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Another THUMBS UP for Garmin


JollyJax

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Over the last 3 months my shiny Garmin Venture Cx has been feeling poorly and refusing to stay on longer than it wanted to. Most days I could persuade it after three or four attempts to let me navigate for an hour or two- but that was it....

 

Eventually, after borrowing a Legend from a friend (thanks Mongoose), I plucked up the courage and corresponded with the Techies at Garmin ...

:grin::lol::(:(:(:(:D:lol:

My past experiences of doing this had been grim and those that know me and have chatted about it, will know that they dont like me there ... however, things were about to change .... for the better.

 

After an initial problem over the warranty .... (thanks to GlobalPositioningsystems - Illinios) - all was ready and the guys at Garmin sent me a returns number and the promise that the unit would be away for 7 to 10 working days ....

 

The unit was dispatched from my local post office last Wednesday with Special Delivery, so I knew it would be there the next day for sure ... and allowing for problems all would be well and returned to me by the 5th or 6th of December ....

 

A BRAND SPANKING NEW UNIT ARRIVED THIS AFTERNOON .... Just 3 days turn around and no charge at all... great performance!!!!

 

Thanks Garmin - you have restored my faith in human nature and given me a smashing early Xmas present

 

:DB)B):D:D:D:D:DB)B)

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I contacted Garmin regarding baggy rubber surround on my etrex. I sent it off for them to have a look at and we received a brand new unit about a week later. :ph34r:

 

And the new one is complete rubbish!

 

It is nowhere near as accurate as our original unit. 40ft or so out AT BEST!

 

I complained to Garmin and they basically said "tough"

 

Garmin GPS are purely recreational GPS which offer 15m+/- accuracy.. 15

meters = 49.2125984 feet

 

If our first Etrex had been as bad as the replacement, I think we would have given up after the first week.

We don't use the Etrex so much now anyway but when we were standing next to a cache site yesterday, the Mio was saying about 5ft away, while the etrex claimed we had another 80ft to go!!!

What good is THAT?!!

 

I can't help feeling somewhat bitter about it.

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Why does everyone rave about the "legendary Garmin aftercare" service? :ph34r:

 

 

Isn't their refusal or inability to address recurring problems a reflection on substandard manufacturing quality control, and the replacement policy just a "cop-out" ????

 

 

I've looked at replacing my GPSr, but the continual stream of reports of dodgy Garmin glue/ flickering screens/unexplained power downs ...leaves me cold ....irrespective of how many GPSr units Garmin are willing to replace to appease customers. :)

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Why does everyone rave about the "legendary Garmin aftercare" service? :)

 

 

Isn't their refusal or inability to address recurring problems a reflection on substandard manufacturing quality control, and the replacement policy just a "cop-out" ????

 

 

I've looked at replacing my GPSr, but the continual stream of reports of dodgy Garmin glue/ flickering screens/unexplained power downs ...leaves me cold ....irrespective of how many GPSr units Garmin are willing to replace to appease customers. :)

Very true, but in my limited experience their main competitor, Magellan have just as many weakness's in their units, but they do not even seem willing to recognise the problems and the customer service is absolutely hopeless. I know which company I will be going with in the future, and yes I have had units from both and have had problems with both. My old Magellan unit was given away in the end due to a well documented manufacturing fault with the case which Magellan refused to acknowledge :ph34r:

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<<Why does everyone rave about the "legendary Garmin aftercare" service>>

 

Because that's what it is. End of argument.

 

 

 

Really??? Would anyone buy cars from a manufacturer who continually sold defective vehicles just because they repaired them free of charge?

 

 

Would anyone buy televisions which were known to repeatedly switch off or flicker ???

 

 

:ph34r:

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Would anyone buy cars from a manufacturer who continually sold defective vehicles just because they repaired them free of charge?

But they do don't they :ph34r: , Almost all new cars end up having recalls and more minor defects rectified at services.

I think that you will find that the Garmin units are no worse than any other piece of complex equipment, it's just that this is a forum dedicated to a pastime that makes use of this type of equipment so you are more likely to hear about faulty GPSs than say TVs or cars. I'm sure that if you go to a Ford forum you will see plenty of faults discussed about Fords. This is not to say that all Fords are rubbish just that people don't tend to make a posting stating that my Ford/Garmin/JVC etc worked without a fault this week.

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Would anyone buy cars from a manufacturer who continually sold defective vehicles just because they repaired them free of charge?

But they do don't they :ph34r: , Almost all new cars end up having recalls and more minor defects rectified at services.

I think that you will find that the Garmin units are no worse than any other piece of complex equipment, it's just that this is a forum dedicated to a pastime that makes use of this type of equipment so you are more likely to hear about faulty GPSs than say TVs or cars. I'm sure that if you go to a Ford forum you will see plenty of faults discussed about Fords. This is not to say that all Fords are rubbish just that people don't tend to make a posting stating that my Ford/Garmin/JVC etc worked without a fault this week.

 

 

 

I dont disagree with with the fact that manufacturers have faults.... what I said was.....

 

 

"Isn't their refusal or inability to address recurring problems a reflection on substandard manufacturing quality control, and the replacement policy just a "cop-out" ???? "

 

 

When the companies you mention... Ford /JVC have faults they address them.... one way might be by recall as you suggested...

 

 

The point which I was making , and seems to be ignored, is that there is a long history of standard faults in Garmin units which is NOT being addressed other than by replacing to appease buyers...... :) ???

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Garmin are the only company that I have ever come across that will repair/replace a faulty unit out of warranty, and even when it has obviously been caused by misuse such as a smashed display.

 

Not true, my two month old and very much still in warrenty Etrex fell from a car door pocket onto the surface of a stony carpark and the screen splintered. Failing to survive a fall of less than 30 cm is not a great advert for an allegedly rugged unit, but I still had to pay for the repairs.

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There will always be people who are dissatisfied. Garmin replaced two units for us free of charge. The first was one we had borrowed from friends and which had been bought several years earlier in Canada. A fault developed on the aerial socket. We took it to Romsey and they gave us a brand new replacement on the spot and even programmed in our friends waypoints. Second was our own GPS12XL - must have been around 10 years old when one of the pins in the connector came off. Didn't prevent the device working. They warned there may be a charge but s couple of days after we dropped it at Romsey a brand new replacement arrived by courier on a motorbike - all at no cost.

 

Compare that to John Lewis. We bought a fairly expensive item of furniture from that company and about 18 months later a fault developed. We were basically told "it's out of guarantee; nothing we can do".

 

Remember that Garmin must sell hundreds of thousands of GPS devices and we hear of a few which have broken - but 9/10 they replace them without a quibble.

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:D

 

I consider myself very lucky and am very happy with Garmin. I bought a one year old second hand Legend 2 years ago on e-bay. I have done hundreds of miles with it in good and foul weather without any special protection. The rubber seal came loose (probably too much water for the glue to wirthstand) and I posted it off as requested and got a brand new Legend C in return in 4 days. I also have a Garmin in the car and wouldn't be without them now.

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Why does everyone rave about the "legendary Garmin aftercare" service? :D

 

 

Isn't their refusal or inability to address recurring problems a reflection on substandard manufacturing quality control, and the replacement policy just a "cop-out" ????

 

 

I've looked at replacing my GPSr, but the continual stream of reports of dodgy Garmin glue/ flickering screens/unexplained power downs ...leaves me cold ....irrespective of how many GPSr units Garmin are willing to replace to appease customers. ;)

 

Our experience . :D

 

Etrex brought Christmas 2000 has only had one button come loose .

That was repaired free of charge way past the warranty date .

 

Second etrex ,brought July 2004 has yet to go faulty .

 

A second hand Legend bought on ebay 2006 has not developped faults yet .

 

A 6-7 year old old vista given to us last year is so far faultless .

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Garmin customer service is better than Sony ; they did everything but replace the item including getting it "butchered"( sorry I mean "repaired " ) in the words of a reputable repairman, and that was only 6 months old.

 

So if Garmin replace because of a fault then its fine by me ;that shows customer service

 

question really is : what is the percentage of fauty units compared to those sold/replaced ?

 

its a question of scale. and replacement IS an acceptable action for them to take ; so for those nitpickers your question has to be: what do actually expect them to do ?

 

I would take Garmin`s attitude over and above Sony`s (my personal experience)any day.

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All the fuss over the repair or replace from Garmin fails to address the fact that to fault find a failed GPSr takes time, and time = MONEY..

The actual cost to Garmin UK to replace a defective GPSr would 9 times out of 10 be LESS than the repair charge.

Obvoius "faults" like a busted screen are a simple diagnosis. But still, the time taken to repair a low end model would outweigh the cost of a replacement.

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