November 24, 2024

If this is support, color me unimpressed: Garmin: Support.

Thank you for contacting Garmin Customer Service and for taking the time to fill out the Technical Support E-mail Form.

The information you have submitted will help us to fix any problems you have encountered.

This is a computer-generated response confirming your e-mail request has been received by Garmin. There is no need to respond to this message. All inquiries are answered in the order they are received.

Please do not send multiple e-mail messages (with the same question) before you have received a response. Doing so will delay your answer. Please allow up to 5-7 working days for an e-mail response, as our response time is longer than normal due to an overwhelming amount of seasonal phone calls and e-mails.

We appreciate your support of Garmin products and hope we can continue to serve you.

So, I’ve had their Forerunner 301 for less than 12 hours, and it’s dead.  Paperweight dead.  The pleasing "battery charging" screen is no more, it responds to no button.  It’s moved a grand total of about 8 feet, over to the window to acquire satellites, and is now defunct.  It is no more.

Fortunately, there’s a phone number to call.  Hopefully they answer in less than 5-7 working days.

Update: after only a 17 minute hold (not bad for calling during lunch time) I have an RMA number, and a promise of a 7-10 day turn around.  Hope springs eternal.

Update2: I got a nice reply email from tech support shortly after the phone call, so their response time is pretty good, really.

7 thoughts on “Garmin: Support?

  1. Heh… it took one look at your chiseled, elite athletic form, pondered for a nanosecond the countless miles, the sweat, the rain, the cold… and promptly gave up the ghost.

    Some gadgets just can’t take it… better to find out early.

  2. If it’s brand new, return it from whence it came and get a new one

    BTW, I’ve had universally EXCELLENT service from Garmin, including their not charging me for out of warranty repairs to units I destroyed in brain-absent modes. Once they even gave me a case to go with the GPS.

  3. Garmin support was excellent for me, replacing all of the guts of a non-waterproof unit for a reasonable charge after I dropped it in salt water. I’d be surprised if your experience turns out to be negative.

  4. 2 days after I read this post my dog (who hasn’t chewed a thing) decided to make a snack out of my 301. So much for thinking about how happy I was that mine worked! Hope you are all right about that service thing. I don’t know how I ever functioned without mine…..(nerd girl, nerd girl).

Comments are closed.