Garmin
reviews and complaints

I bought one of these for my husband for Christmas at Walmart. It needed Map updating as soon as we used it the first time, which I purchased for about $80. I understand the updating but the cost is ridiculous for the updates. If I would have known you have to pay to constantly update the stupid GPS I would have thought twice about buying it. What a load of crap and what a complete rip off concerning the price, not to mention it should have been updated when it was first purchased for free!

Garmin is very disappointing. The first day I bought my Garmin it never acquired satellites (kept telling me it couldn't acquire and asked if it should keep searching?). From that point on it took at least 7-10 minutes to acquire satellites. We would have to pull over to the side of the road and let it "warm up" before we continued our trip. When I would compare this to someone else's Garmin, it was clear mine was not right because theirs always worked within seconds. I called customer service several times to ask them what was wrong and they told me to update the software, oh - and use it more often... Because their customer service hours are extremely inconvenient and they make it practically impossible for anyone that holds a job during the day to contact them, this problem continued longer than the warranty period of one year. We would call - get a response to do something first - then have to literally plan a time to call back because they were only open I think 9-5 and there was usually a 30 minute hold wait. No weekend times. Finally - the power cord stopped working on top of everything else. The last person I talked to told me they couldn't help me because I was past my warranty period. He said it would be $80 to repair, plus shipping/tax - so the way I see it that's another $100 or so and no guarantee that they can fix the unit. I wrote back to tell him I would not be purchasing another Garmin because the one I did purchase was a lemon, and no one cared or tried to help me - and I certainly wasn't sinking another $300 into Garmin AGAIN! That response was ignored. So - I'm off to purchase another brand and letting everyone know to beware...

Garmin Customer Service is terrible! I have been fighting with them for 3 months to get a refund of $49.99. The online system for getting a subscription for traffic alerts for my 660, didn't give me enough information to determine which of the 2 offered was correct for my unit. With a 50/50 shot, I of course chose wrong. After a few days of fighting the unit, I called and then was told that I had the wrong subscription. The subscription I needed was $10 more and they would process the refund immediately for the incorrect purchase. I went ahead and purchased the correct traffic alerts subscription, installed it and it works fine. Now 3 months and counting, I still do not have my $49.99 credit back to my debit card account. I keep getting told it may take months for the credit to appear. What a load of BS. They took my money in seconds from my account, it should only take seconds to get it back! I recently had a refund from another online company and I got money back from them in less than 24 hours. After about 6 emails back and forth, I'm ready to step up my action against them. Anybody else have a similar issue with Garmin?

How come when I try to upgrade my maps, it comes up with "registered to another person"?

I knew this was going to be a problem when I thought I bought a new unit from TigerDirect and it said it was refurbished when I got it.

And now Garmin replied that they couldn't contact the previous owner, refunded my money and more or less said I was screwed!

Now, how does TigerDirect get away selling used equipment as new, and why doesn't Garmin clear the previous customer when refurbished. Good questions for the BBB.

These are the other web sites that this company owns. http://www.wisetronics.com
http://www.86photovideo.com
http://www.mywirelessdeal.com
http://www.cameragiantsinc.com

Shlomi Albaydadi, Owner Business Name: WiseTronics.com
86th Street Photo & Video
Camera Giants Inc.
My Wireless Deal
Wise Tronics
Y.E.S. International
Business Address: 2845 86th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11223
So, if you would like to be ripped off by from any of the above. He is listed with the BBB of N.Y. and the government is doing nothing about it. Check it out!

I own a business and have a client who utilizes Garmin. This person travels quite often as does his wife and they both have a Garmin account. She just activated a lifetime contract with them when she upgraded her maps.

However, when my client went to upgrade his maps and as his Garmin is an older model, he had to choose which part of the US he wanted to download. Mind you, he didn't know this until he had already purchased the maps and tried to download them and received the "too little memory" error message. So, he contacts customer service and after about three hours on hold, he finally talks to a person who tells us they know that model has too little memory. He asks them to refund the maps fee ($69.99) and he will purchase a new model that has enough memory to download the entire USA without having to purchase additional memory.

They refused to do this and also refused to allow either of us to speak with a supervisor. We kept calling and were only allowed to leave messages which have, to date, gone without a return call.

This company is and their management are useless and I will be sure to tell ALL my friends, family, and clients to look elsewhere for their GPS and navigation needs!

Anywhere but GARMIN!

Bought a StreetPilot C340 a couple of years ago. Recently paid over $50 for the dvd with map updates. When downloading to the GPS, I got an error - and it has wiped out all of the maps that were on the GPS. Trying to get customer service from them is a joke! all they do is respond with something else to try. I have asked them in each email - can't I just mail it in to you? I did get through on the phone once, and someone logged onto my PC, looked at the dvd, tried to run it himself, etc. and even he didn't know why it wasn't working!

All I want to do is send the unit, along with the dvd, into them and let them fix it. But no, they just insist on emailing me "solutions" to try. We've tried it all --- even their person tried it. I will never buy one of their products again.

Ordered a new Garmin Nuvi 760 with a GPS case for what I thought was a great deal - $268.94. I even printed a screen shot of the transaction. But when I checked my credit card I was charged 298.64. I called the company and spoke with Jon McKay, I said that it must have been a mistake that I was overcharged $30 and that I would like a correction. Jon McKay from 86photovideo.com said that that is not a mistake, and that they charged me a processing fee. I told him that the checkout screen did not indicate a $30 processing fee and none of their policies indicate that a customer will be overcharged without their knowledge, and I asked him again to refund the $30. He responds by saying in a sarcastic tone "big money for you, right". After about 15 minutes for talking Jon McKay of 86photovideo.com finally agreed to refund $15 and not a penny more.
Guys please do NOT buy anything from 86photovideo.com as they are lying about their prices and are looking for ways to scam money.
Please be careful and check you credit card statements.

I had placed an order for the Garmin Nuvi 760. Within a couple of days of placing the order I got a call from this gentelmen stating I would need a charger for my Navigator and there were several types to choose from anywhere from $40 - $80 additional. I was turned off by this and stated I was all set. He then preceeded to tell me that the order was on back order for approx. 3 weeks or so. I found this a little odd for a new product but whatever.
Now it's approx. 3 weeks time and I called and got the rudest customer service guy you could imagine. I said I'd like to check on the status of my order. He said "It's on BACKORDER" I said that I knew that but approx. how much longer would I have to wait. He stated "BACKORDER IS BACKORDER" and "NO" he could not tell me anymore information. Typically when a company orders products, they know the status of their product and can track the time, etc. I am not convinced that I was even getting a new product with the response I got and for waiting three weeks with no one able to give me an update. I said to the gentlement "So much for nice customer service" and hung up on him. I immediately wrote a compliant on their website and canceled my order. I'm getting my navigator in a couple of days from another company. I hope more people post as they deserve to go out of business acting the way they do.

I purchased the Garmin nuvi 265WT GPS online because it was about $50 less than other online sites. I received an email with an instruction to call an 800 to confirm the order. I called the number and spoke to a rep named Paul who told me I needed the memory card if I needed to update the map. I declined to purchase the card. He confirmed my shipping address and told me the GPS will be shipped in a couple of days.

I received an email a day latter indicating that they are out of stock of the GPS, and it would take 3 to 4 weeks for the backorder. I went back to the retailer's Website and I noticed the GPS is still available for sale only this time with even lower price, but no indication that the retailer is out of stock of the GPS. I went and canceled my order online since I don't expect the product to be shipped to me.

I had a similar experience with another online retailer named Closeout Genius who sold the same model for a lot less. Closeout Genius also emailed me to call it to confirm the order. When I called, its rep tried to sell me a memory card. When I declined to buy the memory card, I received an email after I hang up the phone saying that my order has been canceled without a request from me to cancel the order.

It seems that Camera Giant and Closeout Genius are using similar tactic to lure customers to purchase their products with low prices, then they ask customers to call to confirm their orders. When customers call, they try to sell more products, but when customers decline to buy more products, they either delay the shipping or in the case of Closeout Genius, cancel the order without being asked.

I noticed there are not many complaints with Camera Giants, but if it continues to conduct this kind of tactic, I expect more complaints like Closeout Genius.

I made an online purchase on November 25, 2008. Pleanty of time to receive a great deal on a Garmin Nuvi GPS with delivery in time for a Christmas present for my daughter. I received a call from Sammy on the 26th (extension215) to please return a call. I did, only to discover Sammy was trying to add a memory card (which was not needed) for a very inflated price. Then he wanted to sell extended warranty, which I also declined. I waited another week before checking on my shipment. You cannot eamil them, but you can track your order online; however my order was still listed as processing. I called several times and was put on hold for very long periods, from 20 minutes up to an hour. I was told each time they were waiting on a shipment from the factory. Finally, after a long wait (again) on December 19th that the order would not be in in time for a Christmas delivery. I purchased the product elsewhere and paid for next day air shipping to receive by Christmas. I decided to leave the order intact to see where it went, and as of January 5, 2009 the order is still being processed. I called again(at 10 AM as they do not open until 9:30), waited for 20 minutes and was told I had to call back at 11 AM to speak to someone in customer service. I seem to think that the reason the order is not processed is because I use Amex which protects against scams. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM BIGCAMERADEALS.COM

FRAUD --- Guy did an "up-sell", lying to close the deal. Received the "kit", unit didn't work and was told there would be a 20% restocking fee and that their shipping costs to me ($20) was non-refundable! I'm pursuing this with BBB and Consumer Affairs.

I made two recent purchases from Garmin International: an updated map program (2009), and an adapter cord for my GPS. In each case, when my credit card statement came in, I discovered that Garmin had tacked on $.50 to their charge. The amount may seem tiny, but when you multiply it by millions of consumers, it's not so tiny anymore. I have tried to contact them, but all I get is voice mail and they never return my call.

Similar complaint as someone else on here. They listed a great price on the GPS, so I ordered one.
They sent me an email saying I had to call them for security reasons. On the phone they tried to sell me lots of accessories for the GPS. When I said no, I received an email saying it would be 4 weeks because it was back ordered. I called them and they said it would be two weeks. I called a second time and they said it would be another five weeks before they would ship anything.
I told them to cancel the order.
I am convinced this place is just a scam.
Good Luck!

After more than two months, 9/8/2007 to present (11/1/6/2007), I'm still waiting for the return or replacement of my Garmin Nuvi 350 from Fry's Electronics' service department. Numerous calls and in-store visits didn't help. The service reps are probably the rudest, in person and on the phone. This was my first foray with Fry's extended 3-year service warranty. What a horrible deal and experience! I would have been better off without the Fry's warranty. Garmin would have shipped me the replacement within 2 to 4 weeks.

Two weeks ago, I bought a 50" Plasma TV from another store. Never again at Fry's!

I bought 2 x160c color fishfinders for my local boat shop . I have used them 5 times and every time I use them the screen goes blank . You have to switch it off and on again than they work for 20min and same problem accours . They do not hold there settings that have been programmed.So went back to my dealer who than phoned Avic trading agents for Garmin SA . They keep saying they don't have stock.So I asked for my money back. Avic Trading Garmin SA said ask your dealer.and he is saying he is getting no support from Trading Garmin SA. So now I have to buy another brand or wait for another month or longer for replacement. What now guys I paid my money for a product that does not work.

Dean
South Africa
Bass Fishing