Garmin Overwhelmed!!!!

i believe this goes for many companies today. at least you can't say they are abandoning any of their products. companies like rim and sony has similar problems and people feel like they are being abandoned.

I like Garmin but I think they need to wake up to the fact there are way to many problems and get to the bottom of why. We aren't talking about an airplane or auto that have a million parts. I have a built in unit on my Lexus that is four years old and works perfectly and has never had to have a firmware or any other kind of update. I don't know who makes it for them but Garmin needs to find out and hire some of their engineers.

I'll just stick with my trusty nüvi 760. It works. No need for a newer unit that has lots of problems. No need for a firmware update. I'm sure there's likely a newer firmware than the one I'm using but the unit is awesome so why mess with it?

The pressure to make newer and "better" units is the cause of all the problems.

I agree that if it works don't mess with it...the problem is to get the latest map the latest software version is automatically loaded to your device. You can't just download the map. This happened on my new 1490T and screwed up the blue tooth. Now they are saying they are aware of the problem but don't know when it will be fixed. FRUSTRATING....

It could be that there are more problems than before. But a lot of companies have cut back on personnel and customer service hours to save money and get them through tough times. It's not hard to figure that Garmin isn't as profitable now as it was, but I suppose you could look that up.

Customer service is very important to staying is business. Garmin may need to think about dropping 5 or 10 models to keep up. How many different models do they really need anyway?

Then if times are tough they need to quit coming out with new models every month that usually have less features than the ones they are replacing. Spend the money on fixing issues and have an excellent customer service program. It isn't inexpensive to create new models that have major problems...Sorry I can't accept any excuses for their lack of action.

The new models may be cheaper to produce. And new models usually can be sold at higher prices than old ones. Not an excuse, just a possible explanation.
People who buy the new models, especially when they first come out, support this business plan.

...is still operating flawlessly, even with the new 2010 maps (thanks Amazon). I experienced the firmware mandatory upgrade (although regular visits to Garmin said none were available) prior to downloading the new maps but surprisingly my Bluetooth downgrade thankfully remained intact. I will never move from this unit.

Has any company taken note of Toyota's recent problems and see where it took them?? Also BP's underestimating loat oil in the gulf..DUH.Has any company learned from any of this??

Love it.
Works well.
Has more features then I need.

Think Google.

Just sell their stock short!

Fred

I'm sticking with my nuvi 660. I'm running the latest maps and have had no issues with it. Staying with old reliable.

so what are we saying so with a different maker, and if so who is the manufacturer that has the least amount of issues/bugs. Funny I am looking @ getting ready to buy something new right now but so many choices. Just yesterday I received a letter from sony, looks like they teamed up Dash and are rolling out a new sony dash gps. But I see this week that all gps units are on sale from garmin, tomtom, megellan, and even sony but witch one has the least amount of issues. Any recommendations would be gr88.

I'm also sticking with my 660. It just works.

I dont know after these many issues why most of them including my self still have been stuck with Garmin?
I had to change my 255WT 3 times because of its bug. Finally I have received the unit working properly.
Garmin's visual effect is also poor in compare to his rival company Tom Tom, Magellan, Navigon etc.
Rarely we hear bugs in other company's models.
Other companies offer more features in compare with Garmin models in the same price range.
But still??? We like Garmin. Why?
If I say about my self I have been taught that Garmin maps are more accurate than other companies. I might be wrong. But dont know I never planned to buy GPS from other company.

Many companies have changed hands, boards & direction and have forgotten what it was that got them to be a "name" that people know. They remember that sales are the most important part of the company. Yet it is not sales that drives the business, it is the customer service/reputation that they built AFTER the sale was made by a third party.

Until I had purchased my 765T, I would have said I was a loyal Garmin user. Now with all the problems with the 3.90 firmware and no fix in sight, I would be stupid to make my next GPS a Garmin. If I did, I would deserve what I get. My C550 is relatively rock solid and I had hoped the 765T would follow in its footsteps. Boy was I wrong. Unless Garmin gets their act together, I can see more people defecting to the competition. In which case, the company deserves whatever happens to them.

my nex gps will not be a garmin i strongly looking at the tnd700 by rand mcnally or the pc miler

Is the competition really different? Garmin possibly is on the wrong path but are their competitors any better? I am not sure what the answer is but can speculate that others also have issues, which makes it easy for Garmin to be complacent and not pay attention to quality issues (issues faced on a daily basis by those who use their products).

From what I have read on other forums, Magellan would be a mistake. They only recently came out with a long awaited map update and then only for certain newer models. Basically telling older customer to go away or by a new unit.

Garmin's biggest competition is going to be smartphones. If one has a choice between buying a buggy specialized piece of hardware or going with something that may be less sophisticated but is available in something they already have, I will assume they will go with the latter.

"From what I have read on other forums, Magellan would be a mistake. They only recently came out with a long awaited map update and then only for certain newer models. Basically telling older customer to go away or by a new unit."

this is nothing new, apple is really good at leaving orphans behind, from what I have heard a lot of HP printer users especially older models cannot get drivers for Windows 7.

I just sent back the replacement Garmin 765T for my original 765T back to get replaced, the original had the if you hit 'g' you might get 'h' or 't', if you hit 'show map' you would get 'where to' even after doing the screen alignment drill, the replacement unit had the same problem but not as bad, but also dead pixels, so back it went, in about 10 days we will see what that replacement does, I'm not taken any bets it will be better. After 4 garmin units looks like I might try a Tom Tom instead.

short term thinking vs long term product development. if they introduced newer models by just changing the shell rather than actual hardware they wouldnt have so many firmwares and models to support. stupidity is common in american corporations these days. the chinese have one hardware platform and put different shells on for most of their cheap knockoff products. eventually they are going to learn english and beat america at producing reliable products with decent firmware.

Mine too. I have a second 765T that, like my first unit, does that same thing. It is SOOOO annoying!!! It makes me want to throw it out the window while I'm driving sometimes. Their engineers need to look at the old units so they can remember how to make one that works. I never had a problem with my 750 (until it was stolen).

Looking at their product line, and in particular the automotive products, I get the feeling that Marketing has too much say in what Garmin produces. I count over 25 products ranging in price from 119 to 599 dollars per unit. If you look at the "best" model to the cheapest, only "bells and whistles" jack-up the price. You don't get better accuracy nor better maps, in fact, all units use the same maps. Once you get past a wider screen, lane-assist with junction view and voice, you don't really need much more except FM Traffic - maybe.

The reason for so many models is that Marketing is trying to cover all bases and in so doing, creating an engineering problem, as well as, a nightmare for technical support.

Each model has subtle engineering changes and differences. Since the basic electronics are the same on most models, firmware developers have to figure how to limit access to high-end features in a series. That's where problems begin. (Adding universal, frivolous code.)

I would like to see fewer models, packed with features at reasonable prices. This would lessen variation and simplify the job of Support while allowing Engineering to concentrate on producing better, more reliable products.

I agree 100%

The following thread explains how to avoid the forced firmware update.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/26523

I still have my 350 and 660.
(Sheesh! I sound like an 'old man'..)

They work perfectly well with older firmware(current maps), and a downgraded bluetooth on the 660.

I've been tempted to upgrade..but I end up finding, I have no need to.
I'm not terribly impressed by 3d maps(I use top view all the time anyway), the exit images..or what ever.
I particularly find the eco-hippy junk...just that...JUNK.

I just want a good interface, reliable maps, and the few simple additions I enjoy. These being bluetooth for the phone and the mp3 player for tunes.

They hit the mark with 660 in my opinion. (Not withstanding the flip up antenna).

When the batteries eventually die, I expect to replace them myself.

Again..both are going strong, and I dont see any reason to ditch them for a newer unit.

I recently bought my first GPS (a Garmin Nuvi 1450) and two days later made a trip to New York from Florida and back. During the trip it turned itself off 5 or 6 times. In addition there were stretches of road where (on US Hwy 15 in Pennsylvania and NY) where I appeared to be driving off the road and was urged to make non existing turns. When I returned I did what I should have done in the first place: updated the maps and updated the software that supposedly fixes the haphazard turn offs. I will go back north and will update my experience with this GPS. The thing that I really do not like is that the turn announcement frequently comes very late. However, it is not so bad that I would return the unit. And as far as updates are concerned in general: I have had Windows XP since 2002 and it still gets updates every month.