Lost my Garmin Device-can Garmin help?

Semantik

Bit of a long shot this. I was riding today and I heard a loud pinging noise which I ignored, then half a mile later realised my Garmin Edge 200 had fallen off my handlebars. Went back and combed the area for about an hour but with no luck.
I was video recording my ride and when I got home and checked the footage around the spot where I lost it I see a young guy riding a mountain bike on the pavement coming in my direction. If I DID lose it there, which I am fairly sure I did, I've got a strong suspicion that laughing boy saw it fall and grabbed it off the road, hence why I failed to find it.
Question is , if he or someone else starts using it in the near future and registers the device and uploads to Garmin connect would Garmin themselves give out any information that might help me trace it(eg email address /IP address) given that I was the original purchaser and registered it from new?

arran77

That's a bit of a strong statement that you assume that 'laughing boy' picked up your Garmin and stole it :roll:

desweller

Why don't you ask Garmin?

I am going to go for a big fat no.

diamonddog

DesWeller wrote:

Why don't you ask Garmin?

I am going to go for a big fat no.

^^ +1

magoo289

What's wrong with claiming off your house insurance and getting a brand new one??

me-109

^^^ It's a hundred quid for a new one and chances are there'll be at least a fifty quid excess, then they'll load your premium for three years.

Semantik

Glad I didn't buy the top of the range one now. The mounting system is not great I would say. Once the O-rings have stretched over a wider stem they don't fit snug anymore on a narrower stem. Went over some rough road surface and it was gone.

thegreatdivide

From what I gather GPS systems like the Edge can't be tracked because they don't send information, they just pick up the satellite. Maybe the newer 510 or 810 do, but a basic 200 just records data. I could be wrong though.

Colinthecop

I had someone report they bought a in-car Garmin off Ebay, when they registered it online it was flagged up as stolen.

So if you've got it registered with 'My Devices' it must be possible.

rolf_f

Semantik wrote:

Glad I didn't buy the top of the range one now. The mounting system is not great I would say. Once the O-rings have stretched over a wider stem they don't fit snug anymore on a narrower stem. Went over some rough road surface and it was gone.

Don't they come with a collection of O rings? I have Bryton GPS units - they use pretty much an identical mounting system to Garmin. I've probably ridden 25,000 miles with them using these mounts on various bikes and they have never been anything but secure. If I put a mount on a bike, I make sure that the O rings are suitable for where I am mounting it.

Anyway, wherever your GPS is now, it wasn't stolen. So if someone found it and is able to use it, that is really a good thing. If there is a means for it to be identifiable and returnable, that's better but I wouldn't count on it.

spen666

Semantik wrote:

...., if he or someone else starts using it in the near future and registers the device and uploads to Garmin connect would Garmin themselves give out any information that might help me trace it(eg email address /IP address) given that I was the original purchaser and registered it from new?

Even if Garmin had that information, they are unlikely to give it out as it may be seen by them to be a breach of the Data Protection Act

sungod

if someone did pick it up and not take reasonable steps to find the owner, for instance by handing in at a police station, it's theft (theft act section 2)

the key is 'reasonable', it'd be unreasonable to expect someone to make the effort to hand in a 1p piece

finding an item of clear value is another matter, either you leave it alone or you pick it up and accept responsibility for doing the right thing

a few years back a mesh pouch with my cash, cards, wallet, keys etc. fell from my rucksack when i was running home, it was a dark winter evening rush hour, central london on a busy road (marylebone road, loads of people), when i realised, i retraced my route in a panic, having visions of locksmiths and big bills, about a mile back i found it placed on the base of some railings - enormous relief, and a wave of general love for the simple honesty of all the people who didn't think 'finders keepers'

smoggysteve

thegreatdivide wrote:

From what I gather GPS systems like the Edge can't be tracked because they don't send information, they just pick up the satellite. Maybe the newer 510 or 810 do, but a basic 200 just records data. I could be wrong though.

This is correct, but I would think that if the device is registered and you have the serial number, Garmin can trace it when it is used to upload info to its website. An IP trace is not hard to do especially for a big company running its own websites.

diamonddog

spen666 wrote:

Even if Garmin had that information, they are unlikely to give it out as it may be seen by them to be a breach of the Data Protection Act

^^This, I think Garmin would cover their backside by standing by this.

Semantik

Thanks for the replies. I have contacted Garmin support and await a reply. I have now bought another new one @£79 ,so not too painful.