Hi all,

I’ve had a Garmin 800 for over a year – used it lots but in general avoided using it in the rain. I bought one of the silicon cases for it last year after it got wet on a ride and misted up on the screen, but I was out at the weekend and caught in a 30 min downpour. It basically stopped working for 2 days until I’d dried it out by leaving on a radiator – it would turn on and the screen would work (albeit with lots of condensation on it), but none of the buttons would work – including the on/off button, so I couldn’t turn it off again!

Is this normal? Should I send it back to Garmin? Any ideas if they’d help given it’s over 12 months old?

Thanks
Nick

No not normal, I’ve been out in heavy rain many times (no case) and mine’s fine. I would send it back. Don’t worry about it being 12 months old, if there’s a manufacturing defect you have 6 years to complain!

Get in touch with Garmin. I hear they are very good at sorting out issues. If it’s out of warranty they can usually fix it and I don’t think they charge much for the service either.

Thanks for the replies.

I called Garmin who told me that they would need £74 to swap it for a reconditioned unit. That’s the best they can do as it’s now over 12 months old, and therefore ‘our of warranty’.

Any suggestions (other than pay the £74, or keep my current unit and don’t use it in the rain!)

Cheers,
Nick

SOGA surely? You would expect a unit that is intended for outdoor use to be able to be used outdoors and at the price of Garmin units they should be expected to last more than 12 months. Especially as they have a background in all kinds of marine and industrial GPS equipment.

If the unit has been faulty since new I.e manufacturing defect (as you imply in the OP) then the warranty is irrelevant; they have to sort it up to 6 years (see this MSE article)

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange

Thanks zilog (and andyl).

However, they basically state that, as I have no proof it was faulty within the 12 months, they are not under an obligation to repair/replace for free – only for a replacement charge (of £74).

Should I simply call them back, tell them they are wrong and see what they say? I suspect it will be the same message, but I’m more than happy to do it for the effort of a phone call!

Nick

Can’t hurt to try can it? If you think it’s a genuine manufacturing fault rather than a warranty issue, tell them so (citing whatever law is relevant from the MSE article). If they won’t listen/don’t understand it’s probably worth an email to customer services which might give them more time to consider it and come up with a favourable answer (I can easily picture some guy on the phone just looking at a flow chart on the wall that says >12 months -> no warranty

I’ll give it a go – call initially and email if I don’t get anywhere. I’ll post on here how it goes…

Thanks,
Nick

just tell them what you said above about avoiding using it in the rain.

If there is no damage and it’s not been taken apart then there is no reason to believe it’s not been waterproof since you bought it.

Think i had better test my etrex out!

Here’s the latest…

Tried to call a number of times – no-one was picking up so gave up on that.

Emailed via Customer Support on their website – was told someone would get back to me within 3 days.

Emailed again after I’d heard nothing in 4 days. Got an email reply apologising for the delay and saying:
“Unfortunately as the unit is outside of warranty it does mean there would be a fixed rate cost to replace the unit.”
(ie £74)

I have just replied quoting SoG Act and ‘fit for purpose for a reasonable length of time’ stuff. Will let you know what happens.

Suffice to say, Garmin are not living up to the stories of positive customer support – I’m finding them somewhat disappointing… :/

Nick

Still waiting for a response from Garmin… another 3 days have passed since my last email.

Hardly stellar support – will let you know when (if?) I hear anything.

Nick

Posting about your issue on their social media sites may kick them up the arse.

Just a heads up, the sale of goods act exists between you and the retailer, not the manufacturer. If you did buy it direct from Garmin then feel free to proceed but if you didn’t then there isn’t much point in quoting SOGA or fit for purpose etc as it doesn’t apply to them and they don’t actually have to do anything at all. If you’re unhappy then go back to the retailer and let them deal with it as that is who your contract of sale is with.

John

@ John – thanks for the extra info, that’s very useful. It wasn’t bought from Garmin, but from Amazon, and it was a gift, so I don’t have any of the details.

Should I just email Amazon and ask them what to do? I suspect I won’t get a lot of traction with that route…

Cheers,
Nick

I would have thought that would be your best option. Whoever bought it for you should be able to track it through their account so give it a go. It’s quite frustrating when stuff like this happens because consumer laws don’t seem to actually be enforced and you end up getting shafted. If you report it nothing happens, it really infuriates me that it’s not clamped down on.

Amazon customer services have been good from my past dealings so if you explain that it must have been an inherent fault that was there from day 1 you might have some luck. If it’s clear that it hasn’t been taken apart or bashed about how else could it have let water in if not through a manufacturing fault? Try to talk them into a corner is my usual approach.

John

OK – positive update time…

I was getting nowhere with Garmin email or phone support. They even sent me conflicting emails within 30 mins of each other – one saying send it back and we’ll look in to is, the other stating they still want £74 for a replacement. To cut a long story short, I sent it back to them with a bit of a stroppy letter, and hey-presto, they just sent me a refurb unit, not cost! So, after a bit of effort it all worked out fine.

However, in parallel, I tried johnneyboys advice and also contacted Amazon. They were amazing – no questions whatsoever and sent me out a brand new full replacement (full Performance and Nav bundle), so now I have 2!

Anyone want a brand new one of these?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Performance-Bundle-Micros-Navigator/dp/B0049XPNAQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1394287586&sr=8-6&keywords=garmin+800+performance+bundle

Garmin 800, inc Cadence sensor, Heart Rate monitor, brackets etc, all brand new, boxed?

Happy days,
Nick

So amazon sent a new one with out wanting the old one you sent to garmin?

Desperate for a GPS. If it’s a donation yes please……..

@stoddy – yes, they simply sent a replacement, no questions.

@clipper – it’s a brand new item worth £300. No donations, sorry…

Surely you should send one back?

Hardly honest to keep both.

You can’t expect the businesses involved to behave correctly then behave like this yourself?

Greedy git.

Treat them as fairly as they have treated you. Send one back.

This^

You can’t expect the businesses involved to behave correctly then behave like this yourself?

yeah, not playing the game to keep both

One of them should definitely go back.

I had a 310XT that went tits up within warranty, and Garmin were completely useless. Despite it being their firmware upgrade, which usually only cripples devices, actually killing it.

Amazon, were fantastic and sorted me out.

Oh, and…

Happy days,

Well…that’s one way of putting it. Hypocrite is another. As you can hardly moan about a company being shiesty, then not acting too dissimilar yourself.

Surely you should send one back?
Hardly honest to keep both.
You can’t expect the businesses involved to behave correctly then behave like this yourself?

^This

It’s karma, they were screwing you around then did the right thing now Karma want’s to know if it should look after you again in the future??

Keep it/sell it at your own peril.

Don’t expect any sympathy when you next have a problem though.