Shoddy service from Garmin

andy_from_embsay

Edge 800, purchased 14 months ago has failed - USB socket (after months of working only intermittently - and being told by Garmin every time it was my computer/my lead/my USB socket) now won't connect to 3 different computers, 3 different USB leads and is basically impossible to connect to . Rang Garmin support - only option is a replacement unit - £120 and first I have to send this one back at my expense. This is a device that cost £270 and is 60 days outside the guarantee period.

Shoddy workmanship and shoddy service (the guy on the phone asked the supervisor if they could do the replacement any cheaper and the answer was no).

I have bought 4 different Garmin watches (including the FR610 which has had to go back twice because of faulty straps) and this is my third Garmin cycle computer - but it's the last thing I will ever buy from them. It's not the money, it's the absolute contempt in which they hold their customers - "we've had your money, now sod off" seems to be the attitude.

Compare this to TomTom who sent me a free reconditioned car SatNav when ours was almost two years old.

antfly

I agree that's rotten, I thought everything had to be guaranteed for 2 years under euro law anyway. It's worth taking them to the small claims court.

on-yer-bike

where do they draw the line? However, they replaced mine outside of the guarantee period (not 60 days) the gps didnt work. they also replaced a 720 that had the same USB problem as yours inside the guarantee period. I think if the problem with yours started inside the guarantee period and they didnt do anything about it at the time, they should replace it.

ajb72

I think you may had just been unlucky with Garmin. I had a 705 that developed a faulty screen, but must have been at least 6 months out of warranty, if not more. They sent me a new (refurbed I guess, although immaculate) unit at zero cost within a fortnight.

giant_man

wow, kind of influencing my decision whether to buy a Garmin or not ....

cougie

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

jordan_217

Do you have any additional warranty through your bank, on card purchases? For example, I get an extended warranty on electrical items when I buy them with any RBS card.

amaferanga

cougie wrote:

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

Even so what?

jibberjim

Ignore Garmin, go up against the company you bought it from under SOGA, a 270 GPS navigator is expected to work for more than 14 months.

snoopsmydogg

OP If the fault was reported before the 12 month period was up then you may be able to state your case that way. Similar happened to me a while back with an item (not Garmin) but the company made the same claim that it was out of warranty.

After a bit of digging they found the initial call dates preceeded the end of warranty period and replaced it.

Either that or ask for the complaints procedure and put in writing noting when initial calls were made etc, you will need to give them time to reply but you can then put the case forward to the OFT if a satisfactory result has not been made.

cougie

amaferanga wrote:

cougie wrote:

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

Even so what?

If I buy something - I'd rather buy something that's reliable and doesn't need to be replaced ?

ajb72

cougie wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

cougie wrote:

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

Even so what?

If I buy something - I'd rather buy something that's reliable and doesn't need to be replaced ?

This always makes me chuckle. Garmin sell thousands of units worldwide, but you read a few niggles on a forum which account for a tiny fraction of those sales and you make your decision on that? No-one ever posts to say 'my garmin has been working flawlessly for years', why would they?

Garmin's have issues, not disputing that. But based on their sales compared to the rivals, are you not more likely to hear about the problems than the other brands? That does not make the alternatives any more reliable.

APIII

I've had to send back 3 units over the years. Never had an issue with it being out of warranty, I've always had it repaired or replaced for free. On one occasion they even managed to salvage my data off the dead unit and burn it to a disc for me.
It can depend on the individual you happen to speak to, so I would ring them again, ask for an RMA tracking number becasue you've got a faulty unit and send it in. They should at least look at it before deciding to charge you for a replacement.

Gladiator

For f*cks sake...I'm only going to say this one more time, there's now a much better cycle GPS out, designed from the ground up, performs superbly, looks great, no issues, heart rate, cadence, pc downloads blah blah blah and way cheaper at £275 if you shop about..its the Mio Cyclo 305 HR. Other models available.

The amount of times i've read about the Garmin units failing, or not working is beyond a joke. Open your eyes and realise that there are other/better alternatives out there now.

youre like moths to a flame you lot..." someones got a Garmin...yaay...lets all buy one..oh but they dont work...oh well..lets buy another one..yaayy.....oh...'

http://eu.mio.com/en_eu/mio-cyclo.htm?u ... n=redirect

teulk

They replaced Lord Sugars with no problems................hmmmmm i wonder why ? They even shipped it out to Italy or where ever he was when it broke !

APIII

Gladiator wrote:

For f*cks sake...I'm only going to say this one more time, there's now a much better cycle GPS out, designed from the ground up, performs superbly, looks great, no issues, heart rate, cadence, pc downloads blah blah blah and way cheaper at £275 if you shop about..its the Mio Cyclo 305 HR. Other models available.

The amount of times i've read about the Garmin units failing, or not working is beyond a joke. Open your eyes and realise that there are other/better alternatives out there now.

youre like moths to a flame you lot..." someones got a Garmin...yaay...lets all buy one..oh but they dont work...oh well..lets buy another one..yaayy.....oh...'

http://eu.mio.com/en_eu/mio-cyclo.htm?u ... n=redirect

How do you know the other one they've sold is still working?

ajb72

Gladiator wrote:

For f*cks sake...I'm only going to say this one more time, there's now a much better cycle GPS out, designed from the ground up, performs superbly, looks great, no issues, heart rate, cadence, pc downloads blah blah blah and way cheaper at £275 if you shop about..its the Mio Cyclo 305 HR. Other models available.

The amount of times i've read about the Garmin units failing, or not working is beyond a joke. Open your eyes and realise that there are other/better alternatives out there now.

youre like moths to a flame you lot..." someones got a Garmin...yaay...lets all buy one..oh but they dont work...oh well..lets buy another one..yaayy.....oh...'

http://eu.mio.com/en_eu/mio-cyclo.htm?u ... n=redirect

These are still relatively new to the market are they not? So how can you claim that it's a better alternative until we see years worth of feedback and sales approaching those of Garmin to see if it is indeed any more reliable? It does look very nice and more competitive, once you price in maps and accessories etc. I just don't see how you can claim it is better and has 'no issues'.

schlepcycling

jibberjim wrote:

Ignore Garmin, go up against the company you bought it from under SOGA, a 270 GPS navigator is expected to work for more than 14 months.

+1 You have up to 6 years(5 in Scotland) to raise a problem with the retailer.

antfly

It doesn't get a good review here, http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/gps/1293 ... ifications
or here http://www.computeractive.co.uk/ca/revi ... 300-review it's not that much cheaper either.
as opposed to the edge http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/gps/1285 ... n-edge-800

andy_from_embsay

Thanks all, specially the tip on SOGA. Will send a formal complaint quoting that and see where that gets me.

cougie

ajb72 wrote:

cougie wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

cougie wrote:

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

Even so what?

If I buy something - I'd rather buy something that's reliable and doesn't need to be replaced ?

This always makes me chuckle. Garmin sell thousands of units worldwide, but you read a few niggles on a forum which account for a tiny fraction of those sales and you make your decision on that? No-one ever posts to say 'my garmin has been working flawlessly for years', why would they?

Garmin's have issues, not disputing that. But based on their sales compared to the rivals, are you not more likely to hear about the problems than the other brands? That does not make the alternatives any more reliable.

Its not just this forum though - check out any running forum and you'll see the stories of people on their fourth or fifth unit. I'm struggling to think of any product that fails this much ?

Whilst its a nice to have - they dont make you any faster just by having them.

Maybe I'll get one in a while when they seem to be more sorted - but I've coped for 30 years or so without one - so its not vital eh ?

StillGoing

My 705 failed after a firmware update. Out of warranty but Garmin replaced it free of charge. Replacement has been working fine for years. The European sale of goods act is a little known bit of legislation that all uk companies and retailers are bound by. Some items don't necessarily fall under the legislation but I'm pretty sure a gps device would.

dodgy

Just to add some balance, I've been a Garmin Edge user since 2006, bought a 305 at a time when most cyclists were saying "wtf is that on your bars" Anyway, I always upgrade to the latest model which is why I've owned 4 of them so far (I smashed one up by leaving it on the roof of the car!) and never had any problems at all.

Until this thread, I'd regarded Garmin as having some of the best support in the business, but their documentation is terrible, hence the various enthusiast run support forums.

ajb72

cougie wrote:

ajb72 wrote:

cougie wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

cougie wrote:

I've seen so many people complaining of Garmins breaking. OK so a lot of them got them replaced- but even so....

Even so what?

If I buy something - I'd rather buy something that's reliable and doesn't need to be replaced ?

This always makes me chuckle. Garmin sell thousands of units worldwide, but you read a few niggles on a forum which account for a tiny fraction of those sales and you make your decision on that? No-one ever posts to say 'my garmin has been working flawlessly for years', why would they?

Garmin's have issues, not disputing that. But based on their sales compared to the rivals, are you not more likely to hear about the problems than the other brands? That does not make the alternatives any more reliable.

Its not just this forum though - check out any running forum and you'll see the stories of people on their fourth or fifth unit. I'm struggling to think of any product that fails this much ?

Whilst its a nice to have - they dont make you any faster just by having them.

Maybe I'll get one in a while when they seem to be more sorted - but I've coped for 30 years or so without one - so its not vital eh ?

So if you never had any intention of buying a gps unit why bother with a post suggesting the negative feedback had put you off? Trolling perhaps? No-one on here has ever suggested a Garmin is going to make you ride faster - I don't get your point? They can be fantastically helpful however. I've ridden sportives with terrible signage or where locals have deliberately altered signs to send you off course - the Garmin GPS has saved a lot of wasted energy. I also like to plot new routes and ride new areas, again the Garmin is perfect for the job. My 800 has been flawless - never a moments problem.

sturmey

Bought an Edge 500 a few months back with premium HR strap. Over several weeks of ownership the heart monitor repeatedly gave crazy high readings for me and another user and when using the 'courses' feature it regularly lost a signal saying I was off course (when I wasn't). Took it back to Evans and got my money back. Can't be doing with unreliable cr*p like that.

Eyorerox

I had to change my Garmin 705 4 times before I got one that worked, it has now worked for 3 years.
Garmin where a dreadful bunch to deal with. If there was an alternative perhaps Garmin would sharpen up customer service.

cougie

ajb - I've looked at the Garmins - I do love my stats and my Strava stuff - but for me - my iphone does that.
As to mapping - I quite like getting lost - best way to find new roads I find ! ;-)

ajb72

cougie wrote:

ajb - I've looked at the Garmins - I do love my stats and my Strava stuff - but for me - my iphone does that.
As to mapping - I quite like getting lost - best way to find new roads I find ! ;-)

I'd love to use the i-phone as well but found that the life got sucked out of it in 3 hours using the Strava app!

One thing I have noticed after years of using a Garmin, my natural sense of direction has taken a turn for the worse!

andy_from_embsay

ajb72 wrote:

They can be fantastically helpful however. I've ridden sportives with terrible signage or where locals have deliberately altered signs to send you off course - the Garmin GPS has saved a lot of wasted energy. I also like to plot new routes and ride new areas, again the Garmin is perfect for the job. My 800 has been flawless - never a moments problem.

That's what is so disappointing - I've had 3 watches, a 305, a 705 and now this - whilst I love the geeky side of analysing where I've been and planning routes, I've found garmin pretty unhelpful every time something's gone wrong (and it has - FR610 has gone back twice, and I've now found a thread I posted on the Edge forum in September last year when this unit was only 3 months old when it wasn't seeing my computer - convinced by garmin it was my computer that was at fault (think was just after mac released a new OS).

I'm definitely going to try the SoGA angle, but as they've already got my £120 I'm not sure how strong my position is!

ajb72

Let us know how you get on. From the sound of this forum it's only a matter of time before my Edge 800 goes on the fritz!

andi1363

was thinking of buying a garmin but read enough of thses kind of things to stop me!