Gps

[+Woodbury Walker]

I had been having a problem with my Garmin etrex. I emailed them and then spoke to them on the phone. They were so helpful. I posted the unit to them and 4 days later I had it returned and in full working order. I just wanted to give credit for really good service.

 

How I wish I had bought their sat/nav instead of the TomTom. There service is non-existent!

 

Thanks Garmin

Edited November 24, 2005 by Woodbury Walker

[+Birders]

That's really good news. After a decade of exceptional after-sales service, when they often replaced old equipment with new, there were reports recently of a change of policy and high charges being made for service. Let's hope our faith in Garmin may now be restored..

[+Moote]

No! Garmin have still not replied to my emails about getting a copy of Europe City Select without the car kit. Why? Well be cause they are ignorant and rude money grabbing gits. Next time I'll go for a Magellan!

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+Birders]

Moote.. That is hardly the attitude because there are dozens of people who will confirm that they have had most excellent service from Garmin, us included. We borrowed a GPS which was several years old and had been purchased abroad. It went wrong and we took it back to their offices and they simply replaced it with a brand new item, and transferrred all the software settings and waypoints for FREE! Have you bothered to telephone them?

[+Kitty Hawk]

Sometimes it's how you ask.

 

So far I have seen many pro Garmin comments and only one anti.

[+Moote]

Moote.. That is hardly the attitude because there are dozens of people who will confirm that they have had most excellent service from Garmin, us included. We borrowed a GPS which was several years old and had been purchased abroad. It went wrong and we took it back to their offices and they simply replaced it with a brand new item, and transferrred all the software settings and waypoints for FREE! Have you bothered to telephone them?

So if you went to your local TESCO or what ever, and asked an assistant a question and they ignored you, then next week the same happened, would go back again? Even though they do a better range than most others. I think the answer would be no. As for ringing yes I called explained what I wanted and was placed on hold for 45mins

 

Service starts with good sales practice, I have a Garmin 60CS, but when it's gone, it'll be replaced with a Magellan!

 

Milton (aka Moote)

[+HazelS]

Magellan customer service is worse than Kentucky Fried Chicken....

 

Garmin have never been anything other than wonderful with us!

[+Birders]

<<So if you went to your local TESCO or what ever, and asked an assistant a question and they ignored you...>

 

OK... go to Garmin in Romsey and see if they ignore you!! I would say that if you emailed Tesco, or many large organisations, the chances are you will be ignored. Eg I have emailed Canon several times in the last week but not had a response.

 

I sympathise with you but you must appreciate that many, many people have had excellent service from Garmin. As for changing to Magellan.. on your own head be it!

[+The Hokesters]

Stick with TomTom. Support may be worse than Garmin but SatNav is far superior PC Pro Review.

 

Wouldn't buy a hand held dedicated GPSr from anywhere else that Garmin though.

 

Stories of customer service on forums warm the heart

[+t.a.folk]

Garmin recently did a free repair on one of our etrex that we've had nearly 5 years .

 

Only difference from first free repair,about a year ago for a different problem , was that this time it wasn't done "while we wait " .

Had to leave it with them .but they returned it to us repaired and without postal charges within a few days .

Edited November 24, 2005 by t.a.folk

[+Snosrap]

Just another quick 'pro Garmin' post. I broke the serial connector pins on my 'V' and returned it for repair. It cost me £20 which I thought was fair enough and it was returned within one week. The guys on the phone were extremely helpful throughout.

 

The model itself has been totally reliable and an excellent 'all rounder', being used for road, air and marine navigation as well as fell-walking, Geocaching and as a replacement for my trusty London A-Z. I've had it for more than 3 years and wouldn't part with it.

[alistair_uk]

I must say that I have contacted Garmin twice with two questions and got a helpful answer both times.

[+KiwiGary]

I must agree with everyone here.

 

I returned my Yellow Etrex, that I bought on Ebay after losing one of its buttons to Garmin.

 

Not only did it come back within a week with a nice new button, they also replaced the scratched glass screen with a new one!!!

 

So I am very impressed with Garmin in England.

 

Never dealt with any other GPS company, but Garmin seemed pretty good to me...

 

See ya...Gary (KiwiGary)

[+sTeamTraen]

Sounds like there's a difference between the after-sales support and pre-sales inquiry people.

 

I too think it's silly and petty to make European customers buy the car kit to get CitySelect Europe (but you can get the US version just by buying the CD). The same restriction applies in the opposite case (US customers have to buy the car kit to get the US disk). But that's a high-level marketing decision. After you've asked two or three resellers the same question, and made it clear to Garmin that you don't think much of it, well, you can take your business elsewhere. If enough people do that, Garmin will change their policy.

 

Personally, I gritted my teeth and shelled out for the car kit. I needed the 12v cable anyway but all the mounting stuff was superfluous as I already had it from my previous GPSr. So I just sold the extra bits on eBay - I think once that was deducted I'd paid about 10 quid more for the CD than I would have done for the US version (that is, CD only). Well now, had the CitySelect Europe CD been 10 quid more, I would have bought it anyway. So the net result was the same; I just saved myself a lot of angst by deciding not to worry about the car kit. (Also, at that price for the whole of Europe, it ain't bad, compared to some car satnavs (ARE YOU LISTENING, MR NISSAN??) where you can shell out £100 or more for a single country CD)

 

One of my pet hates is paying £5 p&p on a £3 eBay item. So I just pretend it was £8 with free postage. And guess what ? It works out the same.