Frequently Asked Questions
Orders
You can check the status of your order at any time by using the Order Status Lookup Tool. If you have a registered account you can check the status of your order by viewing your Order History.
Our payment system is designed to capture the full amount of your order upon successful order submission. For an order to be successfully submitted it must first obtain an authorization code from the bank and then pass the bank's Address Verification System (AVS). If an order is submitted with any billing information that does not match what the bank has on file it may fail the AVS and result in unsuccessful order placement. Supplying the proper billing information will resolve this issue, however any payment authorizations issued by the bank that did not pass AVS will remain as a temporary hold on your account for up to 24hrs. These authorizations are not charges and will not be finalized.
If you are purchasing a pre-order it will be considered paid in full upon order submission and the charges will not be delayed before shipment. If you wish to change or cancel your pre-order at any time before the item ships you will be issued a credit for the full amount.
If you received and email notifying you of your shipped order please allow 2-5 business days for it to reach your destination from our warehouse. If the tracking information shows a "delivered" status and you did not receive the product please contact us as soon as possible to initiate a claim with the carrier. If you did not receive an order confirmation or place your order over the phone with Police Scanner Outlet representative your order may not have been submitted successfully. Please give us a call to verify successful order placement. Please be advised that Police Scanner Outlet does not approve or decline orders and that is determined by the billing contacts financial institution. If your card was declined or a hold was placed on the funds it could be for one of the reasons below.
* The billing information entered on the order does not match what the credit card company has on file.
* Incorrect card information including name, card number, expiration date, or security code may hace been entered
* Funds were not available for the amount of the charge
Police Scanner Outlet is very concerned about credit card fraud and tries to prevent unauthorized card use. All orders that are shipping to a different location than the bill to address will receive a call from our warehouse prior to shipping. Customers with orders over a predeterminded dollar amount will also receive a call prior to shipping. Until we confirm important information about the card holder your order may be held.
Please check the invoice that was emailed and/or enclosed with your shipment to ensure everything that was ordered was included. If your shipment contains multiple packages please verify with the carrier's tracking information that all packages have been delivered. If it still determined that an item is missing from your order please contact us as soon as possible to resolve the matter.
All of the items we sell are factory sealed (with the exception of optimized/programmed scanners) and should arrive with all original parts. Please refer to the owner's manual and/or the product's page on our site for manufacturer included parts. If it is determined that a stock part is missing from the package please contact us as soon as possible so we may resolve the matter with the manufacturer. In most cases, a replacement will be drop shipped.
If you lose or did not receive your order invoice please email us at admin@policescanneroutlet.com to obtain a copy. We will either need your 6 digit order number or the first and last name of the person to whom it was billed to look up the order.
Please contact our customer service department at 1-877-568-7226 for assistance.
Promotions and Coupons
If you place an order at Police Scanner Outlet and the price drops before your order has shipped please contact us and we will honor the new promotional price, however our promotional prices will not be honored outside of the promotion's time frame once an order has shipped.
Availability & Pricing
Price match request must be made before the order ships Proof of competitor's price must be shown (email ad, screenshot, company letterhead, etc.) The competitor must be a reputable retailer with a respectable amount of stock for the product.
Police Scanner Outlet does not price match for the following:
- Previous/Shipped orders
- Items being sold at auction (e.g. eBay)
- So-called "one-off" sales where a private seller is simply selling 1 or 2 items (e.g. eBay, individual sellers on Amazon Marketplace, etc.)
- Promotional pricing, clearance, open-box, defective, refurbished/reconditioned, or member only pricing
Price match is subtotal for subtotal only. Excludes government discounts, taxes, shipping, or coupons
We are required by state law to charge sales tax to orders shipping into the state some states. If you are tax exempt please contact us for assistance.
Our credit card processor is configured to capture the full amount due upon successful order submission.
If a customer enters incorrect information for their bill to address their bank or credit card company may put a hold on the funds for at least 24 hours. Your order will be placed under a "pending" status and will not process or ship. Holds may take up to 3 business days to be removed. If you did not receive a confirmation notification (including a 6 digit order number) and there is a pending charge on your card after 72 hours please contact your financial institution for assistance.
Payment Methods
We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Paypal. We do not accept personal checks.
You may also pay for your order with a money order or cashier's check. Orders purchased with this method may take up to 2 weeks to process. You can do this by adding the item/items you would like to a cart on our site and enter your zip code to calculate the freight charges. Print the cart page and write your name, phone number, and shipping address on it. Mail this along with a money order or cashier's check to
Police Scanner Outlet
6030 Marshalee Drive, Suite 721
Elkridge, MD 21075
Government purchase orders (PO) may be accepted on a case by case basis. Please contact a representative for more information.
Returns & Exchanges
If you are within the 30 Day Money Back Guarantee time frame and would like to exchange your item for a different model simply follow these steps:
To Request an RA# from please send an email to admin@policescanneroutlet.com or contact a representative at 1-877-568-7226. Once the RA is approved you will receive an email with further instructions.
Thats it! once your unwanted item is received in our warehouse we will ship your new item. You will be refunded the difference less shipping if the cost of the new item is less than the returned item and charged the difference plus shipping if the cost of the new item is greater.
Police Scanner Outlet offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are not satisfied with your order for any reason you may return the item within the 30 day time period for a refund. Refund will apply to physical items only.
Credits from returns may take up to two weeks to process from the time your item is received in our warehouse. You will be notified via email as soon as your credit is posted to your account. Depending on your financial institution, funds may take an additional 2-3 business days to become available. If you have not received an email or credit to your account after the two week period please contact us as soon as possible to resolve the matter.
Refunds apply to physical items only--shipping and programming fees are not eligible for return.
Our trade in program is for same model, current model, current scanners only but there are certain exceptions. If you've recently purchased a current model scanner (any of the models we currently sell on our site) and wish to upgrade to a newer model please contact a Police Scanner Outlet representative. Upgrade eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis and is subject to the following requirements:
*Scanner must be in proper physical working condition*All parts, pieces, manuals, and original box must be present and in tact*Item(s) cannot have any repairs, modifications, or hardware upgrades
Product Support
Uniden offers a 1 year limited parts and labor warranty for their products, but after the manufacturer's warranty expires you will have to pay out of pocket for any repairs or replacements if your unit malfunctions. Our Extended Warranty will cover you for an additional year.
Presales Questions
Optimization is an in-house service we offer for the "HP scanners" (Homepatrol-1 & 2, BCD436HP, and BCD536HP) in which we preform the lastest firmware/database updates, complete the initial setup, and create a favorites list of public safety channels for the selected county/counties. You're ready to go right out of the box!
If you have already purchased a Home patrol series unit your in luck! We can program an SD card for your homepatrol scanner and ship it to you. Please visit the link below for idditional inforamtion:
https://www.bearcatwarehouse.com/preprogrammed-sd-card.html
DMR stands for Digital Mobile Radio. It is a digital voice and data protocol that can be used unlicensed or commercially. You can peruse a standards document if you like. One of the major issues preventing you from using just any scanner from tuning to DMR is that the vocoder being used is AMBE, which is proprietary. The DMR upgrade allows users to monitor DMR systems. With this upgrade, the SDS200,SDS100, BCD996P2, BCD325P2, BCD436HP & BCD536HP are the only Uniden Police Scanners Radios that can pick up DMR.
County Programming removes the guesswork, tedium, and frustration from manually programming your scanner for your area. Our programming department will preload your selected county/countie's public safety frequencies so all you have to do is turn it on.
Optimization applies to zip code (HOMEPATROL) based scanners only and is preformed same-day before your order ships*. County Programming is preformed on all other PC programmable scanners that require meticulous frequency entry and setup, which may add up to 5 business days to your order processing time.
Uniden offers a 1 year limited parts and labor warranty for their products, but after the manufacturer's warranty expires you will have to pay out of pocket for any repairs or replacements if your unit malfunctions. Our extended warranty will cover you for an additional year.
Shipping & Delivery
We try to ship all orders placed before 3pm EST the next business day. Orders placed Saturday or Sunday’s will ship Tuesday.Unless Programming, configuration, upgrade keys, ect., a backordered item is purchased, or we require order verification before shipment.We will make every effort to get all orders out the same day, however, we cannot guarantee this.A copy of your invoice with tracking information will be forwarded to you as soon as your order ships.
When your order has been marked as shipped you will automatically be emailed an order update containing tracking information. You can also check the status of your order at any time by using the Order Lookup Tool or by viewing your Order History in your account.
Shipment times vary based on shipping address and the shipping rate selected at checkout. UPS Ground delivery times range from 1-6 business days based on your location relative to our warehouse. Next Day Air and 2nd Day Air are available for expedited shipping but please keep in mind that UPS does not count Saturday or Sunday into their time tables. For example, if you place your order before 3pm EST on a Friday with NEXT Day Air shipping you will receive it on Monday.
Some items that are out of stock may be ordered with the understanding they are on back order and will be shipped out as soon as they arrive. Backorder situations usually last no longer than one to two weeks, but unexpected conditions such as customs issues or parts shortages may cause unexpectedly longer delays. If an item is factory backordered you will receive a call from our warehouse to remind you and offer the chance to keep the order, exchange item or cancel. Orders on back order are put on the highest priority for shipment.
We strongly encourage customers to verify all order/address information is correct before the order is placed but we understand that mistakes do happen. If you need to change an address you may do so up 3pm EST on the day it is to ship at no extra charge. If your order has already shipped and an address correction is needed to complete your shipment by UPS you will be charged the additional freight to the original credit card used for your order.
Customers are responsible for covering the returned package freight cost that UPS imposes plus the original shipment cost. If the order was placed with a free shipping promotion the shipping cost that we covered for you plus the returned package freight cost will be charged. There will be a 25% restocking fee on all refused orders.
Terms & Condtions
Please note that due to COVID-19, shipping time may be impacted. Our carriers cannot guarantee that orders placed with 2 Day Air or Next Day Air will arrive on time.
Police Scanner Outlet offers a money-back guarantee. If you are not happy with your purchase you may return the product(s) to us for a refund*
Credit Card and PayPal Approvals
Your bill to or ship to address must be confirmed by the type of processor you select at checkout (PayPal, Visa, MC, Amex, Discover). If the ship to address is not the bill to address is we will notify you via an email and ship your order to the confirmation address.
Return Requirements
All returns must include the following
Copy of return authorizationOriginal, undamaged packaging with UPC codeAll manufacturer accessories, parts, manuals, and documentation that shipped with the product
If any of these items are missing you may be charged a 25% restocking fee.
*Products Not Eligible For ReturnShipping FeesProgramming Fees (see below)Programming FilesOpened SoftwareDamaged Products3% PayPal Fee
Shipping
We try to ship all orders placed before 3pm EST the next business day. Orders placed Saturday or Sunday’s will ship Tuesday. Unless Programming, configuration, upgrade keys, ect., a back ordered item is purchased, or we require order verification before shipment. We will make every effort to get all orders out the same day, however, we cannot guarantee this. A copy of your invoice with tracking information will be forwarded to you as soon as your order ships.
Return Shipping
Return shipping is not provided and is not eligible for reimbursement/credit. You may use any prepaid method you, we do recommend shipping the product back by UPS and insuring your shipment.
Promotional Shipping
If you received free shipping on your order due to a promotion and are returning the item for any reason other than a manufacturer's defect the shipping covered by Police Scanner Outlet will be deducted from your eligible credit.
County Programming and Optimization Terms and Conditions
County Programming may add an additional two to three business days for delivery. Once your scanner has been programmed, county programmed radios are returnable only for a store credit or exchange within 14 days of delivery. Credit will be given for the price of the radio and any returned accessories only. Programming fees (County, Optimization, and Nascar Race) are not eligible for a refund.
Pre-Programmed SD Cards & Programming FilesWe (BearcatWarehouse) are not responsible for any scanner errors arising from the use of a non Windows based desktop PC or laptop, or any other device not categorized as a Windows based desktop PC or laptop (including but not limited to tablets, smartphones, or any other device that you may physically connect your scanner to) in an attempt to use our pre-programmed SD cards or files.SD cards and programming files are provided as-is and are not covered under any type of warranty or guarantee.These files may contain systems or frequencies that utilize an encryption method that prohibits the public from monitoring them. These files do not claim to and will not allow the monitoring of these systems or frequencies. While we do make every attempt to advise customers on the use of these systems and frequencies in their area (using the public information available) we are not responsible for ensuring scanner compatibility or frequency monitoring capability.Pre-programmed SD cards and programming files are created using up-to-date firmware and frequency information obtained from the online Home Patrol database at the time of creation, and it is the customer’s responsibility to maintain the relevancy of their unit’s firmware and software database.As with all services provided by Police Scanner Outlet, pre-programmed SD cards and programming files are not eligible for a refund and are non-cancelable upon shipment/delivery. If the SD card or file is deemed defective or incorrect, however, we will replace the programming file or SD card free of charge. System or frequency changes that occur after the scanner ships will not be considered legitimate cause for no-charge programming correction.What Happens After 30 Days?
Returns will not be accepted beyond 30 days after purchase without express permission from a Police Scanner Outlet representative. All Uniden scanners come with a 1-Year manufacturer's warranty. If you are past the 30-day return window and are experiencing difficulty with your scanner please contact the manufacturer for assistance. Some accessories are also covered by their manufacturer's warranties. Please contact a representative for assistance with contacting your accessory's manufacturer.
Oversized items purchased with a package will ship ground if Air freight is selected.