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Hello fellow Geocachers,

 

I just wanted to let people know about my experience with Garmin.I purchased a Garmin GPS about 5 months ago from BEST BUy and its been acting up, freezing and dies for no reason. I went to best buy and they said I had to deal with Garmin.I called Garmin and the Tech guy had no idea what was wrong and when I told him I was in Canada he said I had to deal with a company called reytech!!! I tried to contact them and only to find out I have to send it back myself and pay for the shipping as well provide a credit card in case its not warranty related!! Yeah right. I spent over two hours on the phone trying to contact Garmin customer service and was directed to departments that had nothing to do with warranty...CALL REYTECH THEY SAID.... I then emailed them only to get a reply back that in no circumstances do they cover shipping to fix their product under warranty....so I got a quote to ship my 500 dollar GPS by Canada post and Purolator to Toronto from the east coast , and of coarse i put insurance on it, and would cost aprox, 29 dollars. This is the the most crazy thing I have ever heard. My son purchased a Magellan triton 400 and had problems and they sent a box with return address and paid everything. now that's what I call service. You would thing after buying 4 GPS units and the way the economy is today, people would be bending over backwards to help you....NOT!!!!!!

Well that's my story.

 

QUOTE:

Dear Steve,

 

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. I will be happy to help you with this.

 

 

I am sorry for your frustration. For our Canadian customers, you will need to go through Raytech. This avoids all of the shipping charges and customs, that you would be responsible for, when crossing the boarder. If you have had your unit less than a year, if you send a copy of a receipt, they will take care of it under warranty, but you are responsible for shipping charges. That is the same here in the states.

 

I then wrote back saying how upset I was and said I as a consumer did not know and they said:

 

Dear Steve ,

 

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. I will be happy to help you with this.

 

I'm sorry you feel that way. Below is a link that states what is covered under warranty from us. The first paragraph states that the customer is responsible for transportation costs. I am sorry if Best Buy did not give you accurate information.

 

http://www8.garmin.com/support/warranty.html

 

like people look at the web site before buying a GPS!!!!!!!

MAKE THE ChOICE YOURSELF

Edited by steevoca
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insist on sending it stateside if you want it back quick. Like hey said above ensure you have the latest firmware installed. Although if you only got it in december, it may already be up to date. I'm on my second nd i cannot trust it, random shutdowns, freezing on bootup, geocaches disappear by themselves from the unit. NOT impressed. Anyways, i had to send mine to rayteck and i was 6 weeks getting the replacement. I have friends who shipped theirs south of the border and had them replaced in 2 weeks. Sadly you have to pay for the shipping to them and it's more to ship across the border but worth it i think.

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Raytech, which is in Montreal not Toronto, is notoriously slow at servicing anything.

 

If you send it there, I strongly urge you to contact them at least once a week to get a status. Most returns sit on the shelf for 3 to 4 weeks before they even look at it.

 

I would also urge you to ask Garmin for the OK to ship it to the U.S. It will cost you more with shipping/customs but the turnaround will be much quicker.

 

I also agree about vendors. Costco, would take it back after a year with no questions asked.

Edited by Tequila
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I am sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. I have had nothing but great service when I call Garmin for help and advice on the 6 Garmin units I have (mostly to fix my screw ups or to walk me through the learning curve). I started with a Magellan 400 but sold it after my first experience with their customer support. The guy helping me was obviously reading from a help file. He barely knew what a GPS was it seemed. Garmin techs just rattle off the tech facts from memory. They are never in a rush and will stay with it till your issue is solved. I would not give up on Garmin but I would buy from a place that would back what they sell.

 

I have found though that Garmin's email tech support is weak. It takes days to get an answer.

Edited by redhawk44p
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I'm not sure what the problem is. They're doing what their warranty says they'll do.

Indeed, it seems that they are, and I grant you that it seemed to be the shipping charges that the O.P. was mainly upset about. But I think it would be a legitimate complaint that folks in Canada are supposed to send the unit to this 3rd party company, Raytech, which seems to have a reputation for taking an excessively long time to repair and return the unit.

 

I live in the U.S., and my experience with Garmin service (the one time I needed it while owning Garmin units since 1995) was good. I had no issue with paying to send my unit to them, and got it back in 2 weeks to the day. It seems our Canadian friends don’t get treated so well. I think it would be fair to say that Garmin needs to either choose a better repair facility for their Canadian customers, or lean hard on the one they have to provide better service.

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I think if you insist, Garmin U.S. will accept your unit for repair. The problem is that Garmin will ship it back by UPS and UPS is the ONLY courier that charges a customs brokerage fee.

 

The best way, believe it or not, is U.S. Postal Service.

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I can't speak for service in Canada, but my US experience has been above and beyond my expectations.

 

I used a Garmin GPS Map some years ago with an aftermarket "Mighty Mouse" external antenna plugged into the back. I fell while hiking to a cache and the unit hit the ground at the plug, damaging that part of the GPS unit. It was a couple of months out of it's one year warranty and damaged by a non-Garmin product. Also the damage was not a defect in materials or workmanship, but due to a fall.

 

Despite truthfully explaining the circumstances and being prepared to pay for repairs I was sent a refurbished unit with all my old waypoints loaded into it, all for free.

 

~erik~

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Well, probably pointless to send it to rayteck. I called them to see if I could get a new USB plug for a friends etrex, I was told they don't actually fix them, guess that explains their extremely slow service.

Edited by stickman756
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I did not notice what model you have. I have an Oregon 400t and it was freezing up and very unstable. Garmin said I could return or try the 3.13 Beta SW. I tried the SW and it seems to be working correctly. You might try that version of the SW and see what happens. That beats having to send in the GPSr.

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Well your first problem was buying you gps at Best Buy!!! should have bought it online from a company with a good return policy.

 

Really? An on-line company with a FIVE MONTH return policy? Which one? That's how long the OP had his GPS when he had problems and went back to Best Buy.

 

In situations like this, I've just purchased an EXACT same version of whatever I had and returned the old one in the new packaging. Not my problem. Let the store/manufacturing company sort it out later. I don't have the time.

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Well your first problem was buying you gps at Best Buy!!! should have bought it online from a company with a good return policy.

 

Really? An on-line company with a FIVE MONTH return policy? Which one? That's how long the OP had his GPS when he had problems and went back to Best Buy.

 

In situations like this, I've just purchased an EXACT same version of whatever I had and returned the old one in the new packaging. Not my problem. Let the store/manufacturing company sort it out later. I don't have the time.

 

and they don't check the serial number v. the serial number on the box?

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Well your first problem was buying you gps at Best Buy!!! should have bought it online from a company with a good return policy.

 

Really? An on-line company with a FIVE MONTH return policy? Which one? That's how long the OP had his GPS when he had problems and went back to Best Buy.

 

In situations like this, I've just purchased an EXACT same version of whatever I had and returned the old one in the new packaging. Not my problem. Let the store/manufacturing company sort it out later. I don't have the time.

 

WOW, and you "brag" about this?? :):laughing:

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Well your first problem was buying you gps at Best Buy!!! should have bought it online from a company with a good return policy.

 

Really? An on-line company with a FIVE MONTH return policy? Which one? That's how long the OP had his GPS when he had problems and went back to Best Buy.

 

In situations like this, I've just purchased an EXACT same version of whatever I had and returned the old one in the new packaging. Not my problem. Let the store/manufacturing company sort it out later. I don't have the time.

 

WOW, and you "brag" about this?? :):laughing:

 

Well, it's worked for me the few times I've had to go this route with no other resolution because a store AND/OR company was being unreasonable. :grin:

Edited by scotthsi
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Well your first problem was buying you gps at Best Buy!!! should have bought it online from a company with a good return policy.

 

Really? An on-line company with a FIVE MONTH return policy? Which one? That's how long the OP had his GPS when he had problems and went back to Best Buy.

 

In situations like this, I've just purchased an EXACT same version of whatever I had and returned the old one in the new packaging. Not my problem. Let the store/manufacturing company sort it out later. I don't have the time.

 

and they don't check the serial number v. the serial number on the box?

 

In my case, that was never an issue. And, I've had brand new products right out of the box where the serial number on the unit didn't match the one on the box.

 

Yeah, likely the results of someone doing the same thing you did AND the store passing on the buck as well. Seems too many people do that same thing and maybe the stores are just trying to recoup their losses.

 

IMHO, that's not the honest route to go, but to each their own.

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In my case, that was never an issue. And, I've had brand new products right out of the box where the serial number on the unit didn't match the one on the box.

 

Yeah, likely the results of someone doing the same thing you did AND the store passing on the buck as well. Seems too many people do that same thing and maybe the stores are just trying to recoup their losses.

 

In a factory sealed blister plastic bubble pack that is hard as HELL to open? Don't think so...

 

IMHO, that's not the honest route to go, but to each their own.

 

Yup.

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In my case, that was never an issue. And, I've had brand new products right out of the box where the serial number on the unit didn't match the one on the box.

 

Yeah, likely the results of someone doing the same thing you did AND the store passing on the buck as well. Seems too many people do that same thing and maybe the stores are just trying to recoup their losses.

 

In a factory sealed blister plastic bubble pack that is hard as HELL to open? Don't think so...

 

IMHO, that's not the honest route to go, but to each their own.

 

Yup.

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In my case, that was never an issue. And, I've had brand new products right out of the box where the serial number on the unit didn't match the one on the box.

 

Yeah, likely the results of someone doing the same thing you did AND the store passing on the buck as well. Seems too many people do that same thing and maybe the stores are just trying to recoup their losses.

 

In a factory sealed blister plastic bubble pack that is hard as HELL to open? Don't think so...

 

IMHO, that's not the honest route to go, but to each their own.

 

Yup.

 

Never heard of a store that had their own resealing equipment? Having been an employee for one of the larger retailers (years ago mind you), I can tell you this DOES happen. Mainly when someone comes in and does somethig underhanded such as your approach. Then, an unsuspecting buyer comes along ad we start all over...

 

And, I believe you boldened the wrong part which you were agreeing with me on. :)

 

Ripping off a store is still theft even if you do find a sneaky way to do it. Since this is OT, I'll not respond back, but THANKS for showing your true side...

Edited by Rockin Roddy
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Never heard of a store that had their own resealing equipment? Having been an employee for one of the larger retailers (years ago mind you), I can tell you this DOES happen.

 

Your store could reseal and make FACTORY PERFECT packages? I'm talking about the TOUGH plastic clam shell see-through packages and NOT just clear heat shrink film over a box. And, your "equipment" could repair the color cardboard proprietary product card that was cut/mangled when getting the original open? Maybe even the papers/quick start guides, etc that may have been nicked by scissors? Nope...

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