Uniden's "F" rating with the BBB

[DaveIN]

But the key word is DID and WORKED. Not much support or repair right now. I had a local trying to find a cable and kept hitting dead GRE links. Did not realize there were other sources.

I don't know what Business Plan GRE had, nor Uniden's, but scanners are just a small part of Uniden's business.

Look at it this way. You can pick up the phone call support at Uniden, order parts from the web and over the phone, and get personal online attention to your emails from the the VP of the scanner product line right here on Radioreference. He reads all your positive and negative comments, initiates a repair channel to get quick turnaround, beats on engineering and production to fix your problem, and still manages to come to work every day and make great products while looking at the next model requests and endless questions of why it doesn't support mode x. Good thing he doesn't have hair or he surely would have lost it all by now!

The demise of the GRE scanner line was beyond the control of the GRE America scanner development team. GRE has since sold all intellectual property to Whistler, and is why the scanner models are no longer supported (with exception to Radio Shack OEM model repair within Radio Shack). Unfortunately unless Whistler decides to support the GRE models, it's going to be that way until all the legacy radios die.

I'm positive that once Uniden gets the initial 536 headphone repair returns completed, and can work on the firmware improvements (as every scanner has had), the x36 line is going to continue to be an excellent seller. It's only going continue to make a great set of radios even better. I'm looking forward to the Analysis features and Siren software.

 

[Ronaldski]

I agree the bbb lost it revelance imo from the 1990s and on. It was very revelant certainly in the 60s and earlier especially if you ever look at old shows from those era's and what Ive been told from my elders.

I do recall, granted these are from a few years ago a 20 20 investigation of the bbb.

Take a look at
Better Business Bureau 20/20 Investigation - YouTube

Better Business Bureau: The Best Ratings Money Can Buy - ABC News

Replies
Better Business Bureau President Apologizes For 'Errors' In Grading System - ABC News

Hawaii BBB Responds To 20/20 Investigation - Bing Videos

 

[UPMan]

Any private conversation that took place between LIScanner and myself were conducted under confidentiality terms that are quite clear on both his emails to me and mine to him. I will honor the confidentiality his email requires, but since he did disclose some portions despite those confidentiality terms, I will address this to say that at no time did we threaten legal action against him. Some comments made in the above, while not inaccurate in themselves are taken out of the context of the email exchange and include some incorrect assumptions on his part as to intent.

 

[K2KOH]

My God. This thread is a waste of bandwidth. Bottom line. Don't like the scanner? Return it. Don't like what you're hearing? Don't buy it. Yeah I had problems with the sd card but it trend out to be Mac parallels problem. Working fine now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JamesO]

With the BBB you will either have complaints or none. I do not think there is a good mechanism to have positive comments with the BBB and even if there were, few would bother to fill out and submit their positive comments. You also have to realize that Uniden is a consumer electronics company and they have sold hundreds of thousands of products over the years. So for the complaints that have been lodged, you need to look with a very open mind. Just like Amazon feedback. There are times when I see a 3 star ratings, someone says the product is good, works as advertised but would only give it 3 stars as they will have to wait and see how it functions over the long haul?? This is not very objective, but this is how some view the world.

There are a lot of crap stirrers here that sit on the sidelines and poke the fire. Anyone that complains and complains and does not even OWN the product they are complaining about needs to get a life, worry about your current product or put your money where you mouth is. Once you have the product, you may see that the shortcomings are FAR outweighed by what the product can offer.

Glad to see the forum has taken action against some here.

As the the entire headphone issue and how it is working out, there will be issues. This is not something easy to do and few people will be 100% satisfied with the final outcome. Somewhat a bitter pill for some to swallow. But at least there is a mechanism in place to resolve the issue, this is more than I can say for some companies.

I give Uniden and UPMan the benefit of the doubt for the most part. They have a lot on their plate.

UPMan has bigger fish to fry then the fire pokers/crap strirrers on this forum, but he does try to stop in and comment, answer questions and I assume he is also on the HP1 site as well?

There is a lot of frustration on the new scanners, many are coming from analog or non trunking scanners or even trunking units, but not HP units. There are pitfalls and it is too bad that there is not a simple solution/bulletin/Quick Start guide that says to turn all the Service Types on, set the Range to Maximum and once you get a week or so on the scanner, then consider playing with some of the "filters".

Yes there are Wiki's, videos and other Easier To Read manuals, but this info is somewhat fragmented and it would be helpful if all the web resources could be pulled together in a single location or web launching point.

All this being said, the entire hobby/industry is becoming more and more complex and technology driven and as we all know technology seems to move much faster than osmosis where we can all absorb and process the changes, information, requirements and operations.

So regardless of what the BBB ratings are and what some people say on a forum, we should all realize and be grateful there are resources such as RR and UPMan as well as other helpful and courteous RR Forum members that are trying to help everyone along with steep learning curve of the newer technology scanners, learn about the product and collectively come up with answers and solutions.

The last thing we all need is for Uniden to toss in the towel or run into issues. Just look at GRE and/or Radio Shack. It is hard to survive these days and I think it is in the scanner communities best interest for Uniden and UPMan to succeed because if they don't we ALL end up missing out and coming up short at the end of the day.

So lets try to encourage and praise Uniden and UPMan to keep up the good work and the products that that have to offer, even if at times they do not always meet our individual needs.

Fire pokers and crap stirrers go find a new hobby or day job!

 

[tsalmrsystemtech]

I don't quite understand the sudden hate. Uniden is bending over backward to take care of the problems, even offering a three year warranty. All the past and current products I'm using have been good. I've even ordered refurbished products that work great. They were quick to respond when the headphone issue came about.

Try to get the same help at another consumer electronics manufacturer.

Its not about "hate" its about frustration on a product that was sold at 500 and 600 bucks. People were misled on getting a unit that has passed quality control over and over again. When a big company or a corporation did not even test these units with re-guards to a basic headphone jack there are big concerns with the way they do business and who manufactures these units overseas.

Plus features that were advertised and are not working yet that is a problem for some people not all.

hardware and software issues too which drive people crazy when they spend that kind of money. Some people just don't want to wait. They want the features to be working out of the box. That's what they paid for. Uniden wants all of their money for their radios up front to sell so we should get all of the features up front too. The bottom line is that what people paid for.

So for people to complain and make claims to the better business bureau good for them.

At the end of the day Uniden should of had more quality control and fixed all the bugs and tested and tested and tested before units were shipped. Yeah some units are just going to have issues right out of the gate but not thousands of them. Uniden should of just waited and not listened to anyone on this site about releasing new radios until they knew everything was right. If people had to wait another six more months then so be it.

Glad to see Whistler coming to the plate real soon. The models are all ready showing up on Radio Shack website as of this morning. Good for them..

 

[derevs]

I read a couple of the complaints on BBB's website and at least one complaint was not actually about Uniden but about FedEx and their delivery. It was wrong to attribute it to Uniden.

Uniden cannot be responsible for items in transit with a courier.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Plus features that were advertised and are not working yet that is a problem for some people not all.

Please tell me what these features are that "were advertised and are not working yet"?

Some people just don't want to wait. They want the features to be working out of the box.

Then some folks need to learn patience.
Uniden was upfront about what was operational at the time of purchase and what features (ie: Siren App) were still in development.

Uniden wants all of their money for their radios up front to sell so we should get all of the features up front too. The bottom line is that what people paid for.

Again: Uniden was upfront about what was operational at the time of purchase and what features (ie: Siren App) were still in development.

At the end of the day Uniden should of had more quality control and fixed all the bugs and tested and tested and tested before units were shipped.

It is obvious you have never been part of a electronics product development cycle. You can "test and test and test" and there will always be bugs that will escape detection until the device is in widespread distribution.

Glad to see Whistler coming to the plate real soon. The models are all ready showing up on Radio Shack website as of this morning. Good for them..

Lets hope you hold Whistler to the same insane standards you hold Uniden.
On second thought lets not.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[ofd8001]

Ain't there a place elsewhere in this forums for Rants?

I'd like to see this section be devoted to asking and answering questions and seeking advice on how to get the most out of scanner.

Definitely way too much rhetoric going on and it is getting downright nasty.

 

[DaveIN]

Glad to see Whistler coming to the plate real soon. The models are all ready showing up on Radio Shack website as of this morning. Good for them..

I hear you. Me too, "let's change the color of a button, and just call it a day".

If I want the same scanner I had before, I could just purchase the Uniden HP-1 or the BCD996XT, those are also at Radio Shack.

Let's just wait and see how many news and government agencies end up going to the BCDx36HP series in the long run.

 

[KE4ZNR]

Ain't there a place elsewhere in this forums for Rants?

I'd like to see this section be devoted to asking and answering questions and seeking advice on how to get the most out of scanner.

Definitely way too much rhetoric going on and it is getting downright nasty.

Good idea
Off to the rants forum we gooooooooooo....
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[nr2d]

I have had Uniden scanners for at least 30 years. My first scanner was a Radio Shack crystal controlled scanner. That was over 40 years ago. Before I purchased the BCD536HP I had a BC796D and still use a BCD996T to moitor NJ State police at home. My older BC796D is in use at work to monitor a service that has in the past caused interference to our communications system at work.

Before I bought the BCD536HP, from around late November thru when the BCD536HP was released all I could listen to was the local fire departments being dispatched. I had no idea what else was going on.

I have had what I consider minor problems with P25 Phase II decode of my local fire departments. MY fixes included the suggestions found here like NFM to FM and only scanning the closest transmitter site. That improved my receive reliability from about 85 to 90% to about 99.5%. With the new firmware I am back down to about 85 to 90% reliability. I have stated this on several threads here on RR.

I started listening to Public Safety services back in the AM days. Until November of 2013 the only exposure to P25 was a P25 Phase I system we are testing here at work. Most of my work at my job is still AM.

When my local fire department and PD went to P25 Phase II I was surprised how much I missed listening to the services BUT this wasn't a life changing event. My life went on.

I have had every iPhone since the 3g with the exception of the 3GS. Just like the BCD536HP these phones aren't cheap. Like the BCD536HP they all had problems when they were released or new firmware was released. The problems for the most part were fixed in subsequent firmware releases. Here at work I test applications for the iPhone and iPad that are to be released nationally. Each app was written by engineers who have years and years of software experience. Each piece of software was tested by me and other technicians before the released. Problems were found and fixed. The software was tweaked to add new capabilities and enhance performance. BUT problems were still found when the apps went to the field. The majority of the users environments and requirement are different.

Even though the GRE 800 has been around for a couple of years, depending on who's post you read, it has worked great, OK or poorly. The same is for the BCD536HP. A company like Uniden can economically accomplish so much beta testing. I don't think they can even get close to testing every receive situation found in the US. there are just too many variables. I was surprised at the quick release of firmware ver. 1.03.03. It solved problems for a lot of users and as in my situation was a small step backwards. I wish I could return to the previous version of the firmware without going through bunch of "rings".

BUT compared to where my listening was between November 2013 thru the release of the BCD536HP my listening is 100% improved. I applaud UPMan for trying to keep us updated on changes, updates and work arounds for the problems we users identify.

As for this thread and the fact that Uniden got a F rating before the 2 new scanners were released I say BFD. I don't look at or subscribe to anything the BBB puts out. The only ratings I even take a look at are the ones put out by Consumer Reports but I don't bet my life on them either. Every single user of Uniden scanners have unique situations. We don't program our scanners the same. Our user environments are different.

As I have stated before Uniden has tried to put 20 pounds of candy in a 5 pound bag. When a company tries to cover all of the "bases" there are going to be trade-offs. We had a problem in the FAA with 2 pieces of test equipment. Both were billed as the best thing "since sliced bread". But we soon found out that using the spectrum analyzer in places other than out in the middle of the desert was almost useless due to internal intermod problems. Using the equipment to set the modulation of an AM transmitter left the transmitters modulation anywhere 20 to 40% low. They did have a good tracking generator to tune filters though.

If you look at the price difference between the BCD536HP and the BCD996Xt it's only $130 roughly. I don't want to compare the BCD536HP to the GRE PR800 because you can't buy the GRE scanner right now. BUT with the BCD536HP I would think the price difference is average for what we got. REMEMBER this scanner is designed and built to receive just about everything. If you want 100% total reception spend the extra $2000 and try to buy a Motorola or Harris radio designed to receive P25 Phase II but then remember that you might be missing out on other services like aircraft, VHF comm services. BUT at least you will be able to listen to 1 P25 Phase II system.

OK I'll jump off of my soap box now.

 

[Ghstwolf62]

Do some of you even bother to read the posts here and in this thread before resuming your whining?

Its reposted here in this thread what Uniden's response was to the headphone issue not being discovered before the scanner was released. (Beta testers not discovering it) yet someone is already whining about it again and completely misinformed about what they are whining about.

This reminds me of a Twilight Zone version of Romper Room or something.

My adopted 2 year old granddaughter doesn't whine, cry and throw as many tantrums as some on this forum do. She has more patience too.

I mean are you all little kids or something? Most of the stuff isn't even real issues at all but everyone is screaming its Uniden's fault.

For those who keep on and keep on, learn to deal with life already and move on. This applies to those who bought the scanner and then returned it yet show up in almost every thread *****ing about it and those like LIScanner who have never even owned one yet is the most vociferous of all of them in complaining about something he's never owned.

Just because you can't read, can't grasp the operation, can't program, can't get it to work etc, doesn't mean there is an issue with the radio or that its Uniden's fault.

I'm still messing with the programming and trying to get everything right and I've been working on it for weeks. You know what? I'll probably still have something screwed up when I put it into the radio. That isn't Uniden's fault its mine. Grow up and deal with life.

You don't like it send it back, you don't want to buy it then don't but quit your *****ing non-stop for crying out loud.

AZ agree 200%.

 

[southernCTscan]

Let me jump up on that soap box for a minute!

Moved a complaint thread to the rants section, really? I belong to at least a dozen forums and have never seen behavior like this before it's truly amazing. We now have a feel good, hooray forum, will that get moved to the Happy Garden thread. How about sticking to your own rules as printed here....

6. Stay on topic. If the post topic is about "Your Favorite HF Frequencies" and you jump in and post "What is the best HF Radio?" then you are just taking the thread into the weeds. Start a new thread if it isn't on topic for the existing one.

In other words if there is a complaint thread going and someone interjects that Uniden is the greatest company in the world, should that be allowed? There seems to be a double standard. Why are people so upset, if you don't have a complaint, don't read it.

There is now a report of a scanner coming back from the headphone campaign full of scratches. Should this guy just say "Yay I got my scanner back and it looks terrible, thank you Uniden". Even upman sees the value of complaints and issues. I will admit that the title of this thread was bad but the some of the content was real and to some really concerning.

And as for "Please tell me what these features are that "were advertised and are not working yet"? how about Analyze mode? Not a biggie for me but there is a thread on it, some people expected it, it is advertised as such even to this day.

Stepping off soap box now

 

[Dafe1er]

Man, FEEEEEEL that love in the room......lol

All this over a bull**** BBB posting. Now this is funnier than hell to me. People getting slapped around and some knocked out. All over a rating that really does nothing but jade people to think there is something more to cry about.

Glad I bought my Uniden scanners. Not happy with designs or some of the processes by Uniden and the way they handle supporting newly older units but hey, I spend money and can cop a grip without receiving any sort of infraction or email via private contact from the site admin. Why others feel the need to pound their chest or say and do things in a wild manner is beyond me so, they will have to deal with what they are handed.

Are the scanners that bad we need to complain? YES. UPman has even said without that they would never know what we are experiencing. AND they (Uniden) are trying to find and fix the issues.

BUT, they are not bad enough to really go off the deep end. I mean ****, I use my 436 everyday. Before it I used the HP-1 only when going to sleep since it was to bulky to carry everyday. They did something right!

Glad this was moved to the rants section....lol

 

[MTS2000des]

This thread is a reminder why the opinion of the typical Radio Reference user is what it is on certain other forums I participate on. It's worse than Howard Forums. I don't even bother going there anymore, because it's all "my carrier rules, yours sucks...my phone rules, yours sucks" as if ANYONE CARES who you pay for your cellular service.

Truth is ALL the carriers suck. Truth is all the phones have problems.

In the early days of that forum, there were technical discussions about wireless network technology, network buildouts of the various carriers systems, and legal issues.

Today it's nothing but a bunch of childish fanboys who wear cheerleading uniforms for their favorite carrier of the week and phone of the week. Anyone who tries to have a meaningful technical discussion is shunned, mocked or worse by the mouth breathing masses who are so lacking of even basic technical knowledge it isn't even funny. I am sure the corporate bosses of the wireless telecom cartels have a good laugh while having drinks browsing those forums. Especially when the carrier cheerleaders pop up. Anyone who DARES challenge the T-Mobile fanboys are reminded that John Legere is Jesus Christ and you are the anit-Christ for saying anything negative about "big pink".

I see this forum going the same route. Anyone who tries to point out the FACTS surrounding the very real hardware shortcomings of the new Uniden BC-436/536 are either censored, their thread moved to the "rants" forum, ridiculed (you always know how right you are by the number of insults you receive) or banned.

If you do the math, it's already been pointed out why. The manufacturer is a business partner with the owners of this site. No brainer.

But if you want open, honest discussion of a technical nature, this forum is not it. If you want open, HONEST criticism (both positive and negative) of the current crop of scanners, you should not do that here. You will be called names, belittled or outright censored. Why? Pretty clear to me, FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Like all corporate media, they will only allow what their corporate paymasters allow.

The Insider (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Get the picture? Go watch that 1999 film and see how media, much like this forum, is all about the money.

What I find hilarious is how many of you actually stand up and defend Uniden (or any manufacturer) like it's your friggin high school mascot. You are worse than those carrier fanboys on Howard Forums. You kiss up to the "Uniden Product Manager" as if he goes home and thinks about you sitting in your room petting your Uniden scanner.

Once again, he, like Uniden, is about the money. That's all.

As a consumer of his company's past products, I have a mixed taste in my mouth. The BCD-396T I have sucks on P25 phase 1 LSM. OTOH, they did handle a hardware repair very well two years ago. But it's useless to reliably monitor the many phase 1 800MHz systems using LSM simulcast because of the hardware design. I get that, second generation product, but I get that. So, one would think by the THIRD generation of digital scanner, Uniden would hire some competent engineers and try something the rest of the digital RF world has known about for years: the I/Q demodulator:

http://www.microwavejournal.com/ext/resources/pdf-downloads/IQTheory-of-Operation.pdf?1336590796

When I had the chance to try a BC-436 on my county's system, it sucks just as bad. After reviewing the thread on another site which actually ENCOURAGES deep technical discussion on the 436, it was revealed why: the same old, tired and technically FLAWED design of the use of a discriminator tap, which will NOT EVER produce consistent performance of proper CQPSK-LSM demodulation. Third generation of product, first generation design. That's plain GARBAGE. When the Uniden product manager was asked about the demodulator design used in his company's new product, he either gave non-answers or some nonsense about "proprietary" technology of DVSI. Well that is plain B.S. No one asked for the code DVSI provides or reverse engineering, just simple question: does your product utilize an I/Q demodulator circuit in the front end for LSM or not? No answer. Of course the truth ultimately WAS revealed by someone else.

When this fact was made known here, the first thing one of the true pioneers of the OP25 project pointed it out, he got an infraction. When others bring it up, they are told "works fine for me. Must be your imagination". When people point out that the product is poorly built, the fanboys step up and call the critics names, saying "we need to get another hobby". Or even better are the laughable notion that "future firmware updates will fix it". Technically flawed responses from people who lack technical knowledge and speak through their sphincters on the subject as usual.

Oh well, back to P25.ca where real technical discussion takes place, enjoy your cheerleading tryouts corporate fanboys! Maybe they'll throw in some pom-poms and Hello Kitty stickers for your scanners.

 

[AZScanner]

Yep, the new Unidens sure do suck. I so hate mine, it's awful and doesn't work and how dare Uniden even make such a complete piece of junk....

Clearly this is what some of you want to be told, so who am I to argue? Have at it, if the above is what you'd like to believe. I really don't care anymore. I've wasted who-knows-how-many hours debating with you people about this stuff. Time to spend my time plucking my eyebrows or licking a light socket or something - anything - less painful than dealing with all the Uniden haters on this site. I shall henceforth waste no more of my time in such a manner.

Check please! I'm outta here. :roll:
-AZ

 

[E-Man]

AZ was your slander comment direct at me?

 

[AZScanner]

AZ was your slander comment direct at me?

My comments are directed at all to whom my comments may apply. If you said something slanderous, then yes. If not, then no. I don't know who said what or when or where anymore, and I'm not about to go digging through the giant pile of crap that's been posted over the last few months to find out. I'm really over the whole thing. The new scanner works great. FOR ME. I have given up on caring how it works (or doesn't) for the haters. They can either return it or live with it as is - that's up to them.

If folks have a serious question about the 436 and want my advice, please PM me. I will no longer respond to such questions on the forums. Sadly, it's come to that for me.

-AZ

 

[Ghstwolf62]

Its absolutely amazing to me that people can't see the huge difference between bringing up an issue or having a complaint and the whining, crying, carrying on etc that has been going on.

I don't think anyone including me would tell anyone they couldn't bring up an issue. I don't think anyone would say anything about someone having a complaint. Heck I'd back your right to do either.

But...

There is an astronomical difference between raising a possible issue or having a complaint to bring to everyone's attention and what has been going on.

What has been going on and what I've complained about are people carrying on, whining, complaining, crying, b*tching etc NON-STOP, repeatedly over and over again.

When you see three people making dozens of posts each day in every thread on the Uniden section of the board or nearly so crying et. al. about the same things, bad mouthing the product and its company, trying to pick a fight with the Rep/company, and whining even more. That is not simply bringing up an issue or complaint.

That's being a big crybaby and not much else.

Then anyone who says something gets accused of being a "Fanboy" or stifling discussion, censorship or a host of other things all because some people can't seem to tell the difference between crying incessantly and actually bringing an issue/complaint up.

Just because someone opens a new thread with an "Issue" and two other guys jump on his bandwagon about it and make 300 posts in his thread does not mean there are 300 people having said "Issue" It just means three people are going on and on ad nauseum about it.

Also keep in mind your "Issue" or complaint may not be an actual problem with the scanner. Just because you have an issue or complaint or don't like this or that doesn't mean the product is defective.

The poster above thinks they should use a different component in the manufacture of scanners but is that Uniden's problem or the poster's? He's unhappy, Uniden apparently isn't.

That is the other big thing, what you like, dislike, want and don't want doesn't equate with a defective product no matter who makes it. That is a problem with you not the radio. Too many people think their problem is Uniden's problem when its not. Grow up.

The "Issues and "Complaints" I've seen in the years I've been on this board in each and every radio release can be summarized into seven categories. Blank = Radio manufacturer

1. It should have it and doesn't therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

2. It has it and shouldn't have it therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

3. I want it and they won't/didn't/ do it/don't have it therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

4. I didn't want it and it has it, they done it, therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

5. I can't operate/use/figure out/program, use software, get it to work therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

My favorite tied with #5

6. My 500 dollar radio doesn't work as good as a 5000 dollar Motorola therefore its a crappy scanner and all blank's fault.

7. Small number of actual real product problems in existence.

So you want to bring up an issue or complaint I'm not complaining about it but if you want to act like some whiny bratty kid in the second grade then that is a problem for me and at least some others.

Heck most kids learn that whining and crying don't work by the third grade at the latest, maybe its time some on here learn the lesson finally.

To SouthernCTscan, I was a global mod for a site for a number of years and I can tell you that with three people in particular if they had shown up on my board I would have taken action long before anybody here did. Matter of fact I was really wondering why the Admin/Mods here were allowing their unmitigated crap to continue frankly.

AZ I'm really sorry to see you go and I'm sorry to see you go in this manner, being driven off by the likes of some of these!