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I bought a Fenix 6X pro just over a year ago which had been great until it started to record bad elevation data, doubling or even tripling elevation gain on a ride, when I looked at the Garmin altitude data I could see it dropping out occasionally for a split second and going down to -50 feet or so, meaning if I was 200 feet above sea level it would add 250 feet of elevation gain instantly, I had calibrated it at the start of ride and cleaned the sensor port under running had water, as per the troubleshooting guide, but no difference.
I opened an online chat with Garmin who said it would need to be replaced and gave me a contact number for Garmin Uk.
I called them Monday morning and after confirming the fault they agreed it needed replacing, but had no stock of 6X Pro’s but could send me a 7X Pro Solar instead, I could send mine in and once received they would send out the 7, or as I had Ard Rock this weekend, pay a £300 surcharge to be refunded once the 6 was returned.
The 7x arrived yesterday (Tuesday) morning and I’ve just dropped off my faulty 6x at the UPS drop off (pre paid returns label from Garmin).
Fantastic service and a very happy customer here.
Repeat customer and I would never move away from Garmin due to their exemplary CS over the years.
That's reminded me, I need to sort the broken edge 530 that I ripped a mounting wing off, it's out of warranty though so not holding out too much hope!
Same incredibly positive experience with some Garmin watch issues. Big thumbs up to Garmin customer support
I managed to snap the USB cover on my Edge 830 2 weeks ago. 5 minutes on the online chat, where I was trying to buy one and they'd created an order to send one free of charge. They said it wouldn't arrive till mid September due to having not stock but it turned up yesterday, happy days!
Same experience with a Vivosmart of which the band broke a couple of weeks ago - quick chat, free replacement and free postage to return the old one.
i've had 2 fenix 5's that had an elevation problem, my friends garmin broke a few weeks ago and they've just replace for new model instinct solar..
my current vivoactive 4s is having issues with charging, think i'll see what they say..
i've had good service too,
I've also had great customer service experience from Garmin...the kit isn't cheap, but it works well and the CS is incredibly good.
Hmmmm, A very similar elevation issue is the one major drawback with my Instinct solar, online forums and help topics were sort of useful, a couple of firmware updates seemed to reduce the level of error but in the end the best advice anyone provided was to apply elevation error correction on Strava which just ignores the devices elevation data and uses the Strava maps data, it's clearly enough of a frequent issue across lots of devices that Strava implemented a (not very widely promoted or automatic) fix at their end.
I don't tend to look at elevation data on my wrist while riding so it's not actually a problem anyway. it would be nice to have a way to disable the altimeter on the watch and just not record the gibberish data it provides but ho-hum, there's a replacement version now so I'll not hold my breath for any major firmware fixes...
Garmin never offered me a new shiny watch for a bargain price, or actually solved the problem, but I can't say I'm dissatisfied it's still a great product in spite of this flaw, I'm just not super impressed...
Sounds great, wish more companies were like this.
Can I ask whether you bought your Garmins from Garmin direct? Was proof of purchase required?
Yes, same again, Fenix 5 battery issues. Out of guarantee. Replaced without question within the week. I hope someone from Garmin is reading this, because great Customer Service results in happy customers who become repeat customers.
Similar story with my Varia Radar light. Stopped charging - rang Garmin - replacement within a week (only took that long because they were out of stock of the new model that didn't have that fault). Didn't even buy from Garmin, bought from Wiggle and when their system got updated I couldn't access my order to start a warranty claim wit Wiggle so Garmin just replaced it anyway.
1st class customer service.
Can I ask whether you bought your Garmins from Garmin direct? Was proof of purchase required?
I bought mine from jurawatches.co.uk no PoP required, but they are registered via serial number and Garmin connect.
I have found them a bit variable over the years. I had a heart rate monitor which stopped working after only a few months and they were great, replaced it super fast. I had a vivoactive watch a few years back which just completely died. I can't remember whether it was just outside one year old or two years old, but their customer services person said essentially "oops, you're just outside your warranty period so unlucky, you can pay us for a refurb replacement ". After I pointed out that the warranty was on top of statutory rights, and that a £200+ watch should last longer than that, they said "oh OK then, we'll replace it for free ". Had similar with an Edge 820 a few years back, bizarrely after a firmware update the battery life completely tanked, and they had no way to roll back or fix it, just said " maybe the next firmware will be better ". So I waited for the next release, no better. They then said "well, we agree that we broke it with the firmware update, we have no way to fix it or any prediction of when we might. Our suggestion is that you pay us a bunch of cash for a replacement". Again I pointed out that that didn't seem entirely fair, and after a bit of back and forth they relented and sent me a new one.
So overall, sometimes I've had to work at it, but they have always come good in the end. But ideally it wouldn't be such hard work!
I bought an Edge 25 off ebay and it wouldn't hold a full charge for very long. Contacted Garmin to see if battery was replaceable, and they said it was likely to be the charging cable at fault. Sent me a new cable FOC and solved the issue for as long as I had it. I didn't even buy it from them originally. Superb CS anytime I've had to contact.
Tried to update my Edge 820 maps via the Garmin app on my pc a few years ago. It crashed part way through the update by disconnecting itself from the pc even though it was still connected via a usb cable. I heard that windows disconnect sound when you unplug a device and my heart sank. That bricked the device and it couldn't be fixed according to Garmin. Which I don't believe for one second as they asked for it back, to refurb no doubt and sell on.
They attempted to try and charge me £90 for a replacement as a gesture of goodwill(!) because they said I had disconnected the device midway through an update. Even though (this was via the chat on their website) I told them I did not disconnect it - i mean why would you?!
I had to get a bit frosty with them but eventually they agreed to send a replacement foc. Which was not brand new by the way, it was a refurb with no packaging, just the device in a jiffy bag.
I've still got the replacement unit they sent, it still works fine, but will never ever risk trying to update the maps again as they said if I tried again and it happened again they would have to charge me to replace.
So if you attempt to update maps and your internet drops or you have a power cut your device will be bricked and you have to pay for a replacement. That's poor. They should make their devices recoverable as a minimum surely.
Are the newer Garmin's past this nonsense now? My 820 updates the device software via wifi but not the maps. The maps on it are crap and unusable anyway so it's not a big deal nut would be good for route planning etc to have them up to date.
I've only found their service to be "okay".
Tried to have my Fenix 5 plus (well out of warranty) repaired/replaced as the charging pins had corroded, cost to exchange was more than just buying a new one.
My partner had a pretty similar experience with a vivoactive (only just out of warranty) which had battery issues.
OTOH, they've been happy to send out replacement spring bars for a Fenix 6 for free.
When my Fenix 7 started having elevation issues (thought it was at -600m constantly), it was a little painful getting it replaced, but they agreed eventually. Replacement was stated to arrive 3 months after I sent my one in. Didn't get an option to pay up front/get refunded. They did end up shipping the replacement faster than that, though.
Overall, I'd struggle to recommend Garmin on the strength of their customer service.
I've had numerous occasions to use Garmin CS over the years.
Whilst the service has generally been excellent, I do question why I'm so familiar with it.
I think I even have their Southampton number stored as a contact on my phone 🤔
I've never had hardware issues, I've a Fenix 5plus and now an 830, I've no complaints and not had to use their CS at all about them but honestly had I known before hand what a struggle using some of their software would've been I would have chosen almost any other unit. That there's an IQ store, Basecamp, Express, and Connect that are all separate things, just baffles me, getting various units to see my phone, reconnect to my phone, use Bluetooth, recognise Wi-Fi, transfer data, see the other sensors, connect to them...and on and on and on seemingly endlessly...at the end of every ride, it's like a wee exciting moment of "will it? Won't it?" who knows...