SDS100 Buyer Beware

[a417]

Bottom line for me, Uniden's customer support truly sucks.

 

[Kaleier1]

Upman had stated previously (and I assume that means Uniden) that upgrade keys can be transferred to a unit returned to the dealer under waranty if the dealer replaces it with another one. You may need to supply your original proof of purchase.

Read #3 here:

DMR and ProVoice DYI Firmware Upgrade Cost

Can anyone tell me the exact current cost to do each of these firmware upgrades on brand new units out of the box at home? Want to compare how much Scanner Master and ZipScanner are charging for these compared to how much they truly are if one does them themselves at home? This is for either...

forums.radioreference.com

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Key point of #3 is that Paul said "I provide a key for the replacement unit at no charge".

Paul did that, not Uniden.

From what I can tell the key purchasing is automatic. You enter your serial number and payment amount at the website and immediately get the key. No humans are involved. Why would they mess around with getting humans involved to do transfers? You simply get a refund with proof the scanner was returned.

 

[Kaleier1]

Corporate offered to send me a replacement knob, which I could then solder on myself, but if I chose to do that, it voids my warranty.

This has been hashed out here before so won[t get into it but the FTC has said it is illegal to void a warranty based on you doing your own repairs or breaking the "Warranty void if removed" stickers and yes even Uniden's manual makes statements in violation of the the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

 

[hiegtx]

This totally false and even Paul said proof of return of the scanner was all that was needed to get a refund on the codes. I have done it. I returned an SDS2000 scanner with the DMR upgrade due to a popping noise in the speaker at the beginning and end of every transmission. Simply waited to get confirmation of the return and uploaded that proof along with my request for a refund of the DMR code at the Uniden website and was refunded in a week.

Uniden doesn't transfer codes but they do refund and you can just repurchase for the replacement scanner.

In the case you are speaking of, was the scanner sent to Uniden, or to the retailer where you purchased it. In the situation that fxdscon was referencing, it seems that the scanner was sent to a retailer, to whom UPMan then provided a code for the replacement scanner (presumably as part of the process where the dealer sent it in for repair). If you had simply returned it, without a reorder, it's possible there would be a different outcome.

 

[cstetter]

I've had my Internal GPS SDS100 little over a year now and the Scroll Knob doesn't function correctly. Sucks you have to spend around $90 to fix the issue

 

[fxdscon]

Key point of #3 is that Paul said "I provide a key for the replacement unit at no charge".

Paul did that, not Uniden.

From what I can tell the key purchasing is automatic. You enter your serial number and payment amount at the website and immediately get the key. No humans are involved. Why would they mess around with getting humans involved to do transfers? You simply get a refund with proof the scanner was returned.

Several members have received their replacement keys that way... as well as the BCD436HP repair campaign, when the main pcb was replaced (where the keys are stored) the original esn and keys were transferred to the new pcb.

.

 

[Hit_Factor]

UPDATE: Five calls later as of yesterday afternoon and here is where it stands: customer service confirmed that as of yesterday afternoon, Corporate offered to send me a replacement knob, which I could then solder on myself, but if I chose to do that, it voids my warranty. This is not an acceptable solution. I want Uniden to repair the unit under warranty. Finally the representative told me Uniden could repair the unit but it could take up to 8 weeks as they are still on limited staffing and operations due to COVID-19, which I totally understand. When I asked the representative as to why they just could not agree to do that from the get go, she said she didn't know, that perhaps it was a miscommunication. I called four times previous to her, there was no miscommunication.

In the midst of this, I called the retailer (Zipscanners) to ask how I could return the unit and obtain a refund. He asked why I wanted to return it and I explained my situation. He graciously offered to replace it and I intend to pursue that route, but there is one issue. I purchased all three unlock codes from Uniden direct. The retailer told me that I would need to contact Uniden to see if they would allow me to transfer the codes to the new unit. I totally get that from the retailer point of view, this is both logical and reasonable. So, call number six to Uniden and I'm told "We will submit your request to corporate, it might take until the end of next week." Now mind you, the Uniden customer service representative confirms they can see that I've purchased all three unlock codes in their system.

So for now, I'm in limbo mode. I do not want to pursue a swap out with the retailer at this point because I don't know if Uniden will approve transferring the unlock codes; and as you are all well aware, those codes are expensive.

For those who are telling me this should be fixed and just follow the instructions. I'm here to tell you, I've done that. The summary I've shared with you is my personal experience. You can agree or disagree on the reasons for which I am frustrated. For those of you who feel compelled to tell me that your knob didn't break, that's fantastic. Mine did break, on a new unit under warranty, and I'm sharing my experience with you.

Bottom line for me, Uniden's customer support truly sucks. This isn't my first rodeo, I understand that when any product is massed produced, a small percentage will make it past QC with defects. But the fact that their customer service team does not seem to be empowered to make any decisions on simple warranty support and it takes days for someone at corporate to make a decision is just sad. And the inconsistency between customers services reps (we need corporate approval vs. we don't need it) is a major waste of time. A company's commitment to backing their warranty is just as important as the quality of the product they manufacture, especially when that product runs 650 bucks, not counting the cost of the unlock codes.

Will provide an update next week on the status of transferring the unlock codes.

Stop trying to handle it your way. When you bought the scanner, the Uniden warranty was one of the terms of the sale. You should not have bought the scanner if you couldn't live by the terms. You are creating your own headache, no one else is.

You are not following the warranty instructions. The instructions are here Uniden | A World Without Wires - Uniden Repair Center. Uniden will take care of the unlock codes.

 

[Kaleier1]

In the case you are speaking of, was the scanner sent to Uniden, or to the retailer where you purchased it. In the situation that fxdscon was referencing, it seems that the scanner was sent to a retailer, to whom UPMan then provided a code for the replacement scanner (presumably as part of the process where the dealer sent it in for repair). If you had simply returned it, without a reorder, it's possible there would be a different outcome.

It was sent back to the retailer where I bought it from, Walmart and repurchased from Scannermaster. Do you really think Walmart is going to open the box and program a DMR key if I did a reorder?

 

[Kaleier1]

Several members have received their replacement keys that way... as well as the BCD436HP repair campaign, when the main pcb was replaced (where the keys are stored) the original esn and keys were transferred to the new pcb.

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This was done by Uniden at the Uniden warranty repair facility. Of course if they change the main pcb board they are going to put in keys that were in the bad scanner. That's not at all what the poster of this thread is talking about. He is talking about a complete scanner replacement with the retailer and trying to get people to do a transfer of the keys. If he paid the retailer to program the keys they should do it on the replacement. If not he needs to get a refund and repurchase the key codes.

 

[rolesnevich]

Even if Uniden replaces the scanner you still have to contact separately to get the key to work with the scanner. I know this for a fact because when my SDS100 was replaced after they did not repair I had to call twice to get the key to work on the new scanner.

And yes Uniden customer service and repair service sucks. It the main reason my sds100 is the last uniden scanner I will buy.

 

[trentbob]

To the o p. You've gotten some great advice here. Just note that the upgrade keys are not transferable, there have been cases when new upgrades were issued for a replacement scanner.

Of all the quality control issues yours is one of the rarest. Your call to Uniden initially is bizarre. The knob broke off, you're under warranty, you follow the procedure laid out and return your radio and wait, it's repaired at no cost. They're not going to send you a bill. I was also surprised that they offered to send the knob and have you do the repair knowing that it would void your warranty. Well at least you know they have the knob and they should repair it for nothing and you keep your warranty. This is all very strange.

I was shocked at zip scanners response of replacing the radio after two months. I had a bad experience with a zip scanners a long time ago and don't use them anymore.

It is frustrating when you call out for help and people come back almost blaming you because their radio never had the problem, not very helpful but not unusual.

Again, good luck here, you have gotten some very helpful and sage advice here from those who know.

 

[baj76]

I thought they went on sale in 2018?

now that i think about it..this august will be two years

 

[minasha]

First off, the problem is not "a broken knob" It is a broken potentiometer, in this scanner it's a constant turning type with a push button select.
This is not a case of putting on a new knob to an empty shaft because there is no shaft, that's what broke off with the knob still attached.
Yes it needs to be soldered in, not difficult I have done 3 of them 2 on bcd396xt and 1 on a 436. I am not sure but I believe the sds 100 uses the same part. Being you spent around $180 on upgrades I would think it best to keep your scanner let Uniden send you the replacement part and have someone solder it in. I know you will lose your warranty but it's over in a year anyway and this way you take a chance but at least you keep your upgrades. Otherwise you'll surely lose them if you switch scanners.

 

[hiegtx]

First off, the problem is not "a broken knob" It is a broken potentiometer, in this scanner it's a constant turning type with a push button select.
This is not a case of putting on a new knob to an empty shaft because there is no shaft, that's what broke off with the knob still attached.
Yes it needs to be soldered in, not difficult I have done 3 of them 2 on bcd396xt and 1 on a 436. I am not sure but I believe the sds 100 uses the same part. Being you spent around $180 on upgrades I would think it best to keep your scanner let Uniden send you the replacement part and have someone solder it in. I know you will lose your warranty but it's over in a year anyway and this way you take a chance but at least you keep your upgrades. Otherwise you'll surely lose them if you switch scanners.

No, he would not lose the upgrades if sent in for repair. If, during the repair process, Uniden were to replace the main system board, their process is to flash the original serial number into the replacement board. While, when first received back, the upgrades would be "missing", all that would be required to reactivate them would be to enter the upgrade keys once received.

While it might not be listed as necessary, a short reminder note that upgrades in effect should reinforce the need to flash the correct serial number (if the circuit board is replaced). For the broken "knob", or the potentiometer that it is part of, repair would not likely entail a board swap.

 

[gmclam]

SDS100 Buyer Beware

I received mine. I am embarrassed by how much effort it took to get it working. There's no place in the manual (including Easier To Read version) that shows how to open the battery compartment. There's sure a lot of posts regarding damaged clips though. Next is clearly identifying what each button is with a description. There should be a picture of the unit with caption box point to EACH button, not just groups. There's 2 "USB" connectors on the side, one marked "charge". Hmmm, does this mean I need to use the other one to power the unit?

Certainly once you've used the unit, answers to these questions become second nature. But to require a new user to search out each of these is not how a leading product should be documented. If you believe the manual, you MUST load Sentinel to get the scanner going. Certainly, you'd want to update the DB at the very least (assuming you're using it that way), but I didn't find it to be "required".

The documentation is too filled with basics of Trunking, tone tables, and other things that are generic and not directly related to the radio. They are nice-to-haves at the end of a document, but appear to be "filler" in a manual that doesn't spend enough time dealing with the specifics of this model. What does "Battery Save" actually do? Give me a detailed description of "Squelch Light". In one place there is a selection between Simple conventional/trunk & Detailed conventional/trunk while in another it is just "Simple Mode" on/off. Can I apply one method to one system and a different method to another.

Unlike most, I spend a lot of time reading through manuals long before I take possession of something. In this case, it didn't help. I guess it's "job security" for sites like this where people can share frustrations and get answers.

 

[trido]

What I miss is PAUL would have come in here and HELPED?
Where is UNIDEN NOW.
I know I know never be another PAUL from UNIDEN or any other company.

Bottom Line Up Front: I do not recommend anyone purchase this scanner.

I bought my SDS100 new from zipscanner.com on April 9th, 2020 (Less than two months ago). Arrived on time, in new condition, all was well. Functionality of this scanner is fantastic. Programming is a breeze. Handles simulcast better than any other scanner out there. Speaker could be improved but its performance is acceptable. I want to love this thing and I did love this thing until two days ago when the volume/squelch knob broke. The scanner was not dropped, it was not banged against anything, the knob literally just broke. I contacted zipscanners via e-mail for guidance on warranty support but did not get a response back. Contacted Uniden customer support by phone and the representative asked me to send in pictures of the unit, which I did within minutes. I was informed they would have to send my case to their corporate office to get "special permission" before they would authorize warranty work. That in itself was frustrating as again, I purchased this new under two months ago, its's not a drop issue, this should be an easy warranty fix. But what's more frustrating to me is that I've now been waiting two days for Uniden Corporate to make a decision as to if they will honor their warranty. I've called the past two days and all Uniden Customer service can tell me is that they are still waiting on a decision from Corporate. I've asked to speak to a supervisor and as I type this, I've been on hold for 54 minutes. During this time I decided to see if anyone else had the same issue. I Googled SDS100 volume knob and wouldn't you know it, there are several other SDS100 owners reporting the same issue with the volume knob. This appears to be a hardware quality issue with the SDS100. Bottom line, as much as I want to love this scanner for all of its functionality, its a moot point if I can't use the scanner because of hardware failure. Add Uniden's frustrating bureaucratic customer service experience and lack of warranty support, I simply cannot recommend to anyone to spend almost $700.00 for a cheaply made scanner.

 

[hiegtx]

What I miss is PAUL would have come in here and HELPED?
Where is UNIDEN NOW.
I know I know never be another PAUL from UNIDEN or any other company.

While UPMan (Paul Opitz) was not the only person at Uniden involved in scanners, he was the driving force for development and release of new products. He was also instrumental in noting problems reported here in the forums, and, where possible, making corrections via firmware updates. The addition of DMR & NXDN capability likely was initiated by Paul as well, after noting the number of Uniden scanner owners asking about those formats.

As Jeff noted, he also interceded in cases where some processes at Uniden, including repairs, was not up to the level needed. While we likely not see a replacement representative as involved in the product line as he was, hopefully Uniden will fill the position with someone who will note where changes or corrections need to be made, whether those are announced in the forums, or are handled behind the scenes at Uniden.

 

[hiegtx]

I received mine. I am embarrassed by how much effort it took to get it working. There's no place in the manual (including Easier To Read version) that shows how to open the battery compartment. There's sure a lot of posts regarding damaged clips though. Next is clearly identifying what each button is with a description. There should be a picture of the unit with caption box point to EACH button, not just groups. There's 2 "USB" connectors on the side, one marked "charge". Hmmm, does this mean I need to use the other one to power the unit?

Certainly once you've used the unit, answers to these questions become second nature. But to require a new user to search out each of these is not how a leading product should be documented. If you believe the manual, you MUST load Sentinel to get the scanner going. Certainly, you'd want to update the DB at the very least (assuming you're using it that way), but I didn't find it to be "required".

The documentation is too filled with basics of Trunking, tone tables, and other things that are generic and not directly related to the radio. They are nice-to-haves at the end of a document, but appear to be "filler" in a manual that doesn't spend enough time dealing with the specifics of this model. What does "Battery Save" actually do? Give me a detailed description of "Squelch Light". In one place there is a selection between Simple conventional/trunk & Detailed conventional/trunk while in another it is just "Simple Mode" on/off. Can I apply one method to one system and a different method to another.

Unlike most, I spend a lot of time reading through manuals long before I take possession of something. In this case, it didn't help. I guess it's "job security" for sites like this where people can share frustrations and get answers.

Your points are well taken. Uniden manuals have left much to be desired, for quite a long time. Those of us that purchased, among other scanners, the 396XT were more than surprised that these did not come with a printed manual, Instead, we were directed to a 'web based' manual online. Supposedly, that was presented as being a better option since revisions, corrections, and additions to details and procedures could be added to the online manual, rather than trying to release a corrected or expanded printed one. I prefer to use the download PDF version of scanner manuals instead of a printed one. That allows searching for key words via the Adobe Acrobat Reader instead of trying to decipher what part of the manual the item was under, especially when that was not specifically listed in the index.

 

[jonwienke]

It is unfortunate that you are having this issue. While rare, a few other SDS100 owners have had this problem as well. Uniden would certainly repair this under warranty if you sent the scanner in for repair but they are not always that great at sending out or supplying certain spare parts like battery latches and control knobs. Because of this, one of the more knowledgeable members here (jonwienke) has created a 3D printed replacement SDS100 control knob. If you are not happy with Uniden's service policy on repairing this part, one option is to buy one of these replacement knobs for $10.00 USD. I know you shouldn't have to buy a replacement knob for a scanner that is still under warranty but this is an option and it is cheaper than paying to ship the whole scanner back to Uniden. Here is a picture showing the replacement knob.

SDS100/SDS200: - Uniden SDS100 Replacement plastic knob

I have a crack in the plastic knob, and I am looking to replace it. Uniden outright refuses to sell me one separately without sending in the radio, that is ridiculous considering its been there 2 times in the last 4 months with one time being their fault! I've searched the internet and have had...

forums.radioreference.com

To order one, go to the following page, scroll down to "Scanner Accessories", click on the down arrow to open the list, select "SDS100 Scroll Knob $10.00 USD" and click on the "Add to cart" button below it.

PayPal Payments

www.unidenscanners.com

Ordering my replacement knob won't fix the broken encoder shaft. That's a Uniden repair issue.

 

[thracyv]

Wow. Trying to follow all of these threads. Having owned BCD996, BCD396, BCD296 and now a new BCD530HP- i'm trying to figure out who is the bad guy in all of these threads. Looking to purchase a handheld-as in SDS100, to replace the BCD396XT that I just sold. Doers anybody on this thread recommend or not. Simple question. It would be appreciated if I got an informed opinion rather than all of this emotional BS.