PSA: Uniden BCD325P2's sold as UBCD325P2-AU

[Redshift]

Recently I ordered a UBCD325P2-AU with the intention of paying for the DMR upgrade.
When I received it in the mail, I noted that the box was very old. It was faded and a little beaten up and the stickers on the box were yellowing with age. Inside was a BCD325P2. When I opened the battery compartment, the foam rubber padding for the batteries had crumbled and fallen apart with age. It powered up fine and worked nicely, but was on a rather old firmware version (v1.00.xx circa 2014?) and wouldn't accept the Australian firmware updates via the tool from Uniden Australia's website, which reported that it was the incorrect model. Uniden Support was not very helpful (apparently a 3rd party contractor in south-east asia... surprise!).

After a bit of back and forward between the retailer and the distributor it was revealed that Uniden Australia had purchased a bunch of old stock of the US version BCD325P2's from Uniden USA, flashed some AU firmware on them, called them a "limited edition" and basically dumped them on the Australian market. No firmware updates are available, so none of the firmware fixes implemented over the last several years and none of the DMR/NXDN/PROVOICE upgrades are available for them. Now this might be a fair enough tactic, capitalism being what it is and all that, if they were properly labelled and advertised for what they were, but the one I received was advertised as a UBCD325P2 and labelled as such on the box (obviously not the retailers fault). It wasn't until you opened the box that you knew you had been duped. That type of sales tactic is literally illegal.

I returned the unit for a refund and the retailer was great about it (to be clear, this was never their fault). Since then I have seen only one store advertising these units as the correct model number and I suspect that many of these are still being sold as UBCD325P2's at full retail price. Given that even the retailer probably doesn't know that the box labelling is bs and there's no sure way to tell without opening the box, I definitely won't be ordering another. In fact, my trust in Uniden's quality and support is unlikely to recover any time soon. I guess I'll check out their competitors, or maybe I'll just stick to SDR's.

[railscan]

BCD325P2's sold as BCD325P2-AU were labelled as BCD325P2-AU. The one you received should have had this label attached.

325.png

Was such a label in place?

The 325P2's sold here were reflashed to suit local band plans and to have extended frequency coverage (the missing 800 MHz band). That is when the -AU designation was attached.

R

[Redshift]

I'm not sure, I don't think that it had that label, but this was a few weeks ago.
Regardless, I don't see how that would matter either way given that the sticker appears to be on the battery cover.

Labelling the unit inside the box does not excuse the fact that the outside of the box advertised a false model number.

What I assume was the original BCD325P2 model number printed on the box, was covered over in multiple places by stickers with the UBCD325P2 model number. I can't say who in the supply chain would have added those stickers, but I can say that the model number BCD325P2-AU appeared nowhere on the box, only on a leaflet inside that declared it a "limited edition".

In addition, Uniden Australia's website does not even mention the existence of the BCD325P2-AU as a legitimate model and there is no way for a consumer to know that it is a non-standard model that does not support the latest firmwares and features. For that matter, it doesn't appear that even the retailer knows what they are selling unless they open the box to check.

[railscan]

I can say with certain that Uniden did not label the BCD325P2-AU models with UBCD325P2 labels. It would suggest someone had done it with a view to passing the BCD325P2-AU off as the UBCD325P2.

The label on the back of the unit was to ID the BCD325P2-AU as such and if it was not present it reinforces my previous statement.

The BCD325P2-AU was a standard model and sold as such. The UBCD325P2 was also a standard model and also sold as such. They were marketed as two separate but similar units. The different models were clearly labelled. The fact your unit was not suggests a deliberate fraud by an unknown third party. Both are now discontinued by still supported units.

R

[Redshift]

While I appreciate your input, it definitely does not match my experience.
The product was bought through an authorised Uniden retailer and supplied by their Australian distributor. Going back through some photos that I took in the brief time that I had it out of the box, I can see that the battery cover label that you pointed out was indeed present. Blaming the situation on fraud by an "unknown third party" seems like more of a cop-out than an answer. Even if true and if everything you have said is taken to be correct, Uniden has still dumped old US units on the AU market and utterly failed to support them. No firmware updates, no product page, no online documentation. If, as you assert, they are "still supported units", then it is pretty woeful support indeed. When I contacted them, Uniden Support didn't even know that such a model existed & suggested that it must be an imported US unit. This still reflects very poorly on Uniden from my perspective, regardless of who placed the incorrect labels.

[railscan]

I had written and posted a rebuttal to your claims, but then thought "what's the point" your mind is clearly made up, so deleted it and the polite where to go. Instead...

Maybe Uniden have not lived up to your high expectations, maybe there was a mistake made somewhere in the supply chain, maybe it was deliberate. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But the fact remains without Uniden, there would be little to no scanners sold in this country.

And no I do not work for Uniden, but happily support and promote their products.

R

[Redshift]

I do not believe my standards to be very high. A company should provide proper ongoing support for their several hundred dollar products and should not employ deceptive sales tactics. Seems pretty basic to me.
The fact that they have a monopoly does not excuse these obligations.
I bought Uniden because I have owned and been happy with their products for 30 years, but I will still hold them accountable for poor conduct.

It seems to me that you have such a devoted brand loyalty that you are unable to accept any criticism of their behaviour. You have spent this entire discussion trying to convince me that this could not possibly be Uniden's fault, even though you have no evidence for that argument. Perhaps you should re-evaluate why it is that you believe them to be beyond scrutiny.

[railscan]

Judge, jury and executioner.

Brand loyalty - damn right!

[peteramjet]

Redshift, what retailer did you buy the scanner from? They should be the ones copping the flogging here, not Uniden. As railscan pointed out, any modification to the box has been done by whoever you bought it from - even if they are an 'authorised seller' - not by Uniden.

Also, there was never a 'UBCD325P2-AU' version, the correct versions are as follows:

BCD325P2 : a US version, never sold in Australia.
BCD325P2-AU : an AU version, previously sold in Australia (prior to 2016-ish?) with P25 Phase 2.
UBCD325P2 : an AU version, sold in Australia (from 2017-ish) with P25 Phase 2, and full DMR/NXDN/etc support.

The BCD325P2-AU wasn't 'dumped' here. It served a purpose with offering P25 Phase 2 support, something lacking in AU at the time this scanner was offered. It was never advertised as having DMR/NXDN/ect support, so no-one should expect it to provide that. There is nothing at all 'illegal' about the way this product was advertised or sold.

If your box was labelled 'UBCD325P2' but came with a 'BCD325P2-AU' then someone - likely the retailer - has switched this to try and offload an old product. The 'BCD325P2-AU' is a long discontinued product, and would be very old or second-hand stock that was held by the retailer. I'm not quite understanding how/why something done by the retailer with a very old, discontinued product is Uniden's fault?

[Brazoo]

Well this thread explains perfectly why my BCD325P2 wont upload the firmware it would appear I wasted $85 on, firmware is for UBC325P2 not mine, of which looking at the box, has been re-labelled with BCD325P2-AU.
Bought this from AUDIOXTRA, an Importer and distributor for Uniden, and will be making contact with them today. Not happy Jan.

[fogalscan]

THANK YOU - I was going insane trying to do Firmware upgrade - I will be seeking a refund - the Site that I purchased mine from still advertises it as UBCD325P2-AU - although in the description it is using both UBCD325P2-AU and BCD325P2-AU interchangeably. - Which in Either case is False Advertising.

[railscan]

THANK YOU - I was going insane trying to do Firmware upgrade - I will be seeking a refund - the Site that I purchased mine from still advertises it as UBCD325P2-AU - although in the description it is using both UBCD325P2-AU and BCD325P2-AU interchangeably. - Which in Either case is False Advertising.

The advertising is not false but is misleading which can be a breach of consumer law. Further it could be argued the product is not fit for purpose which is grounds for a refund. Largely I would say it is product ignorance, they may not realise that there is a difference between the two models. Then again they may.

Either way seek a refund and take it higher if it is not forthcoming.

R