Poo-Poo on Garmin!

[boathealer]

Just got off a chat with Garmin support.

I have a 7612 whose touchscreen has failed after only 3 years of pampering indoors in the pilothouse.

I read about other Garmin touchscreens failing on other forums. I couldn't believe they wanted $1000 (flat-rate) to fix.

Just spent an hour on chat with them - no alternatives. Flat rate $1000 or nothing. No movement. They wouldn't even sell me the overlay so I could fix it myself! Unbelievable to have to pay 1/2 the price of a new unit to fix a failure after only 3 years of light use.

I will certainly NOT recommend Garmin products to anyone going forward unless this policy changes.

Anyone else have a touchscreen failure? Any alternative resolution(s)?

Disgusted,

 

[Woodstock]

This is not much help for your current situation, but FYI, I had two 12" Simrad touchscreens delaminate after about two years of use. They replaced them with new units at no cost which was nice but it was an unexpected hassle. Went all Raymarine on my latest install.

 

[boathealer]

This is not much help for your current situation, but FYI, I had two 12" Simrad touchscreens delaminate after about two years of use. They replaced them with new units at no cost which was nice but it was an unexpected hassle. Went all Raymarine on my latest install.

Thanks. Yeah, I have had good experiences with both of those manufacturers.

I don't mind a cost, and I understand failed components - it's the half-the-price-of-new amount that is the issue. That's insane. It also says that they don't want to deal with it at all. They appear to have shifted a huge part of their business more towards consumer products.......

 

[Codger2]

This is not much help for your current situation, but FYI, I had two 12" Simrad touchscreens delaminate after about two years of use. They replaced them with new units at no cost which was nice but it was an unexpected hassle. Went all Raymarine on my latest install.

I had a very similar experience years ago with Garmin & at the present time I'm all Raymarine. I continue to be quite surprised at the numerous Garmins I see on both new boats and brokerage. Their radars sucked in the early days but maybe they're better now. First impressions (experiences) can remain with you for a very long time!

 

[CaptTom]

3 years? Well, of course it's failed!

Garmin goes to all the trouble of releasing a new product every year. The least you could do is toss your old one overboard and go out and buy the new one.

You can't expect them to waste any precious resources on supporting that old crap you bought last year. Get real. This is Garmin!

 

[bgillroy]

Garmin stock has I creased to about $100 share over last few years. They have a great market position and know how to drive income and profit. Pays dividends too. TVH sat tv has same repair scheme for their product. Lump sum $950 for any repair or $2100 for new. Welcome to yachting and break out another thousand (boat)

 

[BandB]

Yes, it's ridiculous, but not half the price of a new unit as a new unit is $2750-3000.

Who did you buy the unit from and have you been back to them to see if they can help in any way?

We had good luck and liked the Garmin we had, but we sold the boat before it was three years old.

Now, looking at it from a business perspective. Either A-Garmin has a lot of failures so to do it cheaper would be very costly. In this case they have a major problem and should be doing it under warranty extension. Or B-This is a rare occurrence and they should absorb a substantial part of the cost.

See, in A it's very expensive for them but so clearly a Garmin problem and in B it's rare so not at all costly for them to treat a customer better. Either way, it's a very poor business decision to cost $1000. No logic makes this a good business decision.

 

[DDW]

With Garmin you are lucky they would even stoop to deal with a 3 year old product. They normally discontinue support entirely after 2 years. Garmin has the "reverse Midas touch" - everything they touch turns to crap. Most recently Navionics and DeLorme, both of which are now in an accelerating decent.

 

[boathealer]

Yes, it's ridiculous, but not half the price of a new unit as a new unit is $2750-3000.

Who did you buy the unit from and have you been back to them to see if they can help in any way?

We had good luck and liked the Garmin we had, but we sold the boat before it was three years old.

Now, looking at it from a business perspective. Either A-Garmin has a lot of failures so to do it cheaper would be very costly. In this case they have a major problem and should be doing it under warranty extension. Or B-This is a rare occurrence and they should absorb a substantial part of the cost.

See, in A it's very expensive for them but so clearly a Garmin problem and in B it's rare so not at all costly for them to treat a customer better. Either way, it's a very poor business decision to cost $1000. No logic makes this a good business decision.

PO bought and had installed - I have his receipts. 1/2 of new when purchased - I suspect online prices have gone up as it is discontinued (yay me!) and becoming scarce.

I found a replacement touchscreen/display in China for $799. (not much better). I will do the repair myself and at least save the weeks of turnaround time.....

 

[T210DRVR]

With Garmin you are lucky they would even stoop to deal with a 3 year old product. They normally discontinue support entirely after 2 years. Garmin has the "reverse Midas touch" - everything they touch turns to crap. Most recently Navionics and DeLorme, both of which are now in an accelerating decent.

In my opinion the only reason to buy Garmin is the same as why people buy Apple, the perceived notion of quality and their operating logic. Garmin has always had very intuitive menus and once you are familiar with one Garmin product other Garmin products seem to follow a similar pattern. That is why I selected them when I upgraded the electronics in my GB 42.

I used a fair amount of Lowrance stuff but it always seems like I was wandering around the menus trying to find the function that I wanted. Perhaps Raymarine and some others are better in this regard.

I only use one Apple product, an IPad. The aviation App that I use only works on IOS. Otherwise, I would be 100% Android.

 

[DDW]

My complaint with Garmin is not the quality of the hardware, or their UI, both of which are better than average in the industry. My complaint is with their product support, which is dead last, in an industry with an already low standard for product support.

 

[Comodave]

I have had excellent support from Raymarine. In 2003 i bought a system that had a DSM300 in it. I used it on one boat and then moved it to another boat. In 2013 I started having issues with it. I called Raymarine and they asked if it had been damaged or waterlogged, I said no. They said return it and they would send me the new current version. The only cost was for the UPS shipping it back to them. Then the next year I was talking to them about installing some other gear and they told me to send the new module back and they would give me a newer one. I couldn’t believe it but they replaced the old DSM300 two times for free. Who does that?

 

[JDCAVE]

I have had excellent support from Raymarine. In 2003 i bought a system that had a DSM300 in it. I used it on one boat and then moved it to another boat. In 2013 I started having issues with it. I called Raymarine and they asked if it had been damaged or waterlogged, I said no. They said return it and they would send me the new current version. The only cost was for the UPS shipping it back to them. Then the next year I was talking to them about installing some other gear and they told me to send the new module back and they would give me a newer one. I couldn’t believe it but they replaced the old DSM300 two times for free. Who does that?

Amazing! I’ve found that Furuno provides good support for their legacy products as well.

Jim

 

[sunchaser]

I had a very similar experience years ago with Garmin & at the present time I'm all Raymarine. I continue to be quite surprised at the numerous Garmins I see on both new boats and brokerage. Their radars sucked in the early days but maybe they're better now. First impressions (experiences) can remain with you for a very long time!

I agree Walt. It would be interesting to know if the touch screen Raymarine units are "suffering" early demise. An oft forgotten trick is to keep your screens covered all the time when not in use, especially the daylight viewable ones.

 

[BandB]

Amazing! I’ve found that Furuno provides good support for their legacy products as well.

Jim

I've found Furuno's support to be unrivaled. They were also extremely helpful when we decided to upgrade. They are use to meeting the requirements of commercial users which makes recreational users look easy.

 

[jleonard]

The Garmin C192 chart plotter I bought in 2006 has been flawless.
Small screen but I can't justify replacing it.

 

[DDW]

I've found Raymarine support to be pretty good, but not flawless. They will repair pretty old stuff, and continue to update software (and add features) to MFDs that are many years out of manufacture - unheard of at Garmin. My main complaint with Raymarine is they are not set up to do repair for transient cruisers. They have a flat rate repair for many of their products, but you must send in YOUR unit and wait to get it through the repair cue and returned. Can be several weeks. What I'd like is what some other manufacturers do - send me a replacement and charge my card for a new one. When I return the broken one, refund the difference to a flat rate repair. This could potentially be done overnight in much of the US. Even on product they do not repair (just confirm dead and replace) the still require sending it in, diagnosing it (dead), then send a new replacement.

This policy caused me to return from SE Alaska with no radar, could have used it some days....

 

[wkearney99]

This is the sort of nonsense that makes me want to look into the black box variants of chart plotters. Where the screen is separate from the processor. At least then there's the hope of being able to replace a screen not a whole unit. But it seems like the black box systems don't get any better support or upgrade path than the all-in-one kind.

I'll second the comments about Furuno support. They've been nothing but helpful, even with my long-discontinued Navnet3D-based units. Which are still cranking along more than 10 years since they were installed. That sort of longevity definitely makes me give them strong consideration for the next upgrade. But their software and features do seem to lag behind Garmin and Raymarine, so... I don't know...

 

[DDW]

If chartplotting is all you are after, something like OpenCpn running on a sunlight readable monitor gives you pretty good control. The required computer only costs a few dollars, but a sunlight readable monitor is still some real cash. The trouble is, getting the integration in even low end MFDs from Raymarine and others is just not possible at this point. Radar overlay, bottom scan overlay in particular are lacking. I have the Raymarine for that reason, and keep the generic computer plotter as the backup - though for voyage planning it is the primary as the UI is much snappier.

 

[johnma]

I have had great support from Furuno. My boat is a 2003 and has the original Furuno systems. I have an issue about once a year and even if something is no longer available, their service reps always have a good supply of used parts to help out.
John

 

[catalinajack]

+1 on Apple products. Over-priced as to comparable Android products.

In my opinion the only reason to buy Garmin is the same as why people buy Apple, the perceived notion of quality and their operating logic. Garmin has always had very intuitive menus and once you are familiar with one Garmin product other Garmin products seem to follow a similar pattern. That is why I selected them when I upgraded the electronics in my GB 42.

I used a fair amount of Lowrance stuff but it always seems like I was wandering around the menus trying to find the function that I wanted. Perhaps Raymarine and some others are better in this regard.

I only use one Apple product, an IPad. The aviation App that I use only works on IOS. Otherwise, I would be 100% Android.

 

[O C Diver]

I'm running Garmin's 5200 series MFDs which are quite old. They still work well and was able to add the newest series radar antenna in 2015. Was pleasantly surprised that I could do that, and get all the functionality with a simple software update. I've had good luck with their product phone support but have never returned anything to them. I guess like with so many things, the manufacturer really doesn't know how popular a product will be or how long it will last. I've been very fortunate that all but two Garmin products I've purchased have had better than I expected service life.

Furuno has made great products and outstanding support. Have 2 Navnet MFDs and a standalone video depth sounder on my charter boat that are about 20 years old and still going strong.

Ted

 

[Peter Keating]

My Garmins are old enough, that they are not touchscreen. I've had pretty good luck (navigating features) and never had a fail. I've had Furuno and others on various boats over the years. Have to agree that "good" customer service is the exception these days....it's too bad, as I believe it helps sales in the long run.....

Take your Garmin issue over to the THT guys....get them spun up and maybe Garmin will notice(?) If nothing else, you'll feel better.

 

[syjos]

Furuno has unrivaled support for legacy products,

They recently replaced the magnetron and some other component in my 1980' vintage 1830 radar.

A client's older MFD quit working a few days before a summer cruise departure. I set up the repair order, client drives unit to Camas, WA Furuno facility, goes to lunch for several hours, Furuno calls him and says unit is repaired, come pick it up.

 

[stevemitchell]

I have all four major brands aboard my boat, albeit for slightly different reasons. I rely on Furuno because of it's reliability and support for my day-to-day use. Raymarine would be my second choice if I couldn't use Furuno.

Simrad and Garmin both have huge support challenges, but at least Simrad will support things slightly longer. Garmin is truly the Apple of the MFD world, which they've found a market for. Almost every new boat I see here in the PNW seems to come with Garmin, and people love the interface.

MFD choices are so personal when it comes to how they look, what they do, and their interface, it's hard to judge one over the other on that front. However, in terms of support and longevity, I think it's a pretty easy decision

 

[wkearney99]

For a lot of boaters that don't use their vessels regularly having simple interfaces like what Garmin is offering is a real temptation. And why not? Better to have them USING IT instead of something unfathomably complicated that they never touch.

Oh, I get it, lest the naysayers chime in with "if you can't do it the hard way you shouldn't be doing it at all" approach. Yes, there's absolutely something worthwhile to be said for putting some effort into understanding what you're doing when operating a vessel. No argument against that. Yet that ignores the reality of how a lot of recreational boating takes place. And it's that crowd of idiots that helps drive/keep costs down through sales volumes.

We can't all be experts, so thankfully the market has options that cater to a wide range of users.

 

[captmikem]

Garmin +

Well I have to say something good that just happened with Garmin.

YEARS ago, and I mean a long time ago I bought a Garmin USB gps puck. I used it and eventually it was stowed away for years.

I just started using a Raspberry Pi. (amazing little thing) with open cpn.

I drug out the puck usb and went to update the firmware. It froze during update and became useless. I sent an email to garmin, they said send in the old one and they would send a new one no cost, no shipping. I did, and they did!

That is the kind of service I like!

M

 

[rsn48]

I thought I was on a different boating forum when I read this post, I will link you to a thread on the "Hull Truth" forum. What I like about the thread there is that some retailers that service Garmin came in to respond.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/1065653-garmin-too-big-their-britches.html

 

[Bacchus]

Just be aware that Raymarine did the same when they had an issue with radio mic cords failing. They hid behind their warranty and required customers to send their radios in before offering a price. Poor customer service when they could have supplied replacement cords as they are plugs on both ends.
ICOM on the other hand when they had a similar problem stood behind their products and replaced all bad cords whether in or out of warranty.

 

[Olebird]

Try Steve at PalmDr.com If he can get the parts he will fix for fair price.