GARMIN

[+whereisit2350]

Hi

Would anyone know if "Geocaching.com" is an official website which is supported by GARMIN.

I have spoken to Garmin and they have told me that this s not the case.

 

I phoned them as I have some problems with my Garmin NUVI 55.

The only advice I got from them was to use 'Opencaching.com'

Before I ask on this forum for help with my Nuvi problems, I would just liked it confirmed either way whether Garmin do support Geocaching.com.

 

I have looked on the Geocaching.com website and it seems that they are in partnership with GARMIN

Thanks for any information that anyone can give me on this

[+cerberus1]

Maybe it depends on what you mean by "supported by".

Groundspeak is the "owner" of geocaching.com.

Garmin has a (kinda, but not really...) competing site that you mentioned earlier.

Garmin, Magellan, and a number of other GPSrs will work on geocaching.com.

 

Problems with your Nuvi should be handled by support/customer service.

"Use another site" obviously isn't fixing your issue with an electronic device, and a really weird/rude thing to say, by someone who's job it is to keep customers satisfied.

I'd email corporate and tell them what you were told.

Losing customers because of a couple of jokers isn't smart business.

Edited March 13, 2015 by cerberus1

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

A (strong) bit of misinformation there.

 

Dunno why the (some?) folks at Garmin are saying that. This isn't the first report of it.

 

Nothing has changed... except that Garmin is VIGOROUSLY supporting their own geocaching game.

 

I guess it boils down to business-to-business politics. They'll never tell, though.

[+whereisit2350]

Hi

Thankyou both for your replies.

I seem to be getting quite a few problems with the Nuvi

I have been away for a while , and the first time that I went to transfer files when I got back, Garmin performed updates.

Now:

1)

When I send caches to my GPS Nuvi

The window pops up saying that NUVI 55 is ‘FOUND’.

I then ‘write’ the file and a message states that the geocaches saved successfully

When I disconnect and open the NUVI 55, the caches aren’t there.

2)

The other problem that I have noticed is that when I go into the already existing ‘Favourites’ on the Nuvi.

The GC code is displayed and not the name of the cache. That being the case I used to be able to press the GCcode and the information about caches was there.

Now all this information has disappeared!!!! (eg when I pressed ‘info’ there is nothing there, where there used to be the name of the cache

This has only happened since it has been updated by Garmin

I have tried a Major reset, and this has not deleted the favourites, I don’t know what is going on with it.!! Grrr!!!

I have contacted Garmin and as I said earlier the reply was, that Geocaching.com is not the official website that is supported by Garmin, and told me to use “OPENCACHING”

I have looked at Opencaching and it isn’t nowhere as good as Geocaching.. and I really don’t want to have to use it.

Any suggestions welcome…

((((Cerberus1, have you any idea of corporates email address))))

[+ChileHead]

Nothing has changed... except that Garmin is VIGOROUSLY supporting their own geocaching game.

 

Garmin seems to have abandoned their geocaching game. Some of their newest products are preloaded with geocache data from geocaching.com, and all product literature seems to mention geocaching.com and not their own failed site which they last changed well over a year ago.

 

What sort of problem do you have? I don't have that device, but perhaps somebody here can help you. Almost all the Garmin devices should support gpx files, though I'm not sure about the Nuvi line.

[+StefandD]

I don't know about the 55, but my 3700 series won't accept geocache .gpx either. It also won't accept tracks. Face it, it's not an outdoor gpsr.

I solve the problem by exporting caches to POI files (.gpi) in GSAK.

[Pup Patrol]

Hi

Would anyone know if "Geocaching.com" is an official website which is supported by GARMIN.

I have spoken to Garmin and they have told me that this s not the case.

 

I phoned them as I have some problems with my Garmin NUVI 55.

The only advice I got from them was to use 'Opencaching.com'

Before I ask on this forum for help with my Nuvi problems, I would just liked it confirmed either way whether Garmin do support Geocaching.com.

 

I have looked on the Geocaching.com website and it seems that they are in partnership with GARMIN

Thanks for any information that anyone can give me on this

 

Garmin is playing stupid with you. Of course Garmin products work fine with Groundspeak.

 

There's no reason to go to their crappy caching site.

 

What your excellent customer service person was doing was being obtuse.

 

You have an automotive gps? Not meant for geocaching? That could be the problem right there.

 

What exactly are the problems you are having? The folks here will be of much more help than the manufacturer.

 

What have you been using to find caches so far?

 

B.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Pup Patrol

[+Scratch Ankle]

I figured out that if I do an update I need to turn the unit on and let it load the update and then download the files. If I don't, the files download but they don't show up on the unit until I connect to the computer and do a file search. Took a couple times with my Etrex to figure that out.

 

As for Garmin support, I had an issue with the Etrex when I first bought it. Support via chat was never responded to, email to the company was not responded to and calling several times resulting in on hold waits that were so long (45 minutes plus for two of them) that I just gave up and went to Google to find the answer to my problem. That took all of about 10 minutes.

[+kunarion]

1)

When I send caches to my GPS Nuvi

The window pops up saying that NUVI 55 is ‘FOUND’.

I then ‘write’ the file and a message states that the geocaches saved successfully

When I disconnect and open the NUVI 55, the caches aren’t there.

I have a Nuvi 2557LMT, and some models of Nuvi work better with GPX files than others, so the following is just general Nuvi info. Your mileage may vary.

 

There is a limited memory for files. GPX files may occupy a ton of memory (yet the Nuvi displays almost none of that text). Is it possible that the Nuvi is ignoring files? If you look in the GARMIN/GPX folder, are the GPX files in there?

 

2)

The other problem that I have noticed is that when I go into the already existing ‘Favourites’ on the Nuvi.

The GC code is displayed and not the name of the cache. That being the case I used to be able to press the GCcode and the information about caches was there.

Now all this information has disappeared!!!!

Mine still shows cache name if "Info" is selected. Maybe I need an update.

 

I have tried a Major reset, and this has not deleted the favourites

You must delete the GPX files using a computer, and delete the Saved "POIs" (The "favorites") individually, from the Nuvi's menu.

 

I have looked at Opencaching and it isn’t nowhere as good as Geocaching.. and I really don’t want to have to use it.

That might be an option anyway (just an idea):

1) Join Opencaching.com.

2) Send Opencache files to the Nuvi.

3) Call Garmin Support about the the issues you find (pretty much exactly the same issues you had when using Geocaching.com files, but don't even mention Geocaching.com).

4) Get it fixed perfectly by Garmin Support . They have no excuse at that point, since the question is in fact about Garmin products exclusively.

5) Whatever the fix is, use the same techniques to fix the issues you have when using files from Geocaching.com.

6) Once you're happy, stop using Opencaching.com. The caches there are a fraction of the Geocaching caches, cross-posted.

 

As mentioned, you have a car nav. It's not ideal for Geocaching. If that's all you have for Geocaching and you wish to set it up as well as possible for that purpose, Garmin Support can't help. Lots of cachers here have processes that can help. I once used a "POI Loader" to save a bunch of caches as POIs, and they even had proximity alarms when near a cache. What I didn't know at the time was, I would have to manually delete the POIs when I didn't want them anymore. So there can be trade-offs.

Edited March 16, 2015 by kunarion