Uniden's "F" rating with the BBB

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Skypilot007

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I'll be waiting for the mutitude of problems with these newer scanners to be resolved before I even think about purchasing one. That is usually what I do with any new product. I cannot buy either of these newer scanners with any confidence after reading the Uniden forums for the last 3 weeks.
 

pinballwiz86

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No complaints from me on the Uniden BC125AT, BC346XT or the BCD396XT.

All amazing scanners.
 

DaveIN

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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.
 
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firerick100

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I'll be waiting for the mutitude of problems with these newer scanners to be resolved before I even think about purchasing one. That is usually what I do with any new product. I cannot buy either of these newer scanners with any confidence after reading the Uniden forums for the last 3 weeks.

There is a handful of us in ct that'd feel the same way but I am not going to buy these scanners,I love my 996 and 396 xts,that's all I need,
 

LIScanner101

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Careful now - if you keep this up UPMan might email you telling you that your actions border on tortious interference and threaten you to get you to shut up! Now why would I write something like that? Hmmmm.....
 

KE4ZNR

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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 a electronics manufacturer.

THIS. I have held my tongue long enough.
I don't understand why folks think that trying to destroy Uniden is going
to be beneficial to our hobby in any way shape or form.
So what is the end game here? Drive Uniden away from making scanners altogether?
Seems some folks around here won't be
happy until Uniden is totally out of the scanner business and UPMan is out of a
job? What then for our hobby? Depend on the vaporware of Whistler?
Some of you need to get a grasp on reality. Hell we have posters here that DON'T EVEN OWN EITHER OF THE 2 NEW SCANNERS b!tching about them.
It is obvious that no matter what Uniden does some of you will never be satisfied.
Please place yourself in UPMans shoes: He is doing everything he can within the limits of his job to fix the 536 headphone issue and is constantly reporting back here and elsewhere about the status of the repair process. Would you want to come here and deal with the venomous hate and constant negativity?
Is Uniden perfect? Of course not. Have I always been happy with the decisions Uniden makes? No. Are there features I wish Uniden would add? Of course.
Is UPMan perfect? Of course not.
But he is here day in and day out taking the abuse in order to try to make YOU the customer happy.
I got into the radio hobby many years ago because I loved the fact that when we all work
together we can make amazingly awesome things happen....but when we do nothing but tear companies and people down then our hobby ceases to be enjoyable.
Marshall KE4ZNR
 

LIScanner101

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Marshall,

Nobody is trying to tear Uniden apart!

Nobody is trying to get UPMan fired!

Why do you guys make it sound like ANYONE who complains is out to "get" Uniden?

And why in GOD'S NAME does it make ANY DIFFERENCE IN HELL whether I own one of these scanners

Maybe these things I read here are the reason I don't own one?

Sad that you feel that people are out to DELIBERATELY sink Uniden and UPMan.

THERE IS NO "END GAME"!!!
 

mikewazowski

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Careful now - if you keep this up UPMan might email you telling you that your actions border on tortious interference and threaten you to get you to shut up! Now why would I write something like that? Hmmmm.....

Once again, Uniden and/or UPMan do not have any influence over how these forums are run.

Calm and respectful on topic discussion will always be allowed on this site whether pro or con.
 

bberns22

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West Chester PA
Marshall,

Nobody is trying to tear Uniden apart!

Nobody is trying to get UPMan fired!

Why do you guys make it sound like ANYONE who complains is out to "get" Uniden?

And why in GOD'S NAME does it make ANY DIFFERENCE IN HELL whether I own one of these scanners

Maybe these things I read here are the reason I don't own one?

Sad that you feel that people are out to DELIBERATELY sink Uniden and UPMan.

THERE IS NO "END GAME"!!!

Thanks Vladimir
 

southernCTscan

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Location
Branford, CT
THIS. I have held my tongue long enough.
I don't understand why folks think that trying to destroy Uniden is going
to be beneficial to our hobby in any way shape or form.
So what is the end game here? Drive Uniden away from making scanners altogether?
Seems some folks around here won't be
happy until Uniden is totally out of the scanner business and UPMan is out of a
job? What then for our hobby? Depend on the vaporware of Whistler?
Some of you need to get a grasp on reality. Hell we have posters here that DON'T EVEN OWN EITHER OF THE 2 NEW SCANNERS b!tching about them.
It is obvious that no matter what Uniden does some of you will never be satisfied.
Please place yourself in UPMans shoes: He is doing everything he can within the limits of his job to fix the 536 headphone issue and is constantly reporting back here and elsewhere about the status of the repair process. Would you want to come here and deal with the venomous hate and constant negativity?
Is Uniden perfect? Of course not. Have I always been happy with the decisions Uniden makes? No. Are there features I wish Uniden would add? Of course.
Is UPMan perfect? Of course not.
But he is here day in and day out taking the abuse in order to try to make YOU the customer happy.
I got into the radio hobby many years ago because I loved the fact that when we all work
together we can make amazingly awesome things happen....but when we do nothing but tear companies and people down then our hobby ceases to be enjoyable.
Marshall KE4ZNR

Oh please, is this a Fanboy forum or a place to inform people about a product and its features, whether they are good or bad? If Uniden sends a rep here and he is in the customer service business then he better expect unhappy people or he is in the wrong job. I have owned just about every scanner Uniden has made and have never experienced issues like I have with the 536, it simply should never have been released. You seem to forget there are hundreds of people who have no clue what Radio Reference is and they buy this scanner simply based on what it advertises it can do. Uniden says its the easiest scanner to program yet, really, not by the posts here! Bring your scanner over to your neighbor and give them a few hours to program it, see how they make out!

Will a scanner need firmware updates and tweaks, of course. Should we be discovering as many problems as we are, I think not. If you are content as a consumer to buy a product that is missing advertised features and has immediate recall issues with horrible return policies, more power to you. This hobby has the potential to die off because products don't work not because a huge company like Uniden gets some complaints.

The bottom line is that this is a forum, a forum for people to extol the virtues of Uniden and a forum to bash a device that has numerous issues (even if it is just one person). There is no respect here for people that complain and my guess is that many just can't be bothered for fear of being flamed here. I really have not seen people bashing Upman and I would agree there is no need for that but without a doubt many simple questions go unanswered. Communication is key for any customer service rep. And respect of everybody (happy or pissed) here is what makes a good forum.
 

phask

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Does anyone actually thank that the BBB is of use for anything?
Is not,never was, and never will be.

No legal bearing, kind of like the mob's protection services - buy your way to a better rating.
 

whsbuss

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SE Pa
Well I am one of those "users who don't even own" one of these scanners. Yes, I did return mine almost 1 week ago because it did not meet my basic need - reliable reception of my county's system. Heck, I sold what I had to gather funds to purchase one and now I have nothing. Without Broadcastify I have no way of listening to activities here.

It was Uniden's decision to release these new scanners for whatever reason (jump on competition?) before they were really ready. I'm sure the beta testers under NDA did a fine job, but now in the real would to have consumers spending $500 and $600 to find some major problems is what has many so disappointed and upset. Did the beta testers even plug a headset in to hear the hiss that has caused the recall?

Fanboys will be fanboys, nothing wrong with that. But some of us (who received PMs on forums rules and ethics) just to point out what has happened since the release is ludicrous. I can only speak for myself that I want a product that meets my expectations, even at 85%. But when I can only receive <60% of transmissions, missed traffic (when another scanner does not), is not what I expect. And believe me before I returned my unit I tried every trick mentioned here and elsewhere including the newest firmware.

All I want is a radio I can depend on regardless of who make them.
 

1Partsman

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Oct 18, 2004
Messages
101
Location
Wisconsin
I for one have many Uniden products including the 536, which fine for me, and it needs attention in the future which I think Uniden will take care of...BUT, before posting accusations that these new scanners have affected Uniden's rating with the BBB you should at least take the time to look at the problems posted.....NONE of them are dated after Nov 2013, BEFORE the new radios were released....and the couple I looked at dealt with phones not radios.....give Uniden time to resolve some of this....things don't change in a few days....and remember, that was only 52 complaints on ALL the products they sell...

John
 

cifd64

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I too sold a lot of what i owned to scrape up enough to buy this overpriced scanner. After reading the release issues I held off. Hoping whistler comes through, or Uniden answers to the issues with its product.
 

DaveIN

Founders Curmudgen
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Messages
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Location
West Michigan
I completely understand that scannng is an expensive hobby and you want it to work out of the box. What hobby isn't expensive? It's fine to say "I won't be purchasing a product until the bugs are all gone", but why say something like they deserve an "F" failing grade for supporting hardware problems, addressing users with specific system related issues that will be corrected with a free firmware update? It reads like, let's hold em at bay with pitchforks until they cry uncle, sick the BBB on em until it gets fixed. What will the BBB do? Uniden is addressing the consumers problems. Maybe not as fast as some would like, but it looks to be in progress...

We see the same thing every new product cycle on the forums. Some users have positive experiences out of the box, others want to burn the world down because it's so frustrating that they didn't get the same result, want a firmware fix now, and are asking the same questions over and over, not even attempting to read the FAQ, Wiki, manual or forum, only to get a bad experience after spending all their hard earned cash on the scanner hobby for the latest and greatest that just don't work.

Anyone with experience in the scanner monitoring hobby will tell you that the latest and greatest is never the answer for every system type, every monitoring location, or personal feature preference. It up to you to select the radio that's good for you, to do the research, and learn how to use it.

If it doesn't work for you return it, sell it, or add it to your collection until the firmware change takes care of the problem, or maybe keep reading until you've made that expensive decision to purchase, or use what you have until the next model comes along. Remember folks, it's still a hobby :twisted:
 

E-Man

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THIS. I have held my tongue long enough.
I don't understand why folks think that trying to destroy Uniden is going
to be beneficial to our hobby in any way shape or form.
So what is the end game here? Drive Uniden away from making scanners altogether?
Seems some folks around here won't be
happy until Uniden is totally out of the scanner business and UPMan is out of a
job? What then for our hobby? Depend on the vaporware of Whistler?
Some of you need to get a grasp on reality. Hell we have posters here that DON'T EVEN OWN EITHER OF THE 2 NEW SCANNERS b!tching about them.
It is obvious that no matter what Uniden does some of you will never be satisfied.
Please place yourself in UPMans shoes: He is doing everything he can within the limits of his job to fix the 536 headphone issue and is constantly reporting back here and elsewhere about the status of the repair process. Would you want to come here and deal with the venomous hate and constant negativity?
Is Uniden perfect? Of course not. Have I always been happy with the decisions Uniden makes? No. Are there features I wish Uniden would add? Of course.
Is UPMan perfect? Of course not.
But he is here day in and day out taking the abuse in order to try to make YOU the customer happy.
I got into the radio hobby many years ago because I loved the fact that when we all work
together we can make amazingly awesome things happen....but when we do nothing but tear companies and people down then our hobby ceases to be enjoyable.
Marshall KE4ZNR

Marshall,

The complaints are legitimate, Uniden brought these problems upon themselves, by rushing their product to market. Uniden could have taken steps to limit the bad press, by recalling all the effected stock from all their sellers. Uniden made the choice not to do this. Uniden has a history of sub par scanners and leaving their customers hanging, all one has to do is use the search feature on this site. My HP1 has similar deficiencies. I do not think there is one person here that wants Uniden to fail, or Upman to have Job insecurity. I find it disappointing that members have racked up many infractions, and now a member LIScanner has been threatened with legal action and banned, but its ok to call Whistler's Scanners Vaporware.
 
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