Good Garmin Experience (after Bad Start)

[+herbk]

There was a cache in the San Francisco Bay Area called "This Sucks." By the time I started looking for it, it had vanished and was archived shortly after. But, while searching, with my GPSMap 60C on my belt, I raised my left foot in order to step up on a pedestal so as to check the top of the cache site. My GPSr crashed to the ground. The only damage was a substantial crack on a plastic layer under the battery cover, resulting in the battery cover not seating properly. The unit still functioned.

 

Well, the first thing I tried was Garmin's 800 number. After being told that the wait would be thirty minutes, I tried the email route instead. The assurance was that I would get a reply in seven days at most. I did get a very polite reply in seven days, apologizing for an inability to help me and telling me to phone customer service. The only new thing was that, in addition to the 800 number, a direct number with a Kansas area code was included.

After getting over being pissed off, I decided that the hold might be shorter if I made the long distance call, so I did it for free using Skype-Out. The hold indeed was only a few minutes.

 

Now, things got very much better. Garmin has a flat fee for repairs and for this unit the fee was approximately $130. When I described the damage to the nice lady, including the fact that the unit still operated perfectly, she cut the repair fee in half. I expect the unit to be returned in between seven and ten days, so I'll either take a short vacation from caching or make do with my old GPS 12, which also needs repair as it has a bad habit of turning itself off spontaneously.

[+YuccaPatrol]

You definitely get the best service by phone. I know the wait can be long, but once you get someone they will take all the time necessary to solve your problem, almost always with just one call.

 

When I do need to call them, I just set the phone on speaker and do something else while I wait.