NEVER Buy Magellan Products!

[Dutch]

Don't often do this on here, but here is my rant on Magellan.

 

After purchasing an Explorist 500 handheld GPS in December 2006, I am now regretting I didn't go with Garmin (or ANY other GPS manufacturer).

 

Please note - Explorist units are no longer covered by Magellan for warranty purposes. They have switched manufacturers and no longer support the hardware in any Explorist devices (i.e. they can't get any parts) . Do NOT buy them - they are useless. They are cheap now in all stores as theya re being cleared out.

 

Back to my story:

 

The zoom button on my unit was no longer working, rendering it essentially useless. I used mine mainly for driving directions and navigating lakes/ scoping out likely fish hangouts. You can't get much map detail zoomed out to 1700 miles on a map with no way to get back in.

 

I called support initially on May 4 to indicate the problem. I was told what I wrote above, that the unit was not supported and I was out of luck. After requesting to speak immediately to a supervisor, I was put through to a "level 2" associate. That person explained that I could exchange my unit for their new "Triton" series unit after paying a fee for a Level 2 repair of $35 USD as my Explorist unit was out of warranty by 4 months or so. The fee was what would have been payable had they been able to fix the unit - I was fine with that. Out of warranty = some cost to repair so I thought that was reasonable.

 

The next issue - what about the maps I had purchased for the unit? Three separate maps totalling approximately $400, I had about $650 in total into the whole package. No problem, 2 were compatable with the new unit (with decreased functionality) and all I needed was to change the serial number reference on one and get a new Unlock code for the other. One was not compatable - the one I use the most and coincidentally the most expensive.

 

That's fine they said and promised a refund of the purchase price. Great, I said. Not really a refund for me as I would be just using the money to buy the same map for the new Triton unit.

 

Fast forward to today - 21 calls to the support line later. Everytime I had to explain the situation to a "level 1" in order to be transferred to a "level 2" to deal with this - that is their policy. This takes a minimum of 10 minutes, I know their spiel off bu heart now - confirm name, confirm call-back number in case we get cut-off, confirm address, confirm e-mail (you get the point). Each call was a minimum of 20 minutes, with an average call time of 30-35 and the longest being approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. This has basically cost me a minimum of 10 hours of my time, closer to probably 12.

 

I get the news today - after saying we are looking into your refund, being provided the amount of the refund, providing my CC information, I was told I wasn't geting a refund. The maps I had purchased in 2007, that is outside of their refund policy - even though I was told I was getting it and being told I would be put back into the same position as I was in before the unit failure.

 

Here I sat absolutely livid with that decision. Rather calmly stating that Magellan should be putting me in the same situation I was in before my unit failed. After all, if they were still supporting this unit, all I would be doing is sending it in for repair, paying $35 and continuing on using my Explorist, which I actually thought was a good unit.

 

Now I have an inferior Triton unit (in many many ways inferior to the Explorist), without turn-by-turn directions and without 2 of the maps that I had laid cash out for. Even if I do get the Bluenav chart of the Kawartha Lakes (that decision I should have tomorrow), it will have reduced functionality such as no longer displaying depths and aids to navigation.

 

What really baffles me is that I wasn't even really going to get the refund, just hold it until I could get the turn-by-turn software for the Triton, they would get that cash back eventually, but they couldn't understand that reasoning. Instead they have cost themselves that eventual purchase and potentially more for me and hopefully everybody here and all their relatives.

 

I believe I would have a valid case should I decide to take this issue to the next level that the initial "Level 2" I talked to bound Magellan to the refund and that their actions constituted intent to refund the money going as far as to provide me with the amount and take my CC number. To me, a verbal contract is binding and the intent is also there through their actions. I also have good documentation on who I talked to as well as ID numbers.

 

My plan of action is as follows:

 

1) I would like to get my money back as I feel that is due to me in order to put me in the same position I was in before the Explorist unit failed.

 

2) To ensure others are aware that Explorist units are no longer supported, even though they are still being sold in a number of markets including CTC and Walmart

 

3) I will be writing a letter to Magellan (Thales Navigation) outlining my displeasure and I will also be copying retailers such as CTC and Walmart outlining my concerns with current and all future sales of Magellan products. If Magellan doesn't stand by their products 100%, they should not be carried in any retail markets.

 

Last and most importantly - DO NOT BUY MAGELLAN PRODUCTS!

 

Thanks for the support!

[Fisherman]

Man, that's really sad when a company pulls that crap. So far I've stuck with Lowrance products and can't say anything bad about them.

[HTHM]

WHy not buy one of the units that are being cleared out? Not the best solution, I know, but you won't lose your maps that way.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

[Dutch]

Good thought, but maps can only be "tied" to one unit AFAIK and are serial number specific.

[Ron]

Shoulda bought a Garmin....

[jonnybass]

It never ceases to amaze me how these companies screw their own customers over to save a few bucks. That's not the way to run a company IMHO.

 

After reading your story, I believe that you should be refunded all money spent plus get a free unit of equal or greater value and/or functionality to compensate you for 1) your time wasted, 2) your aggravation, 3) being misled/lied to and most importantly 4) the fact that you bought a product in good faith and have not gotten what you paid for.

 

Based on what you've said, I will never buy one of their products unless they resolve this situation with you.

 

Check your PM's

[Gerry]

Sorry to hear about this Dutch. Too bad you didn't read my warning about Magellan that I posted about 18 months ago......I got screwed by them too and will never, never, never buy anything that has the name Magellan attached to it. Did I say NEVER? I have a handheld unit sitting in my basement that after paying $700 became useless after just 2 years of interrupted use. I say interrupted because it went in for repairs 3 times during this time, 2 of which I had to pay $100. NEVER, NEVER buy anything made by Magellan!

[Sinker]

I've had a magellan die on me too. Just a cheap junk, so I blamed it on that. I guess they're all garbage. Garmin and Lowrance have been good to me.

 

Sinker

[lookinforwalleye]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with Magelan, I have add a Magelan hand held for a few years now with no issues it has been great.

[Sinker]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with Magelan, I have add a Magelan hand held for a few years now with no issues it has been great.

 

 

I thought the same thing........just don't get it wet!!

[Cookslav]

I have a Magellan Explorist as well, and have no isssues with it yet....

Works as its supposed to, and has been great to have.

Meanwhile My Dad had an older Garmin that workes everynit as good, but it developed an issue with the Radio feature, so he sent it in and it was repaired and upgraded free of charge in 4 weeks, no questions asked...

 

Given the Customer service night mare you've endured I will certainly think twice, should the one I have need to be replaced.

Thanks for the heads up.

[carp-starter]

I was going to post detailing my situation with Magellan and asking your opinions about the service I was getting. But, I will instead post in this thread by Dutch.

 

I bought my Magellan GPS in 1998 - ColorTRAK. It is in excellent condition - it has been used about 4 times in 1998 and 1999. My 32 ½ foot boat was moved from Lagoon City Marina (Lake Simcoe) to Sugarloaf Marina (Lake Erie) in August 1997. I was waiting for a permanent mount GPS from Raytheon to be put out on the market - Ray was already late by at least 1 year. In 1998 my first trip was to Dunkirk, New York and I needed a GPS - GPS or else I was not going to cross Lake Erie without a GPS. So I bought the hand held ColorTRAK by Magellan. It is a good unit for boat navigation although it had no mapping. It also cost over $400.00. I had no need for a GPS after 1999 because at the end of 1999 my EX and I split up and the boat had to be sold - that is why the GPS was not used much.

 

The ColorTrak has an internal lithium backup battery that was to have been replaced in ten years.

 

My problem is that I want to replace the backup battery. THE PROBLEM IS THAT I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO GET AT THE BATTERY.

 

I am not looking for any warranty stuff, no freebies or whatever. All I want is to pay someone to have the battery replaced or to give me info as to how to open up the GPS so that I could replace the backup battery. I cannot get my GPS initialised so that I could track the satellites.

 

I have phoned Magellan and explained the above story. Magellan informed me that they no longer have anything to do with the ColorTRAK model because it has been replaced by the Trident model. They did inform me that they have a TRADE-IN thing for my ColorTRAK. Otherwise, they do not want to do anything with me.

 

I have phoned 4 stores in the GTA area asking how I can get the battery replaced. No one is willing to help me - all I want to how to open up my GPS so hat I could replace the battery. To the 4 stores, Magellan is like the plague. And this included Genco where I bought my GPS. Genco simply stated that they no longer sold Magellan and that was it.

 

At this point, I just do not know what else I can do. I have a perfectly good GPS that I cannot use because the backup battery needs to be replaced.

 

Because of what is happening to me, I also will never buy a Magellan product - period. I now will treat Magellan like the plague.

Thanks for listening to my Magellan story (rant maybe).

 

I have one more thing that I can do - ask the members here for info.

 

Does anyone here know how to open up my GPS so that I can get at the backup battery? Or does anyone here know of someone who could replace my battery.

 

Thank you - carp-starter

 

NEVER AGAIN

[limeyangler]

i am looking to buy a handheld at the moment, will take this into the final decision...lol...looks like Garmin or lowrance.

[Fish Farmer]

I have a Magellan Meridian and never had a problem. But hearing your story makes me want to look else were if mine breaks.

My Magellan has an internal battery also, but I don't think you can change it. Looks like a sealed item.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Fish Farmer

[BillM]

carp-starter:

 

The battery compartment is securely sealed with screw-in fastener-sealers.

 

I found this while searching google.. There is no indication of fasteners anywhere?

[Billy Bob]

I have a hand held Magellan unit, it's one of their first run units that I now don't use but I will say that thing was the hardest unit I have ever seen to operate. Definitely NOT user friendly and because of that I have since purchased Lowrance and Garmin units that are very friendly to the user. This just reassures me that I have made the right decision not to purchase their products in the future.

[Zubris21]

That is really too bad! Thanks for the info though as I've been considering buying a hand held GPS and have considered both Garmin and Magellan.

 

As for your customer service experience, that is completely ridiculous. You should be entitled to the refund which the first representative quoted you. I used to work at a call center (cell phones) and we often had similar problems. It's great that you took Name/ID's of the reps you spoke with, but I would also recommend to remind the reps, to make the proper notes on the account as they make promises to you. If the rep states something but then never makes a note of it on your account, the next person you speak with, weather its a manager or whoever, has no record of that promise and therefore, isn't really entitled to honour it.

 

When I call somewhere, and they offer me something, or quote me a price, I immediately ask them to note it on the account. As a call center rep I got way to much flak from customers as a result of other reps being lazy, or just telling the customer what they wanted to hear to get them off the phone, even if its something that couldn't be done.

 

Hopefully everything works out for you!

[Dutch]

Hey everyone thanks for the support. Spread the word - Magellan doesn't look after their customers...

 

Just a bit of an update - nothing new on this front but I got the following reply from a customer service rep. These are the people you are dealing with at Magellan. Please note the perfect grammer and spelling - what a joke! This is copied word-for-word from my inbox:

 

"Thank you for contacting Magellan. This email is in response to your query

about the GPS.

 

I apologize for the delay in replying to your email.

I understand from your mail that you are lookinf out for the refund for the

unit model.

 

I really appologise for the inconvinence that was happend by magellan Plz do

cantact our magellan customer service in order ot get the refund they will

surely do the needful for you.

 

 

am confident that the above information would help you in resolving the

issue. If you have further queries, please get back to us.

 

You can also contact our Technical Support at 1-800-707-9971 for further

assistance."

Edited May 29, 2008 by Dutch

[Billy Bob]

Hey everyone thanks for the support. Spread the word - Magellan doesn't look after their customers...

 

Just a bit of an update - nothing new on this front but I got the following reply from a customer service rep. These are the people you are dealing with at Magellan. Please note the perfect grammer and spelling - what a joke! This is copied word-for-word from my inbox:

 

"Thank you for contacting Magellan. This email is in response to your query

about the GPS.

 

I apologize for the delay in replying to your email.

I understand from your mail that you are lookinf out for the refund for the

unit model.

 

I really appologise for the inconvinence that was happend by magellan Plz do

cantact our magellan customer service in order ot get the refund they will

surely do the needful for you.

am confident that the above information would help you in resolving the

issue. If you have further queries, please get back to us.

 

You can also contact our Technical Support at 1-800-707-9971 for further

assistance."

 

What ? ? ? What is wrong with grammar and spelling considering this is from someone in India that has never spoken English/Canadian before this week

[Dutch]

Didn't think of it like that, but you are probably right.

 

Let's not get into a discussion about race though, that will get this thread locked down and I want it to stay open, with many views, to ensure people are aware of Magellan's complete lack of customer care!

 

Thanks.

[BillM]

IT outsourcing, it's nothing new. Give the India guys a break.

[Pinch]

IT outsourcing, it's nothing new. Give the India guys a break.

 

Sorry to hijack this, but I have to agree. I have had a few problems with my Bell high speed lately and have been dealing with the tech support in India for a few days now. They have been so polite and so helpful its unreal. Far better than a lot of the help lines here in Canada.

[Uncle Buck]

i bought a sportrak color a couple of years ago... thing stopped working after 2 days, exchanged it for another one, same thing, this one lasted 4 days... i said screw it... took it back and got a refund... no more magellan for me...

[fishnsled]

I have a Magellan Meridian like Fish Farmer and have yet to have a problem with it. (Knock on wood) Given what is being said here it will be my last unit from them. If I should have a problem, I certainly don't need any headaches from their service (of lack of it) department. I can't believe that they want change a battery for ya Carp-Starter just because it's an older model. If you haven't already tried them, give Radioworld a call. 1-866-666-8600 or if in Toronto call 416-667-1000. Good luck.

[e-z-out]

Well you just sold me on getting a Garmin thanks for the report it helped me and my father on desiding what to get.

I hope you get your refund