+roogie Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I bought a used eTrex Vista from another motorcyclist in 2003. I use it quite a bit on my motorcycle and it has taken quite a bit of abuse. My screen had about 6 dead lines, one of the battery springs was completely flat from a bad battery, the click-stick would stop working intermittently, and the shell had a lot of wear from being in a RAM Mount. I also found out that the previous owner wired it directly to his Gold Wing's electrical system, completely bypassing the voltage step-down that the 12v adapter has built in. Well, I mentioned these things to my friend who works at Garmin (I live about 10 miles from their world HQ) and he took it in to do the $129 refurbishment for out of warranty GPSrs. They replaced the screen, battery contacts, click-stick and the entire outer shell. They also replaced one of the main boards due to it getting 12v from the previous owner, evidently it didn't pass their internal testing. I got it back after 4 business days and it looks like a brand new unit. I had the older very blue colored backlight and this one now has the newer blue-gray backlighting. The shell has no marks and all the buttons and click-stick actions are crisp and solid. If you are considering sending in a dead unit or fixing up your out of warranty GPSr, they do a great job. roog Quote Link to comment
+roogie Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I have to admit that $129 is near the price of another GPSr though, so you may be better off just purchasing a new one if you like. I just wanted to let people know what the process was like and how they did. roog Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Another "Garmin's customer service is great" thread? Nice story, vtx. Quote Link to comment
+Intermountain Angler Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Another "Garmin's customer service is great" thread? Nice story, vtx. Better than another "Magellan's customer service sucks thread"!!!!! Quote Link to comment
+roogie Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 Yea, hard to believe! Although I did a search and didn't see anything on this specific topic. Enjoy, roog Quote Link to comment
+trail hound Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 Thanks for sharing your experience...I'm a Garmin user and probably always will be.It's good to know their service is great.. Quote Link to comment
+kaseym Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 I had a 4yo etrex venture with a bunch of problems, sent it in, and they sent me a new one. Ditto on the price advice though. Quote Link to comment
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