Garmin SA poor service

Item: Garmin South Africa
Rating: 1
Author: Johnny W

I have a spare Garmin Montana 650 GPS unit I bought as a backup to my Garmin Montana 600. The 650 is almost new and used only a handful of times. I took the 650 on a bike ride in Lesotho last week thinking I'd like to use the camera feature to geotag spots for my planning for a future guided motorcycle tour. First day of riding in rain (and the first time ever the unit has seen rain) the unit took in water and stopped working.

NavWorld in Cape Town directed me to Garmin SA in Rosebank . They told me I had to send the unit at my cost (its obviously full of water) and they would sell me a new model at a discounted price of over R7000 , plus transport. THEY DO NOT DO ANY REPAIRS in SA or worldwide.

It is obviously a gross product failure and because I bought it and kept as a spare over a year ago it is out of warrantee even though a most basic inspection would show it hasn't been used and In fact kept in its Garmin protective hard case.

Shocking attitude. I guess GPS units will soon go the same way as Walkmans and Ill be happy to see company with such a lack of client service go under.

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Replies (1)

Johnny W's updateReviewer Update

15 Feb 2020, 11:36

I'Ve had feedback from Garmin claiming the model is no longer available and because it is older than 12 months I should throw it away and take them up on their offer to purchase a new unit from them at a slightly reduced amount. Even though a most basic inspection would shoe the unit is just about new and plugging it into a pc will give a detailed usage record.

A simple online check shows the Montana 610 GPS is still available on sale in SA at a lower price from Takealot than their special offer to me.

@Garmin has a terrible attitude and since my issue I've had numerous chats on different social media platforms , with the general consensus the same as mine.
Here is the final get lost letter from @Garmin.

Good afternoon Mr Wood,

Garmin Southern Africa is aligned with the Garmin global service policies, devices are not opened and component level repair is not offered at support sites and an alternative option known as a fixed repair rate is offered, a fixed repair rate would be a flat repair cost in order to replace the device.

Your device, unfortunately, is no longer supported and has been discontinued a number of years ago, which means a fixed repair rate offer is not available for the model, this is why we will, in the absence of a fixed repair rate cost, offer a discount on the purchase of a new device, as relayed by Ronald below.

Our service policies are aligned with local consumer legislation, if your device was purchased from an authorised Garmin retailer less than 12 months ago then it would still be covered under the standard manufacturer warranty, regardless of support status and I would suggest returning the device with a proof of purchase attached so that we can assist.

Best Regards,

Dalton Nel
Technical and RMA Process Administrator

Garmin Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd | http://www.garmin.co.za
The Mall Offices I Office 802 – 8th floor I 11 Cradock Ave I Rosebank I 2196

Johnny W's update15 Feb 2020, 11:36

Reviewer Update

Best Regards,

Dalton Nel
Technical and RMA Process Administrator

Garmin Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd | http://www.garmin.co.za
The Mall Offices I Office 802 – 8th floor I 11 Cradock Ave I Rosebank I 2196