+Karma Hunter Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 (edited) I already started a thread which is a poll of all Sportrak owners to determine how many Sportraks have cracks in their cases (76% of over 50 units, and still counting). Based on the date codes everyone provided (also summarized in the thread), there does not appear to be a "bad batch" or a time period where something was done wrong. Sportraks appear to have an overall design flaw with a 3 in 4 chance of failure. There is also at least one report of a "repaired" unit failing. There is also already a thread which touches on the subject of how Magellan has reacted to requests to have cracked cases repaired, however in that thread only 3 of the 46 posts are from users with first-hand experience. So here is the point of this thread: If you have a Sportrak with cracks and have contacted Magellan, what has their response been? Much like the poll to see how many users have cracks, I'm not looking for lots of discussion and opinions. Just a straightforward list of the first-hand experiences people have had with Magellan/Thales and their handling of Sportraks with cracks. If you would like to include any dates, or especially the names and/or phone numbers of people you have talked to that would be extremely helpful. Hopefully we will be able to see a pattern (or randomness) in how the issue has been handled, which will make it possible for the large number of people who have yet to contact Magellan to do so in an educated manner, and possibly as a group. And yes, to save people the trouble of saying so, it does suck that Magellan/Thales has been so unresponsive (and possibly misleading) about this problem that we have to go through this tedious process to get it fixed. In order to keep whatever good will they have left in this forum, we'll hope they begin taking the "it's our fault and we'll fix it" approach rather than "we already have your money so screw you." No more rant, looking for first-hand experiences... Edited February 6, 2004 by Karma Hunter Link to comment
+timberlane74 & pumpkin Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Just received this tonight.... We had some units produced where a wrong size screw was mixed with the correct ones. We are repairing these by replacing the housing and screws. Please return your unit with a copy your dated sales receipt (if this is for warranty work) and a copy of this e-mail to: Thales Navigation Attn: RA1057891 - Repair 11333 E. Pine Street Suite 111 Tulsa, OK 74116 Best regards. Brian Oliver Service Support Supervisor NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE AN RA Number BEFORE sending. Only took me 24 hours to get this response... Link to comment
+SBPhishy Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 My response from them. It's from the other thread I started. Figured I'd just get it all in the same place. ------------------------------------- Mr Wheeler, we have identified the issue to be with a the plastic that was used in a certain lot of receivers manufactured. Please contact the repair department and arrange for the receiver to be repaired under warranty. 800) 707-9971 --------------------------------------- Apparently, the issue is whatever they can think of at the time... Link to comment
+Keith Watson Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 I called Magellan, that told me to call their dealer in Canada. Express Posted it to him on Monday, just got a new unit today. Very Impressed. However I didn't get any goodies that I keep hearing about. New Date code is 0303. Hope its ok. Link to comment
+Cherokeecacher Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 (edited) My SporTrack Pro was less than 30 days old when I noticed “the cracks”, so I was able to negotiate a free upgrade to Meridian Gold. The whole process took about 1 week, and my new unit arrived yesterday. No swag with the new unit, but it is new, so I am happy with that. edited to add update The electronic gods are not being nice to me this month thank goodness Magellan is. My brand-new MeriGold, that arrived yesterday, will not turn on. I just placed my second call to tech. support, and they are doing an advance shipment of a new replacement, replacement, today, instead of me shipping this one back to them first. Frustrating yes, but they are working with me, and I believe this was a fluke. Edited February 6, 2004 by Cherokeecacher Link to comment
+RockyRiver Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 (edited) I know its a new unit, and you shoudnt have to do it. But I seen another new unit that would not turn on and we followed the FAQ v.2 located in the Yahoo groups to fix it. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magellan_meridian/ and then look in the files section. If the above link does not work go here first and do a shearch on Meridian. http://groups.yahoo.com You will then have to become a member of the group, its all free of course. Also you will learn it all on your unit you didnt even know existed. Edited February 6, 2004 by RockyRiver Link to comment
+aka Monkey Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 I hereby vote that in the future, this unit be referred to as the Magellan SportCrack. Other than that, I have nothing to contribute to this conversation. Link to comment
+SBPhishy Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Magellan SportCrack. Thats hilarious. We should tell Magellan that. Maybe they will officially change the name! Link to comment
CC58 Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 Just received this tonight.... We had some units produced where a wrong size screw was mixed with the correct ones. We are repairing these by replacing the housing and screws. Must have been one big bin of screws that got mixed up since they have been screwing up Sportraks for TWO YEARS running. I think they are still scratching their head trying to figure it out and don't want to admit publicly they don't have a solution. The excessively large screw would account for cracks in the front case, but not the rear. The rear case cracks are cause by either torque set to high on screw gun or the rear plastics are under engineered for strength. If they changed plastics so that screw base was 1/4 inche instead of 1/8 inch the rear strength problem would be solved. Its just to thin right there. Then use longer skinner screw and maybe front case wouldn't crack. Link to comment
+Karma Hunter Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 OK, I may sound like a jerk for saying this, but I swear my intentions are good. What I meant when I started this thread with Much like the poll to see how many users have cracks, I'm not looking for lots of discussion and opinions. Just a straightforward list of the first-hand experiences people have had with Magellan/Thales and their handling of Sportraks with cracks was let's try not to clutter up this particular thread with chat. Normally I enjoy banter, but I'm hoping that this particular thread will be useful to people who need to contact Magellan and not get derailed like this one did. Thanks for understanding! Link to comment
acmectec2001 Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 I contacted Magellan and the lady who answered the phone said that she wasnt aware of any problems and neither were her coworkers. I was told to take it back to the store since it was under 30 days since I purchased it. If I wanted to send it for repair , I would have to pay the shipping. I didnt get her name but I thought it was strange that she mentioned her coworkers not knowing about the problem. Its almost like shee was tired of talking about the subject. Link to comment
Roeboaters Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Just talked to Magellan support today. The tech. knew of the problem and said they had fixed it. She gave me an RA# and said to ship it in. No run around, just an acknowledgment of the problem and solution. Pretty good. Link to comment
exgint Posted February 24, 2004 Share Posted February 24, 2004 (edited) I hope this does not come under the subject of chat.... I've been monitoring these threads after arriving, after much deliberation, at the decision to buy an STP. I don't think I will be now. It seems unbelievable that Thales have not announced their recognition of a problem along with their solution. Thales have lost a customer they nearly had. Edited February 24, 2004 by exgint Link to comment
+Karma Hunter Posted February 24, 2004 Author Share Posted February 24, 2004 (edited) I'm closing this topic because this one is doing a better job on the same subject. Thanks. Edited February 24, 2004 by Karma Hunter Link to comment
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