Garmin Disappointment

[Ken H.]

I purchased a new Zumo 660 and wanted to get another battery door (long story). So I emailed Garmin Customer Service asking how to order and price, etc. excepting a straightforward transaction. Instead I received a reply the battery door is not available as a separate item. So I requested an escalation and received the same answer from a supervisor. Disappointing. I guess customer service isn’t what it used to be at Garmin either.

 

There’s a lesson here: Loose your battery door = $800 down the tubes.

 

[Slyder_Steve]

Ken,

I have to be honest, of all the feedback I've heard about Garmin, this has got to be the first negative I've heard--disappointing.

 

Can't give up your quest. Try again with different contacts maybe?

 

Never give in...

 

My 2 cents.

 

Slyder

[T__]

Ken, maybe give them a little more time to understand that people are having problems with the battery door..

 

Garmin said the same thing about the rubber terminal cover on the (550) motorcycle base as the rubber cover had problems.. At first it was a total base send back & replacement then after a while a simple call & they would send out a replacement rubber cover no questions asked..

 

If you lost your cover I’m sure others have & will also..

 

Twisty

 

[Rob]

I purchased a new Zumo 660 and wanted to get another battery door (long story). So I emailed Garmin Customer Service asking how to order and price, etc. excepting a straightforward transaction. Instead I received a reply the battery door is not available as a separate item. So I requested an escalation and received the same answer from a supervisor. Disappointing. I guess customer service isn’t what it used to be at Garmin either.

 

There’s a lesson here: Loose your battery door = $800 down the tubes.

 

Sorry to read that Ken, they replaced my 2 year old 550 a month ago for no charge. Like the others mention, keep trying.

 

 

[allikanbe]

If that was Garmin CA, try Gamin USA. I'm sure someone here can give you a local address if needed.

It makes no sense.

[krussell]

I too am quite surprised.

 

Are you calling 800-800-1020, or some other number?

 

I lost one of the screws from my 550 power cable. I called them, they mailed me out two that day free of charge.

 

Curious, how did you lose your 660 battery door? I don't want to lose mine.

[marcopolo]

If that was Garmin CA, try Gamin USA. I'm sure someone here can give you a local address if needed.

It makes no sense.

 

There is no Garmin Canada. When you phone customer service you get Garmin USA. If, however, Garmin determines that your unit needs to be repaired, you ship it to a repair centre in Montreal. Repair centre is a bit of a misnomer, as they don't really repair much of anything; they just ship you a refurbished unit as a warranty replacement. If you're out of warranty, you pay for a refurbished unit, no matter how simple the problem.

[bobbybob]

Is it still under warranty? If so, it's DEFECTIVE! Battery door just came loose on its own while you were riding down the highway, right? Call for an RA# and return it for a brand spanking new one!!

[Ken H.]

Are you calling 800-800-1020, or some other number?

This is an email based correspondence (their queue wait times at the 800 number are 30 to 40 minutes and I can’t afford that on a cell phone from Canada) never-the-less their response has been quite consistent in three replies now – The battery door is not available. Period.

 

I requested an escalation of my complaint again today – Can’t some just go to the service dept, take the battery door off a returned defective Zumo 660 and drop it in the mail to me? We shall see how they respond...

 

[bobbybob]

If you continue to pursue thru email, I doubt you'll get any relief. Too impersonal and easy to say "no". Try calling them when they first open for business in the morning--maybe even 5 minutes earlier. Whenever I've spoken with a live body at Garmin, I've always been treated fairly. You'll probably have to escalate it on the phone too, but beats the alternative.

 

Edit: here's a review where someone else cited your issue.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R13CHUI291JLF5/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R13CHUI291JLF5

[T__]

Ken, in my experience with Garmin customer service start your call as early as you can just as they open.. Start your call about 20 seconds before they open their lines & let it ring through their opening time..

 

I have had fairly good luck with short wait times if I call just as they open..

 

 

Twisty

 

 

 

[krussell]

Are you calling 800-800-1020, or some other number?

This is an email based correspondence (their queue wait times at the 800 number are 30 to 40 minutes and I can’t afford that on a cell phone from Canada) never-the-less their response has been quite consistent in three replies now – The battery door is not available. Period.

 

I requested an escalation of my complaint again today – Can’t some just go to the service dept, take the battery door off a returned defective Zumo 660 and drop it in the mail to me? We shall see how they respond...

 

If you want assistance in calling, I can call for you. I've got a headset, and can listen to hold music for hours while I do other work. Send me a PM if you like...

[scout6]

I have changed to Skype for all my toll free calling. It is free!

[hopz]

The queue time for Garmin support is extremely variable. Try calling on Tuesdays afternoons... I usually can get in then with no wait time at all.

 

As a moderator over at zumoforums, I can tell this community that Garmin customer service is top notch and there are literally hundreds of cases of free replacements and repairs were done when it was not called for. This is not to say they are going to do a replacement all the time, but they frequently do.

 

Perhaps the battery door on the 660 was like the rubber contact cover on the 550. The issue was not really that they did not want to send out replacement covers, it was that the supply chain system had not been set up to handle it. It took several months to generate an internal, separate part number for the cover- alone as a separate part, get a new rubber compound made, then get it into the system. Once the start-up was complete the system supplied rubber covers in literally days, not weeks.

 

If you think service is bad... go ahead and buy Tom Tom, then get back in touch.... you will have a new definition of bad...

 

 

 

 

[Ken H.]

Garmin finally arranged to have a battery door shipped to me, but I have mixed feelings about how I got it to happen... Way back in 1989-91 I worked for Garmin, I was their 12th employee hired. Shortly after I was hired an engineer named Cliff Pemble started who is now their President and COO. So I pulled the name drop trick and sent him a complaint letter. A few days ago I got an email that they had found a door at a service support company in Quebec and it arrived today.

 

I really don’t think I should have had to pull such a string to get this to happen, but oh well, in the end I got the door.

 

[bobbybob]

Glad you finally got the door, but yes its too bad it happened that way. Just curious--did you ever talk live to a customer service rep. and explain the problem? If so, what was their response?

[Ken H.]

Just curious--did you ever talk live to a customer service rep. and explain the problem? If so, what was their response?

I never talked to anyone in person. I tried several times but couldn't get through due to hold times.

[Eckhard Grohe]

Your perseverance and name dropping has probably done Garmin and their user community a real service by alerting someone with the power to get things done to a potential issue with their service group and with their product. As a Garmin user I thank you.

[Marty Hill]

Ken, what you did was unnecessary. I waited 12 minutes yesterday/talked to a real person and he mailed the parts to me at no charge and checked to see if I had the latest updates on my zumo. Judging by the amount of time you spend here I wonder why you could not wait to talk to someone. Sending an email is easy but talking to someone would have solved your problem with no need to complain or even start this thread. Over the years I've seen about 99% positive toward garmin. They have replaced gps's for me that were a bit out of wty.

[Ken H.]

Sorry Marty, but I disagree. Why should a company’s quality of service vary depending upon the method used to communicate with them? I.e. an emailed request be treated poorer than a phoned one?

 

As I mentioned in this thread, the reason I didn’t talk to them on the phone was that the three times I called the recorded announcement said the average hold time was approximately 20 minutes (one time it said 40!). A cost on a cell phone (the only thing I have) from Canada to Kansas I can’t afford.

 

I exchanged four emails with them, each time in a very civil way asking my request be escalated to the next level. At each escalation I was told no, I couldn’t get a replacement door. Only after I wrote a snail mail letter to the president of Garmin did suddenly their position change and I got the part.

 

[bobbybob]

I'm glad you did it. As you pointed out, there's a disconnect that their customer service failed to see, and probably have no authority to escalate it far enough for a rational solution. This should have been a simple fix for a company that values their reputation for exemplary customer service. Garmin--you've raised the bar--and now we're gonna hold ya to it!

 

Thanks!

[mteitler]

Customer support issues aside, I stuck a piece of velcro on the door and its mate on the other side of the back of the 660. Whenever I take the door off, I stick it to the other side so I don't lose it. $.02

[krussell]

Customer support issues aside, I stuck a piece of velcro on the door and its mate on the other side of the back of the 660. Whenever I take the door off, I stick it to the other side so I don't lose it. $.02

 

Great idea. I lost one of the mount covers already, they sell the replacements for a few dollars. I'm going to do the same thing for that.

[boatzo]

Just curious--did you ever talk live to a customer service rep. and explain the problem? If so, what was their response?

I never talked to anyone in person. I tried several times but couldn't get through due to hold times.

 

Ken,

 

Sorry you had the problem, but also happy that you got it resolved with the letter to the boss. I hope you explained in the letter, the problems you had with customer service. I understand your problem with the wait time to talk to someone, but it seems that email just lends itself to a short canned response. Shouldn't be that way, but it is. A verbal exchange usually works much better.

 

I work for a Garmin marine dealer and our office manager spends a lot of time on the phone with their customer service and with her perseverence, she usually gets what we need.