The Saint Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 A few months back I got myself a Garmin 305. The unit does everything I need it to do except actually work. This morning I took it into a Garmin dealer only to be told it can take up to 6 Weeks for me to receive the unit back. The guy still says to me "They are just down the Road in North Riding". Well if they are just down the road why does it take 30 Working days for me to receive my unit back? Unfortunately I believe I am not the first to have trouble with the 305 Unit and have heard many stories about these things being faulty. So what is with this Garmin?? I would hope that you guys would be replacing all these faulty units with new ones or free upgrades to the 705 considering your service levels are at 6 weeks to satisfy your clientele. In fact if it takes you 6 weeks to figure out something is broken then I can only imagine that you have stacks returned faulty units. I would expect for the price that we pay for these things for it firstly not to go haywire within the first 5 years and secondly if it is in need of replacement for that to take no less than 3 days to be returned to the dealer!!! Oh and just in case you were wondering I have spoken to Garmin direct and 6 weeks was also their service standard. I also now await with baited breath to see if all my data from the faulty unit will be transferred to the new unit should they replace it...maybe this is the process that requires 6 weeks.
IanJ Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 I have twice had problems with my 305 when water has got into the unit when riding in the rain. Both times I have taken it directly to the distributors in North Riding. I have received brand new units delivered by courier to my house within 3-4 days of me dropping them off. Yes there does seem to be a problem with sealing of the unit but in both cases the service received was good.
scotty Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 I have not had issues with my unit, but Waterbottle did with his and they replaced it with a new unit.
jmaccelari Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 I've had two units go tits up on me. The original units seemed to have a problem with the battery connection, so they'd switch off when you hit a bump (a very specific bump, I must admit: there is one that would switch my unit off _every_ time...). I took them in to Garmin myself and had them swapped out within a couple of days without any issues. So the problem seems to be more with your dealer than Garmin. I did try to call their Garmap help line and found it easier to get an answer from the Jo'burg City Council or Telkom, so they still need some work there, though.
chucky Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 i have had problums ,but they have always been helpful at nothriding and am thinking of upgrading from my 305 to 705
jmaccelari Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 I have twice had problems with my 305 when water has got into the unit when riding in the rain. Both times I have taken it directly to the distributors in North Riding. I have received brand new units delivered by courier to my house within 3-4 days of me dropping them off. Yes there does seem to be a problem with sealing of the unit but in both cases the service received was good. I find this interesting. I have done some serious submarining withmy Edge 305 without any problem. Did you have the little USB connectorplug properly closed?
The Saint Posted June 30, 2008 Author Posted June 30, 2008 Anyways what I would also like to know is you guys seem to be very happy that the units were replaced. Well at R3500 for a unit (The price of an entry level bicycle) Ian how do you feel about having paid that amount of money and you are now on your 3rd one? When the courier arrived with the replacement did he have a cheque included for the money it cost you in petrol, wear and tear on your car and crediting you for the time you needed to take off work? Don't worry I know the answer to my question. I am sure many other stories with regards to these units will surface here and I think there is a definate problem with the 305 that Garmin needs to adress. What I would like to see is companies putting some conviction behind their products. Such as a certain Notebook manufacturer offers a 3 year international warranty and within the first year should any hardware component fail they will repair the notebook and refund you the purchase price.......hows that for believing in the stuff you sell!!!
IanJ Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 Yup I always make sure it is tighly sealed. I found thta if I rode in heavy rain the unit would still work fine for a few days then it would start to fog up inside with condensation. Within a few weeks after that it would become erratic and not respond to buttons etc. Both units had pretty much the same symptoms. One benefit of the Garmin swap out is that they send a complete box with all HR straps and sensors etc. so I now have several spares.
The Saint Posted June 30, 2008 Author Posted June 30, 2008 One benefit of the Garmin swap out is that they send a complete box with all HR straps and sensors etc. so I now have several spares. Carry on like this and you could soon become a preferred supplier of 305 accessories
AndreZA Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 What I would like to see is companies putting some conviction behind their products. Such as a certain Notebook manufacturer offers a 3 year international warranty and within the first year should any hardware component fail they will repair the notebook and refund you the purchase price.......hows that for believing in the stuff you sell!!! that is a good warrantee but do they charge double what othercompanies charge? Even if they only charges 25% more, what's the chances of something going wrong? If 1 out of 4 machines give problems then they can easely replace it seeing that they already got their money back. then people will advertise how great it is and other will buy or they buy more themselfs.
scotty Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 One benefit of the Garmin swap out is that they send a complete box with all HR straps and sensors etc. so I now have several spares. At R150 (what i paid at a bike shop) for the bike mount alone thats good.
The Saint Posted June 30, 2008 Author Posted June 30, 2008 Para they charge no less than any other manufacturer of the same spec notebook. Difference is that they offer these warrantees because the stuff does not fail. In fact in the 5 years I have been buying this particular brand I have never had 1 failure.
IanJ Posted June 30, 2008 Posted June 30, 2008 MuXmAn Yes there probably is a problem with the product but the bottom line is that the problem has been resolved to my satisfaction within a reasoanble amount of time. I also had problems with the Heart rate strap on my previous Polar 725 but I took in to Polar and they gave me another, problem solved. Have you done any research into the 305 to establish whether there is a general problemm with the product and if so why not take it up with Garmin internationally?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now