within the return period. The retailer has buying power that the individual consumer does not. This forces the manufacturer to issue the retailer a credit for the defective item or risk losing millions of dollars in future sales. Let them try and tell Walmart or Amazon that they aren't going to issue them a credit for a returned defective product and see what happens.

This is also why manufacturers include a card in their products telling you not to take the product back to the retailer but to deal with them. Issuing a credit to the retailer, as they should, costs them money. Paying to send your product back unrepaired costs them peanuts in comparison.

Why wouldn't you take or send it back for an immediate refund or exchange vs jumping through hoops on the phone following some scripted troubleshooting procedure that you know isn't going to fix the issue, pay to have the product sent back, wait weeks, then have your product sent back unrepaired, or at the best get a refurbished unit after having paid for a new one?

You can go to Amazon and read horror story review after horror story review of people who sent their brand new product back to the manufacturer for warranty repair (because the enclosed card told them to) when they were still within the Amazon return window. I can't for the life of me figure out what these people were thinking. Amazon will even have UPS come to your door and pick up the defective product and have it shipped back to them at no expense to you.

Of course if you are outside the retailer's return window you are stuck.

Manufacturers are required by law to honor repairs under their warranties within the parameters defined within the warranties. What you are describing could result in hefty fines and legal action on any manufacturer that was not giving warranty services. I would check your sources on anyone claiming a company is doing that, and if you know of companies doing that, it should be reported to the proper authorities.

You can clearly see on our SRO sheets what parts are replaced in a unit, or if the unit is replaced. Yes, you may get a refurbished unit if a device is replaced, but a factory refurbished unit should preform as well or better than a brand new unit.

 

[KJ5IK]

Not saying this is true with Uniden but the reason warranty repair in the US is inconvenient and unfortunate is the dirty little secret that no company is required to provide warranty service. They only have to pretend to. This takes the form of making the customer ship the product back at their expense and making them wait weeks, only to have the product come back unrepaired. The customer then sends the product back again at their expense, waits weeks, then has the product come back unrepaired again.

You see, the manufacturer already has your money. They have nothing to gain by spending theirs to provide warranty service. They know the customer will soon tire of having to repeatedly ship their product back only to have it come back unrepaired and give up. The manufacturer doesn't care if you never buy their products again and tell 100 other people who never but their products again because there are millions of people who will. They can also legally send you a refurbished unit for the brand new one you just purchased 31 days ago. Did you pay for a refurbished unit or did you pay for a new one?

This is why you should always send (usually for free) or take your product back to the place of purchase for an immediate refund or replacement if you are still within the return period. The retailer has buying power that the individual consumer does not. This forces the manufacturer to issue the retailer a credit for the defective item or risk losing millions of dollars in future sales. Let them try and tell Walmart or Amazon that they aren't going to issue them a credit for a returned defective product and see what happens.

This is also why manufacturers include a card in their products telling you not to take the product back to the retailer but to deal with them. Issuing a credit to the retailer, as they should, costs them money. Paying to send your product back unrepaired costs them peanuts in comparison.

Why wouldn't you take or send it back for an immediate refund or exchange vs jumping through hoops on the phone following some scripted troubleshooting procedure that you know isn't going to fix the issue, pay to have the product sent back, wait weeks, then have your product sent back unrepaired, or at the best get a refurbished unit after having paid for a new one?

You can go to Amazon and read horror story review after horror story review of people who sent their brand new product back to the manufacturer for warranty repair (because the enclosed card told them to) when they were still within the Amazon return window. I can't for the life of me figure out what these people were thinking. Amazon will even have UPS come to your door and pick up the defective product and have it shipped back to them at no expense to you.

Of course if you are outside the retailer's return window you are stuck.

Well, the problem is the upgrades. Amazon may or may not reimburse those if I returned the scanner. They wouldn't have to since they didn't sell them to me. Heck, Uniden might do it if I explained the situation, but they don't have to as I think is stated on their website. I understand your feelings about receiving a refurbished item, but again the terms are quite clear about that. Yeah, I might go to a different manufacturer, but I'll get the same thing Uniden is doing, and maybe worse. Who knows? I like Uniden, I like my scanner, I'm not thrilled about having to send it in for repair but it didn't take the several months I was expecting to turn it around. I probably wouldn't have been thrilled with a refurbished unit because, as you stated, that isn't what I paid for, but if they'll honor their warranty and the refurbished unit is in the same or better condition than the one I sent in (cosmetically speaking) I really shouldn't have too much to complain about.

 

[UnidenSupport]

Well, the problem is the upgrades. Amazon may or may not reimburse those if I returned the scanner. They wouldn't have to since they didn't sell them to me. Heck, Uniden might do it if I explained the situation, but they don't have to as I think is stated on their website. I understand your feelings about receiving a refurbished item, but again the terms are quite clear about that. Yeah, I might go to a different manufacturer, but I'll get the same thing Uniden is doing, and maybe worse. Who knows? I like Uniden, I like my scanner, I'm not thrilled about having to send it in for repair but it didn't take the several months I was expecting to turn it around. I probably wouldn't have been thrilled with a refurbished unit because, as you stated, that isn't what I paid for, but if they'll honor their warranty and the refurbished unit is in the same or better condition than the one I sent in (cosmetically speaking) I really shouldn't have too much to complain about.

Simply get a return receipt and we can reimburse you for the Keys.

 

[KJ5IK]

Good to kknow. Hopefully I'll never need the info. Thanks!

 

[Ubbe]

I probably wouldn't have been thrilled with a refurbished unit because, as you stated, that isn't what I paid for, but if they'll honor their warranty and the refurbished unit is in the same or better condition than the one I sent in (cosmetically speaking) I really shouldn't have too much to complain about.

Yeah, but if think about it, why is there a warranty period? It's sole purpose are to find faulty components from factory that fails within a year. If you send in a device you had for 9 months that failed due to a faulty component and you get back either a refurbished unit or a new one, you only have 3 months to find out if that faulty component are still in the device and will fail after more or less 9 months. Uniden doesn't give you a fresh 12 month warranty period when you get a replacement. That defeats the whole purpose of having warranty for component failures. If the battery door breaks after 3 months and you send the scanner in and wait a month to get it back, and it break again after 3 months, then after the third time that happens the warranty will have expired and you have to pay to get it fixed. Each new component exchanged should logically be given a new full warranty period.

/Ubbe

 

[KJ5IK]

OK, the radio has been working fine. This morning I get into the truck and the battery (showing fully charged the night before) is showing low voltage. Plug in the charger, the battery won't charge while the radio is on, and the voltage level changes from 3.21 to 3.42 on the screen. So I check the settings and they have been set to "disable" for the charge while on function. Changing it to "enable" lasts for a few seconds, then I get a "low USB bus voltage" message, and the function automatically changes back to "disable". The radio is clearly attempting to protect itself from a bad battery, so I changed the battery and everything is working as it should. I am going to run the second battery down through normal use and attempt to charge while on again to see what happens. Almost what I was seeing before the last time I had a problem, but changing the battery did not appear to resolve the issue. Of course, that was after the radio completely refused to turn on (no time for the troubleshooting I am doing now before it failed). There are no batch numbers on the batteries that I can see. The first battery is charging on the external charger and showing no faults other than it seems to be completely discharged for no apparent reason. Battery is not getting warm while charging.

 

[kruser]

So I check the settings and they have been set to "disable" for the charge while on function. Changing it to "enable" lasts for a few seconds, then I get a "low USB bus voltage" message, and the function automatically changes back to "disable".

Can you try a new USB cable from the power adapter to the radio? Or a whole new adapter/charger cable.
Adapters that cannot supply enough current will do what you see but... the biggest cause seems more like a bad cable.
If the plug end at the radio does not fit nice and snug, the radio will see the voltage drop and throw the warning plus disable charging while on until the user resets that setting. The other cause is simply cheap cables that use a very small wire gauge. A bad or sloppy fitting Mini USB plug seems to be the cause in the majority of the cases though.
Some adapters may also show a current output in excess of 1 amp but if you measure the voltage with a much lower load, you find the voltage has already dropped well below 5 VDC.
You can customize your display settings to show the actual USB Bus Voltage for each USB (Mini and Micro) connector on the radio. Not the same reading as the Battery Voltage display item. The bus voltage can be used to see what voltage the radio sees and in turn, help troubleshoot power supply problems.

 

[KJ5IK]

I didn't mention it, but I've tried three cables and four power supplies rated at 2.4 amps or above. I'm interested in showing the bus voltage. Is that done through the program, or can I do it through a button sequence?

 

[KJ5IK]

Never mind. Found it and did it. Thanks for the suggestion!