Modified V1

[John@RadarDetectors1]

Hi there,

While doing a google search on my company I came across an old thread here from last December that had some rather sharply negative comments from some folks - all of whom have never bought and would never be buying from my company. In fact, the only positive thing said, was said by the one and only actual past client of my company that participated in that thread!

That thread was closed before I even knew of its existance, but I would like the chance to respond to the comments made and "clear the air" a bit.

The negative comments concerned the idea that the reprogramming we do of the Valentine One can be done by anybody and therefore it would be a waste of money to buy from us.

Here's my response:

1) Yes, we reprogram the units in the same way anyone who knows how to do so, can - but the same could be said for brain surgery, couldn't it? While reprogramming a V1 is not brain surgery, the fact is, most people have no idea how to reprogram the V1, and they have no inclination to take the time to learn how to do so. And even if they did, it takes a bit of experimenting to see how far one can safely go with said reprogramming without causing a detrimental effect on the units detection capabilities. Our services in the US are not aimed at the technically savvy enthusiasts that participate in forums such as this one - they're marketed to the average Valentine One purchaser (though even for you all, that 5 year warranty is a pretty nice upgrade).

2) As we reprogram the units, the K-Band false alarms are cut by 90% - this is a real-world figure. I use my own Valentine One with my settings around Chicago, and I LOVE it. The feedback I get from my US clients indicates that they are very happy with what I'm doing as well - quite a few of them already owned Valentine Ones, and they often send me their older units for reprogramming and then give them to their spouses.

3) In addition to reprogramming the units, we extend the factory warranty to 5 full years. If you check you will see that most warranty extension programs for consumer electronics items cost nearly as much as our $100 bump in price, and only extend the factory warranty to two or maybe three years. We provide 5 full years. We've been in business now for nine years and we take care of our past clients. We are on very good terms with the factory (probably because we buy as many as 3,000 V1s each year), and while there is no "official" relationship between my company and Valentine Research, Mike and I have met in person and he has no objections to my business.

4) As several people pointed out, most of our business is in Europe - in addition to our Chicago location, we have physical locations the United Kingdom and Germany. I think we are the most reputable reseller of the V1 overseas, and I've spent nine years researching what countries use which methods and frequencies of radar in an effort to provide the best service I can for our clients.

As I wrote, my company's efforts are not marketed to the enthusiasts that participate in this forum, but rather, to the typical buyer of a Valentine One that doesn't want to be alerted to each and every automatic door opener he passes, and doesn't know how to rectify this problem. You all know how to reprogram the units and for you, that's great. But there's a whole bunch of people out there who can and do benefit from my company's service.

Viva La Valentine One!

Best wishes,

John at RadarDetectors1

[Gator Bite]

I could have written that post myself. (Just teasing)

[robcollins5]

Well, I guess I'll be the first one to stick my neck out there....

You're a joke. The service you offer is a joke. Your business plan is very clever. Your marketing strategy OF your marketing strategy is very clever. Lastly, as a result of karma/Murphy's Law, you'll receive all the negatives you've issued to humanity back. I'd love to be there on that day.

The fact is that you take advantage of customers. Not for the services that you offer, but for the cost.

You claim that you've done a lot of research to determine the usage of bands overseas. I wonder if you "researched" the single thread on this forum that provides all of that information?

You claim that you offer an UNPRECEDENTED 5 year warranty on the V1. I am curious as to what this warranty covers. Here is an theoretical analysis:

Most likely your warranty covers the settings you've changed. These settings are solid because V1 intended changes to be static....so at worst a customer resets their machine once and you have to reprogram. $10 shipping, 40 seconds labor.

Possibly your warranty provides foreign customers with the option of purchasing a new V1 at cost, receive your "services" without the additional $100 again, and have you ship it to them overseas.

I'd be a fool to believe that you repair, replace, or otherwise maintain V1s for 5 years. It is believable that you would market this type of warranty but I bet it's as easy to file a claim as it is to receive money from one of those infomercial rebates.

I've never been to your website, never read your warranty, and sure as hell never considered either. You sir, are a great business man with all the accompanying lack of personal interest in your clients, their happiness, and anything BUT money, for that matter.

If you would like to indulge this debate any further with me particularly, I encourage you to PM me. I'd be happy to share my phone, e-mail, and mailing info so that you could plead your worthless case further.

As an aside, I'm not an entirely "religious" man. I don't consider the eternal consequences of my actions on a regular basis. I am a believer in something though....and I believe that you will answer for your lies, deceit, and exploitation in your business dealings. Not because radar detectors are so important or near and dear to my heart but because each of us has a responsibility to provide for each other in honest and reputable fashions in ALL dealings of business, family, and friendship.

That's my 2 cents.

rc

[John@RadarDetectors1]

Nice car Gator Bite! I'll have to sell a LOT of V1s to get a Porsche like that!

[John@RadarDetectors1]

Hi Rob,

I provide my clients with a V1 that false alarms far less often, and has a full 5 year warranty. My net profit for doing this after taking into consideration the credit card fees, website fees, advertising costs, etc. is about $40 per unit. Exactly how is it that you think I am doing something "negative" to humanity?!?!

By the way, there are others out there that take a stock Valentine One and do NOTHING to improve it or it's warranty, and they charge the same $499 I charge. All they do is tack on a profit for themself. Don't you think it is them you should feel so upset about?!?!

And my five year warranty is quite legit. All units sold through me have the normal VR warranty in effect for the first year (VR honors the warranty on all units I sell). For the next four years after that, I cover any repair costs that would have been taken care of during the first year by the normal factory warranty. I've been doing this for nine years now and I am a man of my word.

You write: "Your marketing strategy OF your marketing strategy is very clever." I'm not sure what you mean by this. As I wrote in my first post, the units I sell are NOT marketed to the technically savvy enthusiasts who participate in this forum - they are for the typical buyer of a V1 that has no interest in learning how to reprogram the unit and also likes the peace of mind provided by a 5 year warranty. I fully realize that no one here is going to buy a unit from me - they don't need to. Folks like you and the rest know how to do their own reprogramming.

And incidently, I mislead no one. I make it perfecly clear to my customers exactly what I do, and that they can do it too, if they want to take the time to research and learn how.

No one is forced to buy from me, and no one is "tricked" in any way.

Best wishes,

John

[CJR238]

Hi there,

3) In addition to reprogramming the units, we extend the factory warranty to 5 full years.

If this warrantee covers the whole V1 minus regular wear this is a totally acceptable option. The hole L,l,A,a… never made sense, plus Mike V doesn’t even recommend changing some of the settings. How many times has someone asked "HOW DO I PROGRAM MY V1"

Think of it this way, anyone can build a barbeque (they suck to build) but if you could pay someone 25% of the price to have it built for you and get 5X the warrantee wouldn’t you?

However if the 5years doesn’t cover everything this is a big rip-off, even to people that are not savvy enthusiasts like us. It’s not hard to go on VR's website and see how to do it, just takes some effort.

[robcollins5]

By the way, there are others out there that take a stock Valentine One and do NOTHING to improve it or it's warranty, and they charge the same $499 I charge. All they do is tack on a profit for themself. Don't you think it is them you should feel so upset about?!?!

Others did not post their plea of legitimacy on this forum and open themselves to personal opinion. For the record, they are scum, something I would not call you as you DO provide a service albeit the aforementioned complaints.

You write: "Your marketing strategy OF your marketing strategy is very clever." I'm not sure what you mean by this.

I merely meant that the way you came here and marketed to us the strategy that you use to market to others....is clever. You seem to plea with us that WE are not the "norm." The reality is that any electronics customer is ignorant so long as he likes his device and is happy with it's operation. As soon as a V1 user is unhappy with the operation of his device he need only open the manual or visit Mike's Lab Report #3. You do provide a legitimate service but the fact that WE are an exception to the Valentine 1 populace is foolish. There are those here who are exceptional. They can disassemble, repair, modify the circuitry, etc. But to use a BUILT-IN GUI to customize a piece of electronic machinery is by NO MEANS exceptional.

This post is merely meant to clarify. I am done "flaming" your business dealings but will continue to answer/clarify any questions you have about my original post.


rc

[John@RadarDetectors1]

Hi CJR238,

Yes, our 5 year warranty simply extends the coverage of the one year factory warranty to five full years. Everything covered during the first year by the factory warranty is covered during the 2nd through 5th years by my extension of the factory warranty. I'm able to do this because I've seen and found that in nine years of selling Valentine Ones, they rarely have trouble. On a humerous note, one of the few I've had to have serviced was actually my own unit - it was kind of embarrassing - when my wife and I were moving back to the US from Germany in '04, we rented an LKW (truck) to move our belongings to the Port in Hamburg where everything was getting put into a container (including my '72 240-Z). Not realizing the rental truck had a 24 Volt System, I plugged my V1 into the Cigarette Lighter - and saw smoke come out of it. They laughed at me at the factory when I had to call and explain what I had done. Just to add to the mayhem, on the way to the port I got hit by a "Blitz" (PhotoRadar unit). So I ended up with a pretty picture of me driving my stuff to the port to move out of Germany - one last "gift" from the wonderful German government...

Hey, here's a picture of the Z:




I've had it all over the world now and I'll keep it forever.

Best wishes,

John

[Gator Bite]

Wow... Looks like he struck a nerve with RobCollins.

The way I see it, with such a low defect rate, he can afford to self warranty the things and eat each one that dies. If 1 out of 100 V1s fails in five years (it's likely much less than that), it would cost him $4 per unit to pack the cost of the one replacement. He could buy the V1s for $400, sell them for $404 and break even. If the defect rate is 1 in 1,000, the break even is $400.40. So if he wants to offer a warranty and just eat them, there's enough profit there to cover it. (Though in some states you have to be careful because they don't allow self-insuring).

I say let the consumer decide if the warranty and programming is worth it. Like the grill analogy. Almost anyone can build one. Many prefer to pay more so they don't have to bother.

The thing that I find interesting is the fact that the V1s are such a pain in the neck to program that someone can actually market the service.

[REBinc]

What's the saying?

A fool and his money are easily parted?