My Garmin Story!!! (Customer Service Is Not Dead!!!)

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Ok

I recently had an awesome customer service experience that i thought i would share with you guys.

I bought my Garmin 276c Unit on 8-15-05 (almost 2 years ago).

I havent taken the best care of it, not as well as i should of.

The other day, i went to disconnect it from the PC and the entire guts of the USB plug came out of the unit with the cable. I pulled too hard and the wiring pulled right off of the board inside the unit!

I emailed tech support, told them exactly what happened, and noted that i have owned many Garmin units since the III was first released and this was my first problem ever!

He replied within minutes with an RWA # and told me he would warranty it.

It was almost a year out of warranty.

I sent it in and told them i need it ASAP because of my Gonzaga trip coming up.

I get an email saying the repair is complete and shipping back within 3 days of sending it out.

The next day, there is a package on my door!

Turns out, they NEXT DAY aired me a BRAND NEW UNIT!!!! The paper inside, said that mine was beyond repair so they replaced it with a new one!

This was all 100% free of charge and took less then 7 days from when i sent it, to when i got the new one.

I was MOST impressed and will continue to buy and use Garmin products!

Your experiences may vary, but i was most pleased with mine!

 

[adventureduo]

Right on dude! That's so good to hear! Wonder if they'll warranty my 8 year old Garmin? and replace it with a new 276c? hehehee

Good job on pulling the guts out :clapsmile

 

[OverlandZJ]

Sounds like Garmin went above and beyond. It's good to to hear positive feedback of a manufacturer or vendor, usually it's just negative feedback you hear. Thanks for taking the time!

A GPS purchase is in the plans here shortly.

 

[Scott Brady]

Very happy to hear this Kevin... :victory:

 

[teotwaki]

Similar experience.

Bought a new 276C late last year along with many accessories. The external power/speaker plug that goes into the back pulled completely apart. Called Garmin, gave them all the information and then the lady said "Throw it away". I am sitting there saying "Huh??" and she said "We'll ship a new power/speaker cord out to you right away".

Wow! And they did!

 

[asteffes]

Yeah, as much as people complain about Garmin's pricing and proprietary hardware, they do stand behind their stuff.

 

[Grim Reaper]

I have had good dealings with Garmin as well. Unit was a little out of warranty. The covered it anyway. Not only did they do the repair they replaced a scratched lens without asking or billing. I didn't ship the Antenna since it was not part of the problem. They put another on it. Came back as the same SN.
Quick turn around as well. From the time I shipped to the time I got it back was I think 7 Business days. It was a very good customer experiance.

I will buy from them again because of the outstanding service.

 

[Willman]

Sweet!.....

Not every day you hear a story like this one!

:26_7_2:

 

[riverfever]

:iagree: I was really impressed with their CS a few months ago too. I was having a problem getting the PC to communicate with the GPS through the USB cable. My issue turned out to be a problem with the serial adapter cable. It wasn't even Garmins product but they took the time to find the driver I needed on line and made sure I got everything sourced. I'll definitely buy Garmin stuff again.

 

[edgear]

This gives me hope in Garmin again. I had less than helpful service from their CS when I had three Vista Cx units die in a matter of 2-3 months. My only saving grace was that REI exchanged the units for a brand new one w/o any hassle. After the third one died, I decided it was time to try a different unit, so now I have a Legend C. I later found out that Garmin was using different parts in the Cx than in the previous models. Perhaps that was the cause of those problems. Overall, I've always heard good things about Garmin. I guess I had some bad luck with my first purchase. And they haven't lost me as a customer.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thats good to hear. I have always been extremely please with my Garmin products!

Wish Cobra was that good... eepwall:

My 75WXST literally caught on fire in the middle of a trip a couple weeks back. The best I could get out of their customer service is a discount on a new one. Thing fail, no doubt about it.... but the thing was smoking, had it been sitting on my seat as it often is.. it could have started a fire!

Heres the unit after it had been unplugged for a minute or so... still smoldering!