Complaint Review: Escort Inc.

Escort, Inc manufactures consumer radar/laser detection devices - I've been a loyal customer of Escort, Inc (formerly "Cincinnati Microwave" since 1980 and have purchased many, great products from them.

In very early January 2011, I purchased a Passport iQ which is a of GPS enabled radar/laser detector combined with full-featured GPS navigation. At the time of my purchase, Escort's video ads on their sight clearly said that these units had Blue Tooth capability. Believing that to be the case, I ordered a unit which I received promptly.

After reading the instruction manual and making some inquiries, I learned that the units currently available did not have Blue Tooth capability. I inquired with the company's customer service personnel and was essentially "blown off" being made to feel as if it was my fault for not verifying the units features before ordering.

I filed a BBB complaint (No. 8469035) regarding this matter with the Cincinnati bureau office on January 17th.

Finally, as of April 4th, Escort has taken down their very misleading video ads but have refused to do anything else save for "allowing" me to return the unit I purchased. While that is not a "bad" offer the problem is that I ordered the combination unit because I needed (and still do need) both radar/laser protection and navigation and at this point, the company has not announced any date for release of iQ units that have Blue Tooth capability beyond a very nebulous "later this year".

Escort makes some fine products but my advice to anyone thinking about buying one is to know with as much certainty as possible that you are getting the functionality you expect and don't put much faith in their "customer service" department to handle any problems.