Garmin chartplotter rip off

I gave up on Garmin a number of years ago after buying their blue charts and finding they were out of date, didn't work with a GPS unless the serial number was registered and a nightmare to use the web site. To be fair the stand at the boat show agreed that the situation was wholly unreasonable and gave me a free update disc. Perhaps try and see if reason prevails at their stand at the LIBS.
It stuns me how suppliers treat customers and don't realise we have a choice. I will never buy Garmin again in my lifetime!
Clive
 
Have you actually tried contacting Garmin UK direct? If you make a polite approach and express your dismay I think you'll find them very accommodating. I always have in the past. Their customer service IMHO has always been great.
 
prv said:
Bear in mind I was going on memory from when I made that correction a couple of years ago.

Having just fetched the chart I see that Straight Point used to have a flashing red light with a 7 mile range, 34 metres above the water. Perhaps not an actual lighthouse, but it's quite conspicuous on the chart and certainly something you would expect to see on approach - and be rather worried if it wasn't there.

Pete
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Absolutely agree. If someone now tried to enter the Exe using an out of date chart they would almost certainly run aground. The river entrance has changed dramatically over the last 5 years.
 
I have just checked and there is no mention of the chart version on the outside of the box or in any of the paper work. I have checked under system settings and it states that I have version G2 V2012 13.50 installed. When I go onto the garmin website and enter the plotter serial number it states that there is a version 2012.5 available to purchase but it is in dollars which is rather strange considering it identifies the unit as a GPSmap551s that is only available in the UK. If you go to the UK customer support web site it brings up a list of plotters that does not include the 551s.The uk web site also sometimes directs you to http://www.garmin.com/en-GB/explore/maps which I did not read properly before purchasing the plotter. If as stated on this thread the charts are updated in January/February then there is a good chance that most plotters purchased in the next few months will either have out of date charts or only a couple of weeks left in date. This is not only unfair to the customers but also the chandlers who are holding out of date plotters. I know the shoreline stays the same but over the last few years wrecks have appeared, uncovered or moved and sand banks have shifted in the Bristol Channel which has been reported via the notice to mariners etc. I also appreciate that we should update our charts and use the plotter only as a cross reference but what happens in the real world? These plotters have been reviewed numerous times in the sailing mags and it has been stated that one of the reasons they are more expensive than the standard horizon models is due to the fact that they have preloaded maps but it has never been mentioned that they could be out of date with no free option of an update. Just out of interest when you purchase a chart with the horizon is it guaranteed to be in date or if not is there a free initial update?
 
Just been sent this message :)

"You can go on the Garmin website to update your unit, it won't cost you anything if you give Garmin a call they will talk you though it 08708501242"

Worth a try, let us know how you get on as I am hoping to buy one soon :eek:
 
I have allready updated the software using my own sd card and downloading the update from the garmin website as it was also out of date.This was easy but you still have to pay to update the charts
 
Bolty, sorry to hear you are having such a bad time with your Garmin plotter. My boat is full of Garmin kit and I have never had any problem with Garmin, especially their customer support. Out of interest, where did you buy your plotter, a recognised retail/web seller or somewhere else?

I have sent you a PM
 
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johnphilip said:
My understanding is that Garmin do an annual update to January, released in the early spring. Buying now is just unfortunate but really how out of date are these? I bet few forumites could claim that all their paper charts are fully corrected to less than a year.
I think you are expecting a bit much.
Notices to mariners will add revisions at any time so no issue is going to be fully correct. I would probably be a bit disappointed at having the same issue but methinks he doth protest too much.
If you did want the latest issue this Easter is £49 a lot to pay for the coverage you get? This sum wouldn't buy a couple of local folios on paper. You are asking for something updated to beyond when you purchased it.
Unless it was specifically offered in the product or its literature I would not expect it.
Tom-Tom want I think it was £79 for an update to my road maps. This is for a product with a massively bigger market.
Relax and enjoy the Plotter.
If however it does not have the Jan 2012 revisions I am right with you.
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I've purchase 'lifetime updater' for my Garmin satnav. This gives 4 (I think) updates per year forever and cost about 60 quid. Good value I think - pity they don't do the same for marine stuff.
 
When I purchased a Standard Horizon with chart I did get a free update, I had to take the card to a local chandlers, they popped it into a machine then just wrote the date on the card, they told me further updates need be paid for.
 
Just received an e-mail from a friend who bought a Garmin441 he said he gets his updates free :confused:

I can't see all this as being a problem, you have to update them anyway and if it's free then great. If not you would ensure you know about the product before you buy it and anything needed for present or future updates...

Like anything unfortunately you have to research everything thoroughly before you buy and I'm afraid I would have asked about how to update it and when I would need to update it i.e. what charts are on it at the moment, as it may have been in stock for some time! A shop would probably tell you all this but an online company probably not especially if you didn't speak to them and just whacked it in your basket.

"Garmin chartplotter rip off!" is too strong a title in my mind anyway...
 
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Garmin do two chart updates a year, you can update the plotter for £49 each time an update comes out. It's up to you to decide whether you skip an update or several or not*.

You can either buy an update SD card, or download the update and copy it on to an SD card. Often the updates include a software update for the plotter.

It's a pity that you've been sold a plotter that is an update behind, but on the other hand you would very soon (I'm guessing before you next go sailing) have had to pay £49 for the next update anyway if you wanted to stay current..... though I accept it still isn't ideal.

If the prices are in dollars on the Garmin site you need to select the UK region. There is a flag or similar to click at the top of the page to change regions.

£49 to update a chart the size of the bundled chart on these plotters doesn't strike me as totally unreasonable...

If it's the 551 then I can at least tell you that the good news is that once you've got the right chart on and got it installed the 551 is a brilliant plotter.

*If you are passage planning in familiar waters with corrected paper charts, you might decide you don't need to apply every update and simply add waypoints or similar for any changes/discrepancies to remind you of them based on the NTMs. If you want to do that, the easiest way is to stick the SD card from the plotter into your computer and use something like Garmin Homeport to review the electronic charts and setup data on them.
 
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The software updates are free but not the chart updates.
If you buy the charts on a SD card then you are given a free update within the first 3 months but not if pre loaded onto a plotter.The retailers cannot confirm the chart version unless they power up the unit as it is not stated on the box or in any of the paperwork so I do not believe it is their fault.
If I buy a new plotter for £400+ why should I have to spend another £50 in a few weeks.This is why I stand by Garmin rip off.It took me a long time to save for this item so I hope you can understand my point of view.
 
bolty said:
If I buy a new plotter for £400+ why should I have to spend another £50 in a few weeks.This is why I stand by Garmin rip off.It took me a long time to save for this item so I hope you can understand my point of view.
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Absolutely. I do think it would be much fairer if Garmin gave a free first update as they do (and you mention) with the pre-purchased cards.

But in this case, even if you had a free update today, you'd still need to buy the new update in a couple of months.... I doubt you'd expect free updates forever so it just becomes a question of how long it's reasonable to expect them for.

Needing regular updates is the nature of the product and it's common among most of the vendors. In fact for the size of chart the Garmin updates are cheaper than some.

If Garmin have any sense they'll give you a free update to 2012.5. I hope you'll let us know if they do?
 
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Confused, too much/ little information.

How often do Garmin release updates for their charts? Is it annually or twice a year, the huge website has masked this information from my brain.
Prompted by this thread I have been considering updating the same UK/Ireland preloaded chart. I notice the latest version seems to be 2015.5 with a release date of August 2012. Does this mean that the new one is nearly due or not for 8 months.
What version is on the plotter complained of by the OP?
Help.
 
johnphilip said:
How often do Garmin release updates for their charts? Is it annually or twice a year, the huge website has masked this information from my brain.
Prompted by this thread I have been considering updating the same UK/Ireland preloaded chart. I notice the latest version seems to be 2015.5 with a release date of August 2012. Does this mean that the new one is nearly due or not for 8 months.
What version is on the plotter complained of by the OP?
Help.
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Twice a year. Once early (I think roughly Feb/March). Once mid (I think as you said roughly August). £49 a go.

Edit: Should have made clear this applies only to pre-loaded charts.
 
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Please see post 24.
This is the main problem with the UK garmin web site in that it keeps taking you to the USA site even when you are loged on with your UK registration details and it all gets a bit mixed up.I always check for the UK flag.
When I spoke to the Garmin help desk they told me a new chart update is released in January for the plotters and that it is updated once a year but there are 4 updates a year available for charts purchased on SD card.
They could not even tell me the latest version.If I input my plotter serial number when on the uk site it tells me that an update is available for $99???.
Why does it not state on the web site the current release date for the charts??
 
bolty said:
Please see post 24.
This is the main problem with the UK garmin web site in that it keeps taking you to the USA site even when you are loged on with your UK registration details and it all gets a bit mixed up.I always check for the UK flag. If I input my plotter serial number when on the uk site it tells me that an update is available for $99???.
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I've just had a go on the site and yes it does seem to switch you back from the UK site to US prices. I was able to fix it by changing the "Locale" option at the top of the page from "United States - English" to "United Kingdom - English".

I'd have to agree the website is poor in this respect and also in terms of how hard it can be to get the information you want. Also IMHO the policy on updates for downloaded non-preload charts is apalling (basically buy it again at full price).

But the policy on pre-loaded chart updates still doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me.

When I spoke to the Garmin help desk they told me a new chart update is released in January for the plotters and that it is updated once a year but there are 4 updates a year available for charts purchased on SD card.
They could not even tell me the latest version.
Why does it not state on the web site the current release date for the charts??
Click to expand...

I've checked my "order confirmation" e-mails and it seems I bought one version in 2011, and two versions this year, and the website says my device is "current". I'm on 2012.5.

Have you registered for My Garmin? Definitely worth doing. Once you register on the site and then register your device it will show you if the chart is current, and make it easier to find the correct update product by providing you a link to it. You can also register for e-mail notifications when an update is released.

FWIW I don't think I'll buy both updates this year. As long as I've done planning on corrected paper charts and reviewed the planned route I'm willing to live with slightly out of date charts on the plotter.

Good luck getting over these initial stumbling blocks. I'm sure once you get all this sorted you'll love the plotter. It's a wonderful piece of kit.
 
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galadriel said:
So how difficult would it be for, say, Garmin to supply the plotter with some basic firmware but no charts and a code key which will allow you to plug the plotter into the USB port on your computer, visit their web site, register the product (they love that) then down load the latest version of the chart, a one off 'free' download.
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I've just sent off my 2008-era C-Map cart to be updated, and A Small Boy asked "Why, Daddy? You don't have to do that for the remembering chip inside your iPad..."

(This cart was, of course, a 'free' local one when I bought my SH plotter.)
 
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