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wvu(at)ameritel.net
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 Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 2:22 pm Post subject: Garmin Rapair - Customer Beware |
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Short story: if Garmin replaces a light bulb in your unit, it's $800. I was totally unaware but you can find the verbage in their warranty online. I was expecting someone to call first.
Long story: Lost the transmitter on my comm radio on the 430 on the way back from SNF, reception was fine. Trouble shooting showed transmitter output was a whopping 1.5W and very noisy after the initial 3 second ouput of 37W. You can hear something like a relay within the unit kicking in right prior to going from 37W to 1.5W. Great, the radio is protected. Something simple is wrong. My 430 has 130hrs on it. 2-year warranty started on purchase date so that expired about 7 months after first flight.
Sent the unit to Garmin through a dealer (can't send it directly to them). Turn around time was quick - confirmed my suspecion that it was a simple fix. I was impressed. The damage - $875. My eye balls almost jumped out of their sockets. After researching a bit I realized that I'm not the first unhappy customer. Garmin has a flat repair rate of $800 for the 430, including shipping (thank goodness!! I wonder why my bill was $875?). They guarantee complete overhaul if they so deem the unit needs it. This includes cosmetics like worn out buttons or anything they see that's not up to par. Quote from the Service Report "Confirmed problem. Repaired the COMM board to correct the discrepancy. Updated software." Garmin's repair records does not contain any more details than this. When asked if cosmetic works were done to my unit, the answer.... no. I would've been surprised if there was any on such a low time unit.
Sounds to me that Garmin has a good marketing strategy to keep all units in service at tip top overhauled shape at the expense of the customers. By the way, the dealer wasn't aware of this flat rate policy.
So what's the chance of something majorly wrong with my 430 would happen to get a good $800 deal? Considering the cost of a new unit, a quick statistical calculation +/- a bunch% error says that you'll never make out ahead with this deal. Google what others have to say regarding Garmin's customer support and see for yourself. I don't mind supporting a good product but this feels like a log going through my rear end.
Anh
N591VU-flying
[quote][b]
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capsteve
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 111
Location: NIAGARA FALLS NY
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject: Garmin Rapair - Customer Beware |
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Anh,
With my 430, i lost transmit on com1. i went 4 months using the second radio, because i couldn't justify an 800 repair bill. As it happened the deadline for the waas upgrade was looming close. I decided at the last minute to get in on the "deal". To my surprise, Garmin ended up replacing the main board, the faceplate, and the upgrade waas package for the 1500 dollar upgrade fee. i was so expecting an additional fee, i was half expecting an additional bill to follow. It turns out that Garmin actually repaired my unit, effectively overhauling it for no additional charge. Granted, i spent 1500 bucks, i actually feel like i got my moneys worth. (this time)
steve
[quote] From: owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-rv10-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of DejaVu
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 6:23 PM
To: RV10
Subject: Garmin Rapair - Customer Beware
Short story: if Garmin replaces a light bulb in your unit, it's $800. I was totally unaware but you can find the verbage in their warranty online. I was expecting someone to call first.
Long story: Lost the transmitter on my comm radio on the 430 on the way back from SNF, reception was fine. Trouble shooting showed transmitter output was a whopping 1.5W and very noisy after the initial 3 second ouput of 37W. You can hear something like a relay within the unit kicking in right prior to going from 37W to 1.5W. Great, the radio is protected. Something simple is wrong. My 430 has 130hrs on it. 2-year warranty started on purchase date so that expired about 7 months after first flight.
Sent the unit to Garmin through a dealer (can't send it directly to them). Turn around time was quick - confirmed my suspecion that it was a simple fix. I was impressed. The damage - $875. My eye balls almost jumped out of their sockets. After researching a bit I realized that I'm not the first unhappy customer. Garmin has a flat repair rate of $800 for the 430, including shipping (thank goodness!! I wonder why my bill was $875?). They guarantee complete overhaul if they so deem the unit needs it. This includes cosmetics like worn out buttons or anything they see that's not up to par. Quote from the Service Report "Confirmed problem. Repaired the COMM board to correct the discrepancy. Updated software." Garmin's repair records does not contain any more details than this. When asked if cosmetic works were done to my unit, the answer.... no. I would've been surprised if there was any on such a low time unit.
Sounds to me that Garmin has a good marketing strategy to keep all units in service at tip top overhauled shape at the expense of the customers. By the way, the dealer wasn't aware of this flat rate policy.
So what's the chance of something majorly wrong with my 430 would happen to get a good $800 deal? Considering the cost of a new unit, a quick statistical calculation +/- a bunch% error says that you'll never make out ahead with this deal. Google what others have to say regarding Garmin's customer support and see for yourself. I don't mind supporting a good product but this feels like a log going through my rear end.
Anh
N591VU-flying
| Quote: |
href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List">http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List
href="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics.com
href="http://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/c
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[b]
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flysrv10(at)gmail.com
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 2:51 am Post subject: Garmin Rapair - Customer Beware |
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A good example of Garmin getting fat and happy. I'll pray for mine to last a while.
On May 2, 2008, at 6:22 PM, DejaVu wrote:
| Quote: | Short story: if Garmin replaces a light bulb in your unit, it's $800. I was totally unaware but you can find the verbage in their warranty online. I was expecting someone to call first.
Long story: Lost the transmitter on my comm radio on the 430 on the way back from SNF, reception was fine. Trouble shooting showed transmitter output was a whopping 1.5W and very noisy after the initial 3 second ouput of 37W. You can hear something like a relay within the unit kicking in right prior to going from 37W to 1.5W. Great, the radio is protected. Something simple is wrong. My 430 has 130hrs on it. 2-year warranty started on purchase date so that expired about 7 months after first flight.
Sent the unit to Garmin through a dealer (can't send it directly to them). Turn around time was quick - confirmed my suspecion that it was a simple fix. I was impressed. The damage - $875. My eye balls almost jumped out of their sockets. After researching a bit I realized that I'm not the first unhappy customer. Garmin has a flat repair rate of $800 for the 430, including shipping (thank goodness!! I wonder why my bill was $875?). They guarantee complete overhaul if they so deem the unit needs it. This includes cosmetics like worn out buttons or anything they see that's not up to par. Quote from the Service Report "Confirmed problem. Repaired the COMM board to correct the discrepancy. Updated software." Garmin's repair records does not contain any more details than this. When asked if cosmetic works were done to my unit, the answer.... no. I would've been surprised if there was any on such a low time unit.
Sounds to me that Garmin has a good marketing strategy to keep all units in service at tip top overhauled shape at the expense of the customers. By the way, the dealer wasn't aware of this flat rate policy.
So what's the chance of something majorly wrong with my 430 would happen to get a good $800 deal? Considering the cost of a new unit, a quick statistical calculation +/- a bunch% error says that you'll never make out ahead with this deal. Google what others have to say regarding Garmin's customer support and see for yourself. I don't mind supporting a good product but this feels like a log going through my rear end.
Anh
N591VU-flying
| Quote: | http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List
href="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics.com
href="http://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/contribution
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[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics RV10-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV10-List |
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