I discovered this informative site by none other than Mike Valentine (ill explain later).
I have been a loyal Valentine customer since the companies inception. Up till recently I have been nothing but pleased.
I am on my sixth Valentine, and most likely the last after the issues I have had with my unit.
Here goes my story....
Ordered a V1 for my new car.. All seemed to be working ok until I had a E on the display. So I called up Valentine and they said to send it in.
A week passed and I heard nothing from them about the status of my unit.
I gave them a call and they said nothing was wrong with it and it was ready to be sent back. They lady I spoke with said that my unit did not display a error, because if it did the unit would have stored it. Thinking that maybe I was wrong I accepted my unit back.
After getting the unit back I encountered a state tropper clocking with KA band. I was DIRECTLY in front of him and only four LEDS lit up! I turned around and passed the cop again and once more only four LEDs.
I called Valentine and they said to send it in again. This time a week and a half goes by and no call. I opt to call and they tell me once again that nothing is wrong, unit is performing as it should.
I complain the rep about the poor communication, and my bad KA reception. His first response is to offer a refund which I decline. I tell him I just want a different unit. After a lengthy hold time someone else gets on the phone. Well its Mike Valentine.. He begins to question me about a web site (this one), which I did not know of until now. He says they have had numerous people trying to get free software updates etc.. From the tone of his voice I could tell he didn't believe me about not knowing about the site and tells me my unit is up to Valentines standards.
It was apparent he has no love for this site, he seemed very annoyed when talking about it. I told him that I dont have time to waste money ($60 in shipping for both trips to them) nor am I looking for something for free, I just want what I paid for a unit that performs as advertised.
I explain to him my KA encounter and he says that maybe the cop was clocking from the rear, hence the weak response from my unit. I tell him that I knew for a fact that he was clocking from the front. He tells me that other factors might have degraded my reception, sun, windshield etc...
I opt to take my unit back again.. Well today I encounterd another cop clocking KA and got another weak response from my unit.
I know something is NOT right because my other two V1's do not act like this. Whenever I encounter a cop they go nuts when I am within a few feet of them.
Not wanting to waste another $30 to ship my unit back and get accused of trying to scam Valentince I am opting to just sell this unit and try something different in my new car.
I can say I am very disappointed in V1's custome support, the not calling me to give me status and being accused of trying to get a free upgrade. I would think seeing I have bought so many units throughout the years that I would be treated better. All I got was an arrogant attitude that Valentine makes the best and this site and competitors are just trying to bash their products.
After spending the day reading this forum I can see that other people have had similier issues which shows my complaints are valid.
If Valentine where my company I would welcome critisicm and concerns openly. Listening to your customers is the only way you can make your products better.
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