Garmin - non existant customer service

Neil Buckley

Has anybody delt with Garmin customer service? My experience so far has been shockingly poor.

I sent my 705 off for a service in October only to be waiting for it still now, phoned them up 4 weeks ago and they said they didnt have any 705s in for the like for like repair after waiting 4 weeks anyhow, apparently they e-mailed me (they didnt) thats after taking 3 days of getting put on hold for 25 mins a pop. Still havnt got it today, phoned them up, apparently my payment didnt go through, but they decide not to tell me, no apology and the lad who was 'serving' me, I use that phrase loosely, he was so blunt it was verging on rude, never mind a simple apology. So now I have to send another cheque off, so Ive got a £110 cheque floating about god knows were, no 705 and another wait. Also the is no customer service addresses etc so I can complain just tech support.

Has anybody had the same experience and how did they resolve it, because i'm fuming!!

b16 b3n

I wouldnt give them the satisfaction of another £110 cheque. I take it this is for another unit? I would want to see a report first as it sounds like they are just making extra money off you. Threaten them with trading standards and make sure you get your bank to cancel the previous cheque.
Buy it elsewhere, or get your old unit back and take it to the place of purchase and leave it with them?

Neil Buckley

They do a one for one exchange they dont even bother trying to change it. The man dealing with me a Mr Beckett wouldnt even apologise, he sounded like he was more interested in anything but talking to me, its rediculous, i've lost over 3 months of training data because of Garmin, and I would like to make a complaint because its beyond a joke, unless I spend another three days on hold..

amaferanga

Neil Buckley wrote:

They do a one for one exchange they dont even bother trying to change it. The man dealing with me a Mr Beckett wouldnt even apologise, he sounded like he was more interested in anything but talking to me, its rediculous, i've lost over 3 months of training data because of Garmin, and I would like to make a complaint because its beyond a joke, unless I spend another three days on hold..

I sympathise with you, but how exactly have you lost 3 months worth of training data? Are you saying that you have 3 months worth of data on your Edge that you never downloaded?

Neil Buckley

amaferanga wrote:

Neil Buckley wrote:

They do a one for one exchange they dont even bother trying to change it. The man dealing with me a Mr Beckett wouldnt even apologise, he sounded like he was more interested in anything but talking to me, its rediculous, i've lost over 3 months of training data because of Garmin, and I would like to make a complaint because its beyond a joke, unless I spend another three days on hold..

I sympathise with you, but how exactly have you lost 3 months worth of training data? Are you saying that you have 3 months worth of data on your Edge that you never downloaded?

3 months without my Garmin, I cant afford to replace it, no one has money to burn, especially when it should have been 10 days max, recording decives, GPS etc arnt cheap nowadays, and I use Training peaks, I've had to guess most of it theres a big gap now, which im peeved about

b16 b3n

Neil Buckley wrote:

They do a one for one exchange they dont even bother trying to change it. The man dealing with me a Mr Beckett wouldnt even apologise, he sounded like he was more interested in anything but talking to me, its rediculous, i've lost over 3 months of training data because of Garmin, and I would like to make a complaint because its beyond a joke, unless I spend another three days on hold..

Go to your local citizens advice and get trading standards involved. Not fit for purpose comes to my mind.

Secteur

My Garmin 800 (6 months old) has developed a fault, and I havent even considered sending it back as I suspected this would be the case.

Despite the fault, it is still useable, and I dont want a huge gap in my training data which would happen if I sent it back...

Does anyone know if it's possible to erase and re-install the software on the Garmin unit as I suspect this might fix the fault I have

amaferanga

Secteur wrote:

My Garmin 800 (6 months old) has developed a fault, and I havent even considered sending it back as I suspected this would be the case.

Despite the fault, it is still useable, and I dont want a huge gap in my training data which would happen if I sent it back...

Does anyone know if it's possible to erase and re-install the software on the Garmin unit as I suspect this might fix the fault I have

If you do it now it'll be sorted/replaced for free. If you wait til after 12 months it'll be >£100.

Have you tried a soft or hard reset yet?

amaferanga

Neil Buckley wrote:

3 months without my Garmin, I cant afford to replace it, no one has money to burn, especially when it should have been 10 days max, recording decives, GPS etc arnt cheap nowadays, and I use Training peaks, I've had to guess most of it theres a big gap now, which im peeved about

That is pretty crap. I'm no huge fan of Garmin customer service myself (I've had one very good experience and one very mediocre experience with them), but 3 months is shocking.

Frank the tank

Sounds like a call to the CAB would be a good idea.

As for all the data how on earth did you go on before you afforded yourself the garmin in the first place. Hardly the end of the world is it, just inconvenient, and I'm sure you'll get around it.

Omar Little

I had a faulty HRM (about 12 months after purchase) and gave them a call about it asking if there were any fixes - they instead just sent me a new one out which arrived the next day. Was quite impressed.

Having said that I'd be pretty pissed experiencing the level of service you have received, 3 months is terrible.

APIII

Did you get an RMI number before you sent it in?

Rigga

Like others have said go see CAB and contact trading standards, shocking service that.

Neil Buckley

APIII wrote:

Did you get an RMI number before you sent it in?

Frank the tank wrote:

Sounds like a call to the CAB would be a good idea.

Yep, there was nothing on the website

As for all the data how on earth did you go on before you afforded yourself the garmin in the first place. Hardly the end of the world is it, just inconvenient, and I'm sure you'll get around it.

I got it when I returned from Iraq a few years back, yep its not the end of the world, however when you chart your training and use it to help you get better, you become to rely on it. And waiting 3 month for something that should take 10 days max would piss you off too I guess. Plus the fact there's a cheque floating about somewhere with my financial details on it is disconcerting to put it mildly. I'm after a address to write to because the cheque is the main thing that worries me apart from the crap service

verylonglegs

If you've genuinely waited 3 months you should be getting that repair free or massively discounted as a gesture of goodwill. Seriously.

DIESELDOG

I blame Rainbow, I mean they have the most surreal customer service guys going...

Love n hugs

DD

Neil Buckley

verylonglegs wrote:

If you've genuinely waited 3 months you should be getting that repair free or massively discounted as a gesture of goodwill. Seriously.

I'm phoning them back up in the morning to ask once more were this cheque has gone, because i've been the victim of Identity fraud before and I dont want it happening again, if I get no joy i'll be asking to be put through to a customer service manager or the address, of one because i'm mega annoyed with it now, they have fantastic products however if it goes wrong i'll go elsewere, because the level of service anywhere else cannot be at a bad of a level as Garmin direct...

DIESELDOG wrote:

I blame Rainbow, I mean they have the most surreal customer service guys going...

Love n hugs

DD

eh??

redvee

I've sent my 705 back 3 times in the 2 years since buying from Handtec, the last time they took their time and phoned me explaining that they had no 705s in stock and I could either wait an unknown lkength of time or take an 800 as a replacement, two months ago the cadence sensor I'd been using from new died so chanced my arm and phoned them up saying the GSC-10 that came with the 800 had died so I had a new one sent out FOC. My dealings with Garmin customer services have been brilliant.

garrynolan

Had a recall on my Garmin SatNav. Sent it off, waited a few weeks and it came back. Wrong one! Better model though. Anyway - decided to do the right thing (as I had all the mounting bits and pieces and the one received was larger) and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing got it sent back and my own returned. Cheekily asked for a complimentary update (wasn't offered gratis by them) which they agreed to. Unfortunately this is where it all went t1ts up. After many attempts and e-mails I gave up. If it happens again I'll just keep the better model!

Secteur

amaferanga wrote:

Have you tried a soft or hard reset yet?

How do I do this? (haven't tried anything yet, but I am 99% sure it's a simple software glitch that will respond so a simple reset)

OffTheBackAdam

Secteur wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Have you tried a soft or hard reset yet?

How do I do this? (haven't tried anything yet, but I am 99% sure it's a simple software glitch that will respond so a simple reset)

Here's the hard reset.

Mr_Cellophane

Never had any problems with them. Got a replacement unit after mine fell off and got run over and a free fix when firmware updates screwed the thing up. Both times I had the unit back in a week.

rickwiggans

Not sure why you can't find their address. It's there plain as day on the website.

Contact Us


General Enquiries

Garmin (Europe) Ltd
Liberty House
Hounsdown Business Park
Southampton, Hampshire
SO40 9LR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)23 8052 4000 - (please note this number is NOT for technical support)
Fax: +44 (0)23 8052 4004

cyclopath

It's always a bit disappointing when poor service is suffered, but I can't say that I recognise the problem with Garmin.
I have a number of their devices and only had reason to contact them for the 305, several times, and my Pilot 3 once. They responded quickly with tech advice for the 305 and when a leaky battery caused the Pilot 3 to suffer a complete failure a refurbished one was returned to me within the week, along with my £70+ cheque.

Now that's service.

Stop 'phoning them late on a Friday. :P

GiantMike

When my HR strap failed they sent me another within 10 days. Can't fault them really.

Neil Buckley

Yup i got the address now, it was more of the right person to contact. I've been the victim of ID fraud before and with the amount of info on a cheque it could easily happen again, hopefully it is be resolved too because my personal experiences Arnt as good as yours...,,

Neil Buckley

Well it seemed to work the letter, they phoned me up today and apologised and have given me a copy of city navigator as way as apology for the time and inconvience, so I guess it goes with what everyone else has said, they also have found my cheque which was the main thing I was pinkled off about, so fair play Garmin, hope i'm just a unlucky on off, but if anyone else has the same problem you know what to do!