Latest Uniden Service Woes

[Ensnared]

Yes. Just poking a little fun at you. Don't take it seriously.

Yep, we both had a laugh. Thanks for being a good sport.

 

[MTS2000des]

That's what I tried to tell him, but apparently it was ignored.

He was shipped a defective product.

Time is of the essence, he's coming close to 30 days since the transaction was posted, and IIRC one has 60 days to file a charge back on a CREDIT card. If he paid with a DEBIT card, different rules apply and it also depends on his/her financial institution.

Either way wasting time with customer NO service is like peeing into a fan in this case. The entire reason we have credit cards is to have basic consumer protections. One orders product that is new and receives a broken or defective one, or nothing at all. Vendor given reasonable opportunity to replace or refund and does neither. CHARGE BACK is in order.

 

[DDFiler]

UPDATE

During this entire process, I tried to give Uniden the opportunity to do the right thing. Unfortunately, they’ve failed miserably.

Today I received the repaired scanner. Uniden did not provide me any tracking notification, or any indication that repairs were completed and shipped. I requested they do this, and they assured me they would. I just happened to be home when the FedEx truck arrived. No signature was required, which is hard to believe based upon how expensive it is.

I went into the house and unboxed the SDS100. The repair receipt stated, “Extra screw removed”. That’s it. Extra screw? Seriously? Uniden had possession of it for 6 days after I called (again) and a repair order was created. No mention was made whether a thorough inspection was performed or if it was retested. I unwrapped the scanner, moved it around and immediately heard a loose screw rattling around inside. If you tilt it slowly, you can hear something (a screw?) moving around like a ball in a pachinko game. This is the exact same sound it made when I sent it back. It appears that Uniden didn’t bother to even look at it.

I’m a patient person, but enough is enough. I contacted the credit card company and filed a dispute. I have a detailed history of all I went through, including dates, phone conversations, and the names of each person I spoke with. The dispute process can take as long as 90 days, so the misery continues.

I still like Uniden products, but their customer service is the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m not a young person. For those who question how I went about this, well….. I owe no explanations. By nature, I give people (or companies) an opportunity to do the right thing. I’ve just been sharing this with the forum to inform others of what I’ve been through when purchasing from Uniden directly, and it may not be the best method.

 

[MTS2000des]

I’m a patient person, but enough is enough. I contacted the credit card company and filed a dispute. I have a detailed history of all I went through, including dates, phone conversations, and the names of each person I spoke with. The dispute process can take as long as 90 days, so the misery continues.

I still like Uniden products, but their customer service is the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m not a young person. For those who question how I went about this, well….. I owe no explanations. By nature, I give people (or companies) an opportunity to do the right thing. I’ve just been sharing this with the forum to inform others of what I’ve been through when purchasing from Uniden directly, and it may not be the best method.

Here's the kicker: companies aren't soulful entities. They are collections of contracts and answer only to their corporate stockholders. They can't be "given benefit of the doubt" once they demonstrate a lack of good faith. Their only concern are profits. If consumers tolerate being defrauded and abused, consumers get what they tolerate.

The time for the vendor to demonstrate good faith was when you purchased the item and did not get what you paid for. Instead, they jacked you around and off, and you still don't have the NEW product you PAID IN FULL for.

Good luck and hopefully your credit card company will see the only good faith was what you demonstrated. You aren't asking for anything for free, just what you paid for in full and thought you were getting: a NEW scanner with NO BLEMISHES or DEFECTS.

Absolutely outrageous the way these corporations screw over consumers. Where's old David Horowitz these days? FIGHT BACK.

@JoeBearcat what say you? Your customer paid in full for a new scanner, direct from your company and this is what they get? Lucky it's a nice guy and not a bulldog.

 

[tvengr]

Where's old David Horowitz these days? FIGHT BACK.

He died on Feb 14, 2019 at age 81.

 

[MTS2000des]

That's sad. He's spinning in his grave when this kind of thing happens. It's outrageous.

Consumer goes to the "source" to get a legitimate product. Gets sent an item with parts rattling around. Instead of "let us ship you a replacement and here's a call tag to return the defective merchandise", they get told to send it to repair at THEIR EXPENSE, and then it comes back with an "extra screw" rattling around? Talk about a middle finger.

I guess this shows you to only buy from a reputable authorized dealer like HRO. They stand behind what they sell. Sad that you can't even trust the manufacturer to sell you something and you get what you pay for. It's not like this guy bought a used one off Ebay or FB marketplace, or even a grey market Amazon seller, he went right to the source and got SCREWED. Literally.

Of course, silence from the official Uniden spokesperson speaks so loudly I can't hear a word they have to say, if any. Hopefully the O/P paid on Amex. He'll get his money back.

 

[DDFiler]

My credit card was credited back the full amount and is on hold during the investigation, but it will take a while for this to be resolved.

I attempted many times to contact someone beyond customer support at Uniden, but I had no success. That in itself says something. If I lived within a hundred miles of Flower Mound, Texas I would have driven there to try and resolve this, but I’m over 1,500 miles away.

As far as buying from an authorized dealer, I’ve bought from HRO many times over the years which is located within an hour from my house. I was on vacation when I ordered the SDS100, and for some reason I decided to buy direct. 😒

This entire process has been unfortunate, and it’s just a scanner, so I can’t get too worked up about it. I’ve chalked it up to “lesson learned”, and I’m sharing my experience here so others can make an informed decision.

 

[MTS2000des]

Glad you are getting resolution from your credit card company. It is sad that Uniden doesn't care about it's customers. This entire situation could have been avoided had they taken accountability for their failure and just shipped you a new radio, and issued a call tag for the defective/broken one. Instead, good faith met with bad faith on their part when given every opportunity to do the right thing.

Thank you for sharing your story. Reaffirms to NEVER buy ANYTHING from them and only buy from a reputable dealer like HRO. One may pay a few bucks more, but I can say unlike Uniden, HRO stands behind their customer and they have gone to bat for me many a times over the decades.

 

[PreferredCustomer]

Glad you are getting resolution from your credit card company. It is sad that Uniden doesn't care about it's customers. This entire situation could have been avoided had they taken accountability for their failure and just shipped you a new radio, and issued a call tag for the defective/broken one. Instead, good faith met with bad faith on their part when given every opportunity to do the right thing.

Thank you for sharing your story. Reaffirms to NEVER buy ANYTHING from them and only buy from a reputable dealer like HRO. One may pay a few bucks more, but I can say unlike Uniden, HRO stands behind their customer and they have gone to bat for me many a times over the decades.

And always use a credit card that will assist you in a dispute.

I frequently use PayPal where accepted, with a credit card funding my PayPal account, so I have so I have at least two resources in a dispute.