Valentine One Radar Detectors

[Frogdog1]

I’ve never had a problem myself, but I cannot remember ever trying to call them either. I usually just order off their website or blindly send my v1 to them with a note asking for a tune-up along with my cc#. Orders off their website are usually shipped quickly and I can't remember ever waiting more than about 2weeks to get my v1 back after having it serviced. Which I have actually never been charged for. However, it has been 2 or 3yrs since I've placed any orders or needed service.

I understand it’s frustrating when you call someplace because you have questions or want to give them money and there’s no one there to answer the phone, especially when we all suffer from the same social disease of never being able to get what we want fast enough; but Valentine Research isn’t necessarily what I would consider a large company either. Since COVID, a lot of places have a hard time finding people who are actually willing to work; and even then it can be a challenge to find workers that are worth hiring. Smaller companies seem to have an even harder time with this. While this is perhaps not something that could be considered an acceptable excuse, it's something to consider nonetheless.

As far as pricing and profit margins go, VR sells basically one product and they are the only place that sells it. Companies like Escort, Cobra, Uniden, and the likes making dozens of different products and selling them through big box stores are going to touch a lot more people than a company like VR is, in what I would almost consider a niche market. So regardless of their margins, they're still a smaller company and are going to operate as such. Buying from VR, to me is more like taking your car to a mechanic you trust even if they are more expensive then the guy down the street. You're not paying for the time it took him to actually do the job, you're paying for the 20+ yrs of experience he has to know how to do that job correctly the first time. So unlike buying from the others, you're not buying a product from VR so much as you are paying for their experience in building radar detectors. If not for Mike Valentine, this industry wouldn't be where it is today.

And with that, I'll end my rant! I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience trying to contact VR and hope that you're able to find something, even if it's not another V1, that you like as much as you did your Gen 1! As others have shown, there are some really good offerings out there from places other than VR, some that many even consider to be better.

VR just replied on Discord. Still having staffing problems, calling first or last thing in the day has the best chance of being answered.
They're very apologetic.

That's good, however, results are what influences how I spend my money. I guarantee I could solve their staffing problem quick. They may have a good radar detector but they aren't good business people. It's just money.....my money.

Sponsored

 

[Junkyard Dog]

I recommend the Escort 360c. Firmware updates over WiFi. Not detectable by police radar detector equipment (handy in VA). Long range detection. 360 degree coverage. Multi-signal detection. Good POP detection. POP is short burst radar blasts that some cheaper units & good name units with older circuitry/algorithms can’t detect because they process too slowly.
Definitely need to upgrade. I’m sure Valentine is as good. Just giving you options before you make the plunge.

Is this true?

 

[smurfslayer]

Is this true?

Confirmed. By me, and 2 good friends. One of whom was a Ford Master tech and put the car/unit nose to nose with a Fairfax County cruiser, and they were unable to detect the V1.

They could see it, but they could not detect it with their detector detector.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Confirmed. By me, and 2 good friends. One of whom was a Ford Master tech and put the car/unit nose to nose with a Fairfax County cruiser, and they were unable to detect the V1.

They could see it, but they could not detect it with their detector detector.

Ok, he was posting about the Escort. The V1 is the same technology?

 

[smurfslayer]

Ok, he was posting about the Escort. The V1 is the same technology?

yes, it does.

 

[Ken H.]

Escort has a 360 with built in cam. I was considering upgrading to it until I read more closely & found that it was not undetectable like the 360c is.

 

[Ken H.]

Redline 360c - stealth
MaxCam 360c - not stealth

 

[LouG]

Is this true?

Most of the high end detectors are stealthy now.
V1 Gen 1 was not.

 

[Frogdog1]

In this ongoing dramatic saga, I actually got a person on the phone line this morning!!! Yeah!!!

That's was the good news. Being in Cincinnati, she was a "yankee" with no personality, abrupt, and not friendly. No, not everyone up there is like that but she fit the stereotype as it is "down here". I asked a few questions and she said "people either want to work from home or there are no good people out there", thus verifying they don't know how to hire good people.

She transfered me to a technician, given one of my questions was technical, and he also had no personality, was unfriendly and wasn't much help. Kind of scary but he may have been a Ford techincian in the past.

All that negative stuff said, (I know people "up there" aren't like people "down here"), I was ready to order a unit and take a chance knowing I could deal with the consequences of slow anything from them. But, because they wouldn't even listen and take the time, I didn't even have time to tell them I was going to order a unit over the phone (my preferred method of spending MY money).

I do believe they have the superior product but they sure don't deserve to be a glowingly successful company. The woman that answered told me she was in "customer service". I would have fired her if she had worked in the customer service departments I've had under me. Oh, well, not everyone can be a real gem in the world of business. I'll keep trying just to make a game of it and maybe get a Gen. 2 while I'm at it. FD1

 

[LouG]

Life was never meant to be easy Mr Dog
Glad you got through.

 

[Frogdog1]

Life was never meant to be easy Mr Dog
Glad you got through.

Truer words have never been said Lou. Generally speaking though, when people have money "in hand" most companies will accomodate that person but not today. I'm pretty chilled about it so I'll just keep trying and ignore the personality factor. People "down here" just put a value on that kind of thing when doing business, right or wrong. Just the way it is.

One thing is sure though, I WILL end up with a new radar detector. Patience will get me there I've concluded. As bad as Valentine projects themselves I do believe they have the superior product. Patience, FD, just patience Frogdog.

 

[LouG]

Truer words have never been said Lou. Generally speaking though, when people have money "in hand" most companies will accomodate that person but not today. I'm pretty chilled about it so I'll just keep trying and ignore the personality factor. People "down here" just put a value on that kind of thing when doing business, right or wrong. Just the way it is.

One thing is sure though, I WILL end up with a new radar detector. Patience will get me there I've concluded. As bad as Valentine projects themselves I do believe they have the superior product. Patience, FD, just patience Frogdog.

Take comfort in the fact that US service is light years better than here. We have just got our first IKEA store. What a revelation, and what a shake up it's going to cause the old big barn stores

 

[Westphal]

Take comfort in the fact that US service is light years better than here. We have just got our first IKEA store. What a revelation, and what a shake up it's going to cause the old big barn stores

We love Ikea. Nearly everything in my wife's craft room is from IKEA, as well as a couple of our kids' beds and our dining room table and hutch.

 

[steveo1960]

Not sure if it's been posted before but two good places for information about radar detectors are:

https://www.rdforum.org/

Different sections covering every aspect including software programs like JBV1 and others.
Much better than some of the fanboy forums.

https://www.vortexradar.com/best-radar-detectors/

This guy is the ULTIMATE radar detector geek. His tests are extremely in depth, sometimes a little long winded, and from what I can tell after following him for years quite unbiased. He calls them as he tests them and if a test has abnormal results he gets the manufacturer involved and retests. Usually it's some firmware issue BTW.

 

[LouG]

We love Ikea. Nearly everything in my wife's craft room is from IKEA, as well as a couple of our kids' beds and our dining room table and hutch.

It is pretty amazing alright. And their pricing has had an effect on others. We couldn't find a sofa that was comfortable for us at IKEA, but a nearby store had one at 50% off. They never did that pre IKEA

Sponsored