BCD436HP / BCD536HP Repair Campaign

[phask]

What does it show when YOU run the tracking number?

I did read all the forum posts... However the webpage even after shipping is still prompting me to print a UPS shipping label... most sites at the very least say label created...I also understand thanksgiving is coming. I just think uniden should update the repair site or send an email when the item has been delivered to them...Sorry if that is too much to ask for but a $500.00 radio with the upgrades is well worth having an acknowledgement of being received by who it was sent to.. Thats all I asked for not to be ridiculed as I am still receiving emails from support saying to print my label and ship my device in before the label expires in 10 bussiness days. When in fact it was received on 11/11/16..
Did anyone else while doing the repair campaign receive messages stating to ship it after it was received by MIKE from ups.. And when I called uniden the representative said that tracking number from UPS is not listed as received and would have been checked in within 2 business days....It has been 6 bussiness days and not checked in...

 

[JamesO]

Did anyone else while doing the repair campaign receive messages stating to ship it after it was received by MIKE from ups.. And when I called uniden the representative said that tracking number from UPS is not listed as received and would have been checked in within 2 business days....It has been 6 bussiness days and not checked in...

So just to make it as clear as I can, Uniden did send an email for all 3 of my repairs when they shipped them out from repair with a UPS tracking number so I could track the return of the repaired units. 2 repairs were Campaign repairs, 1 was a customer pay repair from back in August.

I also received an email when the items were "checked in" with a SRO number for all 3 repairs.

Luckily the bench time was pretty quick on most of the repairs so I do not recall if I had updates about the repair process.

I assume when you printed the UPS shipping and dropped the package off for shipping, you received a receipt with the UPS tracking number?? For every repair I sent via UPS I had a receipt with tracking number, the customer pay repair was sent via USPS Priority Mail which I also had a receipt and tracking number for.

Not sure what the problem is, overall it seems that Uniden is fairly quick with the repair turn around once the item hits the bench.

I just outlined my lasted timeline so others could compare and have an idea of what to expect. With Thanksgiving coming up and the crazy package load all carriers will be dealing with between now and the end of the year, timelines may get longer. Add in possible vacation and closings. Not sure if Uniden Repair operates between Christmas and New Years? Also factor in back weather that delays trucks and planes.

I am guessing 3-4 weeks will be pretty typical time frame for 2 way shipping and repair until early next year??

 

[SquierStrat]

If i buy a used scanner that a guy has had for a couple years, would i qualify to get this fix done for free if the scanner ends up having this issue?

 

[buddrousa]

Did he register the scanner serial number with Uniden under his name? I do not remember that question being ask before.

 

[SquierStrat]

i havent done it yet, i just wanted to know before i start shopping for a used one of these... Lets say, yes, he did..

 

[hiegtx]

i havent done it yet, i just wanted to know before i start shopping for a used one of these... Lets say, yes, he did..

I could be wrong, but I think that this has come up before. The answer at that time (if I am thinking about the correct forum thread) is that registration does not come into play in sending a unit in under the repair campaign. The repair request information/request submission page does not mention registration status, and I don't recall that coming up when I submitted the repair requests for my 436 & 536.

Now, if you were intending to purchase a DMR, ProVoice, or (hopefully at some point) a NXDN key, then you would need to re-register the scanner under your name.

 

[JeffAdams]

Is Amazon a safe bet to get fresh new radios?

I am ready to buy a BCD536HP, but before I do, I want to know (if it can be known) whether buying on Amazon will net me a fresh new radio (that won't have an RTC issue or dim display or headphone jack, etc), and not something that someone has had sitting around for 2 years. If not Amazon, where do people recommend I buy at a similar price? Thank you in advance.

 

[hiegtx]

I am ready to buy a BCD536HP, but before I do, I want to know (if it can be known) whether buying on Amazon will net me a fresh new radio (that won't have an RTC issue or dim display or headphone jack, etc), and not something that someone has had sitting around for 2 years. If not Amazon, where do people recommend I buy at a similar price? Thank you in advance.

There's really no way to know. Always a chance somebody has unearthed some older stock. With Amazon, they apparently combine all the stock from sellers that offer the same item, including Amazon itself, in one bin, so what you get may or may not be the latest production.

While still no guarantee, your odds may be somewhat better with a dealer such as The Ham Station, ScannerMaster, HRO, or a few more, though the cost may be a bit higher.

 

[kruser]

I am ready to buy a BCD536HP, but before I do, I want to know (if it can be known) whether buying on Amazon will net me a fresh new radio (that won't have an RTC issue or dim display or headphone jack, etc), and not something that someone has had sitting around for 2 years. If not Amazon, where do people recommend I buy at a similar price? Thank you in advance.

I doubt anyone can answer your question. Only Uniden knows the serial number range of these models where fixes have been applied and they are not releasing that info.
On the other hand, if you can get the serial number of the radio you will actually get and find a way to post it here, someone will know if it is a recent serial number or not. That does not mean it has had all fixes applied though.

Not long ago, Amazon had an internal issue with several products including Uniden scanners. People were receiving scanners in a 4 or 536 box but the radio in the box was 10 or more years old and of course an obsolete model!
I'm pretty sure Amazon figured that out and fixed the issue but you are still going to not know if yours will have all fixes applied.
I did order a new 536HP from Amazon when people were getting ripped off with old models and the one I received was brand new and did have all fixes applied.
I did purchase it from Amazon LLC and not any of their approved vendors if that helps. That was several months ago now.
All I could do was keep my fingers crossed but as soon as I powered it up, I could see the slightly different screen color indicating the backlights had been changed.
The internal RTC battery is also different looking than my original 536 bought when they were first released.
I'd say if is safe to assume the headphone jack issue will have been fixed if buying new but the RTC issue and backlight failures may still exist.

Somewhere here is a post where you can see the old and new backlight color change but it is so close that it may not be easy to tell without having an old model to compare with by eye.

If you do find a vendor that will give you the serial number, you can probably safely post it here by leaving off the last three digits or so as the major revision changes are earlier in the serial number.

I think somewhere in the latest revision is also the range where all known fixes were applied but nobody knows the cutoff range and beginning of the range where all the fixes should have been done.

There are probably some sent back in by vendors to Uniden where all fixes have been applied before they were ever sold. Those of course may have an older revision level even though they had all the fixes applied by Uniden.

This question has been asked several times here in the Uniden forums but any answer is more or less just speculation.
Some were told that HRO only sells the latest revision models only to get one where the backlight had not been replaced when they did order it.
Jeff at HamStation may be able to give you an accurate answer as he seems to deal with several here more on a personal level. I've never bought from him though so can't say for sure.

edit: I do know someone who was told that HRO only sold the models with all fixes applied so they could be assured they were getting one all fixed and brand new. This was also the same time that people were getting oddball models from Amazon in a 536HP box.
In this case, the buyer bought one from HRO only to discover the only fix applied was the headphone jack issue.
It's possible only one HRO store made the claim they only had the fixed models as they do have several outlets but usually ship from the store nearest you. I've purchased several items from HRO over the years and never had any issues but I also did not need to know if I was getting something with all bugs worked out or not.

At this time in the game, it's probably on your side that you will get one with the fixes applied but it's not a guarantee.
And that train of thought is probably more true with larger well known vendors as mentioned by hiegtx.
I do think he may be wrong that Amazon sells everything from the same bin though. I've bought goods through Amazon approved vendors before and they shipped from all over the country instead of the state that most Amazon LLC items ship from.
Amazon does have shipping warehouses all over the country though to speed up shipping times and lower costs so even genuine Amazon sold items could ship from several states these days.

 

[JeffAdams]

Thank you!

Wow, it sounds like it is completely hit or miss. I appreciate all the time and effort it took to post this information.

I think I will contact Jeff at Ham Station. Although if Paul (UPMAN is his username I think) would like to comment, I would appreciate it. I talked to Paul 20+ years ago regarding my 496 digital handheld as I was about to buy a RS TRS-96. He was very helpful then, and it appears that is still the case.

 

[hiegtx]

I do think he may be wrong that Amazon sells everything from the same bin though. I've bought goods through Amazon approved vendors before and they shipped from all over the country instead of the state that most Amazon LLC items ship from.
Amazon does have shipping warehouses all over the country though to speed up shipping times and lower costs so even genuine Amazon sold items could ship from several states these days.

The comment about "binning" (combining stock from multiple sources) was one made originally by someone else, in the thread regarding ordering the newer scanners, but actually receiving a much older, obsolete, model.

Recently, though, I ordered a set of inkjet cartridges from Amazon. The kit was supposed to be 5 items: two extended life black ink, and one each, extended life, of the three color cartridges. The kit I received had a vendor applied (not HP) sticker showing the part # I ordered, but the box itself had only one XL black, and standard color (not extended life) cartridges. I contacted Amazon & the vendor. The vendor stated that the stock they had shipped to Amazon to hold for fulfillment was correct. In any event, I was credited for the order, and the re-shipment was correct.

 

[JeffAdams]

Thanks, I think I'll go with a place where I can talk to the owner/manager.......

 

[sprite1741]

What happened to all the units vendors sent back. Were they repaired and resold as new? I just got a dud 436 from Amazon. It had 1 year old firmware on it 1.09.02. Could it be a refurbished one?

 

[kruser]

The comment about "binning" (combining stock from multiple sources) was one made originally by someone else, in the thread regarding ordering the newer scanners, but actually receiving a much older, obsolete, model.

Recently, though, I ordered a set of inkjet cartridges from Amazon. The kit was supposed to be 5 items: two extended life black ink, and one each, extended life, of the three color cartridges. The kit I received had a vendor applied (not HP) sticker showing the part # I ordered, but the box itself had only one XL black, and standard color (not extended life) cartridges. I contacted Amazon & the vendor. The vendor stated that the stock they had shipped to Amazon to hold for fulfillment was correct. In any event, I was credited for the order, and the re-shipment was correct.

That's interesting but not surprising really. It seems like many larger outfits are stepping to new lows to try and maintain their image and brand.
Oh well, at least in your case, the outcome ended up being good even though it likely took some extra time on your part as well as maybe a slight headache getting it straightened out.
I only ever had one bad experience and they was via eBay. The seller shipped me an Icom R-7000 that was not even bubble wrapped in the box they shipped it in via the USPS.
The radio arrived but the post office lost it! Then when they did claim to find it under a shelving unit, the radio was badly damaged from bouncing around inside a large box. The antenna jack and some of the knobs were protruding from the box!
I found the remote in pieces from the radio slamming into it.
I contacted the seller and she made good immediately on an adjusted price that we both agreed upon but only after I made sure the radio could be repaired.
I was able to epoxy the remote back together and re-solder all the broken traces within the remote.
The chassis of the radio was badly bent at the antenna jack but I was able to straighten that out. Luckily none of the control shafts had bent or broke.
The radio ended up working very well and I still use it to this day.
The seller was a school teacher in a small northern town and was very nice to deal with. She knocked off a significant amount from the purchase price outside of eBay and we were both happy.
I could tell she was an older lady and felt very bad about the whole thing. She just needed a little education in packaging and shipping heavy objects!
Once I told her everything was back in working order, she sent me a PayPal credit for the eBay purchase while we were still on the phone.

I also bought an R-9000 from eBay and was extremely worried about it due to their weight but this seller let UPS wrap and package it plus sent me pictures of the packaging job. Very professional and that radio arrived clean as can be. It was from a radio station network owner who was the only owner of that radio so it had very little use.
I also use that to this day as it is such a better receiver over any scanner minus the fact it will not do digital modes without external help.

As many purchases as I've made via eBay or Amazon, I guess I consider myself lucky that the only problem was the poor packaging on the R-7000. Everything else has been a smooth transaction.
With all the scams via eBay these days, it's been a while since I've bought anything expensive and many of my more expensive equipment has been from the manufacturer direct or from one of their approved vendors.
It's a shame really as eBay was the place for that rare gem to add into your collection!

 

[kruser]

What happened to all the units vendors sent back. Were they repaired and resold as new? I just got a dud 436 from Amazon. It had 1 year old firmware on it 1.09.02. Could it be a refurbished one?

That was supposed to be the deal, if a vendor had bad stock, Uniden would replace it and upgrade what was sent back to them. Being as it was never sold before, they could sell it as new but if it had been purchased and returned to the vendor and then shipped back to Uniden, they could only sell it as refurbished items to my knowledge.
I don't think anything considered refurbished ever went back to a vendor and was only sold through Uniden's online store. They still offered a full warranty though.

I've also seen new units with old firmware. I don't think that is really an indicator that factory fixes have not been applied. It's just one less step Uniden must do before they can turn the unit around and get if back on the market.
In cases where say a logic board has been replaced, it may have newer firmware as the newer logic board may require it to function correctly.
I've seen several here post the service ticket notes and in many cases it just said board or logic board replaced. Those units were usually sent in under warranty to repair the backlight issue. It's probably easier and faster for Uniden to swap the entire board than it is to do component level parts swaps. They may have a department that does component level part swaps that go back into some units and then returned back to vendors. That's just a guess on my part though as I know several companies do operate like that.
I think it was Dell that was caught doing that but their mistake was using used parts and putting those parts in computers being sold as new. That I believe may be illegal and the product should have been sold as refurbished only.

 

[Nasby]

That's interesting but not surprising really. It seems like many larger outfits are stepping to new lows to try and maintain their image and brand.
Oh well, at least in your case, the outcome ended up being good even though it likely took some extra time on your part as well as maybe a slight headache getting it straightened out.
I only ever had one bad experience and they was via eBay. The seller shipped me an Icom R-7000 that was not even bubble wrapped in the box they shipped it in via the USPS.
The radio arrived but the post office lost it! Then when they did claim to find it under a shelving unit, the radio was badly damaged from bouncing around inside a large box. The antenna jack and some of the knobs were protruding from the box!
I found the remote in pieces from the radio slamming into it.
I contacted the seller and she made good immediately on an adjusted price that we both agreed upon but only after I made sure the radio could be repaired.
I was able to epoxy the remote back together and re-solder all the broken traces within the remote.
The chassis of the radio was badly bent at the antenna jack but I was able to straighten that out. Luckily none of the control shafts had bent or broke.
The radio ended up working very well and I still use it to this day.
The seller was a school teacher in a small northern town and was very nice to deal with. She knocked off a significant amount from the purchase price outside of eBay and we were both happy.
I could tell she was an older lady and felt very bad about the whole thing. She just needed a little education in packaging and shipping heavy objects!
Once I told her everything was back in working order, she sent me a PayPal credit for the eBay purchase while we were still on the phone.

I also bought an R-9000 from eBay and was extremely worried about it due to their weight but this seller let UPS wrap and package it plus sent me pictures of the packaging job. Very professional and that radio arrived clean as can be. It was from a radio station network owner who was the only owner of that radio so it had very little use.
I also use that to this day as it is such a better receiver over any scanner minus the fact it will not do digital modes without external help.

As many purchases as I've made via eBay or Amazon, I guess I consider myself lucky that the only problem was the poor packaging on the R-7000. Everything else has been a smooth transaction.
With all the scams via eBay these days, it's been a while since I've bought anything expensive and many of my more expensive equipment has been from the manufacturer direct or from one of their approved vendors.
It's a shame really as eBay was the place for that rare gem to add into your collection!

Great post.
Ebay may have its share of scams but Amazon is a scammers paradise these days!!
Especially with scanners.

 

[marksmith]

He is not going to post anything here that will help you on this subject. He really can't. It's pretty well covered in the previous posts.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[captainmax1]

When It Comes To Expensive Toys, I Always Go With A Reputable Dealer. I Got My 4 x36's From Scanner Master.

 

[JeffAdams]

Thank you everyone who has responded to my questions regarding how to know if I am buying a new unit fresh from the assembly line in <China> (substitute the country of origin). I am really quite disturbed that even the dealers selling the 536HP's don't know what's in the box they received from Uniden (whether it is a new unit/whatever the other options are - but the point is, there are other options)! If these radios were a hundred or even two hundred, maybe I could understand this, but for >$500, I'd like some assurance that I am actually buying a brand new product with all the latest & greatest upgrades/parts, and not something else. This could go a long way to explaining why some people get such different results in terms of performance (yes, I know, there are hundreds of other factors, but I think this is one reasonable factor).

 

[JeffAdams]

People have said this topic has been covered in other posts. To be specific, I am asking about how it is that even a dealer does not know what stock they are receiving from Uniden (the BCD536HP in particular). People have said that Paul Opitz can't help (not sure if they mean he simply doesn't know, or isn't allowed to say).

How can this be? Is this standard practice and considered acceptable to everyone?

Let me be more specific. Regarding the RTC issue, I have read here about a "new logic board" as part of the solution for those who had to send their scanners back to Uniden for the repair campaign. As of today, will every new BCD536 contain the RTC fix (whether it be a logic board or battery or whatever it is)?

If not, does this mean I can buy a brand new BCD536 today and get one that will develop the RTC failure tomorrow?

Same question for the display back light issue. Do all new stock BCD536's have the improved backlight? If not, then that means the one I get could develop this problem?

Does Whistler do this? What about ICOM ? Yaesu? AOR?

I'm just looking for wisdom for those who have been active here in the past several years (I have not).

Thank you in advance.

P.S. I am happy for this to become a new thread if that is more appropriate or desirable.