Dealing with Garmin South Africa...

[Skubarra]

15 hours ago, Call Me Manny said:

I've only had great service from them, granted, both my units were still under warranty, but I recently got my Edge and Varia swapped out

"Still under warranty" the big difference here - once the warranty is over join the queue of complainers

[argie1]

I have only had to visit Garmin once.  My old Forerunner 645 screen went nearly blank, but the electronics were fine and would download to my Edge or Samsung phone. Dropped it off, waited for my repair quote, replace screen R 2 k, and it made me think.  A new unit R 7 k less 30%?

After a few weeks delay on my side, I paid for the repairs the Monday and received a brand new Forerunner 255 the Friday morning.  This was way better than me being impatient and buying a new unit less the discount.

Excellent, thank you Garmin.

[Cyclewizz]

Back in the day when Navworld did the warranty exchanges it was awesome.
Walk in with a faulty Garmin unit, they would test it in front of you and if it was faulty they'd offer you a replacement or upgrade, you paid and walked out with a new unit.

When Garmin started doing their own replacements it wasn't too bad, quotes would take about 1hr.

Unfortunately these days it's a disaster.

They went from having excellent after sales service to terrible after sales service which is rather sad.

[Paul Ruinaard]

Electronics fail. IMO you continually need to upgrade them as the costs and complexity of replacing batteries and buttons that wear is just too high especially if you arent tooled to do it. And the tools are costly and the likelihood of successful repair is low, so just bin it, offer a trae in and then send out. anew uniot.

So the local distribution just gets warrnmaty replacement stocks from Garmin and swaps them out. Preserves your invesmants as it always has a trade in value and then you get the latest tech every couple of years. Nobody opens them up and the factories unlikely to do it as well. 

Everybody needs to understand electronics fail. Take them out in to harsh environmnets and then shake them around and wet them and put them in sun and they normally fail a lot more than what we see. When they fail you cant repair them - you throw them away. Hard drives etc - you only need to be in tech to know this. You may think they are expensive but they are minor miracles when you think of what they do all the time and you take it for granted.

ANY technology item from ANY vendor fails. And its accepted in tech. If you get something back when the tech fails you are doing well. Perosnally Garmin has IMO done a great job and is so ubiquitous that its visible because everyone uses it. It used to be Polar and Suunto etc but everyone uses gramin - watches, head units, power pedals, back and front lights etc.

I have used many different brands over the years and have concluded that garmin is without doubt the simplest ecosystem becasue the softwrae integrates with so many other sites and vendors and is so well known and deployed.

Take a breather on this. like i said if you dela in tech you know it fails and it is impossible to rpeair . When you stikc in one ecosystem you simplify a lot of it and you get some investment protection. Its a good place to be. Mosy other vendors wouldnt bother.

 

[The Ouzo]

6 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Electronics fail. IMO you continually need to upgrade them as the costs and complexity of replacing batteries and buttons that wear is just too high especially if you arent tooled to do it. And the tools are costly and the likelihood of successful repair is low, so just bin it, offer a trae in and then send out. anew uniot.

So the local distribution just gets warrnmaty replacement stocks from Garmin and swaps them out. Preserves your invesmants as it always has a trade in value and then you get the latest tech every couple of years. Nobody opens them up and the factories unlikely to do it as well. 

Everybody needs to understand electronics fail. Take them out in to harsh environmnets and then shake them around and wet them and put them in sun and they normally fail a lot more than what we see. When they fail you cant repair them - you throw them away. Hard drives etc - you only need to be in tech to know this. You may think they are expensive but they are minor miracles when you think of what they do all the time and you take it for granted.

ANY technology item from ANY vendor fails. And its accepted in tech. If you get something back when the tech fails you are doing well. Perosnally Garmin has IMO done a great job and is so ubiquitous that its visible because everyone uses it. It used to be Polar and Suunto etc but everyone uses gramin - watches, head units, power pedals, back and front lights etc.

I have used many different brands over the years and have concluded that garmin is without doubt the simplest ecosystem becasue the softwrae integrates with so many other sites and vendors and is so well known and deployed.

Take a breather on this. like i said if you dela in tech you know it fails and it is impossible to rpeair . When you stikc in one ecosystem you simplify a lot of it and you get some investment protection. Its a good place to be. Mosy other vendors wouldnt bother.

 

I thknk you're missing the point. Nobody complaining that the thing has failed, the complaints are about the customer service received when they fail. 

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, nikki said:

Not for me. Navworld in Pretoria provide terrible service. I ordered a Garmin vector battery holder in December last year. They said the part will be available in late Jan due to December holidays  but took my contact details and said they would contact me when the part arrived. Went back in Jan and nothing.... I ordered the part from eBay and it was delivered in 1 week

Also ordered an out front Garmin holder about two years ago, They said they would call when the part arrived..... to date I've never received a  call

Wont go back again

 

Not me.  Navworld Cape Town only tried to sell me stuff, never assisted with issues.

 

 

While under warrantee I got excellent service via SportsmansWarehouse.

 

 

Frustratingly, we live in a disposable era .... even more so since back-up is available overseas.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Electronics fail. IMO you continually need to upgrade them as the costs and complexity of replacing batteries and buttons that wear is just too high especially if you arent tooled to do it. And the tools are costly and the likelihood of successful repair is low, so just bin it, offer a trae in and then send out. anew uniot.

So the local distribution just gets warrnmaty replacement stocks from Garmin and swaps them out. Preserves your invesmants as it always has a trade in value and then you get the latest tech every couple of years. Nobody opens them up and the factories unlikely to do it as well. 

Everybody needs to understand electronics fail. Take them out in to harsh environmnets and then shake them around and wet them and put them in sun and they normally fail a lot more than what we see. When they fail you cant repair them - you throw them away. Hard drives etc - you only need to be in tech to know this. You may think they are expensive but they are minor miracles when you think of what they do all the time and you take it for granted.

ANY technology item from ANY vendor fails. And its accepted in tech. If you get something back when the tech fails you are doing well. Perosnally Garmin has IMO done a great job and is so ubiquitous that its visible because everyone uses it. It used to be Polar and Suunto etc but everyone uses gramin - watches, head units, power pedals, back and front lights etc.

I have used many different brands over the years and have concluded that garmin is without doubt the simplest ecosystem becasue the softwrae integrates with so many other sites and vendors and is so well known and deployed.

Take a breather on this. like i said if you dela in tech you know it fails and it is impossible to rpeair . When you stikc in one ecosystem you simplify a lot of it and you get some investment protection. Its a good place to be. Mosy other vendors wouldnt bother.

 

 

Fair enough ....

 

Then advertise it as a "limited life" item..... 😏

 

 

I get your point, and one should really at the "cost of ownership" over a 3 to 5 years rather than the sticker price.  Go into it eyes wide open, this unit is going to cost you R100 or R200 per month of ownership.

 

ALSO ... once the reality sets in and people grasp that the limited life expectancy is a real thing, with no option to repair it .... there will be no second hand value ..... this bit may seriously mess with the "cost of ownership" ....

 

 

As for Garmin SA giving a discount on a new unit .... this only has "real value" when these prices actually are lower than the specials in shops.

 

 

 

And back to the OP's actual gripe .... WHY can you have these serviced overseas but not in SA ?  Fair enough if some obscure electronics fail, but replacing a battery and replacing buttons are not unfair expectations.

[Furbz]

My edge 530 failed so often i calculated it cost me R3000 odd rand a year to own when it failed consistently just out of warranty. 

i did the maths and the running costs of a 1030 at the time would have been closer to R7k a year assuming it failed as often.

I have since downgraded to the 130 plus to bring this running cost down.

lovely little unit - heres hoping its more reliable 

 

[The Ouzo]

9 minutes ago, Furbz said:

My edge 530 failed so often i calculated it cost me R3000 odd rand a year to own when it failed consistently just out of warranty. 

i did the maths and the running costs of a 1030 at the time would have been closer to R7k a year assuming it failed as often.

I have since downgraded to the 130 plus to bring this running cost down.

lovely little unit - heres hoping its more reliable 

 

My 130 is pushing 5 years now. Battery life is not what it was but still acceptable. For longer rides like I did on Sunday I tape a small power bank to my stem and run a cable to the Garmin. 11 and half hours of running time on sunday.

The HR strap has seen better days and failed completely during sundays ride though. But that part I see as a consumable.

 

Batteries and buttons should be easily replaceable items and should not require the unit to be disposed of. I wonder who the accountant is at Garmin SA that did the calcs and said its cheaper to discount replacement units than to pay to have techies fixing our product ? 

Edited May 4, 2023 by The Ouzo

[DMJ]

Have had terrible service on a new unit which was faulty.

 

I will try Wahoo next time.

[100Tours]

7 minutes ago, Naja said:

Have had terrible service on a new unit which was faulty.

 

I will try Wahoo next time.

Does Wahoo offer replacements in South Afica?

Personally I've only ever had great service from Garmin (even if I have to endure not having access to my GPS for 10 days while they're assessing and replacing it 😛)

[Skubarra]

19 minutes ago, 100Tours said:

Does Wahoo offer replacements in South Afica?

Personally I've only ever had great service from Garmin (even if I have to endure not having access to my GPS for 10 days while they're assessing and replacing it 😛)

Again - I don't think anyone on here is really complaining about units being replaced under warranty (assuming that is your case as well) - other than the turnover time being slow.

It's once you are out of warranty that dealing with Garmin becomes a pain, its frustrating when the only solution to relatively simple issues like a worn-out button or old batteries = new replacement unit at a marginal discount.

[Breezer]

I wish Bryton would return to SA. My old 530 is 7 years old and still go 32 hours on a charge. I recently got a 420 and it is a lovely unit. I had a forerunner and with continues problems I gave it away and start using  my old tomtom again. Garmin only have a good name. 

[Jono]

Are you guys saying that if you were for example in the UK, Garmin UK would do a battery or button replacement on an older model?

[Jono]

Warranty wise from what I understand you get a pretty much no questions asked replacement if your faulty unit is within warranty.

I have sent in out of warranty units that I have physically broken and been offered around 50% off the current model price, Been happy with this so far. I use my own courier as I'm based in CT and then do a couple of follow ups to get a decent turn around time. The squeaky wheel approach. From my experience I am positive about the brand and product. Currently rocking a 935 from 2017 that has been in daily use, no issues (touch wood)

[Skubarra]

1 hour ago, Jono said:

Warranty wise from what I understand you get a pretty much no questions asked replacement if your faulty unit is within warranty.

I have sent in out of warranty units that I have physically broken and been offered around 50% off the current model price, Been happy with this so far. I use my own courier as I'm based in CT and then do a couple of follow ups to get a decent turn around time. The squeaky wheel approach. From my experience I am positive about the brand and product. Currently rocking a 935 from 2017 that has been in daily use, no issues (touch wood)

When was this? I know this was the case years ago but definitely not in my and others that I have spoken to recent experience. Recently it was more like a marginal discount and often not better than specials you can dig up with a bit of googling. 

In Garmin's defence I heard stories of few people abusing the old system with the big discounts by buying second hand units cheaply and then getting out of warranty discounts on upgrades. So not surprised that they have closed that loophole.