Refurbished Units

[icomman]

Anyone have any thought's or experience using refurb units. Is the price difference worth taking the chance?

 

Thanks

 

IcomMan

[+Renegade Knight]

That depends on the unit, the original problem etc. If the GPS just had loose bearings and never could quite point the way right, then I doubt they will fix it during the refurbishment process.

 

Sometimes the process doesn't get the issue and you might have to send the unit in when you find the hidden flaw.

 

That's been my experience. My last refurbishement item was a USB to Serial converter. The cable worked fine. The flaw was the CD with the software was Blank. No drivers. But their site had drivers and I figured it out. They didn't though and send out the CD again.

[+tirediron]

I don't know about Maggies, but the Garmin units from the factory carry the full one-year warranty. Generally (IMHO) it seems that if something major is going to go wrong, it will do it in less then a year. If your budget is tight, yeah, I think it's worth the risk. Don't forget too, there are some good bargains to be had on eBay. Of course that's Caveat Emptor...

[+RhinoFang]

My wife came home from a party and told me about GeoCaching from someone there. It sounded interesting to me but I wasn't positive I was going to be head over heels about it. Therefore, I didn't want to spend alot of money on a GPSr if I wasn't going to be using it much. I bought a refurbished Garmin E-trex Legend. After a few months I started having a problem with the display. It just wasn't working right. I could tell the insides were still working but it was just too difficult to read. I called up Garmin and told them of my problem and the customer service agent talked me through a couple 'fixes' over the phone to see if I could fix it here. When that didn't work, he had me send it in. I packaged it up and sent it in the next day. It's replacement came back within a week and a half. At first I wasn't sure if there'd be a problem since it was a refurbished unit but there was never any problem. I was very impressed with the customer service from Garmin.

[+briansnat]

When that didn't work, he had me send it in. I packaged it up and sent it in the next day. It's replacement came back within a week and a half. At first I wasn't sure if there'd be a problem since it was a refurbished unit but there was never any problem. I was very impressed with the customer service from Garmin.

 

When you send your unit back to Garmin, you usually get a refurb in return rather than your original unit. Its one reason turnaround is so good, as it's usually back within a week. That being the case, I've had several refurbs after sending units back to Garmin for one reason or another and they have performed flawlessly.

[+AuntieWeasel]

If the GPS just had loose bearings and never could quite point the way right, then I doubt they will fix it during the refurbishment process.

Ha! I love that. "Loose bearings" for a GPS that can't point the way. I pictured little steel BB's rolling around in my Garmin.

[+AtoZ]

I orginally had a refeb Garmin Etrex Legend. But one day it went nuts. One minute it would say the distance was 450 feet west the next 250 NNE. I called Garmin and they said the distance should not change. So I took it back to the store since it was within 30 days and got my money back.

I am not sure the money your save isn't much but then again every penny counts. I would say shop around the web, Amazon.com had Etrex Legend new for about what you would pay for a referb unit.

cheers

[+boomhwr653]

When I bought my Legend, I saved $50 by getting a refurbished one. Haven't had a problem yet.

[+briansnat]

I orginally had a refeb Garmin Etrex Legend. But one day it went nuts. One minute it would say the distance was 450 feet west the next 250 NNE

 

I don't know if that's a problem. Most long time GPS users have encountered times where the GPS was waaaaay off for a few minutes, or even hours.

[+Milbank]

Were can you buy refurbished units?

[gm100guy]

I had to take my Lowrance gps in a few years ago to the factory becaue it had a problem of the punch pad coming unglued.

 

The unit was out off warranty but they were nice and just gave me a refurb and I am still using it today with no problem.

 

They would not sell them but had them there for exchanges only. I think they charged around $150.00 if you had a broken unit and exchanged it.

 

Edited August 11, 2004 by gm100guy

[kascinoh]

Got my MeriGreen off eBay for a good price - this was a refurb unit. It works flawlessly, and has a 90-day factory warranty. Do your homework, and you'll probably be ok...

[Iplayoutside]

I bought my etrex off eBay, and have not had any problems with it. It's a lot easier geocaching with a GPSer than w/o one.

[+Ed & Julie]

I bought a used eTrex Legend off a guy here (in the forums) and it turned out to be broken and smelled.

 

I sent it to Garmin and they refurburshed it (new screen, case, buttons, etc). It looked brand new and didnt stink like ciggarette smoke. I did cost me $99 to get it refurburshed.

 

I have had absoultly no troubles with it at all.

 

Ed

Edited August 15, 2004 by The Badge & the Butterfly

[Pilgrim, Rhubarb, & Sweet Pea]

We bought our Garmin off of eBay, too. It needed a new internal battery (lithium?) so we called Garmin about getting it fixed. They said send it in - same story as others have said - we got a replacement until really quickly, plus a new wrist lanyard and a case, which the original from eBay didn't have. The GPS works great!

 

We were very impressed and happy with Garmin's customer service.

[+Milbank]

bought a used eTrex Legend off a guy here (in the forums) and it turned out to be broken and smelled.

 

I sent it to Garmin and they refurburshed it (new screen, case, buttons, etc). It looked brand new and didnt stink like ciggarette smoke. I did cost me $99 to get it refurburshed.

 

Wow, I hope you did not pay to much for it to start with.

 

I seen a post were you can get the legend for around $100/new.