Don't buy GARMIN....until you read this...

[mikegalbicka]

Did you try this?

I have no experience with Garmin devices. Just doing some searching to see if I can find something that might help that you haven't done. Research thoroughly before attempting though as I don't know the implications.

master reset

Also did you contact Short Tronics as suggested to see if they could help?

 

[REBGEN]

FWIW....I have owned a StreetPilot 2730 since 2007. I now have to use the previously mentioned MapUpdater and it works just fine. I just updated a few days ago with my Lifetime update subscription. Due to storage limitations I now have to limit my download to only include the 49 US States which works for me perfectly. Seems there has to be a fix to re-download the map update.

 

[mikegalbicka]

Due to storage limitations I now have to limit my download to only include the 49 US States which works for me perfectly. Seems there has to be a fix to re-download the map update.

I agree. I think his main problem is Garmin doesn't want to support this old equipment so finding the fix is taking longer.

 

[REBGEN]

That sounds plausible. I seem to remember they mentioned not being able/or willing to support the 2730 after my last tech support call a year ago. Luckily have been able to use it with no problems so far. I know the day is coming though.

 

[moshaffer]

Thank god Garmin doesn't use oil!!!!

 

[JWMcDonald]

I guess the "lifetime maps" is a meaningless offer, too?

I'm with the OP. I'm running a 7 y.o. Mac, three old Garmin HH units as needed and don't ask about the age of my cars. Excessive promises, unimpressive results etc have given me a thorough loathing of all of the tech swindlers. They can all go pee up a rope with their "newer and better" that will quit .36 seconds after leaving the store and charge for the privilege of "warranty" repair.

"Read the fine print" as a previous poster sez - Garmin is quite up front with their limitation to "lifetime maps" - see http://www.garmin.com/us/maps/numaps_lifetime - "caveat emptor"

 

[128465]

I feel your pain. After 30+K bike miles with my Zumo 660 I'm very disappointed in Garmin too. It isn't as waterproof as they'd like you to believe, no bike specific info like a motorcycle folder just a generic 'vehicle' section, it doesn't know where toll booths are (Hyundai's system does), hard to program with gloves on (sm female fingers), LOTS of goofy instructions (like unnecessary uturns, off interstates for 1 exit with fastest route selected ), internal memory too small for a map update (built in obsolescence), LOTS of dirt and gravel roads with no unpaved roads selected, bluetooth issues that they took over a year to provide an fix for. How hard would it have been to add a radio for traffic, weather or news? It's got me around the USA once and back home so not all bad but frustrating and friends call it an overpriced mp3 player.

Their R&D also leaves a bit to be desired....Hubby had a waterproof Nuvi that dropped satellite reception incessantly in his GMC truck. Garmin said and maintained through 7 (yes 7) replacement machines that there was nothing in a GMC truck with a remote starter that would cause this. I could but my old Garmin 175t in the truck and it would loose reception too, the Zumo too. A Garmin rep promised a Zumo to replace the waterproof Nuvi. 2 weeks later no GPS arrived and a call to Garmin showed no record of the last call and promised replacement. No reply to a fax to the President at Garmin hdqtrs.....
We will be looking elsewhere in the future!

 

[garthw]

Have had several Garmin GPS units and we used them at work (forestry/fire fighting) since the mid 90s without an issue. The occasional problem was always dealt with quickly.

Currently have 5 units including a 12XL from 1995. I think their offer of replacement was reasonable. Your unit is dead, we get that and their update was responsible, we get that too. Have you told them what would actually satisfy you? What unit do you want? Do they actually make the unit you want.

 

[jkersh1]

I feel your pain. I tried to update the 'lifetime' maps on my Nuvi 1455, only to have it turn into a brick when there wasn't enough memory for the update. I bought a mini-SD memory card without any assurance that the extra memory would allow the update to continue, and fortunately it did.

Now, I'm not an IT professional, but wouldn't the first step in an update process be to check for memory and compatibility?

 

[mikegalbicka]

Now, I'm not an IT professional, but wouldn't the first step in an update process be to check for memory and compatibility?

As an IT Professional I have been burned enough to realize this is my responsibility and not theirs. Once you suffer enough relying on others to do their job correctly you usually figure out it is much easier if you rely on yourself doing it instead. Does that make it right? Of course not. But it does make it easier on yourself. At least that has been my experience.

 

[REBGEN]

....just an add'l comment about memory and size of update. I get a pop up message alerting me that there is insufficient memory with my device and then get a dropdown box with alternate options to download maps such as 49 US states, Canada, and/or NW, SW, NE, SE regions of US. Choose one and the download starts. My 2730 has had insufficient memory for a full update for some time now.

 

[vectorprime27]

This gets a bit more interesting. In answer to an earlier question, yes, I've told Garmin what would satisfy me. Either a) Put my 2820 back in working order with the old map intact (2014.5 I think) or b) Sell me a new or refurbished unit with comparable features at a reasonable ($300 or less) price.

Today I got another email offering a generous $70 discount on a full price ($799) Zumo. They were also kind enough to point out some VERY interesting fine print in their agreement. Did anyone know....


"A product will be deemed to be out of service and its useful life to be ended if no updates have been downloaded for such product for a period of 24 months or more...."

or

"Garmin may conclude that the "useful life" of your product has expired. Garmin may terminate your nuMaps Lifetime or other lifetime map subscription at any time ...."

So basically there is no such thing as a Lifetime Map updates, and if you don't update your unit at least once every 2 years it's deemed out of service. What a great company.....not.

 

[bdimon]

Maybe it is time for an alternative

TomTom Rider is looking better. It's just a GPS, no music or tire pressure, but it is more reasonably priced than the Garmin.
http://amzn.com/B00BHADL3U

 

[greg]

Had you read the fine print your first post would possibly have been different. I did read the fine print because I subscribe to the "if it sounds too good to be true...." Low and behold "Life Time" isn't, which is what I expected. Also, if you go to Garmin's page and look up your device, it will tell you if it's obsolete.

I've read your warning, I feel your pain. I'm still a loyal Garmin user. They work for me and I have no less than 5 of them of varying ages, all still working. The oldest being a GPS III. Some have become surplus due to the vehicles being equipped with factory navigation.

Several suggestions have been made to resolve your issue. Master Reset being the first thing I would try. None of them involve Garmin. Try them, you have nothing to lose.

 

[JWMcDonald]

TomTom Rider is looking better. It's just a GPS, no music or tire pressure, but it is more reasonably priced than the Garmin.
http://amzn.com/B00BHADL3U

And here's the forewarning about Lifetime Maps for TomTom (from their site at http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/maps/lifetime-map-updates/?WT.Click_Link=hp_link)....:)...:

"Lifetime ? this is the useful life of the device, which is the period of time that TomTom continues to support your device with software updates, services, content or accessories. A device will have reached the end of its life when none of these are available any more. The useful life of the smartphone app means the period of time that TomTom continues to support the app with updates."

 

[vectorprime27]

It's definitely "buyer beware"...and no, I didn't read the fine print. I did think that Lifetime Maps meant the lifetime of my GPS....but I never expected Garmin to kill it. Basically I expected better from Garmin. I've had issues in the past, mostly with their software (as is the case now), but I truly didn't expect to plug my GPS in and nuke it. I've tried the Master Reset and it did not work. Actually, I've tried all of the suggestions with no success. I had a conversation with someone who swears he can repair it, so I'll probably let him try. Nothing to lose, right? As for Garmin, I added up the money I've spent with them, and it's over $8,000. I have Garmin devices on everything I own, including a large marine unit on my boat and a 4Kw Garmin Radar (that was over $4,000 by itself). They have a record of all of these purchases. Their utter indifference amazes me. I own several businesses, and I understand that bad Customer Service always gets corrected....either by the company management, or by a bankruptcy judge. I gave Garmin ample opportunity to do the right thing, but the people I am communicating with either don't care or are not empowered to do so (most likely). I'll likely never get the GPS functional again, but I do take comfort in knowing that nary another dollar of mine will go to Garmin, and there are likely many more dollars that might have gone their way that now won't.

 

[tommcgee]

Sorry for your troubles, man, that said, I've tried everything else, and I'm sticking with Garmin. I've owned at least 20 models, and I've also owned Magellans, Delorme, Lowrance, TomToms, and no-name hardware models. As much as Garmin can suck at times, they get it right far more often than anybody else, and yeah, it can sometimes cost you real money. I still carry paper maps too -- for a good reason -- their only downfall is that they just can't tell you where you are.

 

[mikegalbicka]

Did you see this in the flea market? Not sure if it is your model though but might be worth checking out.
http://bmwmoa.org/fleamarket/id/11441/k/garmin/p/1.aspx

 

[jeffkruger]

I feel your pain, and have had my own share of painful experiences with Garmin. I have a suggestion that may help you get some satisfaction, and will tell you how I arrived there, and how it worked for me.

I used a Garmin 376C for about 10 years and over 100k miles on a couple of different bikes. Earlier this year I realized that this unit was no longer supported by Garmin, and there was no realistic way for me to update maps or install software I already had on a new computer. After all the years of use I figured it had just served it's useful life. It was also a rather expensive unit when I bought it, around $1,200 if I recall correctly.

I purchased a new Zumo 660 because I wanted to be able to have XM Radio like I did with the 376. When the new unit arrived I spent quite a bit of time on a very neat install. I removed the tank, ran everything in flex conduit, etc. I went for a short ride, and during that time the unit shut down on it's own several times. I went back home and check all of the connections and everything was fine. It worked great in my garage without the bike running, so I decided to pair my iPhone to it. It paired great. I put on my helmet and called my wife. I could hear her, but she couldn't hear me. I now had two issues, the random shut downs and no full cell functionality. I called Garmin support. They gave me some things to try and had me remove some things from a folder on the unit. I went for another short ride and the shut down problem continued. Nothing changed with regard to my phone. I called support again. They said my phone was fully supported and should work. They had me do a remote hook up with my unit connected and they did some things to my unit and told me to try it on the bike again. Nothing changed. I called support again. They said it was a bad unit and they would replace it. He told me to send the unit and everything that came with it back to Garmin. I explained that I didn't want to do that because I had spent a couple of hours installing everything and just wanted to swap the unit. He said that wasn't possible. I asked to speak to a supervisor. He told me to hold. The same guy came back on and said they couldn't send just a unit because they can't just pull one off the line, they're all boxed up with all of the stuff. I again asked to speak to a supervisor. He put me on hold. The same guy came back on and said they would send me a new unit with all of the stuff, and I could just keep the extra stuff. I was happy. He told me to hold. He came back on and told me the 660 had been discontinued and was no longer in production and they would have to send me a refurbished unit. That bummed me out a bit as my 660 was new and only 2 days old, but I figured getting all of the extra stuff made it worthwhile, and I didn't appear to really have a choice. I told them I would ship the unit the same day and asked that they ship my new unit right away as well. He said they couldn't ship a new unit until they received my old unit. I told him I could provide a credit card number to buy the new unit and when they received the old one they could credit me. That was a no-go. I ended up shipping them my unit, and about 10 days later received the refurbished unit. It was ONLY a refurbished unit, not all of the other things that I was told I would receive.

I put the new unit on the bike and went for a ride. Though not as frequently, the new unit would still shut itself off. There as no change with the phone. I contacted Starcom, the manufacturer of my intercom and was told there was a compatibility issue. At least the phone problem was explained and I decided I could live with it. I ended up making several more calls to Garmin support and doing remote connections and trying many various things, all to no avail. The new unit also started going completely blank with blue and green colors during a ride. I was finally told to send the unit back to try again, and I would receive yet another refurbished unit. I had finally had about enough. I used to be a fairly large investor in Garmin stock. I'm not sure that helped, but I wrote an email to the CEO. The very same day I received an email from someone that was the head of technical support, and he gave me a direct line to a support specialist. I called the guy and he was heads and tails above the other folks that I spoke with. We did a remote hookup and he resolved a couple of small software issues I was having and did a lot of looking at my 660, which was connected to my computer. He said it was a bad unit, and that it couldn't be repaired remotely. He said the manager that ahd given me his number had authorized them to ship me a brand new, not refurbished, unit along with all of the accessories. Brand new, and in the box. I received another email from the support manager apologizing for all of the hassle and giving me the tracking info for my new unit, which they sent next day Fed-Ex, along with a prepaid label to send my old unit back.

The new unit arrived, and worked perfectly right away. I have all of the extra accessories, including an XM antenna. I recently completed a 22 state trip using the unit and it shut down on it's own once, but was otherwise flawless.

I think the support folks go by scripts and canned speeches. I would suggest to the OP that he goes over them. Once I spoke with someone higher up the food chain things were resolved very quickly, and to my complete satisfaction. If the OP would like the CEO's email address, please send me a PM and I will send it to you.

 

[61996]

I had my trusty 2720 shoot craps. I contacted Garmin on an unrelated issue and they made me the same offer....40% off.
Man....I jumped on that deal! Who wouldn't want the latest and greatest at a substantial discount.
Garmin bent over backwards to insure my satisfaction.
Over the years this is my third motorcycle-specific GPS and have been very happy with Garmin, their products and service.