I appreciate your frustration, really I do. What it comes down to for a large manufacturer with a lot of distribution channels is that policy is going to come out differently from different dealers, in terms of what they're prepared to do; Hence I took a punt (currently in this case, as it happened - might just as well have not worked) and contacted the manufacturer directly.
Given the interesting thing, that being that the model you have with the problem is the same model I've come across with the same problem, it might well be a production fault in a batch of units. The point I guess I'm trying to make here is that it may not be fair to infer that one bad batch of anything (gps units, gliders, whatever) necessarily implies that the entire production output of that organisation is similarly flawed. Almost all manufacturers have a bad batch somewhere in their lives. I've owned a Garmin GPS 92 (like the 12XL but with aviation bits added), and I think it's probably 6 years old. And it's still running flawlessly. Cheers, Simon At 2:33 PM +0930 26/10/01, ANDREW WRIGHT wrote: >Simon > Yes you are right. > I would be pleased to publish a personal and public >retraction and apology if my judgement is proven wrong. > On speaking to Garmin, I did the right thing and contacted a >noted Garmin agent in Adelaide and he advised me to do as you have >suggested, ie new set of good quality batteries for 72 hours. He >was adamant however, that beyond that, nothing can do - Come a >spend more $$$$$$. > My frustration however must be obvious! When are >manufactures going to realize that there is a market out there for >high quality (and Garmin certainly are high quality), long lifed, >serviceable equipment. As an example, I had a much more pleasant >experience with my Cambridge S Nav. In this case a new internal >battery fixed the problem. "Great" > I will take your advise. I will contact Garmin direct with >my problem and see what they say. > > > >Date sent: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 12:47:38 +0930 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Simon Hackett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [aus-soaring] Stung Badly >Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Hi Andrew, > > > > Emilis' Garmin 12XL is showing a diagnostic saying something like > > 'internal battery low' as well. Something like 3-4 years. > > > > Sounds like a production issue. > > > > But here's the potentially good news. We just logged a query with > > Garmin technical support about the unit, and they got back to us and > > told us how to get it replaced free of charge, if feeding the unit new > > batteries and leaving it off for a few days didn't cure it. > > > > You might want to consider doing the same. > > > > As I own an organisation that lives or dies on customer service, I > > appreciate, perhaps more than some, how frustrating it is to be damned > > in public before one is asked, in private, to just fix the problem. > > Because when people ask a good organisation for help, they get it, > > regardless of the nominal warranty period. > > > > I know it's the great Australian way to presume that people you buy > > things from don't give a stuff about you, and I wish it wasn't the > > great Australian way. > > > > Have you tried asking Garmin for assistance with this? You might find > > that they're just as happy to replace your unit as they seem to be to > > replace Emilis' one. > > > > We just filled in this form: > > > > http://www.garmin.com/contactUs/techSupport.html > > > > And explained the error message we get on power-on, and asked for > > help. They offered (despite their one year warranty) to replace the > > unit if the error didn't go away after putting in a new set of > > batteries. > > > > So my experience, and opinion, of Garmin, is the precise opposite of > > yours, as a result of exactly the same initial fault. > > > > Cheers, > > Simon > > > > At 12:37 PM +0930 26/10/01, ANDREW WRIGHT wrote: > > >Dear All > > > I think I have just been stung badly and would like to pass this > > >info onto users or potential users of GARMIN handheld GPS. GARMIN > > >handheld GPS have an internal lithium backup battery in them that is > > >kept charged by the main power batteries ( usually 4 X AAs). This > > >internal battery maintains the waypoints etc when the unit is turned > > >off and the main batteries are less than fully charged or removed. > > >When this internal battery dies, which it is designed to do after > > >about 10 years, you throw the whole bloody GPS out the window!!! > > >This is because the internal battery is sealed in place and CAN NOT > > >be replaced. How crazy is that !!! Like scraping your car because > > >the ash tray is full! I expected to be able to use my GARMIN 12XL > > >for a lot more than 10 years ! As my GARMIN 12XL internal battery > > >has just died (after only 4 years I might add), I will definitely not > > >be buying another GARMIN. I would rather spend more on something > > >that is serviceable and will give me years of service if looked > > >after. Perhaps if we all did the same they (GARMIN) would get the > > >message! SIGNED Pretty pissed off. > > > > > >-- > > > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. > > > * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > > > with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or > > > with "help" in the body of the message for more information. > > > > > > -- > > > > --- > > Simon Hackett, Technical Director, Internode Systems Pty Ltd > > 31 York St [PO Box 284, Rundle Mall], Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia > > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.internode.on.net Phone: > > +61-8-8223-2999 Fax: +61-8-8223-1777 > > > > -- > > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. > > * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * > > with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with > > "help" in the body of the message for more information. > > > > > >ANDREW WRIGHT > >-- > * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. > * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message > * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information. -- --- Simon Hackett, Technical Director, Internode Systems Pty Ltd 31 York St [PO Box 284, Rundle Mall], Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.internode.on.net Phone: +61-8-8223-2999 Fax: +61-8-8223-1777 -- * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
