Busted Montana

[+Geogetit]

My Montana 650 bit the concrete when I crashed my bicycle and the screen is shattered and whp knows what else..I called Garmin and they said to send them the busted unit and they will send me a refurbished unit for 180.00.Has anyone out there received a refurbished unit from Garmin and what kind of luck did you have with it...180.00 versus 550.00 does get your attention...and the guys at GPSCITY will honor my extended warranty on the refurbished unit...but I am interested in any feedback about refurbished unit from Garmin

[+splashy]

This is the normal way how Garmin handles these problems.

The units will be as new and will be given with a Garmin warranty.

Basically you will have a new unit for that price.

[+Joe & Lori]

I have a refurbished Montana 650t and it works perfectly...

[+Walts Hunting]

I had a refurbished 450 when I broke it, a refurbrished Montana when i broke it and I bought a refurb 550 as backuip. All work fine. And if you have Garmin CN maps they will transfer the right to use it to the new one after it gets back to you.

[+MentalBill]

I fell on my Oregon 450 and gouged the screen.

Bought a replacement screen off of ebay for $35.

Still works.

Didn't look up Montana screens but worth a check.

[+coshida]

I have a refurb Dakota 20 from Garmin USA. All is fine and the handset looks new.

 

(Don't forget to check whether you have household or bike insurance to claim from.)

[dictum9]

I had exact same thing happen to me. Dropped it and the screen cracked. Had to pay $200 to get a replacement unit.

 

The Montana screen is fragile, easy to scratch or break and not covered under warranty.

[+Walts Hunting]

I had exact same thing happen to me. Dropped it and the screen cracked. Had to pay $200 to get a replacement unit.

 

The Montana screen is fragile, easy to scratch or break and not covered under warranty.

It does have a one year warranty. Free replacement. After that your are on your own. I wouldn't say it is fragile. Mine had been dropped several times and a couple of crashes while attached to my bike with no problem. If you really are concerned then get a gizzovest for it. As to scratching the screen the first thing you do with any screen device is get a protector over it and then never a problem.

[dictum9]

The fact of the matter is, I was within one year of purchase and Garmin said that screen is NOT covered under warranty.

 

I paid $200 for a replacement unit, not refurb, but new. Still, I am disappointed. Stuff like that should not happen and if it does, should be covered. It's not. If you drop it at just the right angle and hit something, it will break the screen and disable the unit. the glass is junk, plain and simple. They need gorilla glass like what's found on the latest Android phones.

 

The hardware is just junk that you should expect to go bad within a year or two. This is not the first time either. I wore a 60CSx, the power buttons.

Edited April 12, 2014 by dictum9

[sviking]

This is the normal way how Garmin handles these problems.

The units will be as new and will be given with a Garmin warranty.

Basically you will have a new unit for that price.

 

If anything, it will be "better than new". It will have been extensively bench tested, which is something a brand new unit will not have undergone unless you just happened to be lucky enough to get the one out of hundreds or thousands that they pulled for a spot QA check.

[sviking]

 

I paid $200 for a replacement unit, not refurb, but new.

 

Does anyone really care? Down to perfect cosmetics, refurb is as good as new, or even better. For anyone upset that they might not get their own unit back repaired. Who cares? They fix your unit, check it out and send it back... Guess what? It's still a used/refurbished unit. But, instead of shipping you one that was already ready to go and getting it in a few days, you got to wait weeks or months on end until they got to your exact unit.

[dictum9]

1) I expect the screen not to break if dropped. Gorilla glass found in some smart phones is so much better, more durable and more scratch-resistant.

Garmin is way behind the standard in smart phone technology. I don't know if Monterra is better but not dropping 600 tokens on it to find out.

 

2) If the screen does break, I expect them to replace it without charging 200 bucks. within the 1 year warranty period. They don't stand by their units. Warranty means nothing.

 

After using Garmin for the last 7 years, my formed opinion is that they have junk, disposable hardware. You can get maybe a year or two out of it until it wears out or breaks. I wore out the power button in 60CSX. I only buy Garmin because they are no viable alternatives. The alternatives are as bad or worse. Smart phones don't offer all the functionality of GPS units.

 

Their business model is sell, sell, sell more disposable Asian-made stuff that will break within a year, and not cheap. This thread is proof positive of that.

Edited April 15, 2014 by dictum9

[+kknickelson]

With all these references to smart phones perhaps one would be willing to pay monthly for insurance on a gps?

 

[+splashy]

Gorilla glass or not, if you drop or bump it the "right' way it breaks just as easy.

Cover your Garmin Gps with a good screen protector, it will be better then gorilla.

[sviking]

Gorilla glass or not, if you drop or bump it the "right' way it breaks just as easy.

Cover your Garmin Gps with a good screen protector, it will be better then gorilla.

 

Exactly. Plus, use your wrist strap and be careful instead of treating your expensive gear like crap. indeed...