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Please log all Garmin complaints here


awskoa

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I have a Garmin Legend, an Emap and 2 of the yellow Etrex's and I haven't had a single problem with any of them. Well actually I would like to see an external antenna conector on the Etrex series. Sometimes the coverage can be spotty while in a car. The emap has external antenna jack and works great with external antenna and connected to my laptop.

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is that they should improve the battery compartment somehow. My Garmin V shuts off on my motorcycle unless I put a thin piece of cardstock between the batteries. I have also read several complaints on these forums of similiar problems on different Garmin units.

 

Other than that, I am a happy camper icon_smile.gif

 

KYtrex

-----------------

War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who's left

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I own many Garmin units and the only problem I've had was with my original Vista...click-stick problem and the adhesive on outer rubber seal that surrounds the unit got gummy. It was returned under warranty and fixed with no problems since then. They provide many software/firmware updates and support their products very well. I'm happy with my choice of GPS. icon_biggrin.gif

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I have owned a Garmin 12XL for 5 years and after passing it on to my son I got a Garmin 76S. I guess I could knit-pick any product I own do death but I really have never had any real complaints about Garmin. My 12XL after 4 years lost memory but after contacting Garmin they told me to send it in and they sent me back a new factory rebuilt with all the latest updated software, case, manual, lanyard so I had no problem with that. Garmin has got me there and back too many times to count so I love GARMIN.

sidewinder

 

LOST AND FOUND DEPT

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I have a map76. I carry it in a belt pouch. I fell off some rocks and landed right on it. I weigh 250 lbs. I figured it was junk. When I took it out it had a small gray spot in the middle of the sceen but still worked. A year later I was caching in the rain I had the Garmin in my hand and slipped in wet leaves and used the garmin to break my fall, again I thought it was trashed but it only had some scratches from the rocks.

I went to the Garmin site to down load the latest version software and saw that they have a " My experience with garmin" page. People wrote in and told of their story with a Garmin product. I figured why not and wrote in my story. I really feel that this product is almost indestructable. I got an e-mail back in a couple of days. Which read, Mr. Thomas we would like to back a great product with a great service if you mail your unit to us we will fix it free of charge and Fedex it back to you. Which they did.

I think they put a smart chip in it because it guides me around objects, breaks in stone walls and always finds the caches.

Really though it's an awesome product and I have nothing but praise for it and their service.

No, I don't work for Garmin but I wish I did.

 

Still looking!

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The complaints are what I am looking for really but I like the fact there is good too cause with every bad there should be good dont get me wrong I think some Of Garmin products are great but there are a lot of problems with alot of units and yes I know sum could be human error cause were not perfect . But false advertising ,poor craftman ship or bad service are just a few things that I have experianced as a lot of others that I have found by reading all the back formums. Tell me when you pay 500.00 for a unit

that you have to put card board strips in you are happy or it says water proof and its really only water or weather resistant! me personally PISSED

besides yes they will exchange the product for you but there is time waiting and not being able to cache hunt or what ever you do with your unit .

 

My time is worth something to me and after sending something back a dozen times is it worth it no

All I am really triing to do is let the company now by us the consumer where there product need inprovements so we the consumer get an even better product and they get more word of mouth which inturns they get more consumers :rolleyes:) sorry I will shut up now

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Never said I hated them as a mater of fact I have three different units that are garmin and two Magellen units Etrex Vista, Etrex yellow , and the Garmin 12 / Magellan 315 , Magellan 2000

not to mention I test out some of the other ones on the market cause I am always looking for something new that fits me . I have found just looking through the topics on the forums page garmin seems to come up alot mostly small complaints never the less they are the issue at hand. I do enjoy both my garmins and my magellans

Thanks for listening I am just going to sit back awhile and watch and listen

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I have never has a problem with my unit yet, (knock on wood) I am worried about the clickstick though as many people have had problems it...

 

however, the recent forum(s) regarding the H2O worthyness of Garmin units is something to worry about (i guess)...

 

I do not care about the specifications, to whatever standard, yada yada yada,

 

if they say the thing is water proof to 1 meter for 30 minutes or whatever, it should mean the whole unit,

 

not everything except for the battery compartment (sometimes, depending on what angle the unit is being held under water, or what hemisphere you are on)

 

at the very least if they say the unit floats, it should float, not depending on what type of water fresh or salt, or whatever....

 

GARMIN make it happen, put foam in the unit to make it float, i dunno,,, do whatever it takes...

 

or perhaps just say it won'f float, customers will appreciate the honesty...

 

or how about this one.....

 

make the unit really waterproof like you say it is, then make it so,,,

 

dont make it waterproof and say the battery compartment may get wet and require drying...

 

if a $2.99 watch with the purchase of any sandwich you get at McDonalds or BurgerKing can be waterproof then a x-hundred dollar gps unit can also be waterproof....

 

what a joke,,,

 

take some of the profits from your 'reasonably' priced software and buy a few o-rings and screws or whatever closure mechanism/system you wish to employ (as long as it seals tight) and make sure your units are really waterproof...

 

by the way, I have never deep-sixed my legend, never intend to, and hope it never makes it way into the drink regardless...

 

that is it for now....

 

lates...

 

[This message was edited by shabbasuraj on January 28, 2003 at 09:54 PM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by rayt333:

Well I do have one complaint, it is not the hardware but the prices of their accessories are too high. I know for most Acc. you can use aftermarket acc. but it is shameful for them to price gouge their loyal consumers.

Their GPS units are mostly great though.


 

Buy your accessories on Ebay. Last week I bout a serial cable for my laptop for $4, retail on this same item is $29. I bought a car charger/adapter with the flat connector for $9, retail for the same item is $35 at Academy. I bought a handlebar mount for $6, retail on this item is $25 at gpsnow.com.

 

CfC

 

Counter Fit Cache

 

...or is it really me????

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I own two Garmins, and I can't find anything to complain about! Can I complain about not having anything to complain about. Or is complaining about no complaints a non-complaint. Sheesh... this is so difficult. I will get back to you with an answer.

 

Serioucly, the things I don't like are nit-picky at best, and easily corrected with a few seconds work.

 

Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC).

El Paso, Texas.

 

Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom.

 

They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS!

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i think the manual with the garmin unit is great for begginers but not for advanced users or people framilar with technology

 

the manual does not talk about DGPS or the functions when using DGPS beacons, also maybe the Demo mode could be removed and used for other info

it would also be nice to have a place to enter your contact info into the unit without a homemade program

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quote:
Originally posted by Desert_Warrior:

I own two Garmins, and I can't find anything to complain about! Can I complain about not having anything to complain about. Or is complaining about no complaints a non-complaint. Sheesh... this is so difficult. I will get back to you with an answer.

 


 

Well, it has been a long time since junior high, but as I recall two negatives = a postive. Thus, your complaint(s) cancel one another out, and it actually becomes a compliment!

 

Now, where are we supposed to post compliments?

 

CfC

 

Counter Fit Cache

 

...or is it really me????

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I've never had problems with my etrex Summit. It's virtually indestructable...it fell off top of my old truck's canopy while I was driving...fortunately I was able to turn around after 20 miles of driving and still able to find it and I still use this unit to this day...over two years strong. The rubber exterior is coming off, but it still performs.

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I've had a Venture for almost 2 years now, and I've beat it up pretty good - still works great. I keep seeing these new units that have topo's, and other neat features, but I can't part with my Venture - it's been that good. Plus, it's smaller, packs nice high-res. screen and it's paid for. Sorry, I can't honestly complain!

 

How about a Garmin "Praise" thread?

 

SteveL

 

These are my opinions and only my opinions, unless you share them as well, which would make them our opinions, but I am not of the opinion that I can express your opinion as my opinion without your prior expression of said opinion, and then my re-utterance of that opinion would, in my opinion, be foolish unless I were expressing agreement to your opinion, and then it wouldn't be my opinion but your opinion to which I only agree.

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I haven't personally had any problems and the products seem great, but what problems are you concerned about?

 

I don't see that you have said anything about any specific problems you have experienced - only generalized complaints?

 

quote:
Originally posted by awskoa:

The complaints are what I am looking for really but I like the fact there is good too cause with every bad there should be good dont get me wrong I think some Of Garmin products are great but there are a lot of problems with alot of units and yes I know sum could be human error cause were not perfect . But false advertising ,poor craftman ship or bad service are just a few things that I have experianced as a lot of others that I have found by reading all the back formums. Tell me when you pay 500.00 for a unit

that you have to put card board strips in you are happy or it says water proof and its really only water or weather resistant! me personally PISSED

besides yes they will exchange the product for you but there is time waiting and not being able to cache hunt or what ever you do with your unit .

 

My time is worth something to me and after sending something back a dozen times is it worth it no

All I am really triing to do is let the company now by us the consumer where there product need inprovements so we the consumer get an even better product and they get more word of mouth which inturns they get more consumers :rolleyes:) sorry I will shut up now


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I have 3 yellows, a Venture & a Legend. I mount the Legend directly to my PWC. No problems at all. The Legend must have 30 or 40 days on the river -- no water problems, no complaints. I'm pleased with Garmin- I wish I held up as well at 60 mph. Tony of RAMnVAM.

 

P.S. I agree with rayt333, an external antenna on the eTrex would be great... or maybe longer arms.

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If I look on the box my Vista was supplied in, it says amongst other things, waterproof to 1m for 30mins. Now as far as I'm concerned it should continue functioning correctly within the limits specified, if it doesn't then there is either a fault/defect unique to my Vista, or Garmin marketing are tying to be clever. I suspect the latter as we know that even if the Vista did survive, it wouldn't continue functioning as the battery compartment would be full of water.

 

However, also on the box it says the Vista stores 500 waypoints. Not true, it's now 1000...

 

Garmin aren't faultless, but the fact they continue to improve the functionality and performance of their product, via firmware updates, even after we the customer have parted with our money, can't be ignored.

 

If I was after a new gpsr, I don't know if I'd even bother looking at their competition.

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I have a Map76S, I love the unit, it seemed to be the cat's meow when I got it. Then I got my kid a cheap magellan Map 310. Standing side by side, when i lose signal he has 3 birds. In the house, i get no lock ever, he has three birds. I bought an amplified antenna, it is nice with that, but now the antenna connector in the base of the 76S is defunct and i have to send it in for a $135 flat fee repair. I'm very pleased with the functionality of it, but the sensitivity sucked. Has anyone else compared like this between various units and found big differences?

 

Daron J. Wilson

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Minor moaning.

I bought my fourth Garmin last week so I must like them.

My gripes? My first 45 stopped acquiring so I got the 45 XL fairly cheap as an upgrade from Garmin. That stopped acquiring so I sent it back to Garmin for another $90.00 upgrade. It worked until this spring when it again simply stopped acquiring and Garmin, again, wanted 90 beanski's to fix it. I said 'Uncle' and broke down and bought a Map76S. All was fine until I learned that the Blue Charts in my home state require two access codes. They split the area of the shore I haunt in my boat in half. Ouch!

Other than that they seem to be fine units but I agree, Garmin does tend to 'nickel and dime' its customers to death on aftermarket gear.

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I own a GPS-V and I love it! The only problem I have is with their Metroguide U.S.A. software. From time to time, the autorouting will attempt to put me on an Interstate Hwy at a point that doesn't have any entrance or exit ramps! This often time results in a lot of lost time and unnecessary miles driven. As expensive as the software is, I would expect it to be a little better than it seems to be.

 

"The more original a discovery,the more obvious it seems afterwards"

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Seems like only the newer Energizers fit better in the GPS V. The others seem quite loose. Ive had less problems with the GPS III and IIIplus.

New batts are aways best, because the recargeables seem to wear out enough after just a few chargings, that they become very loose in the GPS. Other than this, it seems like a great GPS.

 

For Etrex's:

They are a subcompact unit without an external antenna connection, so you will need a re-radiating antenna for the Etrex series.

 

They are a good GPS, except for the Rubber band surrounding all etrex units, those do wear out quickly depending on the amount of use. My Etrex Vista is falling apart, but it was a good pocket unit for it's smallness.

 

Garmins have an edge over Magellans because they have better tracklogging.

 

Ive had alot of probs with several different Magellan units with quality, but the Platinum seems to be working great. Problem is that the proccessor in the Meridians need to be a little bit faster.

 

You will not go wrong with a GPS IIIplus, except for the lack of mapping ability, but they are very rugged, and last quite awhile.

 

Shuttles and GPS units are made by humans, so they are not perfect.

 

Of course Garmin and Magellan are in it for the money.

 

------------------------

5_Rubik.gifMy home page about GPS units and information

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I have a Rino 120 and the only complaint I have is it lacks an autorecovery feature.

 

I dropped it in the snow and had to search for it the next day (it didn't come and find me automatically). icon_biggrin.gif

 

For idiots like me - it'd be a handy feature.

 

Seriously, headed out this morning, found it buried under 6 inches of snow (partially coated in ice). Took it home, removed the batteries, let it dry out and it was as good as new. I'm very happy with my Garmin GPSr.

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I have to post here for two reasons.

 

#1 - I can't see an Avs logo go un-challenged icon_wink.gif

 

#2 - I love my Garmin. I have a Venture and have beat that thing to heck (for the family in the group... other people exchange 'heck' for h-e-double hockey sticks) and back and it STILL works flawlessly.

 

I'd like to see better reception in future units but otherwise I'm 100% comfy with my unit. I've talked with the people at Garmin and they area very friendly group that is focused on customer support and approval and always open to input.

 

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

Flat_MiGeo_A88.gif

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I've had a Garmin 72 for a few weeks and my dad has used a Garmin 12 for a few years. I just use mine for caching. He uses his for shrimping, hunting, fishing, caching, etc. I have been shrimping and fishing with him and the 12 has worked great! Waves splashing up on the thing and all.

 

About the water issue. I don't think that the units were meant to be tested by users holding them under water. The reception would be severly compromised... Do you guys navigate under water?? icon_confused.gif Enough ranting.

 

kc

row, row, row your boat

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I have to put in my $.02 in support of Garmin. I just got my repaired Vista back today. The battery clip had broken off while changing batteries at 5 am in preparation for a day of caching. Not wanting to give up a day's caching I soldered the clip pieces together and it held together for the rest of the day. When I contacted Garmin tech support they mentioned that soldering is generally a good way to void your warranty, but they accepted it for repair. I sent it in with a cranky click stick, a chipped screen, peeling rubber rand, and the aforementioned busted battery clip. I got back a functionally and cosmetically brand new Vista. They even saved my waypoints and maps. I cannot say enough good things about a company that stands by its products so well. But I think I said it best when I went out and bought a yellow Etrex to tide me over while the Vista was in the shop. Never owned a Magellan, and now I never will.

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quote:
Originally posted by ZingerHead:

I have to put in my $.02 in support of Garmin. I just got my repaired Vista back today. The battery clip had broken off while changing batteries at 5 am in preparation for a day of caching. Not wanting to give up a day's caching I soldered the clip pieces together and it held together for the rest of the day. When I contacted Garmin tech support they mentioned that soldering is generally a good way to void your warranty, but they accepted it for repair. I sent it in with a cranky click stick, a chipped screen, peeling rubber rand, and the aforementioned busted battery clip. I got back a functionally and cosmetically brand new Vista. They even saved my waypoints and maps. I cannot say enough good things about a company that stands by its products so well. But I think I said it best when I went out and bought a yellow Etrex to tide me over while the Vista was in the shop. Never owned a Magellan, and now I never will.


 

I have a Legend and totally agree. I was boating and the lens over the display cracked, and they fixed it for free! It was great, and Garmin is the BEST.

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I own a Magellan and think it's the greatest. From the postings I've seen most Garmin owners think the Garmin also is the greatest. Seems that both companies make good products, but like anything you buy, some people will run into a problem here and there. Watching postings in a forum is the worst way to evaluate a product, people go to forums when they have a problem/complaint, they don't just go to post "My GPS worked great today", until a thread like this starts looking for complaints and the supporters will come from everywhere.

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Legend owner here. My only complaint is the lack of memory and no connection for an external antenna. Garmin - if you're listening - Take an Etrex Legend and instead of giving it 8MB of permanent memory, give it an 8MB data card (so I can go out and buy a 128MB one). Add a connection for an external antenna, and audible alarms to it. Charge less than $300 for it and I'd be happier than a pig-in-slop! My biggest concern is the memory though - God I wish I had lots more memory in my Legend! icon_wink.gif

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