Whistler Customer Service / Forum Issue

[Drkatzjr45]

I called Whistler this week (expecting no answer...or a voicemail - in which calls are never returned,
Unless things have changed, I am obviously referring to Uniden

Try and see yourself.

Two points I wish to make

1. As a customer who paid quite a lot for the Whistler WS1080, it means a lot to me personally
that not only did they answer the phone, they spent over 30min with me, and had (2) techs
on the line discussing an issue with me...that.. was solved....quickly and professionally.

I have been scanning as a hobby for 10 years, and in that time, I could never get anyone on the phone at Uniden. Not once.


2. What is the situation with RR not affording Whistler their on forum?
I have read the sticky messages about "Until they make their own scanner.."

Come on! They have!

This would be similar to this mock business scenario:


I purchased Radio Reference, modified it substantially, programed new software for it...
but changed its name.

But, though I purchased RR, and induced --marked and significant changes--, my new company is still recognized as Radio Reference in a capacity that places my new business against a backdrop
of the fallacy that my new business venture is...in itself.......


A fallacy. Or not legitimate.


Not true...


Whistler -has- created a new scanner (s)


That... is untenable.


What is sad is the preferential treatment other companies receive.
(Most likely due to contract agreements)


Radio Shack has a forum, but that company, in itself, never created a scanner... themselves.


I do not have a secondary gain.


I purchased the WS 1080, and could not be more happy with it.

I find that the sound is much improved (as well as a kaleidoscope of other items)


This simply represents my opinion.

 

[k1agh]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Whistler is selling the same GRE scanner with the same everything as they haven't designed their own scanner yet. I think of Whistler scanners as just rebranded GRE scanners.

 

[marcotor]

Perhaps you should start your own forum.

 

[buddrousa]

WS-1080 same rebranded PSR-800
WS-1095 same rebranded PSR-900 There were PSR-900 beta units in the field Don Starr had one tersting there was one at the Las Vegas show
RS PRO-668 Rebranded PSR-800
What has Whistler designed and it took over a year to rebuild scanners already built and designed so what have they designed and built?

 

[WILSON43]

What has Radio Shack designed and built?

I think the OP has a point, and the bias is clear.......to me anyway, for Uniden.

GRE is dead and gone. Whistler is selling scanners.

Let's DUMP the GRE forum and go with Whistler. That IS the OTHER company selling scanners, now - right?

And since Radio Shack never designed and built a scanner, and are also basically bankrupt, let's can that forum as well.

This is all silly. We all KNOW RR is in the tank for Uniden. That's fine, someone has to pay the bills, but let's be fair OK?

 

[krokus]

GRE is dead and gone. Whistler is selling scanners.

Let's DUMP the GRE forum and go with Whistler.

GRE is not dead and gone, as mentioned many times, they have left the scanner realm.

Eliminating the GRE forum is not valid, as there are a lot of their products out there. They are in daily use by many people.

While I agree there should now be a Whistler forum, to be fair, do we have forums for Fanon, Yupiteru, and other companies that do not have many scanner products?

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[krokus]

I am glad to hear the company is responsive. I hope that trend continues.

I have called Uniden about products, and did talk to someone. I suppose it is about timing.

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[15plus1]

What has Radio Shack designed and built?

I think the OP has a point, and the bias is clear.......to me anyway, for Uniden.

...................................................

This is all silly. We all KNOW RR is in the tank for Uniden. That's fine, someone has to pay the bills, but let's be fair OK?

What He Said !

 

[marksmith]

I disagree with the motion to remove GRE and replace with a Whistler forum. The GRE units are still out there in great numbers and deserve the support of the forum.

However, I think that although the 1095 is basically a PSR-900 (which never got manufactured), I think that even DonS would probably agree that Whistler didn't just put their name on it and stamp them out. For at least one thing, the GRE guys had abandoned the IF out because of not being able to make it work. The Whistler people went back and problem solved that and I am sure many other things in order to get this radio manufactured.
So let there be no doubt here. Whistler manufactures a scanner that GRE never did. While the 1080 is also largely a copy of the 800 they are not firmware ditto, so it is also a radio being manufactured by Whistler.

Whistler DOES deserve a specific support section in Radio Reference forums. I cannot think of any real good arguments against that.

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

 

[marksmith]

Whistler customer service. Impressive.

I have owned scanners, including GRE, Uniden, Electra, GE and others over the past 40 years. When my new 1095 arrived, I had a problem getting it to run. I could not find anything in the troubleshooting material with the radio or online at Whistlergroup.com

So I called the customer service line. I was told by recording I was 15 minutes from being acknowledged. I held on. In about 8 minutes I received an answer from a human. I relayed my problem. He told me I needed to talk to the scanner tech and transferred me. In under a minute the scanner tech came on. In about 3 minutes he had me up and running and also answered a few other questions that I had. A very satisfying experience.

I write this here because I wanted anyone considering a 1095, or a 1080 or other Whistler scanner to know that at least in my experience you can rely on them to help you out and to support the product.

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

 

[WILSON43]

I stand corrected.

Valid points made for keeping the GRE forum active.

However, it seems the consensus is to open the Whistler Forum as well.

How 'bout it moderators?

 

[Spitfire8520]

While I believe Whistler has put in a considerable amount of time getting the WS1095 out onto the market; the Forum Administration has made it well known that the decision to open the Whistler Forums is not up to the users of the forums.

http://forums.radioreference.com/forums-administration/294602-whistler-scanner-forum.html (July, 2014)
http://forums.radioreference.com/forums-administration/299590-whistler-threads-gre-forum.html (October, 2014)
http://forums.radioreference.com/gr...-scanners-gre-forum-ws1080-1065-1040-etc.html (October, 2014)
http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/315433-ws1095-whistler-forum.html (June, 2015)

The biggest takeaway:

I'm not going to repeat what I've already said. But I will reiterate, when a scanner is designed that is completely new hardware along with a NEW firmware design that uses new programming principles will there then be a Whistler forum; the dominant threads are programming based. I'm not opening the forum up just so people can fantasize about what doesn't exist. If you don't feel comfortable posting to the GRE forum then post it to GenScan. I do not want two concurrent forums open that support the exact same topics. This confuses people and we don't need the extra work of moving threads.

This is the last time I go over this. We will let you know when we decide to open the forum up. If you want to debate this then email me.

That being said, I still understand the desire to keep GRE/Whistler topics in the same area as they are still very closely related in terms of scanner architecture. There are still references to GRE products when discussing the newer Whistler products.

I am of the opinion that perhaps it would be a good idea to consolidate the GRE and Whistler Forums (Whistler / GRE Scanners). A vast majority of posts in the GRE Forums is now dominated by WS products and not the PSR. The Whistler/GRE posts would still be contained to the same forum and get the same support from other users. Consolidation of forums wouldn't even be a departure of practices already being used on these forums. Take a look at Harris / MA/COM / GE / Ericsson Forum.

 

[SCPD]

Excellent thought Spitfire .. but I think it will be a cold day in **** before it would happen.

 

[DJ11DLN]

Here's a thought:

1. Remove the locked "Whistler Scanners" section. It's just sitting there, doing nothing useful.

2. Rename the "GRE Scanners" section to "GRE/Whistler Scanners." I can't see where Whistler would be offended...they know that they bought the GRE IP's to get into the scanner business.

3. Now maybe we can all stop arguing about it.

Great to hear about the customer service experience.

 

[buddrousa]

To get what you want all Whistler has to do is design and build their own scanner.
1. How long did it take to rebrand the already built PSR-800
2. How long did it take to rebrand the already built PSR-900
Say what ever you want but a PSR-900 was built and working at the Las Vegas Show before GRE went out of the scanner business in 2012. They were working on the firmware, the cases and motherboards were already built when the 900 made its dayview at the 2012 Electronics Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8dNItqOAs

 

[mancow]

Can you use GRE firmware in a Whistler?

The answer is no, right? That should be enough to establish the difference.

 

[prplehz]

What has Radio Shack designed and built?

I think the OP has a point, and the bias is clear.......to me anyway, for Uniden.

GRE is dead and gone. Whistler is selling scanners.

Let's DUMP the GRE forum and go with Whistler. That IS the OTHER company selling scanners, now - right?

And since Radio Shack never designed and built a scanner, and are also basically bankrupt, let's can that forum as well.

This is all silly. We all KNOW RR is in the tank for Uniden. That's fine, someone has to pay the bills, but let's be fair OK?

This site is Uniden run if you ask me. If it's not, it may as well be. It's not like Radio Shack makes it's own scanners, lol. So why do they get a forum. Yet site ops say Whistler has to wait until they make their own scanner? I think you better pull the radio shack forums then. When was the last time they made their own scanner, if ever? Uniden is trying to keep it out of the known that the Whistler scanners are great and the owners love them. As I do.. I am very glad I didn't buy a Uniden boat anchor. So how about that Whistler forum. Lets see it, if you aren't a bias website...

 

[prplehz]

Can you use GRE firmware in a Whistler?

The answer is no, right? That should be enough to establish the difference.

Can you use radio shack firmware in a GRE? No...

What's your point? It doesn't matter what firmware works with what. If it's a company that sells scanners. They should get a forum. Especially when its been requested several times. Doesn't matter who makes it..Then they say it's because whistler doesn't make its own scanner. Well neither does Radio Shack.. Nor have they ever. Better get rid of their forum too. It fits why Whistler can't have one. Fair is fair right? RIGHT?

 

[W6KRU]

What GRE did or didn't do in the past is irrelevant when discussing Whistler products. Yes they are Whistler products. Whistlers superiority as a company when compared to Uniden can't be hidden by the RR's management.

What do the Uniden engineers in Japan have to do with supporting Uniden products? Nothing! Contrast that with the support you get from Whistler's engineers.

 

[prplehz]

Then the site owner does nothing. They just watch us argue about if there should be a forum for Whistler. Which there clearly should be. Wasting time, all whileUniden gets what it wants and Whistler users and products get no recognition. Now why wouldn't they want Whistler getting recognition?? Someone could just make a different site and we all tank this entire site. Go ahead ban me for saying that. It's my opinion. I have been tagged before for my opinion here. Especially when it goes against unidens wishes. What does that say?? Funny thing is. I don't need a forum for Whistler because the scanner works great. I just think in fairness Whistler should get a forum. I mean this is America still right?