I received an e-mail the other day urging me to send mine in which I had done three weeks ago. Don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about this program. Has anybody called SPOT about the shoddy repairs that are being reported here?
That's nice to know considering they have had mine for over fifty days and I still haven't seen a shipping notice. I'm hoping that the delay in getting mine back is due to some quality control on the hack job they are doing with the battery door.
Those of you that have received your repaired Spot 2s: have you tried it out yet? Do they work better than the regular Spot?
I love my SPOT, but if only they would hire some real software developers. I only see one explanation, the team that developed MapSource is now working for SPOT. Trying to update my profile and change my messages. I go thru the motions, it tells me the changes are accpeted. Go back and see that the old stuff is still there. Call SPOT (they answer within a minute, very good) and the bottom line is that they want me to change my screen resolution or change browser (just for SPOT), since they have a bug. I have NEVER heard of a bug where screen resolution makes this kind of difference, but whatever. I change screen resolution to just try it, change the profile, no dice on my screen, while the SPOT lady on her screen does see the change. She tells me to log out and log in, now I see the change. This goes on and on for a while. I'll get bthere, but what should take 5 minutes is going now for an hour and still not finished. This can not possibly be this complicated to make it work right. Rant, rant, rant, rant, I don't do that frustration thing too wel. KP
It's been a little over two years since I first reported problems with SPOT. Some of my posts looked to the SPOT cheerleaders like a rant, and got booted to exploding heads. Rant or not, I was right: SPOT sucks. I tried to warn you guys. For those of you with SPOTs that work: good for you. It's too bad that so many of you have purchased faulty units. I told you so, over two years ago. If you want a toy that might-or-might-not work, go ahead and spend your money. If you're serious about having a life-saving tool, buy a PLB.
I got mine back. I have the gap as reported by others and the serial number sticker that looked like it was ripped off and re-applied (the corner doesn't stick down). The unit appears to be working as well as the the old spot 2. I haven't noticed any better (or worse) functionality with the repaired unit. I've only been able to test tracks and "OK" submissions. I'm also on the same set of batteries the original spot came with so that tells you how much time I've actually been able to use it. Hopefully a real trip will come later this year.
http://dashpointpirate.typepad.com/the_dash_point_pirate_woo/2008/09/spot-satellite-personal-tracker-deception-pass-epic-fail.html I just took a look at the above link. It's a must-read for anybody thinking about buying a SPOT. This is typical of my experience with the makers of SPOT. When you have a faulty unit, or when their service sucks, or when they have no service at all, first they assume that you actually do have a faulty unit, and they offer to replace it under warranty. Then they decide that the unit was, in their opinion, not-faulty, which means that it failed due to mis-use and/or abuse. Or they decide that there actually isn't anything wrong with the unit, and they give it back to you. Maybe they give you a refund, or a partial refund, which sounds nice if you're home safe. But what if you're not safe, and you need to actually activate 911? HA!!!!! YOU ARE FUCKED!!!
I stopped by Bass Pro today hoping to buy a "NEW" SPOT 2. I opened the box in front of the sales guy. The ones being sold have been snapped open and reglued just like the ones you guys are getting back. That looks like $HIT! Not even cleaned up some. That ain't happening for me. I guess I will wait for a few months until all these are sold off and real new units are available. Maybe I'll get my Christmas present for my August Birthday.
I recieved my new and improved spot yesterday and it looks good. Doesn't look like it had been opened and reglued. Checked the ESN and it is higher than the "return if your esn is equal to or lower than" number on their website. Maybe I got a new unit? Or maybe I got one back that was repaired by a min wage kid that gave a sh*t about doing a good job.
Why do I need to trade my old spot for a new Spot 2?? What does it do that the original does not? Its worked as advertised so far.
Yeah right. Well, I have a friend who took my SPOT on a 3 week trip all the way to James Bay and it worked every time he pressed the button. So what does that prove - Oh, it proves that SPOT is 100% reliable 100% of the time.:huh No - neither reference proves anything totally. Your crap got booted because of your irrational rants on why everyone should buy a PLB in the middle of a SPOT thread. Keep it civil, and stay on topic, and you are free to post. Start more of the crap that you did two years ago and the result will be the same.
I've always wanted the SPOT 2. It does what the spot 1 does without having to turn the unit off/on to change between tracking and I'm OK msgs. They are bothe available at the the same time. Much smaller too. More functions was the key. I'll just be patient until new ones come out of the factory.
I'll try to think rationally. It seems like some units work perfectly, and some don't, and it's impossible to know when yours is going to work, or stop working. When I'm on the sea, I keep all my electronics in a waterproof container- even the "waterproof" gps and the "waterproof" PLB. If I was on a sea-kayak trip with SPOT as my primary locator, I'd keep it in a waterproof container. Not a "water resistant" container. I've seen them advertised in boating magazines. A few boat shops in Panama sell them. I think some of the advertising is mis-leading, because even under the best conditions, a spot unit is barely waterproof. Being submerged in a few feet of water only means that it can be submerged in a few feet of water. A decent wave, a sudden drop, or even some spray can have significantly more force and pressure than the pressure of one meter of water. Which means that, for practical use, it's not waterproof. And neither is my 60csx, or my PLB- although both are built to more robust standards. The bottom line is, they're not waterproof. How's that for rational? Do I get to stay?
Next time I ride my motorcycle 6 feet under water I'll keep in mind some guy on the internet said the Spot might not hold back the water. On the other hand, myself and MANY others have used their Spot without problems in the rain at high speed. Also, I constantly read reports from people who apparently have not read the manual and use their Spot incorrectly, then complain that it's not working as expected. When someone asks what type of batteries they can use, or expect tracking to work perfectly when it's in their pocket or backpack, then they probably have not read the manual. And if they expect it to work perfectly in a tank bag, or they expect OK messages to go out in 10 minutes, they are not reading the manual.
We're motorcyclists here, not kayakers, so I'm trying to stick with stuff that motorcyclists do. I don't go under water with my Spot like the kayaker said he did. And just like so many of the others who complain about problems, the kayaker DIDN"T FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE MANUAL.