Garmin in repair charge shocker

[+Kryten]

A friend of mine recently bought themselvs a yellow etrex and set off caching. On only their third trip and while getting out of the car, the unit fell onto a stony surface landing on it's edge. There was only a tiny witness mark on the edge of the case and the external plastic screen cover was undamaged. Internally however the mechanical shock had split the LCD display itself from end to end, which Garmin have charged to replace.

 

So much for my claims about these things being built like brick conveniences and Garmin having a generous repair policy.

[+Us 4 and Jess]

Sorry I tried to post a photo of my yellow but it did not work

 

Something else I need to learn to do

 

M

[+scanker]

Not sure of the background to this, but expecting a free repair of an item you damaged by dropping it would be asking a bit too much for me. Isn't this sort of thing what accidental damage on household insurance policies is for?

[+Us 4 and Jess]

When I emailed Garmin about an earlier problem with my GPS I was told if it was still under guarantee (under one year old) then the repair would be free.

 

But mine wasn't

 

It is not even worth putting through the house insurance, I rang those too only yesterday and with a £50.00 excess which I presume most will have then it is cheaper and easier to get a new GPS, yelows are only £45 coming in from US.

 

M

[Edgemaster]

Upload the photo here: http://imageshack.us/

 

You'll be taken to a page after, copy the box that's for a forum (or bbcode) and paste it in here.

 

To stay on topic I'll just say that I've been lucky with my etrex so far, its had a few bashes, and does appear to be quite resilient, I'll be more careful, though.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Edgemaster

[+Us 4 and Jess]

 

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

 

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

 

M

Edited July 5, 2007 by Us 4 and Jess

[+Alibags]

 

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

 

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

 

M

 

Oh dear, does that explain your 50% DNF rate?

[+Birders]

<<So much for my claims about these things being built like brick conveniences and Garmin having a generous repair policy.>>

 

If I had a quid for every time we've dropped our GPS12XL I'd be a millionaire!

 

As for Garmin service, everyone knows how good it is. Over a period of 10 years they have replaced with brand-new two items for us. There was no charge and they were delivered by courier. In each case the devices were well outside warranty and one had been bought abroad. Many people have expereinced similar service but you can't expect such service if you negligently damage your equipment.

[+Kryten]

My issue with this is one of poor case design, if the fall had been say over a metre then the owner would have had nothing to complain about, but this happened when the unit fell from the door pocket of a car, a drop of around 30cm. I said "yea right" and laughed when he said it was broken. These are supposed to be rugged units after all.

[+dino-irl]

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

Click on it and it produces a bigger image

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

Ouch

[+SidAndBob]

If you keep it on a lanyard it won't hit the ground.

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

My issue with this is one of poor case design, if the fall had been say over a metre then the owner would have had nothing to complain about, but this happened when the unit fell from the door pocket of a car, a drop of around 30cm. I said "yea right" and laughed when he said it was broken. These are supposed to be rugged units after all.

 

I guess you get what you pay for. Knowing that I am prone to such mishaps myself, I invested in a more robust model, bought a neoprene case for it from the e place and also keep it on a lanyard.

 

Sorry your friends were disappointed, but it does sound like Garmin have been fair to me, if they repaced every unit in all circumstances they'd soon be out of business and then where would we all be?

[+mongoose39uk]

If you keep it on a lanyard it won't hit the ground.

 

Oh it will when you lean over that low wall and lean on it.

 

Or at least mine did

[+gazooks]

My two year old etrex legend is with Garmin at this very moment for repair. I have been having problems with the screen playing up (turning off and on on its own).

 

Today I recieved a letter asking for a fixed payment of £58.16 to replace it..... it seems a reasonable price for a (possibly) new legend (i paid £130 originally) - if its a newer model then even better

[+jerryo]

<snip>and then where would we all be?

We wouldn't know!

[+Us 4 and Jess]

 

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

 

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

 

M

 

Oh dear, does that explain your 50% DNF rate?

 

 

M

[Alan White]

As for Garmin service, everyone knows how good it is.

That's clearly your experience but that doesn't mean that everyone has the same. I've only dealt with Garmin twice. The first time was when the lanyards on two Etrexs were chewed through by a rodent (don't ask ). I had a devil of a job getting Garmin to supply new ones. Of course, I was prepared to pay but they wouldn't sell them to me. They referred me to dealers who didn't stock them. Garmin often didn't answer emails. After many weeks they finally said they'd send two free of charge, which they did. So a good result in the end but it was like pulling teeth.

 

The second time was the usual fault of Legends losing the display and the click stick (the inbuilt manufacturing flaw of the ribbon cable at the base of the case). The one that broke first was still under warranty and was replaced without argument. The other has the same fault and as it's now over three years old I've just never bothered doing anything about it. A sharp tap on the bottom sorts it out .

 

So, poor build quality and poor response to requests for parts. You can see why I'm unimpressed with Garmin after-sales.

[+Always & Forever 5]

So much for my claims about these things being built like brick conveniences and Garmin having a generous repair policy.

 

Warranty work covers workmanship and faulty components, not negligence. Garmin's customer service is tops in the field. Believing that means they will repair/replace GPSr's damaged by user abuse/misuse (such as dropping one onto a stony surface) is asking a bit much, dontcha think?

 

[+Mad H@ter]

As for Garmin service, everyone knows how good it is.

That's clearly your experience but that doesn't mean that everyone has the same. I've only dealt with Garmin twice. The first time was when the lanyards on two Etrexs were chewed through by a rodent (don't ask ). I had a devil of a job getting Garmin to supply new ones. Of course, I was prepared to pay but they wouldn't sell them to me. They referred me to dealers who didn't stock them. Garmin often didn't answer emails. After many weeks they finally said they'd send two free of charge, which they did. So a good result in the end but it was like pulling teeth.

 

The second time was the usual fault of Legends losing the display and the click stick (the inbuilt manufacturing flaw of the ribbon cable at the base of the case). The one that broke first was still under warranty and was replaced without argument. The other has the same fault and as it's now over three years old I've just never bothered doing anything about it. A sharp tap on the bottom sorts it out .

 

So, poor build quality and poor response to requests for parts. You can see why I'm unimpressed with Garmin after-sales.

You want to try dealing with Magellan if you think you had a hard time

I would never buy another one of their units

[+maxkim]

I was fully prepared to pay for my repair but was very surprised when it was covered under warranty. Sorry but if you drop it surely it is your fault and an insurance issue... it was with my PDA.

[+Haggis Hunter]

 

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

 

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

 

M

Bigger image for you Mandy, and this is still the same picture that you uploaded to image shack.

 

[+Renegade Knight]

I was fully prepared to pay for my repair but was very surprised when it was covered under warranty. Sorry but if you drop it surely it is your fault and an insurance issue... it was with my PDA.

The rule of thumb I've hit with most companies is that if you manage to break the LCD by any means. It's your fault. The view tends to be "there is no way to break the LCD without subjecting the gizmo to abuse above and beyond it's design".

 

Garmin is probably of a similar mindset though perhaps more generouse if you have a broken LCD out of the box. One company I dealt with (Sharp) would not warrantee the LCD out of the box. Good thing I asked before I bought a 'clearance special'. The flat rate + the cost of purchase even at a super clearanace price was more than the item was worth new.

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

 

The rule of thumb I've hit with most companies is that if you manage to break the LCD by any means. It's your fault. The view tends to be "there is no way to break the LCD without subjecting the gizmo to abuse above and beyond it's design".

 

 

Until recently I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you here ... however, I have a Motorola A1000 phone, and was working at a table with my laptop (phone was alongside it) making occasional checks on the phone for a text I was expecting.

 

Imagine my surprise when I suddenly saw a "flare" right across the screen rendering the whole phone inoperable. It went back to my mobile company who inisisted I had mistreated it in some way, after three weeks of calls back and forth and numerous technicians and supervisors, it was agreed there was a malfunction and it was a warranty repair after all. It came back with a new screen but minus the data

[+Mr'D]

I have only experinced one contact with Garmin UK.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...54-1ce1520e2546

 

I am impressed!

 

Jon

Edited July 5, 2007 by Mr.Dewdrop

[+The Brat Pack]

We wedged our Garmin between the car roof and the hatch back door last year which did for the LCD in a big way. Sent to Garmin for a quote to repair expecting the worse and got a new unit by return post. It was nine months old at the time.

 

Superb service!

[+Us 4 and Jess]

 

Oh it worked it's only little but it worked!!

 

That's how my yellow looks at the moment

 

M

Bigger image for you Mandy, and this is still the same picture that you uploaded to image shack.

 

 

Oh your just rubbing salt into the wound now Dave

 

Mandy

[+jerryo]

I mended that one before!!

[+Us 4 and Jess]

I mended that one before!!

 

Can you mended it again please

 

Mandy

 

Actually looking at the enlarged picture that Dave posted you can see the damage done to the GPS there is a little mark on the bottom of the screen just up from the N in Garmin, there was no damge to the outer casing and no damage to the screen at all, (the marks you can see on the screen are rain drops) we must have just been unlucky and dropped it wrong, it has been dropped several times before, and they do seem pretty sturdy little things.

 

M

Edited July 5, 2007 by Us 4 and Jess

[+jerryo]

Can you mended it again please

Actually I has a idea: let me have it on Sunday if it's still in your possession and me'll give it a whirl. I came across a similar fault on another type of device and fixteded it.

[+Sensei TSKC]

......... we must have just been unlucky and dropped it wrong, it has been dropped several times before, and they do seem pretty sturdy little things.

 

M

Well, drop it properly in future!

 

[+KlustaDuk]

I've had a Vista (Mono version) for several years which had deteriorated over the last few months. The joystick no longer worked in all directions and there were two faulty pixel lines in the display. Occasionally it would just fade out and turn off despite good batteries and contact. It was barely usable but had been really well looked after.

 

 

I never got through to Garmin at all on the telephone when I tried to enquire about Out of Warranty repairs. I sent an email which I got a reply to about two weeks later. They were slow but great. The usual flat fee £75 repair fee applied but they sent me a much newer Vista C (Colour and better battery life) instead of fixing it.

 

 

Job's a good'un. They certainly came through for me when I thought it was going to be uneconomical to repair it.

[+The Forester]

You want to try dealing with Magellan if you think you had a hard time

I would never buy another one of their units

 

I concur with what you say about the rottenness of Magellan's customer "service". Dreadful!

 

I've had two encounters with them, spread 10 years and 6,000 miles apart. Always awful.

 

Pity, as their machines are much better than some Garmins in some ways.

 

I think my next GPSr will be a Garmin, if only for the superb customer service reputation which they have earned.

Edited July 7, 2007 by The Forester