dead zumo 550

LOL, typical Garmin crap. No 2 people get the same response.

Oh, great, now I feel even better.

So, does this mean if I had a 550 instead of 450 I'd have gotten the refurb offer ? Or is it merely a spin of the wheel which dweeb answers my complaint and what he feels like telling me that day ?

FWIW, I sent back an angry reply. Yeah, so what...

Was this Garmin you were dealing with ?

Yes.

Guys, I share the information so you may go back and plead your case, but please don't refer to me- I don't want to get my deal killed, OK?

I don't know why they did it for me- it says on the website it is an offered service- you must go through the troubleshooting part. I did purchase the unit new, probably as early as 2008.

Maybe I just got lucky, maybe my sweet personality did the trick. But don't go and tell them "you saw it on the internet where some guy with a fake name" did it, ok?

Here's a link http://www.garmin.com/us/support/ click on "Request a Repair" on the far right. I emailed tech support, asking for a repair, they replied a day later, directing me to call on the phone. I did my time on hold, and got a friendly customer service representative with a charming accent who was helpful and informative.

So they are not ALL bad.

This has been my experience with Garmin's support...total crapshoot. I've had two 550's and several Garmin bicycle computers. Very uneven customer support. And I've NEVER had a Garmin anything that wasn't prone to locking up. Most recent Zumo 550 black screen lockup was this morning (battery removal fixed it, but not til my ride was over).

Show of hands , who has a 6-7 year old laptop or PC?
Its a computer where anything over 18 months is nearing antiquity.

And I did'nt say this but when I started downloading Garmins latest Firmware....problems started. Don't want to suggest they did something to make me go get a new one but!!!!

Well Windoze machines are shit after a couple years, but I've got a 2006 model Mac desktop as my daily user that is STILL a screamer and can run the latest Adobe stuff no problem at all. Hell, my little 6 YO iMac still works great, and I doubt I'll replace it for at least another 6 years.

They told me to write to a "support" address, which I did on May 1st. I never got a response. First week of June, after a month, I wrote again. No response. I posted again on their Facebook page, no response, but saw there a slew of others beating their heads against the same wall.

Last week, I wrote again- you guessed it, no response. Today I posted yet again on their FB page, detailing this "support", and finally got this line of BS, excerpted below:

"In regards to the issue you experienced, all electronics have an end date, whether it is due to malfunction, defect, glitches, software or just age. That holds true to not only GPS units, but cell phones, computers, televisions (etc.) . At some point they will stop working. For most of our products the life expectancy is 3-5 years, depending on use of course,".

That would make great advertising, would it not ?

Some vague mention of a "resolution" was made, nothing specific, and of course as it's long out of warranty, with cost to me. What crappy offer will I get from thiese assholes ?

Stay tuned...

Fast fwd to last month, just for shits & giggles I picked up the now very dusty dead Zumo 450 off of the shelf where it'd been lying in state, comatose for over a year. I had since purchased a 550 used-like-new via ebay from a rider in FL for $$$.

So, I plug in the dead 450 to the USB cable and pick me up off of the floor the screen lights up, it shows on the PC as Drive F: G: and all is normal again. I let it charge up, mount it into the cradle and ride around. It's like it never died.

What the Hell ??? :huh

Has anyone had any luck with resolving this? I bought this item second hand real cheap due to the fault I'm now trying to fix. When I turn it on, the screen shows the garmin logo then shuts off. If I plug it in, it just goes logo-off-logo-off with each cycle taking about 6-7secs.

I've tried holding my finger on the bottom right of the screen and then turning it on whilst holding the screen and still no difference.

I've consulted with the interwebby via Google and have come across some wild and crazy cure tools and patch processes and all kinds of IT black magic... does anyone have a simple solution?

Try asking that over here, some good detailed info & maybe a user there can give you a clue to it.