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In a hurry I grabbed the wrong auto charger for my Magellan and proceeded to fry it. After reading about Magellans customer service I was worried. So I let my wife call them instead. She was on vacation anyways. After two calls to India, and repeated "could you repeat that" She got all the info. $180 flat fee. Whether it is a quick fix or unfixable. Paid for before they will authorize it to be sent in. After reading about Garmins CS I'm almost ready to change.....

Anybody else get the same customer service from Magellan?

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In a hurry I grabbed the wrong auto charger for my Magellan and proceeded to fry it. After reading about Magellans customer service I was worried. So I let my wife call them instead. She was on vacation anyways. After two calls to India, and repeated "could you repeat that" She got all the info. $180 flat fee. Whether it is a quick fix or unfixable. Paid for before they will authorize it to be sent in. After reading about Garmins CS I'm almost ready to change.....

Anybody else get the same customer service from Magellan?

I had a problem with my new Magellan210, Called them on the 9th and got a RMA, shipped on the 10th, they got it on the 12th. I got it back on 21st. I was pretty happy with the service other than the India thing you mention, seems all tech support is ouy of the US.

Before I sent my unit I had put my initials in the battery compartment and noted the serial no. when it came back, no initials and a different serial. No mention of replacement on the packing slip, I don't feel that was right to do without letting me know.

BUT so far it works!

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I am assuming that you are saying that your wife DID tell them that you used the wrong charger and you are upset that they want $180 to more than likely give you a new unit?

 

My real question though is for the rest of those commenting here, I have never dealt with Garmin but I get the impression that Garmin would handle this differently? How do you expect Garmin would handle this one, if you told them strait out that it was your fault?

What I see here is something that was NOT product malfunction but clearly owner error and to me $180 sounds like a normal way to handle this. So how would Garmin handle this one? I really want to know because I am still undecided on either a 500 LE from Magellan with map for $250 or spending $440 and getting a Garmin 60CSX and topo map.

 

Oh and Bad Duck, no offense to you over this, I just don't see how a company can do otherwise without hurting themselves time and time again.

 

Jeff

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It's the flat rate of $180. What if it is just a simple fix. Then the price would seem excessive. If the unit needs replaced then it would be fair. Seems to me they charge a replacement fee reguardless of the problem.

If I take my car to a mechanic he doesn't charge me what it costs to replace the car when he changes the spark plugs.

How I'd like them to handle this? Perhaps look at it first then decide if it can be fixed cheaper or if it needs replaced.

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I am assuming that you are saying that your wife DID tell them that you used the wrong charger and you are upset that they want $180 to more than likely give you a new unit?

 

My real question though is for the rest of those commenting here, I have never dealt with Garmin but I get the impression that Garmin would handle this differently? How do you expect Garmin would handle this one, if you told them strait out that it was your fault?

What I see here is something that was NOT product malfunction but clearly owner error and to me $180 sounds like a normal way to handle this. So how would Garmin handle this one? I really want to know because I am still undecided on either a 500 LE from Magellan with map for $250 or spending $440 and getting a Garmin 60CSX and topo map.

 

Oh and Bad Duck, no offense to you over this, I just don't see how a company can do otherwise without hurting themselves time and time again.

I'm not exactly sure how Garmin would handle this, but a friend had a GPSMap 60CS that was scratched and dinged and showed llots of signs of hard use, and even abuse. However, the letters were coming off some of the buttons, so they called Garmin, got an RMA, sent it in, and received back a new unit. :laughing:

 

Later, that same person had the unit on the dash of a Jeep and somehow, in bouncing around, apparently a couple different buttons were pushed at the same time. The unit locked up and would not work. They called Garmin and got back another new unit . . . And, by the time that happened, more than a year had elapsed since the original purchase. :)

 

I have never heard anything negative about Garmin's Customer Service.

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It's the flat rate of $180. What if it is just a simple fix. Then the price would seem excessive. If the unit needs replaced then it would be fair. Seems to me they charge a replacement fee reguardless of the problem.

If I take my car to a mechanic he doesn't charge me what it costs to replace the car when he changes the spark plugs.

How I'd like them to handle this? Perhaps look at it first then decide if it can be fixed cheaper or if it needs replaced.

Actually, Garmin has the same flat rate policy, if the unit is out of warranty. However, they seem to have some flexibility in this, and have been known to fix units as if still under warranty, under certain circumstances.

 

I can understand the flat rate policy. For Garmin, at least, for the flat rate price, they fully inspect the unit, and replace everything that's not up to like-new standards. You may send it in for a scratched screen, but they may also replace the battery contacts that you didn't know were going bad, and upgrade the chip set to the most current version.

 

Doing this, they know every unit they ship back to the owner is in like-new condition. This eliminates the problem of people trying to scam them by sending in a unit for a simple cosmetic fix, then claiming that "they broke it" during the repair process.

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It's the flat rate of $180. What if it is just a simple fix. Then the price would seem excessive. If the unit needs replaced then it would be fair. Seems to me they charge a replacement fee reguardless of the problem.

If I take my car to a mechanic he doesn't charge me what it costs to replace the car when he changes the spark plugs.

How I'd like them to handle this? Perhaps look at it first then decide if it can be fixed cheaper or if it needs replaced.

 

A "flat rate " is very common, read Prime suspect's reply, I can tell you from personal experience that Olympus of America also has a flat rate to fix something. It works just as Prime Suspect said " Doing this, they know every unit they ship back to the owner is in like-new condition. This eliminates the problem of people trying to scam them by sending in a unit for a simple cosmetic fix, then claiming that "they broke it" during the repair process. "

 

I understand that your unit is fried and you would like a better deal, I also hope that you do end up with a better deal... possibly another call will connect you to a different company representative who may help you with a better outcome but as a consumer have you read the warranty policy?

 

I do believe that Garmin has the market partly because of their support and not just because they make such a great GPS because many here will tell you that Magellan also makes a great unit.

 

Jeff

Edited by Jeff in Pa
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My real question though is for the rest of those commenting here, I have never dealt with Garmin but I get the impression that Garmin would handle this differently? How do you expect Garmin would handle this one, if you told them strait out that it was your fault?

 

My wife fell with my Garmin Vista in her hand. The unit broke her fall and the display was smashed. We explained this to Garmin expecting to have to pay to get it fixed. Instead we received a new unit free 4 days after sending in the broken one.

 

It's the flat rate of $180. What if it is just a simple fix. Then the price would seem excessive. If the unit needs replaced then it would be fair. Seems to me they charge a replacement fee reguardless of the problem.

 

Garmin also charges a flat rate for out of warranty units, but it's been my experience that they often waive the fee like they did when I sent my out of warranty Legend back for repair to the rubber gasket that surrounds the unit.

Edited by briansnat
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My wife fell with my Garmin Vista in her hand. The unit broke her fall and the display was smashed. We explained this to Garmin expecting to have to pay to get it fixed. Instead we received a new unit free 4 days after sending in the broken one.

 

Garmin also charges a flat rate for out of warranty units, but it's been my experience that they often waive the fee like they did when I sent my out of warranty Legend back for repair to the rubber gasket that surrounds the unit.

 

Sounds like Garmin is the better company to deal with, at least better than Magellan.

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