Gavin Hall dot org

After getting two tickets within thirty days it occurred to me that perhaps having a radar detector might not be a bad idea. I have always wanted the Valentine One because I've read it's the best but never got around to it because the thing is pretty ugly.

Yesterday I read an article in Wired about a guy trying to beat the 32 hour and 7 minute coast to coast driving from NY to Cali and got inspired again. Why stop at Cali...I'm going to be the fastest driver to go around the world!!

...wait a minute.

So I have been putting aside 50 bucks a pay check in order to be able to splurge on the V1 and a few weeks ago I broke down and bought it.

Well at least I thought I did.

The last screen said "Success! Error! Our server is busy".

Uh, Fantastic!

With all that information it took me a few hours to dechiper what it meant. Did it go through? Should I try again? Did I just buy a Russian bride...again?

Luckily the FAQ says if you get an error give us a call on the 800 number. This must be a common thing for them. Too bad eCommerance wasn't something perfected in the late 90's by Amazon and every other site on the web...oh wait...

So when I got up the next morning I called the 800 number and the first two times calling in as soon as the person said hello it hung up on me. Ugh.

On the third time I called I had to wait about 10 minutes before I could talk to someone although this is when I became a satisfied customer.

I'll explain...

About every 45 seconds Mike Valentine (hence the name...) comes on to let you know whats going on. It's a recording but it starts off with everyone is busy and says your call is important. The second time again a professional message about wait times and they are sorry.

The third time he comes on with "uhh...man this is sooo embarrassing to me. Perhaps we have gotten a glowing review in a magazine or perhaps bird flu has taken out all of my employees".

At this point I don't care about being on hold any more I just want to hear what he says next. And sure enough every 45 seconds the messages get funnier and funnier including him saying that hes going to have the system ring a managers desk and if that doesn't work it will call him at home.

Eventually a guy picked up the phone and within 30 seconds confirmed my order and said I will receive it on Friday. I hung up and forgot all about all the reasons why I had to call on my 3rd time and be put on hold but it echoes what AMSCOT is doing. When someone is waiting give them as task that makes the waiting seem some what enjoyable.

So now after having it for a few months what are my thoughts? Over all I love it. It really is insane with how accurate this thing is. If you are a speeder then I would suggest it. There are two things I hate and one thing to keep in mind.

First thing is this thing is ugly as hell. Form and Function? Not so much form but lots of function. You wouldn't take it to Prom but if your buddies never found out you might invite it over late one night when you got home from a night of drinking.

Just no mouth kissing.

And if anyone from Valentine One reads this...take this advice:

1) The X, K, KA, and Laser are listed vertically on the center of the device. However when you are driving you can't read the label next to each light so you have no idea if its a random signal or something serious. The fix? Instead of using red LEDs for all of the types use different colors. That way at a glance I can see what is shakin.

2) The ability to turn off X. In Orlando they do this new fancy thing where they detect if a car is in a turn lane by hitting you with an X radar instead of putting the magnetic things in the ground. Driving downtown becomes slightly less annoying then going to the dentist. Update: Fixed.

Tags: customer, radar, speeding