Garmin Rawks

[Bill the Duck]

OK, so last Friday morning at 4:30 am I hit the road for Farmington, NM, and notice my GARMIN iQue 3600 GPS (the PDA/GPS combo thingy) wasn't tracking. I carried on through the weekend following the routes manually and only missed one turn on the way home that a functional GPS would have saved me from.

So I called GARMIN yesterday. The said they'd send me out a refurb replacement. Now here's where things get interesting. This would be the 5th replacement. The original unit had a speaker problem, the next one had a stylus-tracking problem. Then the SD memory card wouldn't stay in.

Up to this point GARMIN had been quickly and graciously sending out refurb units, but going with the 3-strikes-and-you're-out rule I asked if they could send me a brand new one this time. "No problem," they said! Even at this point GARMIN had gone well over the terms of the warranty.

So now this new unit won't pick up satellites. I call GARMIN again and explain the problem. The offered to send another one, but I asked if instead they could give me a price break on something more rugged. "Which unit?" she asks. "The GPSMap 276c," sez I. "Lemme check," she says and comes back with "The 176c is $150 more, but we'll exchange it at no cost." WTF? I was gladly willing to pay the diff, but they once again went the extra mile for customer satisfaction.



(Note, the 276c is a marine unit, called a "chart plotter". To use it on a bike you'll need a RAM or Touratech mount and the AutoNav package which includes a power adapter, proprietary memory card and maps, about $250 on the web if you hunt around.)

By the way, the iQue 3600 is a way-cool piece of kit, and provides full GPS functionality complete with route calculation and point-of-interest lookup. It also provides all the functions of a Palm PDA, including the capability to load and run games, sync with Outlook, etc., all for under $700. Great for use in a car. The only drawback is its toughness may not quite be there.

Bottom Line: I heartily recommend GARMIN as a company!

[iillyyaa]

I thought Garmin started pushing crack...

[Bill the Duck]

Originally Posted by iillyyaa

I thought Garmin started pushing crack...

Better now?

[iillyyaa]

Much better!

I don't know if I like them as a company, but I do like their products that I got to use.

[Bill the Duck]

Originally Posted by iillyyaa

Much better!

I don't know if I like them as a company, but I do like their products that I got to use.

"Got to use" as in "required to use"? Whachoodoin?

I'm always heartened when I see this kind of customer service. They may not be making money on me, but they got my lazy ass to praise them on a market-focused Internet forum!

[Marc]

My Garmin Story:

I've been working in some backwater New Jersey areas lately and have been taking my 276c with me - so I can figure out where in the hell I am and how to get to where I'm going.

So, last Monday, I plop into my Avis rent-a-car and go to plug my GPS power cord / speaker thing into the cigarette lighter and the end comes apart. While trying to put the fuse, the end cap, the metal ring and everything back together, I broke the end cap. Damnit. Luckily, the 276c had a full charge and, with some battery management, I was able to use it when I needed to and find my way around.

I called Garmin and they shipped me a free replacement that was waiting for me at my house when I returned home. Unbelievable. I was amazed that they'd do this for me. I echo your positive Garmin comments. Three thumbs up.

[R_W]

buy the time you buy all the sub-farkles (cables, maps, etc.)

[iillyyaa]

Originally Posted by Bill the Duck

"Got to use" as in "required to use"? Whachoodoin?

Getting lost, as a hobby.

No, I meant "got to use" as in "happened to use". I have Gpsmap 196 (the airplane version of the old 176) with some accessories. Everything works, and so I never got a chance to complain to Garmin - nothing to complain about.

[deerslayR]

Originally Posted by Marc

My Garmin Story:

I've been working in some backwater New Jersey areas lately and have been taking my 276c with me - so I can figure out where in the hell I am and how to get to where I'm going.

So, last Monday, I plop into my Avis rent-a-car and go to plug my GPS power cord / speaker thing into the cigarette lighter and the end comes apart. While trying to put the fuse, the end cap, the metal ring and everything back together, I broke the end cap. Damnit. Luckily, the 276c had a full charge and, with some battery management, I was able to use it when I needed to and find my way around.

I called Garmin and they shipped me a free replacement that was waiting for me at my house when I returned home. Unbelievable. I was amazed that they'd do this for me. I echo your positive Garmin comments. Three thumbs up.

My experience with Garmin has been excellent.
I bought a USED Streetpilot and the mapsource CD didn't work.
I call them and they say "no problem, we'll send one out."
Got it 3 days later and life is good.

Hey Marc,
In what backwoods part of Jersey were you working?

deerslayR

[Infracaninophile]

Well, my 276C has had lots of power issues. I bought it and within 30 days it was back to Garmin with a RMA as the unit had power on and power off issues. They replaced the entire unit.

However, the unit was still difficult to start in the morning. I'd push the power button (red on the 276C) and about 75-80% of the time it would not power on correctly. It would come on with a very dim partial screen and sometimes it would stay like that and sometimes it would then turn itself off. It didn't matter if it was powered by AC, DC, or it's own battery. However, the problem mostly (but now always) happened for the first start of the day.

After living with that for 9 months I got pissed off again and sent it back to Garmin with another RMA. They upgraded the firmware from 2.70 to 3.20 and sent it back saying it was fine.

I get it out of the box and it acts exactly the same. The same exact power on issues. I am pissed.

I call them and they tell me it must be my AC adapter is not charging the battery all the way. I told them it happens in the car when plugged into the DC adapter as well. They said they were going to overnight me a new AC adapter to see if this was the problem. They did and it wasn't the issue. But I do have a 2nd AC power adapter which is nice.

Called Garmin this morning and told them I was really getting upset at this year-long running battle to get a working 276C. I explained the symptoms and that I was truly frustrated and would have returned the unit for my $$ if I could. They agreed to replace my unit for free and am sending my another RMA number. I will send my unit back tomorrow and we'll see if the latest 276C is any better.

So, not sure exactly what to say about Garmin. All of their previous GPS's that I have owned (38, 40, III, III+, V, 176 Mono) have all been perfect and had no issues. Garmin's phone support is excellent.

My fingers are crossed that I will get a new unit that works for me. If not, it must be me.

Tom

[Bill the Duck]

Originally Posted by Infracaninophile

Well, my 276C has had lots of power issues. I bought it and within 30 days it was back to Garmin with a RMA as the unit had power on and power off issues. They replaced the entire unit.

However, the unit was still difficult to start in the morning. I'd push the power button (red on the 276C) and about 75-80% of the time it would not power on correctly. It would come on with a very dim partial screen and sometimes it would stay like that and sometimes it would then turn itself off. It didn't matter if it was powered by AC, DC, or it's own battery. However, the problem mostly (but now always) happened for the first start of the day.

After living with that for 9 months I got pissed off again and sent it back to Garmin with another RMA. They upgraded the firmware from 2.70 to 3.20 and sent it back saying it was fine.

I get it out of the box and it acts exactly the same. The same exact power on issues. I am pissed.

I call them and they tell me it must be my AC adapter is not charging the battery all the way. I told them it happens in the car when plugged into the DC adapter as well. They said they were going to overnight me a new AC adapter to see if this was the problem. They did and it wasn't the issue. But I do have a 2nd AC power adapter which is nice.

Called Garmin this morning and told them I was really getting upset at this year-long running battle to get a working 276C. I explained the symptoms and that I was truly frustrated and would have returned the unit for my $$ if I could. They agreed to replace my unit for free and am sending my another RMA number. I will send my unit back tomorrow and we'll see if the latest 276C is any better.

So, not sure exactly what to say about Garmin. All of their previous GPS's that I have owned (38, 40, III, III+, V, 176 Mono) have all been perfect and had no issues. Garmin's phone support is excellent.

My fingers are crossed that I will get a new unit that works for me. If not, it must be me.

Tom

Hope the replacement unit solves your problems. It's pretty cool though that they're willing to replace your unit.

Good luck!

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Bill the Duck

Hope the replacement unit solves your problems. It's pretty cool though that they're willing to replace your unit.

Good luck!

Yabbut, it shouldn't have broken in the FIRST PLACE!

I have suspicions that my new 276c has gremlins too... I've gotten it locked up when going thru several 'pages' when navigating and had to turn the damn thing off to get it to reset. We'll see what happens...

M

[Infracaninophile]

Originally Posted by SDMike

Yabbut, it shouldn't have broken in the FIRST PLACE!

I have suspicions that my new 276c has gremlins too... I've gotten it locked up when going thru several 'pages' when navigating and had to turn the damn thing off to get it to reset. We'll see what happens...

M

Mike:

I've never had a single problem that wasn't related to power on/power off. Personally, I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the 276C. If my replacement has issues I will ask Garmin for a refund and get a 2610.

The bad part about a replacement is that I need to enter the new serial number and access codes into my Roads & Recs and City Select software as it is hardware serial number conscious. A royal Pain.

Tv.

[BurnieM]

Originally Posted by Infracaninophile

Mike:

I've never had a single problem that wasn't related to power on/power off. Personally, I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the 276C. If my replacement has issues I will ask Garmin for a refund and get a 2610.

The bad part about a replacement is that I need to enter the new serial number and access codes into my Roads & Recs and City Select software as it is hardware serial number conscious. A royal Pain.

Tv.

Your problems sound very much like the firmware corruption issues that we saw on every GPSmap 276C in Australia.
All versions of firmware up to v2.93 beta had these problems. Only thing was, after v2.94 beta was released in early December, these problems went away.

Maybe your problem is hardware based ???

[Surly]

I should have called them....

I did get a prompt email reply and they set up an RMA for me
Will see if I get the unit back soon (They said 7-10 days)

Its an E-Trex Legend C
It would loose external power and would loose battery power and be difficult to connect to the PC. It would also lock up inside when it couldn't find satellites....hmm all that is kinda bad

I think mostly due to the USB port on the unit
Maybe vibes hurt the poor little thing on my trip?
I have a softer mount for it now