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I PURCHASED A GARMIN 4212 UNIT LAST YEAR AT THE MIAMI BOAT SHOW. THIS NEW UNIT WAS ADVERTISED THAT WITH THE ADDITIONAL CHIP ( $200.00 EXTRA ) WOULD BE CAPABLE OF USEING THE NEW " AUTO GUIDANCE " WHICH ALLOWS THE BOATER TO POINT AND CLICK AND FOLLOW A SAFE ROUTE TO A END DESTINATION. I PURCHASED THIS UNIT FOR THIS OPTION. AFTER HAVING TO ENTER LAT / LON'S FOR YEARS THIS NEW UNIT WAS GOD SENT. EVER SCINCE I INSTALLED THIS GARMIN UNIT THIS FEATURE NEVER WORK! I WAS IN CONTACT WITH GARMIN AFTER SPENDING HOURS TRYING TO FIGURE WHAT I SCREWED UP ONLY TO FIND OUT THIS FEATURE WOULD ONLY WORK WITH A MINIMUM OF 6 FEET OF WATER BELOW YOUR BOAT. I BOAT IN THE PECONIC BAY OF LONG ISLAND WHICH HAS AT POINTS 4 FEET OF WATER. EVEN IF I SET THE DEPTH OF THE UNIT AT 3' IT DEFAULTS BY PROGRAMING TO 6' WITH OUT ME KNOWING.
I CONTACTED GARMIN AFTER PURCHASING THE UNIT AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THIS AND THAT THEY WERE WORKING ON THE PROBLEM. AFTER BOATING A COMPLETE SEASON WITH THE UNIT NOT FUNCTIONING AS SOLD I WAS JUST TOLD AT THE NY BOAT SHOW ( BY GARMIN REP.)THAT THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED, JUST RETURN THE CHIP AND gARMIN WILL SEND A NEW CHIP THAT WILL WORK. SOUND GREAT! I CONTACTED GARMIN AND AFTER " TALKING " THEY WANT $106.00 TOCHANGE THE CHIP SO IT WORKS! THIS IS A RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONTACTED MY PURCHASER "CONSUMERS MARINE" AND THEY RESEARCHED GARMIN AND CONFIRMED THAT GARMIN WANTS THE EXTRA CHARGE. WHAT A RIP OFF. WILL NEVER BUY GARMIN AGAIN.
sorry for your problem - but - ive had a few issues with mine and even when it was my fault - or out of warranty - they have fixed and repaired it sometimes for free - when I probably should have bene charged. My experience with Garmin has been that they are among the best support in of any product in any industry. Because of this, I buy anything that I need, if Garmin makes it, from them!
This is just a crazy thought but will it work if you adjust the depth offset by a few feet? Set your water depth to actual surface depth, not water under the boat depth. In other words, if your boat draws 3 feet of water, add 3 feet to the water depth. Then, it will ready 6 feet when there is only 3 feet under the boat but the water depth will really be 6 feet. Clear as mud?
I also have the great Garmin GPS/Depthfinder 2010C with thru hull transducer. Yep, first the temp sensor went out and had to purchase another. Then within a few months of that, the entire ducer went out, thus no bottom readings. Yep, the warranty was just out and others may have covered, but not Garmin. As of now, just to keep my 2010C operating correctly, after the orig. installation,, it's cost me over $700. to replace ducer and pay labor. I've never had any transducer go bad until this one.. and it has to be the most costly. Kinda wonder why they fail when just out of warranty...
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2005 McKee 23 TE/FS with 200 Zukes
50 Ton Masters with Towing Endorsement.
Sounds like you failed to do research on the product before you bought it. Did you try to download a user manual? There is free internet at the Miami show. On the second level overlooking the main lobby.
And do you REALLY want to rely on a GPS to plot a course for you? There is a reason Garmin set the default for 6 feet. I have found that electronic charts are NOT always 100% accurate. And then there is position error. If I was going to rely on a GPS to plot me a course I would want an extra margin of safety built in to compensate for chart/position errors.
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1999 20 foot Seagull power cat
Single 135 Optimax outboard
Call Garmin Cust Service and TALK NICE to see if they'll cut you a deal. I had a 76CSx that broke a battery contact - well beyond the warranty period. Under their policy they wanted $200 or so for the repair. I called them and they reduced it to $35 including postage. In the whole scheme of things $100 ain't too bad - Garmin has always been there when I needed them and that's been plenty over many years and many products. I have to admit, I've never had a warranty issue, just "how to" and some other connectivity questions.
Now take a deep breath and exhale slowly! That's it. Now get up and walk slowly to the fridge, open the door, reach in and get a cool one, pop the top and enjoy.
Timber, your Consumers Marine should have told about the safe route feature requirements on the Garmin. This was done to protect Garmin from litigation if you were to run aground. Consumers Marine is a very reputable company, Im surprised they couldn't do more for you. Other electronics manufactures that have this feature have their requirements that limit navigation as well. Libra, the manufacturer of your transducer is not Garmin, it's Airmar. Airmar makes transducer for most of the major electronics builders. If you think you are having issues you may want to call Airmar, they are pretty good about helping customers. It is always unfortunate when customers have issues and the reps are pretty good about taking care of these issues. Garmin should have taken care of the chip issue unless you waited too long to make your claim.
FYI,
I bought the garmin 545 with the vision chip and experienced the same issue. No one knew about in advance as it turned out to be a bug in the vision chips software. The customer rep I worked with at garmin said it would be fixed when the new chip came out. I had to mail mine in first then they sent one to me at no charge.
THIS PROBLEM was a bug in the software, and you could not trick it as it knows the water depths. Since I got the replacement chip it works fine as long as a bridge is not between you and where you want to go.
I am living with that as I am not relying on it to navigate for me, but it can sure be a help in areas you haven't been.
Since it was buggy software, you need to escalate your claim and try to get a supervisor on the phone, as you paid for something in good faith that it would work as advertised.
Also make sure you update your machine to the latest software release.
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Capt. Rick
Good Fishing !
205 Edgewater
Thunderbolt, Ga
In August 2004, Overton's acquired Consumers Marine Electronics, the industry leader in selling marine electronics through direct mail and the Internet. In January 2005, Overton's broadened its product offering further with its acquisition of Ski Limited. Overton's was acquired by Linsalata Capital Partners in May 2006.
I also have the great Garmin GPS/Depthfinder 2010C with thru hull transducer. Yep, first the temp sensor went out and had to purchase another. Then within a few months of that, the entire ducer went out, thus no bottom readings. Yep, the warranty was just out and others may have covered, but not Garmin. As of now, just to keep my 2010C operating correctly, after the orig. installation,, it's cost me over $700. to replace ducer and pay labor. I've never had any transducer go bad until this one.. and it has to be the most costly. Kinda wonder why they fail when just out of warranty...
Arent the temp sensors and ducers from Airmar, just packaged for Garmin? If thats the case - Garmin cant be blamed - and I think that is the case for all of the major manufacturers.
Dear Boaters,
My new Garmin unit was and stillis under warranty. My gripe with Garmin is the fact that they advertised the unit to do Point and click navigation to a waypoint. No captain worth his salt would ever totally rely on this information in whole. With respect to lazy iguana's comment about not doing my homework I did. The problem here is that Garmin will not stand behind there product. The add along with the manual did not state it would only work if you have 6 feet of water at all times below you! How would you feel if you purchased a new car and it was only able to make right turns???? I feel that garmin should stand behind there product and replace the defective chip at no charge. I understand that when a new unit comes out buggs may happen. just stand behind your product!!!
i could not have been nicer on the phone with the rep. but no dice.........
Jesus, it's big of you to turn off your cap's lock. If you want to shout, go in to the shower and shout to your heart's content.
FYI, first time posters here who's first post is a complaint are always suspect, and after reading your two above posts, they are no different than anyone else's who came here for the sole purpose of complaining.
If no one has told you prior, listen up:
"if you choose to purchase the "first of" of ANY new electronic product, then you should know that YOU will be a field tester for this "first of" unit, and if you think different - well you deserve what you got.
From a technological standpoint Garmin equipment is on the cutting edge of technology, and what you bought was bought on the "ASSUMPTION" (ie. sales talk) that it would do what you wanted it to do. From what you have said, it sounds like it does do what it was PROPOSED to do. Just because you do not like the depths' that were finally programed into the software, well, ease up and join the real world.
If you think you are being "ripped off," sell the Garmin and buy another brand that will do what you want.
Every publically traded company has an "investor relations" division. Garmin is no different. The IR web site is at: http://www8.garmin.com/stock/
E mail to IR is: investor.relations@garmin.com Often Invester Relations can help to resolve customer complaints when Customer Relations cannot....especially of this nature.
Like I said before, It was a bug on the vision software, not the machine. I reported the bug and worked for about an hour with a rep. He couldn't figure out the problem on the spot, but did get back to me and explained the 6 foot problem. That means anywhere the water is 6 foot or less at mean low, it wouldn't calculate a route.
That bug was fixed in the aug 2007 release of the vision chip. They sent me an updated chip and I returned to Garmin, the one with the bug. Now it works fine - except for bridges . I am sure that will be fixed as well.
You need to check the garmin website and keep your units software up to their current release. They are constantly fixing issues and making enhancements. The 545 has some great features. The navigate to is a nice feature to help you plan a route. I have noticed that some of the routes it caculates are much farther than necessary. And that is due to the fact the software trys to calculate a safe route, that won't put you on a sandbar.
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Capt. Rick
Good Fishing !
205 Edgewater
Thunderbolt, Ga
GARMIN RIP OFF
