Have I been ripped off?

[Sleepy]

I appear to have been scammed by Garmin, In April this year bought the 2008 NT update for my 550, despite phoning Garmin before hand to make sure it would be up to date..

I have just recieved an e-mail from Garmin telling me the 2009 version is available for another £60.00, I spoke to a 'supervisor' at Garmin UK who basically told me.. tough luck, I'll have to shell out another £60.00 for the 2009 update, no discount for wasting my money on the 'old' edition. I particularly would have liked the added POI's that are the campsites in Western Europe.

I bought my Zumo 'cos I'd heard that Garmin's customer support was second to none.. NOT SO!

I'm gutted at the way I've been treated and would advise potential owners to beware!

 

[Deleted account W]

If you buy a 2008 road atlas in a shop and then see a 2009 one for sale 6 months later would you expect the shop to give you the new one?

 

[cookie]

you've had 7/8 months use out of the old version. many users only update every 2 years. some even less often

 

[John Armstrong]

No, you've had 8 months of the 2008 software. Why not wait till April then get 2009, would you then be happy?

What customer support got to do with this? Isn't it sales?

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

If you buy a 2008 road atlas in a shop and then see a 2009 one for sale 6 months later would you expect the shop to give you the new one?

Well put

In April 2008 , how could Garmin CS been able to tell you about 2009

Sell your Zumo 550 with 2008 mapping on ebay now and buy another with 2009 mapping

If you can achieve the swap for less than the £60 upgrade on Mapping, will you be happy then.................and have another 12 months warranty to boot

 

[Wapping]

I appear to have been scammed by Garmin, In April this year bought the 2008 NT update for my 550, despite phoning Garmin before hand to make sure it would be up to date..

I have just recieved an e-mail from Garmin telling me the 2009 version is available for another £60.00, I spoke to a 'supervisor' at Garmin UK who basically told me.. tough luck, I'll have to shell out another £60.00 for the 2009 update, no discount for wasting my money on the 'old' edition. I particularly would have liked the added POI's that are the campsites in Western Europe.

I bought my Zumo 'cos I'd heard that Garmin's customer support was second to none.. NOT SO!

I'm gutted at the way I've been treated and would advise potential owners to beware!

Garmin told you the truth. The 2008 map set were completely up to date, when you bought them in April.

I bought my 550 new in June and registered it then. It had, not surprisingly, the 2008 mapset pre-installed.

Garmin had a 2008 cut-off date for registrations of, I think, August. If anyone had registered maps after that date then they are, I believe, entitled to a free upgrade. Everyone else? Well, they pay. It seems very simple. The details are all on the Garmin website.

Look at it another way. You have had the better part of eight months (two thirds of a year) use of the maps. If you want some fresh maps you will have to cough up, just like anyone who registered prior to August. If you think you can manage without the 2009 version, wait a year and save the cash.

In short, stop grizzling like a girl.

 

[digga]

Has someone been out in the middle of the night and ripped some roads up and moved them somewhere else??

Is it THAT vital to have 2009 mapping

How many roads have been completed since April 2008 ?..... not that many surely. The one outside my front door has changed much over the last 40 years

 

[Deleted account W]

The one outside my front door has changed much over the last 40 years

Mine has. Mind you I have moved house seven times.

 

[Sleepy]

If you buy a 2008 road atlas in a shop and then see a 2009 one for sale 6 months later would you expect the shop to give you the new one?

No... but I wouldn't expect to be told this is it for A Year Or So, then find out the info was wrong..

 

[Sleepy]

Garmin told you the truth. The 2008 map set were completely up to date, when you bought them in April.

I bought my 550 new in June and registered it then. It had, not surprisingly, the 2008 mapset pre-installed.

Garmin had a 2008 cut-off date for registrations of, I think, August. If anyone had registered maps after that date then they are, I believe, entitled to a free upgrade. Everyone else? Well, they pay. It seems very simple. The details are all on the Garmin website.

Look at it another way. You have had the better part of eight months (two thirds of a year) use of the maps. If you want some fresh maps you will have to cough up, just like anyone who registered prior to August. If you think you can manage without the 2009 version, wait a year and save the cash.

In short, stop grizzling like a girl.

You'll get my boot up your arse..

I would rather have been told to wait seven months 'til the next update was available.. after all I did phone to ask specifially if this update would last awhile.

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

You'll get my boot up your arse..

I would rather have been told to wait seven months 'til the next update was available.. after all I did phone to ask specifially if this update would last awhile.

if you've read this site common sense should have told you they upgrade yearly also asking when 2008 came out and the next mapping was due would have sensible... at the end of the day the mapping you have is not that old and will still work very well and you've the latest available mapping all summer

 

[Wapping]

I would rather have been told to wait seven months 'til the next update was available.. after all I did phone to ask specifially if this update would last awhile.

What obligation does Garmin have to tell you exactly when they plan their next map release, pray?

Clearly two thirds of a year does not make 'a while' in your world.

You asked: Have I been ripped off? The answers so far say, no.

However, it's your world, not ours. Simply don't buy the 2009 update if you think it's a rip off. It really is that easy.

 

[Flipfly]

Still running 2007 mapping and haven't got lost yet, I do however still rely on common sense

stick with ya 2008 mapping for a couple of years, I doubt there'll be much spare cash for building roads for a while

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Sell your GPS and use a map.......................then you'll only have yourself to fall out with, when you get lost

 

[Ash]

Still running 2007 mapping and haven't got lost yet, I do however still rely on common sense

stick with ya 2008 mapping for a couple of years, I doubt there'll be much spare cash for building roads for a while

The voice of reason above.
i have a brand new nuvi 255 bought today and after playing with my 2720 2008 mapping by the side of the nuvi in an hour of comparing i never found one road
on the nuvi 2009 mapping that 2008 hasn't.
so why waste your money.
ok!! there must be changes but all the roads around me that are not in 2008 mapping are also not in the 2009 mapping.

 

[cookie]

to be fair, they sometimes change the signs on existing roads. updated map may reflect that. i find road attributes like that very useful on motorways.

POIs also added etc.

i don't think OP has anything to complain about though.

 

[STUBBS]

swop you my spIII with v4 that still gets me where i need to get

 

[Taff]

Still running 2007 mapping and haven't got lost yet, I do however still rely on common sense Stick with ya 2008 mapping for a couple of years, I doubt there'll be much spare cash for building roads for a while

swop you my spIII with v4 that still gets me where i need to get

Ha. Until 2 years ago my dad still relied on a 1965 road atlas.

My advice is don't get too hung up on the very latest maps Sleepy. Until 3 months ago, I was touring Europe with 3 yr old maps on my 2610. The only problem I found TBH was that occasionally (it happened about 3 times) I would find myself on a new stretch of road which the GPS didn't know existed, but on each occasion it joined up with a known road within miles and all was well again.

I have now upgraded to CN2008 as much to get the latest hotel info etc as anything else.

 

[Dickieboy]

If you buy a 2008 road atlas in a shop and then see a 2009 one for sale 6 months later would you expect the shop to give you the new one?

No Kev' but that might be because they're only a fiver and not sixty quid.

 

[Bumpkin]

I have now upgraded to CN2008 as much to get the latest hotel info etc as anything else.

If you need a hotel whilst on the road (not pre planned) then this might be the only way. Otherwise I would do my research in advance using the Internet and create my own POI set with all the hotels etc. There are also POI sets with specific information about a whole variety of subjects out there, plenty on this forum for example.

The POIs embedded by Garmin are of questionable validity anyway, many appear to be out of date. I suppose in part this is due to the lead times that make both mapping and POI data out of date even on the very latest mapping. Many petrol stations around here no longer exist and have been built over years ago yet are still on my 2008 mapping (I only update every two years at best).