Dealing with Garmin South Africa...

[MrJacques]

My experience:

Emails to support can take a few to receive a reply. For one I had a reply within a day, but also some that have gone unanswered. Phoning and speaking to customer support is better and faster and the person I spoke to was helpful and knowledgeable.

I had a Venu 1 with bad screen burn-in / deterioration. I sent it to them via courier and received an assessment and reply within a week.

I was hoping for a freebie since it seems to have been a known issue with that generation / model, but they offered me a Venu 2 for a discount, which is still reasonable as the watch was purchased in Jan 2020 and out of warranty.

The quote for the replacement was at a fixed repair rate since they don't have parts available for the Venu 1 anymore. I could also have chosen another watch, e.g. Forerunner 165 / 255, but that is seen as an upgrade even if retail pricing is less than the V2 and the discount they give for that is less.

I paid for the V2 on Thursday and received it this morning, so overall it was a pretty decent experience i.t.o. customer service from them. I don't think many companies will offer this for an item that's out of warranty.

 

Edited August 25 by MrJacques

[Sandro]

Geez but these guys are absoutely pathetic. I'm looking for a Neo2 T disc extractor so I can clean up my trainer. I see they have two options on their local site so I query online. Suprisingly I get an email response quite quick saying 'we have any tool extractors in stock'. Great so I ask how I can order one foe the 2T only to be told they meant they DON'T have any tool extractors in stock and I should check with Cycle Lab who are one of their biggest outlets. I check with Cycle Lab who initially don't know what the product is, and then they tell me they'll check if Garmin SA have stock...

Kill me now.

How Garmin has such bad local representation absolutely blows. My. Mind.

[WesleyR]

Hey guys

 

I have a Garmin Epix Gen 2 Sapphire and the back button has stopped working. I took it to Garmin and just got a response that they will replace the unit for R16k??  Surely there is a way to replace just the button because I don't have that kind of money for a replacement watch when just a single button isn't working....  😔 I've got multiple Garmin devices and never had any issues, so rather disappointed in this watch.

[michaelbiker]

Time to take matters into your own hands… 

https://dialedrunner.com/simple-fix-for-your-sticky-garmin-fenix-buttons/

[WesleyR]

5 hours ago, michaelbiker said:

Time to take matters into your own hands… 

https://dialedrunner.com/simple-fix-for-your-sticky-garmin-fenix-buttons/

Already tried this as well as soaking it in water for awhile according to their site, no joy. 

[michaelbiker]

7 minutes ago, WesleyR said:

Already tried this as well as soaking it in water for awhile according to their site, no joy. 

Bummer.

[Cyclewizz]

Anyone know how what's Garmin's turn around time for a quote these days ?

[bleedToWin]

1 hour ago, Cyclewizz said:

Anyone know how what's Garmin's turn around time for a quote these days ?

For repairs?

2-4 business days, or more.
/s

I'm in a bit of a loop with them and just sending follow ups frequently... 🙁

[Cyclewizz]

10 minutes ago, bleedToWin said:

For repairs?

2-4 business days, or more.
/s

I'm in a bit of a loop with them and just sending follow ups frequently... 🙁

They must really like you if you only waiting 2-4 business days.
I dropped off 2 faulty Garmins on the 18th Nov and I'm still waiting for quotes (almost 2 weeks)

[bleedToWin]

2 minutes ago, Cyclewizz said:

They must really like you if you only waiting 2-4 business days.
I dropped off 2 faulty Garmins on the 18th Nov and I'm still waiting for quotes (almost 2 weeks)

Eish, I'm just in the "answering emails" phase. Waiting for confirmation of a few things before sending off my gear. This really doesn't help to boost confidence at all! 

[Cyclewizz]

They used to be really good, would receive a quote within a few hours of dropping off the unit/s.

Now they on a permanent go slow. They do eventually send the quote.

Just have to be patient I suppose.

[wolver]

31 minutes ago, bleedToWin said:

Eish, I'm just in the "answering emails" phase. Waiting for confirmation of a few things before sending off my gear. This really doesn't help to boost confidence at all! 

They seem to answer emails only once a week and a different person each time. 

I've just sent my device in, they said 10 working days from when they receive it for the assessment. The experience so far doesn't have me oozing optimism🤞

[Bub Marley]

2 hours ago, Cyclewizz said:

Anyone know how what's Garmin's turn around time for a quote these days ?

Mine took around 6 weeks i think.

[Bub Marley]

6 weeks for a replacement unit.

 

Not sure how long a quote would take.

[Cyclewizz]

41 minutes ago, Bub Marley said:

Mine took around 6 weeks i think.

Oh gosh, they've really become useless then.
Let's hope it's way sooner.

[Frosty]

4 hours ago, wolver said:

They seem to answer emails only once a week and a different person each time. 

Not Garmin, but another company.

Speaking of emails, I sent one to a UK retailer, where I was questioning if the PayPal balance would is used before they debit the credit card. The site showed they would debit the full value from the card.
Anyway, they took a few days to respond, which turned out well for me. Had they responded in 24 hours, I wouldn’t have benefited from the 20% discount that popped up 72 hours later. That 20% allowed me to fun the purchase in full with my PayPal balance.