Upgrade Aggravation

[Mobil1]

I own 3 V1s and tried to upgrade earlier last year one of my units as everyone knows collision avoidance systems on newer cars make my unit almost unusable. At that time I wasn't even aware of a new model was coming down the pike as I just wanted my V1 upgraded. Well that wasn't going to happen as Valentine shut down upgrades for the V1. I was told to call back in about a month which I did continuously. Then they announced the V2 and the upgrade of $389. I was fine with that, but here we are over a year later and no upgrade available. But I'm sure if I wanted to pay full price for a unit I could have it here in a few days.
I am so disappointed in the company, one of their big selling points is upgrade ability...SHOW ME!

 

[dudeinnz]

I think the pandemic has messed with most businesses ability to work effectively. The message on the website indicates there has been a large response to the upgrade program (https://www.valentine1.com/v1-detectors/upgrades/). Not sure if anyone here can provide a timeline?

 

[Yippeekyaa]

Put them up on fleabay, craigslist or facebook marketplace. Roll that cash into whatever detector you choose. The upgrade delays have been a common issue posted about on these forums. Using alternative markets to liquidate may give you faster turnaround than relying on valentine and possibly more economic benefit. Plus you can go with a different brand of detector. Hello Theia.....

 

[biolink]

Odd, I was able to update my Gen 1 with TMF2 firmware in July. I did this knowing full well I would by a Gen 2. I bought a Gen 2 in Oct (no trade in). I now have both. While Gen 2 is better on BSM, I still found TMF2 to be an improvement.

For my nephew, I was able to sell his Gen 1 on Offer UP for $200. He then ordered directly and avoided the backup on the upgrading of old units.

 

[Deadhead1971]

@Mobil1
i see you just joined RDF today. Welcome. Hope you hang around

 

[Kennyc56]

I had a feeling back last March that those updates were going to log jam! I sold mine to a member of the forum for the same price I would have gotten from VR. He got a good deal and was satisfied and I got my V1G2 in just a few days, which was great since patience is NOT one of my strong points!

 

[LouG]

Go back and read all the threads/posts on what has been causing the upgrade issues. Then you'll know why it's happening.
They're selling all the units they can produce, that's the problem with being the best.
By the way, there is no Theia. So you may be unprotected for a while.

 

[swarga]

I had issues with the upgrade program so I ended up just buying a new V1G2 to not deal with the hassle. I will probably end up with Theia when it comes out since my V1G2 doesn't seem to be that much better than the V1 when it comes to BSM filtering.

 

[benzr]

I had issues with the upgrade program so I ended up just buying a new V1G2 to not deal with the hassle. I will probably end up with Theia when it comes out since my V1G2 doesn't seem to be that much better than the V1 when it comes to BSM filtering.

RUN either V1 Driver or JBV1.

You can THANK ME Later

Benzr

 

[Mobil1]

Well I just put my V1 up for sale on Market Place for $125. After doing a lot of research I am going to go with the Uniden R7. I have been reading a lot of reviews and I like the fact of finally getting GPS lock outs.

 

[Bloovy One]

Enjoy!

Are you aware of JBV1 though?

JBV1 :: The Ultimate Companion App for Valentine One Radar Locators

In your pocket, on your dashboard, or anywhere in between, a device running JBV1 adds numerous powerful features including crowd-sourced alerts, lockouts, location marks, aircraft alerts, alert log, and more.

jbv1.app

 

[Winstonsaxonsdad]

I have 4 of the Valentine One units which are the latest upgrade prior to the V1Gen2 units. I attempted to apply for the Gen2 upgrade about 8 months ago. After entering one of the serial numbers, I got a message about how overwhelmed they were with upgrade requests and they were putting the program on hold temporarily. Every time I checked back, a couple of times a month, I would have to go through the same process of entering the serial number of one of my units, only to be told THEN, that the program was still on hold. I sent a message to Support with some questions and suggestions. One suggestion was rather than have users have to go through the trouble of entering the long serial number, only to be told THEN, that the program was still on hold, why not put it right on the home page and save customers the trouble of going through the process of entering their serial numbers.

I was put off by the comment in the notice about how they were filling orders as fast as they could and based on when the orders came in... okay, fine-- but if you can't even place an order, how can you even get in the line?? I suggested they could accept orders from their loyal customers, with the knowledge they are in line and will have to wait to have their order filled. But if I can't even place an order, how can I get in line???

Lastly, I am confused by their claim the reason for the delay is the lack of parts by one of their suppliers. The problem I have with that is it is not as if they are physically upgrading old units to fit into the new cases. My understanding is, they trash the old units and recycle the parts. If that is the case, and they have plenty of stock on hand to sell you a brand new unit, as they are not apparently out of stock on those, then why can't they sell you the upgrade unit as it is the same a brand new one?

I waited about a month hoping to get some response from their customer service department but heard nothing. So I decided to call them. I waited a long time before finally reaching some woman who was about as warm and friendly as an iceberg. I told her about the letter and suggestions I had sent but had never heard back. In her very stiff way, she said, "thank you, we will consider it", and that was the end of the call. No explanation, no empathy for the point of view of a customer. I even tried to find an email address or phone number to reach Mike as he has always appeared to be a customer-oriented person from the start but I couldn't locate any information. Sometime since that call, I did notice they now have the same notice about lack of parts and how they are filling orders etc, and it appears when you click on the Upgrade tab. You no longer have to enter a serial number to find that out.

I am pretty frustrated at this point and very disappointed. I have been a loyal VR user since their first unit came out and have upgraded all my units as upgrades became available. The way they are handling this upgrade makes no sense to me and appears to suggest they don't really care about their old customers, only new ones. Thanks for taking the time to read this. If anyone has any insight into what is going on, I would appreciate it.

 

[aspexin22]

I understand everyone's frustration with the gen2 pipeline. Last week we closed on our new house. Had to buy a fridge, washer and dryer. The fridge we wanted was out of stock at all the appliance stores except for one. I went and paid for the last one they had. The washer and dryer combo we wanted also was out of stock except at one other store. They had 2 of each left. The pandemic is creating major issues from parts manufacturers to even major appliances. I've talked to people who have been waiting months for the dishwasher they ordered. Someone else in one of the Subaru Outback forums was complaining they couldn't find a specific Yakima rooftop cargo box in stock anywhere. Yakima closed their factory in March and haven't put out any new stock since then. I was lucky I bought my Inno rooftop cargo box back in July when I did. That supplier has since run out.

 

[BIGGER Dave]

I ordered a new car in SEP 2019. It wasn’t delivered until NOV 2020, fourteen months later! Why? First a Union strike, then the assembly plant shut down for two months due to Covid, and then the factory shut down again due to supplier issues. It’s not just V1 that are having issues, it’s a global problem.

 

[squidd99]

When the Gen2 was first announced for sale, I did not like the trade-in price, so I bought a Gen 2 from Valentine, and sold my Gen 1 on eBay for more than Valentine was offering. While I was at it, I sold my Savvy and the BT dongle in a separate sale, all of which was pretty simple. Many users on this forum report using this procedure to upgrade and get more for their Gen 1 than Valentine was offering.

 

[kaotik78]

I can attest that I recently did this after missing the upgrade window from Valentine One earlier. I sold mine privately and got a bit more than what was offered from the upgrade platform.