A tale of ineptitude, of Garmin Support, and perhaps a new record?

st13phil

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While on hols recently, I managed to leave the UK 13amp slide-on adaptor piece of my SP2720's ac power supply in a hotel room - either in Italy or on France, I know not where :(

Phoned GPS Warehouse to see if it was available as a spare part. Nope.

Phoned Garmin Support yesterday and spent 90 minutes (no, this isn't a record) listening to the automated "All our operators are busy" / muzak / "All our operators are busy" / muzak cycle before I decided I had better things to do with my life and gave up. Phoned Garmin Support again this morning and spent 2 hours (see, I told you 90 mins wasn't a record) listening to the automated "All our operators are busy" / muzak / "All our operators are busy" / muzak cycle before I gave up again :spitfire

On each of the next 4 redials over the ensuing hour I received the engaged tone. Maybe Garmin UK's phone system had gone into meltdown? :nenau

I'll have one last attempt I thought. Dialled the number, selected * then 1 then 2 to navigate their automated switchboard (this had become something of a reflex action for me by now) and nearly fell off my chair when the phone was answered after no more than two rings by a cheerful chap called Alex. Once I recovered my composure, I explained my tale of personal incompetance and asked if I could buy one of the UK adaptor thingies from them, please? Alex said, "hang on a minute, we might have one of them around here somewhere", and after about 15 seconds silence he returned to tell me that he had one in his hand and that if I gave him my address he'd post it out to me today :thumb

So... Having actually managed to make contact with a human at Garmin UK I've received great service. But why on earth does it take so long to actually get through on the phone in the first place? :nono

And what I'd like to know now is does spending 2 hours in the Garmin automated switchboard queue constitue a new record? :eek:
 
st13phil said:
And what I'd like to know now is does spending 2 hours in the Garmin automated switchboard queue constitue a new record? :eek:
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Respects... :bow :bow :bow


(I only managed 50 minutes... :eek: )

But...
when you get to speak to someone they are good, sorted my problem out very satisfactorily recently.
The slow phone response is the one thing that lets them down badly I think. :(
 
Hmmm, 2hrs that’s not good :(

They didn’t use to be that bad, 5/10..err 20 min wait maybe. Looks like they’ve sold lots more GPS’s, but not increased support :(
 
To relieve the boredom try pressing the different options. Aviation enquires get answered very quickly even if they relate to motoring products. :thumb
 
To be honest I think Garmin after sales STINKS!!!!! I spent 50 minutes in automated telephony loop. Finally after we decided there was perhaps a fault with my 2720 I sent it back.
I've waited 10 working days during which time they didn't have the courtesy to ring, write or email.
After waiting so long I tried to contact them. Another telephone nightmare.
Finally managed to get through to them by email.
Many apologies from them on how they are having problems with their telephone service, and my StreetPilot should be returned next week.
I find a turn around time in excess of 2 weeks unacceptable. In my business if I were to leave customers waiting so long then i would be sacked within days!!!
I was in the market for a Zumo but stuff them I'm buying a TomTom and suggest you do too!!!!!!
 
We've said it before, but they're victims of their own success......when we all started buying GPSystems four or five years ago, who#d have thought that evryman and his dog would have one...FFS, even Tarquin's got one (even if it is still in a box behind his settee :D )

Garmin are excellent, but their Phone system and staffing levels is letting them down :(
 
Fanum said:
Garmin are excellent, but their Phone system and staffing levels is letting them down :(
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Let's be honest.. most companies are like this these days..
 
Yes, many companies are like 'this' these days. But if if you charge premium prices, then your customers should expect premium service.
The customer is always 'king'. If you don't support your customers, then they'll desert you in preference to companies who will / can do better.
Perhaps this is what is happening to Garmin. The way I feel at the moment, the quicker their edifice collapses, the better.
 
I don't s'pose it helps when people like me, who live close to them, ride over, collar one of their techy chaps, who happily sorts everything out for you, and then posts the repaired item back within 3 days .....
 
YosemitePaul said:
To be honest I think Garmin after sales STINKS!!!!! I spent 50 minutes in automated telephony loop. Finally after we decided there was perhaps a fault with my 2720 I sent it back.
I've waited 10 working days during which time they didn't have the courtesy to ring, write or email.
After waiting so long I tried to contact them. Another telephone nightmare.
Finally managed to get through to them by email.
Many apologies from them on how they are having problems with their telephone service, and my StreetPilot should be returned next week.
I find a turn around time in excess of 2 weeks unacceptable. In my business if I were to leave customers waiting so long then i would be sacked within days!!!
I was in the market for a Zumo but stuff them I'm buying a TomTom and suggest you do too!!!!!!
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Fine to take a stand, but I think you could be cutting off your nose to spite your face :rob

Al :D
 
yep i agree - 7 to 10 days for a reply to a simple e-mail from me for a simple yes or no question.

Garmin charge a premium - I'd even say rip us off. In my experience, they don't back up their customers with a decent support service. I'm definately taking a long hard look at the competition before i buy another Garmin GPS :spitfire
 
Out of curiosity, is the the helplne number an '0870' or '0854' number? I ask because a 2 hour call on an 0870 number will cost you £12 and on an 0845 number £6.
 
Dickieboy said:
Out of curiosity, is the the helplne number an '0870' or '0854' number? I ask because a 2 hour call on an 0870 number will cost you £12 and on an 0845 number £6.
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It's an 0870 number.

This was my first experience of dealing with Garmin UK Customer Support and I think it's fair to say that had I not previously read about the "time to reply" issues and the "great once you actually get to talk to them" comments on this forum then I doubt I would have waited first 90 minutes then 2 hours on hold. Instead, I would by now be taking an entirely different course of action :spitfire

My suspicion is similar to that of others on this forum, i.e. that Garmin are to some extent a victim of their own success and that with the meteoric rise in demand for their products there has been a similar rise in demand for their after-sales service. Unfortunately, as helpful and competent as their support staff are, there just aren't enough of them to keep up with that demand. I also concur with the view that this situation cannot continue and, indeed, that it won't continue once word gets around that the after-sales contact process is so piss-poor. Sales will suffer, and that's a shame because the products are generally excellent. This plus the fact that their competitor's after-sales service is apparently even worse allows them some breathing space but before long someone is going to get it right and if that's not Garmin then they'll be the one that loses out.

I don't dispute that Garmin UK's staff are competent, helpful and willing to go the extra mile to make sure that the customer's happy but even 10-15 minutes in a hold queue waiting to talk to a Customer Service person is unacceptable. 7-10 days to get a first response to an e-mail is totally unacceptable. I know that some Garmin UK staff read this forum and I'm glad that they do because it seems to help in getting products and features that really do meet our needs. So, if you are one of those Garmin staff, even if after-sales service is not be your personal responsibility within the organisation, please pass this message on to your Sales Director: "Get your after-sales act together, Garmin UK, or you'll live to regret it." :nono
 
st13phil said:
"Get your after-sales act together, Garmin UK, or you'll live to regret it." :nono
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Is that a threat of legal action or something more personal ???
 
Twotter said:
Is that a threat of legal action or something more personal ???
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Neither - it's just a statement of fact that a business that fails to provide adequate after-sales service will eventually decline and possibly even fail as their consumer base migrates to their competitors.
 
Just so that people know garmin have a freephone number 08082380000 i think it still goes through to the normal boring music but at least it won't cost you anything.

:thumb
 
YosemitePaul said:
I was in the market for a Zumo but stuff them I'm buying a TomTom and suggest you do too!!!!!!
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???
Ever tried to contact Tomtom ?
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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