I’ve been having a rather frustrating experience with Magellan GPS (Thales Navigation) as of late. Last Christmas, Marcie got me one of their SporTrak Color hand-held GPS units. I played around with it a little bit over the winter, took it on a couple of flights with me, etc, but I never really dug into the advanced features the unit is supposed to have in addition to GPS functionality (electronic 3-axis compass, temperature/barometric pressure logging, etc).
(more after jump)
Lately, I decided to play around with it a little more. First, I tried to ensure the compass was calibrated (according to the manual, it should be done with every battery change). No dice – calibration sequence froze on the first step. Reset calibration? No dice. Advanced manual calibration? Still no luck. Ok, strike 1. Next up, I take a look at the weather stuff – the geek in me figures it’d be interesting to see what the air pressure does on a flight somewhere. Turns out, the unit isn’t logging temperature or pressure data either.
So, I e-mail Thales tech support via the web, figuring this would be a straightforward warranty service, as the unit’s got either a 1 or 2 year warranty. Takes ~2 working days to get a response. In one of the e-mails, their customer service rep indicates that I’ll need a receipt in order to get the unit repaired. Naturally, I push back – who gets a full-fledged purchase receipt with their Christmas gifts? Gift receipts often don’t even have a description of the item – just a barcode for store lookup.
CSR tells me to go ahead and send the unit in along with a written statement indicating that the unit was given as a gift new in 12/04. So, I sent it off, and got an e-mail 5 days later telling me that the unit will need to be replaced at a cost of $130 + S/H. Ths unit has not been subjected to abuse of any kind – it’s spent most of its life in a padded case on my desk at home, actually!), so this is unquestionably a manufacturing defect.
The unit costs ~$200 new. I know CostCo as a policy caps their markup at 15%, so they bought it from Thales for no less than $170. The manufacturer markup on consumer electronics is more than 25%, so they’re trying to make a profit on defective merchandise.
But, I figured there was one thing I could try. I went over to CostCo, and they were able to print out the transaction record from their systems that shows when the unit was bought, purchase price, method of payment, etc. They can even see that Marcie bought a box of Honey Nut Cheerios at the same time. So, thumbs up to CostCo for helping me out on this one. I called Magellan to get a fax number to send the receipt to – spent 30 minutes on hold.
Fortunately, the transaction record was sufficient, and I got a new unit shipped back a week later. Still the whole experience just rubbed me the wrong way. Requiring a receipt is a dumb policy, especially in the day and age of Photoshop. I could have taken an existing receipt from CostCo, scanned it in, and edited in the right information. What’s even more irritating is that this makes me feel like Thales / Magellan doesn’t stand behind their products. It’s pretty clear that this was a manufacturing defect in the unit, as the compass/weather system most likely never worked in the unit, based on how I can see the heading update in the new unit while standing still now. Not only am I pissed off and not going to be a repeat customer, but I’m not going to recommend Magellan GPS units to anyone.
Note to Magellan, if you ever see this – here’s how this transaction should have gone:
1) Customer Service should have responded within 1 business day of my original contact. First contact was a waste anyhow, as all they did was request information I’d already provided in the web form (and was even in the body of the e-mail they sent me!), so in reality, it took ~5 business days to get an RMA issued.
2) If I say it’s a gift, take my word for it. I shouldn’t need to bend over backwards to produce proof of warranty. I was lucky that this came from CostCo, and that they could look up the purchase information in-store
3) Phone service – 30 minute hold times are unacceptable, especially without providing feedback as to how long I’d be waiting.
To their credit, once Magellan accepted my receipt as proof of purchase, the replacement unit was on the way within 2 days.
In short, customers should not have to jump through hoops, before or after the sale.
Instead of getting repeat business (because face it, I’m a gadget guy – someday I’ll probably want to upgrade to a better GPS) from me, I’ll buy a unit from Garmin, TomTom, etc, and recommend others do the same.
Hi,
I must agree with everyone who states poor customer service. I am totally disappointed with my purchase of a roadmate 6000t in March 07.
I have eagerly been awaiting the map update and hopefully software updates as my 6000t isn’t always accurate with routes or text to speech directions. After routinely visiting the website and waiting for what I was told would be a free update, I now find that the map update is going to cost 80.00 usd. Interestingly enough, there is also a software update included which albeit corrects some of the issues I have encountered with my unit. The software update of course is not available for free.
If I am not mistaken, the product literature when I purchase the unit provided for free regular updates.
Customer service is useless and of course they have difficulties understanding me and I have difficulties understand them. I work in software and am acustom to various regional Indian accents, but Magellan apparently hires whoever can speak some form of broken english. I asked my latest customer service rep if she knew what class action meant.. She replied.. ‘Is that a website’!
I will check product literature again to clear any misunderstandings I have of free updates. I would be interested in participating in any form of formal complaints.
Thanks to others for providing phone numbers.
Magellan sucks! Never again will I buy any of their products.
John
Frist to say I love the meter (310 & 400)but NOT the service? Ny first meter needed an unlock code that the people in customer service couldn’t provied and after hours I was transfered to a capable lady in the states that spoke english. Oh boy now the topo maps work!!! There were several questions as how to get the gps functions mastered and found a rep that knew all answers and asked for him by name every time. He is no longer there. UBS conection broke inside meter and tried all sugestions but ended up gettin RA and sending unit back. No longer have parts, unit discontinued, etc.The solution was to pay more and trade for explorist 400. Worked fine and was happy to have the larger memory. Tradgedy… the lens was cracked and got RA number. Sent unit back Dec 17 Fed-x. Got it back yesterday Jan 23 and the “new” lense had protective tape on it. Pulled off the tape and there are two groves on the face just off the side of the screen that look like they were made by a razor knife.
It will be easier to learn one of the Indian dialects than to deal with those very polit and empty service reps again. I’m calling all the state side numbers I can. Never will I give my credit card number to some one who scratched up the face before I recieved the instrument. The repair ticket just gives the part number not the procedure.
While waiting for return I called and was passed off to three reps, spent 55 min. to find out we have not been able to locate your meter. What a company.
DITTO!!!
WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MAGELLIAN PRODUCT!!!
Well its been since 11/07 19 e-mails and 3 phone calls. Today I have contacted the BBB, sent e-mails to every e-mail that has been noted in this blog, and called every number listed in this blog, will keep you informed on what if anything worked. To see my original complaint I have the 81 post on this blog.
Its been six days since i spoke with the vice president of customer service and still no results, these people are freaking rediculous! still no usa lakes north maps.
still no results from these clowns, i will join in on the class action suit if it legitimate. please comment.
My Magellan 3100 broke within the 1st two weeks I had it. While it was suctioned to the windshield, it fell and cracked the LCD screen. When I called to try to get it fixed, they said that only defects were covered under the warranty. Well after being on the phone for about an hour and talking to about 4 people, I convinced them that there was a defect in the suction which made it break. Well after about 3 phone calls (each lasting 30-45 minutes), I finally got my GPS back fixed. It took exactly a month from the day I sent it in (sent:12/18 returned 1/29).
I received a Magellan Maestro 3250 for Christmas. The power/charger cords plug into the USB port. When I charge the unit, whether in the car or in the house, a screen comes up saying:
“USB Connected
The USB has been connected to the unit. Please follow instructions from PC application for updating maps or software. Please make sure your battery is fully charged or power connected to prevent any power failure during file transfer.”
This screen cannot be bypassed and renders the device unusable while plugged in. On long car trips, there is no way to charge while simultaneously using the device. It cannot be plugged in and operate at the same time. How do I get the device to differentiate between power flowing through the USB port and a PC connection in the USB port? Or is this even the problem? Many thanks.
I have had the same poor customer service as everyone else. Long wait times, please call back in 48 hours, we sent you a unit, blah blah blah. I was told my unit was lost and they would send a new one. Never happened. On Dec 21 I filed a complaint with the BBBB in Illinois. Which just so happened to be the exact same day they shipped out a new unit to me! By the way this started in the middle of October. Of course Magellan’s reply to the complaint was that they had sent a new unit. They took 2 weeks to reply. In my complaint I stated I wanted a refund of the purchase price, the accesories I bought for the unit and the shipping costs to send in the unit for repair. They refused stating they had sent a replacement already and no refund would be issued. They also promised an unlock code for Mapsend. I never received this either. So back to the BBB I went. Magellan’s reply was that they would supply the code, but left no directions as to how to go about getting it! Here’s the kicker…just last Tuesday (1/22)I received my ORIGINAL GPS in working order, you know, the one they “lost.” I still have both units and am trying decide if I will keep them or not.
Vice President of customer service, Frank Adler, is definitely the person to contact. I was able to contact him at the numbers listed below and he followed up by having a customer service rep. to call me. Perhaps this posting is premature because my issue has not been resolved yet, BUT I have been told that it will be within the next few days. FRANK ADLER IS THE MAN!!! His direct number is 909-394-7041 and his cell phone is 909-319-1184.
UPDATE to Jan. 14rh complaint. I emailed Mr. Chan (President) directly and within the week he had Mr. R. Davis call (Service Manager)… after a tough conversation he told me to go back to Fry’s … it was their responsibility, even though they had really tried. I planned on doing some “insisting” with Fry’s on getting a refund of my entire purchase price ($660) because I did not want another Magellan. The next day I received a call from Mr. R. Davis. He told me I would be getting a replacement unit and received it the next day. Although the difference in price (from a 3000T ($660) to 3250 ($399),I did receive an upgraded unit. However, in looking at the complaints above about 3250′s I am very concerned I may end up with yet another service disaster. I don’t want to appear negative and perhaps Mr. Chan will be able to turn this company around so that we can all get units that function properly to begin with and have them repaired in a reasonable length of time if they don’t. Good luck to all of you.
13 February 2008…similar story. Sent in RoadMate 360 on 9 Nov 2007. No response. Called and was sent over to India..Laura at sales dept. She said my unit was non-repairable and no longer manufacutured so I’d have to upgrade if I wanted a new one. Unfortunately, I already have two others that I purchased waiting for this one to come back. I got the discounted rate story and was told to go to their website and choose from six of the Maestro series units. Was told I would have to choose and call back to see how much it would be and then they would charge my credit card used for the $82 dollar repair that never happened….and then they would send me my new unit. Do I look stupid? Not going to happen. Sorry that I got the two others, however they both work just fine. However, if and when these do go down, I’m off to Garmin or TomTom………I really dislike having to deal with the overseas constituents, the communication difficulties and the constant, “wait a minute”, “wait two minutes”, “I’ll have to send you to the tech rep”, then, it turns out to be sales, etc…you know what I mean if you are one of those who has made 8+ calls of 15-30 minutes just find out that their systems are down, “we’ll call you back”…oh sure. I asked why they didn’t call me with an update on my repair. “We tell our customers to call back in 3 weeks for their status”.. That didn’t happen. It was never told to me. So, another Magellan customer pulling out and passing this on to my 7 children. And they will pass on to 49 more, etc. COSTCO needs to get out of the Magellan business. Word to the wise.
Alright everyone. I was hoping if I waited long enough, I would be able to post something good on this website, saying my problem was resolved. But I can’t. My neighbour bought a Magellan 500 bundle, which included a coupon for DirectRoute. Back in November, we tried to activate the coupon, but got the error “There was an error validating the coupon that you
entered. Please try again”. We called the tech support line, and they told us the website was broken, and to try again in a few days (this was a Friday). We tried it a few more times throughout that week, with no success. Then he went away for a few months
He’s back now. We went to the website to activate the code on Feb 2nd, but we got the EXACT SAME ERROR. I called Magellan on Feb 4th (after trying again), and opened Case# 100098103. They once again explained that the website was down, and to try in a couple of days. I’ve tried several times since Feb 4th, and I have continued to call the tech support team back every few days, and they continue to say that the website is still not working.
I called again this evening, and once again, they said try it in a couple of days. My neighbour has a legal copy of DirectRoute which he paid for in this bundle, that he hasn’t been able to use for months, and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s incredibly frustrating.
Furthermore, when I called on Feb 4th, I couldn’t make it through their phone system for Recreational GPS support. Once you pick “Explorist 500″, it says “This cannot be completed at this time”, and hangs up. The only way to get through to support has been to press option #5 for “Other”, and ask them to transfer me.
It’s unbelievable that this can happen. Where’s the accountability?
Tim
Those of you that are members of AAA make sure you let them know about your issues as they are in a marketing agreement with Magellan
I love my MAGELLAN!!! ü
Question: have any of you had experience with your 3000T locking up and asking for a password – out of the blue??
I received a Magellan 600 as part of my 30 year gifts from the company where I work. I was excited to receive the product and eagerly purchased software to load into the unit. This was in September of 2007.
I soon found that my computer wouldn’t recognize the GPS unit through the Magellan USB cord! I tried to get two other computers to recognize the GPS using the USB cord. No luck. I called the Magellan “help” line and received nothing but hours of frustration. The people on this line told me that it had to be my computer! When I told them that I had tried the set up on numerous computers, the person on the line told me that they would send me a new USB cord. To make a long story short of course the cord didn’t come when promised. It did come after another two months and after numerous, numerous phone calls to the Indian help line. This is the usual Magellan lousy service that you are all used to hearing about.
In December of 07 I got two different shipments of USB cords from Magellan, neither of which worked or maybe the unit just didn’t work, I don’t know and right now I don’t care. The reason I don’t care is because I called the gift house that sent me the unit originally and told them I was unhappy with the Magellan piece of garbage that I received.The gift house said they would replace the Magellan unit with a Garmin!!!
They no longer carry Magellan products!! Just think no more lousy customer service in India, service in the USA and a QUALITY product with which to work!!!
So this is my happy ending to my Magellan success story!
Tim Mulligan
Proud ex-Magellan customer
WOW! I wished I ahd known this BEFORE I bought a freakin Magellan eXplorist 600. So far I have paid for Lakes USA South that I CANNOT download. 2 emails and 2 phone calls to Magellan’s Customer NO Service Dept and no help. Next call is to the CC company to dispute the charge. Following call to AAA to “thank” them for fixing me up with their partner.
Yet another horror story here.
I actually got 11 months out of my Roadmate 3000T. But, evidently, the power connector (female part on the circuit board)wore, and now I cannot power the unit.
I started calling the support line 3 months ago. I started e-mailing them around 2 months ago.
Thankfully, I’ve been so busy, that I had delayed sending the unit in to have it serviced. After reading these reports of botched customer service and narrow chances of getting Magellan to fix it…I think I’ll find a local electronics shop to fix the thing, and if it doesn’t work after that, I’ll just go down to their offices and throw it at them.
I’ll be buying a Garmin.
Me Too !
After a year or more of faithfull service from my explorist 100, I managed to crack the LCD screen. Being a bit techie I enquired from NextGeneration as to the cost of a replacement LCD that I can fit myself… I was blown away at the $150 quoted. A whole new unit from the shop was ony $50 more !!!…
The answer that suited me was EBAY! for $200 I bought a brand new ’300… No problems !
Don’t care about warranty … don’t want EVER to deal with Magellan again….
If I buy ‘new’, I’ll buy Garmin !!
I have a magellan maestro 4050. Brought it about 6 months back. Started having problem with its powering port, it does not charge without the cradle and the battery does not hold the charge for more than 10-15 mints. It also started rebooting frequenty after updating the frimware 2.36. I called the service center and they told me to send the unit to Fortworth, Texas. I am glad I looked up this blog before sending in my unit. Now I am better prepared to face the ordeal. I will probably ship the unit today and see what happens.
Thanks you guys for your posts
Like Pauline, I have followed this blog, although I received my repaired 3050T in mid November (my posts #43, 44 & 49). The company simply does not care about its customers. My new GPS is a Garmin (now have 2 Garmins, 2 Magellans and a Furuno).
Reference my previous postings # 89 & 94
I did get a replacement unit for my Explorer, they sent me a Trident 2000 ( a $500.00 unit) but guess what, it worked for only one month, then the .exe program crashed and the unit would not reset. So I followed again the instructions on their web site and called “India”, got a case number and a reference number the next week, their service department said they would send me a NEW Replacement Unit. but right now they are “Out Of Stock” and it may be one month before they get any in. Just the same old BS Story as when I had the bad Explorer, don’t they ever learn?
Today I will call Sherry Hartwig at 408-615-5141 or 5144 and see what happens. Wish me luck
I just got off of the phone with Sherry Hartwig, she is real friendly, and assured me that she will contact her people to resolve this problem within 48 hours, and that I should be hearing from her people in california by noon monday. If not to call her back. She is aware of the problem that they have with India, and are setting up a customer service center here in the states, India will be shut down.
Again, if anyone else has a problem, Please call Sherry, as she is very frendly and wants to help their customers.
I will keep you posted on what is going on monday.
Wish me luck
I found your blog purely by accident. I have a Magellan RoadMate 760 that magically stopped picking up the satellite signal on February 13, 2008. I can pinpoint the day because I was driving to Miami, FL and somewhere near Palm Beach it dropped. Prior to that, it has worked perfectly for the previous 2 years. The run-around that you ALL describe is exactly what my husband and I have been dealing with. Today is March 21st and after umteenth calls to the folks in India, we finally got some guy willing to give us an RA number so we could return it for “service.” (This is how I found you.) My instincts warned me something still didn’t seem quite right; so I googled the address the guy in India gave us for the return. Low and behold your blog shows up. (As well as the ATCLE place) I actually have the unit packed in a box and ready to ship but just wanted to be sure before I mailed it out to who knows where. Good insight ehh?
NOW I am holding onto it and have numerous calls into the people in CA. I will see what they intend on doing. I felt that if they are treating me this badly, how many others are being screwed too? WOW, Now I kinda have an idea…is all I can say. And this is only ONE BLOG. Can you imagine the sheer numbers of people that hate Magellan because of their pitiful customer support? The kicker for me is that I bought the unit over 2 years ago and like I said, it worked great. Then the signal shut-off. I believe, Magellan has somehow disabled the units from receiving the signals, so we all have to purchase a new one. One person in India told me the unit was a legacy unit and they would do nothing for me. One person said, no that isn’t true. The Magellan website shows it discontinued as of Jan 2008. I fired off an e-mail to all the people listed on the blog this morning. I put in the mail yesterday a letter to the President of the co; by snail mail and prior to finding this blog.
If you care to read my letter (Copied Below) you should find great entertainment value!! Thanks for sharing this blog Ben, Good job! I will also follow up with my results or lack of them.
Brenda
March 19, 2008
Mr. Chan, President & CEO
MagellanNavigation, Inc.
960 Overland Court
San Dimas, CA 91773
We Put People 1st
Being a People 1st company is about creating a shared set of values that govern the way we treat our customers, manage each other, encourage, guide, innovate, and work together. These are the keys to our success.
Dear Mr. Chan,
I clipped this quote directly from your website today; prior to writing to your company.
Looking at the Magellan website, I found the list of management profiles. Not one person is listed as being in charge of service and support. With that being said, this is the exact purpose of my letter. I decided to address my letter to you, hoping you want to know about a major problem within your organization.
I purchased a RoadMate 760 two years ago. When I purchased my 760 GPS, I was so impressed with the performance, one week later, I convinced my parents to purchase the exact same model, which they did.
The unit has functioned superbly during this time, yet on February 13, 2008, while enroute to the Miami Boat Show, it lost the satellite signal, (and has not worked properly since.) This was a huge disadvantage for us. Driving from Largo, we were relying on the GPS to get us to our destination in South Miami; just as we have been for the previous two years. When it stopped receiving the signal, we were forced to purchase a map and give up waiting for the signal to come back up.
When this first happened, I called into technical support and spoke with someone in India. I was on the phone for 45 minutes. They had me perform all kinds of configuration resetting etc. The call was a waste of time in the end, as my unit still did not pick up any signals.
Because the friendly folks in India are not able to actually help with my issue, I started to searched the Magellan website and found an update for the RoadMate 760 was available. On February 23, 2008, I purchased it, for $79.99. $91.59 after taxes and shipping.
($6.00 to ship me a large box with one CD inside)
I followed the instruction and downloaded the new version of the software into the unit. Unfortunately, it did not correct the satellite signal problem either. I then researched more from your “helpful” base of frequently asked questions and found nothing to be of assistance for the topic of lost signals.
Next, my husband phoned into technical support. Again, the person in India kept him on the phone for 35 minutes. Asked him to reset the unit, turn it off, turn it on, etc, etc. Nothing but a waste of more of our time.
I am a Real Estate Appraiser. I do not know if you realize it or not, but I rely on my GPS for much much more than a helpful gadget. I use it daily to find residential addresses, and perform my job more efficiently. Now that my GPS is not working, it is a major hassle; I have to go to map-quest, or break out a map and go back to where I was several years ago, before I had a GPS in my car.
During the search, I found several blogs where numerous people had written in to say they experienced the same problem with signal loss on their 760’s. An external antenna was their lifesaver and recommendation. In fact, one man commented that he was about to throw his 760 away and never purchase another Magellan again, but after having installed the external antenna, it was receiving signals again within minutes of turning it on. I decided that must be the problem with mine as well. I ordered an external antenna. Another $80.00 + investment. Plugged it in and voila, it worked. I received a satellite signal. It lasted less than a day then lost it.
I’m sure you can imagine how aggravated I was by this point. I phoned into technical support yet again. Some friendly soul in India answered. I asked if I could please talk to anyone in AMERICA. She said no, and either hung up on me, or we were disconnected. My husband decided he would attempt to speak to a supervisor. The person on the end of the phone said there was not a way to talk to anyone other than his or her support people. He gave my husband this phone number to reach someone in California, and told him not to press any selection. If he waited, an operator would pick up. 909-394-5000. The number goes to voice-mail jail and you cannot get out if you choose not to press an option. It loops over and over with a voicemail attendant asking you to make a selection. Pressing 2 for support takes one off to India. Waiting for an operator is not an option with your company. Frankly, I feel completely justified in claiming you do not want to talk to your customers and you make it impossible to reach anyone in the United States of America. This would not be my choice, but it is your company to run after all isn’t it.
My husband gave up trying to get someone from the states and went back through the process of the press this game. Another person in India, and another 40-minute phone call ensued. This person said the 760 is a legacy product and it has been discontinued, we could buy another unit, as this one was not going to be used anymore. When my husband repeated the words, I could hardly believe what I was hearing. You are going to charge me nearly one hundred dollars a couple of weeks ago for an update, and now tell me you are no longer servicing the Road Mate 760 and we’ll have to go buy another newer version? Are you kidding me? That works out to approximately $515.50 per year I paid to use your product for the two years it worked properly. I understand new technology is pressing, but come on, two years? The landfills are already overfilled as it is, with electronic (hazardous) waste..
After the rep told him this, my husband asked if there was a supervisor he could speak to. Magically, the phone line disconnected again.
Congratulations, my husband is now more irritated than I am; with having to call back for the umpteenth time. Press this, press this, press this, press this, press this, press this…
This time, the rep told my husband that because we just purchased the update, on February 23rd, Magellan would “permit” us to return the unit for repair. This rep also denied the unit was a legacy unit, as we were told previously. (A little more searching on the Magellan web-site proved this be a lie, it is listed as discontinued effective Jan, 2008)
After being placed on hold a half a dozen times, the rep gave my husband instructions to mail the unit to be serviced and said it would take somewhere around 2 to 3 weeks to get it back. My husband questioned if there was a loaner that he could authorize for me to use while mine is out, and if there was a shipping number he could give us. The rep said he could not give us a postage paid shipping number, nor a loaner. I suppose Magellan wants me to feel privileged they are going to service my old unit. ??
When I pay $800 plus for a product, I expect it to last more than two years. Do you think that is too much for me, or any of your customers to expect from a Magellan product?
Now the choice is to spend more money on a GPS discarded by Magellan. Or drop several hundred dollars to buy a new one.
Where in this process have I received outstanding customer support or service?
Much less treated number one! Mind you, I fully understand this practice is not reserved for myself only. This is how ALL Magellan customers are experiencing customer service and receiving technical support when they need it. If you have not been informed, or noticed lately, your customers are not just calling in to see how everyone’s day is going. When we call technical support, we actually need help and support. This is perhaps your only opportunity to show that you really do care about your customers. Thanking them for buying isn’t as important as showing them you know how to provide follow up service after the sale. I recommend that you make it difficult to buy your products and utilize local people for technical support. At least then you would have customers that had to go out of their way to purchase and happy with support.
The military should consider using torture tactics that include calling (and speaking) to your technical support/service department with a hypothetical problem he or she is experiencing with a GPS, to gain highly classified information from enemies.
Below, is a paragraph I copied directly from your website; where your company lists how to contact you. Look at it closely. “The Magellan Customer Care Team is ready to listen and answer your concerns.”
Customer Care
Tell us how we can improve. Your feedback gives us the opportunity to better serve you. The Magellan Customer Care Team is ready to listen and answer your concerns. Use this form or send us a fax at 800-805-6003.
Oh really, so how does the Magellan care team “listen” to my concerns? My voice is not being heard from an e-mail form that I have submitted or by faxing in a letter.
This statement about listening and answering is absurd! You don’t really want to know how to improve, do you? This is why my letter is addressed directly to you. I remind you of my opening, I did attempt to find the person that is in charge of customer support and service. Not one of the department heads is listed as the person that represents technical service and support. Why not? Obviously, the department is either not important or non-existent within Magellan. But don’t take my word for it; look for yourself.
Actually, Mr. Chan, your message to (us) customers is pretty loud and clear…
“Mr. Customer, at Magellan, we’ll listen, just as long as we can’t actually hear you speaking, and it’s on our terms; not yours.
I think your IT manager should take that bogus statement off the company website and replace it with truthful random statements like “Don’t bother trying to reach us… you can’t, and if you write to us, we’ll answer when we feel like it…If you need technical support or service.. hope you like pressing numbers and have at least an hour to spend talking with the nice folks in India. (Ha ha ha, good luck!!) Since they won’t be able to really help you solve a problem, make sure to ask how the weather in India is. The outsourced crowd likes to know we think they are number one … Please buy another one of our products. We need a few more million profit dollars to hit our bottom line this quarter…
Sadly, I doubt Mr. Chan ever reads customer letters. At the rate you are operating, there would be bundles of mail bags daily to try and read through. Unfortunately, the administrative assistant “team” that reads customer letters and replies can do nothing to remedy problems. Another form letter response with an apologetic sentiment. No offense to Administrative Assistants honest! Save your stamp and don’t bother, I get it!
One thing is certain though. When I need to purchase another GPS for any of my cars or boat or need a GPS for any purpose. When a salesman shows me a Magellan, I will be sure to tell him or her exactly how I feel about Magellan products. I would not hesitate to share my experience with every person I know and associate with…personally and professionally. The customer service and care Magellan has shown my family has been nothing short of despicable. I will also be following up with the BBB.
Regards,
Brenda Cochran
My horrible experience is never ending!
It just never ends…
5/16/07 Purchased Magellan RoadMate 6000T, for $514.95
8/23/07 Purchased North America 12-Month TrafficKit Subscription,$65.34
10/30/07 Purchased Magellan® RoadMate™ 6000T NA Map and Software
Update Version 2 (including unlock code) for $71.86
11/8/07, received Software Update, attempted to apply, unlock code did
not work. Called customer service, and was told a new code would be
received at my email address within three hours. Three hours came and
went, no code. Called again, was told I would get a new unlock code in
12 hours.
11/9/07, no unlock code received, called customer support, asked for a
supervisor, but was told none available. Was informed an unlock code
would come on the following Monday (11/12).
11/12/07, no unlock code received, called customer support, asked for
a supervisor, but was told none available. Was given a new unlock
code, which worked. Unfortunately, upgrade failed, and locked GPS.
Called customer service, asked to speak with a supervisor, and spoke
with Gervin Jorben, who said that I could return the unit, that they
would send a shipping label and that it would be back in two weeks
time (from receipt of unit).
11/12/07, called back for RA number, spoke with “Kevin” extremely
rude, took an hour to get an RA number, and was told I was not going
to get a return shipping label, and was told that Gervin Jorben was
not available.
11/14/07, shipped GPS to ATCLE in Texas, via UPS, received on 11/20
2007, signed by Reiff, and cost me $13.70 including insurance.
11/20/07, called customer service and verified that my unit was
received, and it would take approximately 2-3 weeks to get back to me.
12/10/07, called customer service, and was told my unit would be fixed
within 5 business days.
12/17/07, called customer service, spoke with Jack, after about an
hour of being on hold, I was told that my unit was not repairable, and
that it would be replaced with a Maestro 4250, which a unit that has
fewer features and costs less than my 6000T. I was given a sales
order, and was told to call back in 48 hours for a tracking number,
and I would receive the unit in seven days.
At that time, I was told I could get a free 12-month traffic
subscription using the case number. When I inquired about a refund of
my shipping, I was told I was not eligible. When I inquired about
stopping my order of the upgrade, I was told, quite rudely, that I was
told that I was not entitled to that either.
12/17 Called Raphel Finelli
Senior Public Relations Manager
Magellan GPS
Who asked me to email him the story, and he would take care of it.
12/19, no response from Mr. Finelli, called, left message
Called 12/19, cs was not able to supply me with a tracking number for
my replacement unit.
12/21/2007 Received email from Rajeeth R, including RA
Acknowledgement, with no detail on it.
Called 12/21 To ask for tracking number, transferred to Gerald. Given
tracking number
12/28/2007 – Received replacement unit
1/17/2008 Billed for Magellan® RoadMate™ 6000T NA Map and Software
Update Version 2 (including unlock code) for a total of $71.86 from
website.
1/21/2008 Received “Order Confirmation” email, which included an RA
Acknowledgement, but no other real info, other than 20 980874-01
“SKU,MRM6000T ENG
1 EA
Delivery date unconfirmed
1/21/08 Called Amex to dispute charge
2/26/08 Called Magellan got Bryce asked for 12-month sub
Xferred twice got Alisha who gave me a coupon code and told me to WAIT
until the three-month subscription was up to redeem the new one.
3/27/2008
Tried coupon code – invalid
Called CS, got Mark, was transferred to Sarah no record of my case ID.
Makes me give her my userid and password to login… ludicrous lack of
security.
She could not understand after 30 mins on the phone what I needed…
she could NOT understand why I just didn’t use the Roadmate
subscription, and I had to explain over and over again that the
Roadmate is DEAD!!!! and I don’t have it or the unlock code…
Told that I would get a response in three days… not holding my breath!
Only good thing is that AMEX canceled the charge for the software
upgrade since Magellan did not respond to the inquiry.
Will this hell ever end?
what more can you expect from ‘shah’ outfit! they will cut corners and be cheap all the way. customer dis-service does rank high on their list.
I am looking for a snake to take on a class action law suit
I have owned three Magellan GPS units in my life. I now own two. And in a day or so, it may be back to one. I own a GPS 315, which is a simple unit that I have had for nearly a decade that still works flawlessly and has never needed customer service.
I purchased a Magellan Crossover a couple months ago when Office Depot put them on sale for $229, thinking it would be a good updated replacement for the 315…that’s where the nightmare began.
First off, the map software was horribly outdated and in some cases, just outright incorrect. I should have returned the unit when I was out in the parking lot right after the purchase and realized Main Street in the town I live in (and the street the Office Depot I bought the thing at is located on) was incorrectly identified as Hwy 550…which is 10 miles away.
It was all downhill from there.
On the box, there was a sticker proclaiming “Free Software Upgrade”. I thought, “Oh, there might be a free software upgrade that corrects the incorrect maps.” Silly me. I guess in India, “Free software upgrade” actually means “free firmware upgrade”, because when I called about the free software upgrade, I was told there is no free software upgrade, only a firmware upgrade…which would not fix the maps. If I wanted to fix the maps, there was an updated map software edition coming out that would cost $80…..but there was no guarantee that the maps would be corrected!
After several phone calls to their still India based customer service number, where I was told on every occasion that my situation was being “escalated” to somewhere that didn’t matter, because nothing was ever done, I gave up on the phone calls and started sending emails..which, I was told, were also being dutifully “escalated” to somewhere I’ve never learned of to this very day.
Then, I find that the firmware upgrade was over 700 megabytes, and would take over two days to download at dialup speed…
Secondly, the idea of the Crossover is a good one..one unit that serves both vehicle navigation, and backcountry needs as well. Well, the backcountry features were woefully inadequete..substandard to even my nearly decade old GPS 315. I also then found that while Magellan had been promising updated and more detailed topographic maps for the Crossover, none have ever been made available after years of Crossover production.
Within two weeks, the Crossover started locking up and resetting itself every few miles..which solved my problem for me…I took it back to Office Depot, got a refund, and went across the parking lot to Best Buy, where they were clearancing some Garmin Nuvi 260′s for $149.
Then, I liked the Nuvi so much (The maps were even correct! Imagine that!), I started seriously checking into other Garmin products. To upgrade my backcountry GPS, I bought a Garmin Etrex Venture, and the Garmin Topo map software..which I found could be loaded onto the Nuvi as well with limited waypoint functionality, but with full map availability. The user can toggle back and forth from the road maps to the topo maps on the Nuvi at will.
And there you have the story of how Magellan made me into a Garmin customer.
Yesterday I broke down and bought a Magellan 3100 for my wife’s car, simply because I got a tip over the internet that Target had them on clearance for $75.
Already, I find the auto shutoff feature does not work and the unit only powers down automatically when the internal batteries are nearly discharged…
According to Magellan’s website, an 800 megabyte software update is available which may fix the problem…around 3 days to download at dial up speed…
In short, the Garmin units I bought last month have already performed excellently on a two week Death Valley excursion, both on road, and off road.
The Magellan units I have ended up with in the last couple months have been total crap, and their customer service has been equally crap.
Oh, the Garmin’s have a better interface for software updates too…just plug them in to the USB port, and they automatically check for and install updates. It took about a half hour for each unit. Seems Garmin products are made to pretty much work right out of the box, while Magellan nowadays sells stuff that needs to be “fixed” right out of the box…thus perhaps the $75 price I suppose.
The cure for a bad Magellan product, in my opinion, is to simply buy a Garmin.
Add me to the list. I got a Magellan 3250 for Christmas. It is a piece of garbage. Always failing and now completly locked up on start up screen. AND I’m tired of talking to Hadji ( whom says his name is Mark) in India. I have nothing bad to say about the country of India but PLEASE stay out of the U.S. Customer Service industry. It is impossible to understand them. Now for Magellan, it amazes me that this company can still be in business with the products they sell. As for my GPS…it sits hear as a paperweight on my desk inching closer to the garbage can.
Moe, I have a Roadmate 2000 and it was also locked up on the start up screen and I hit the reset on the side and now it is fine. I don’t know if you have a reset on your machine
You can try doing that if you do have it though. Good luck
I too got duped… sent my 3100 in for repair and never got it back. Made numerous calls and got lied to. First they told me it was shipped but couldnt provide a tracking #. 2nd call – unit still being repaired?! 3rd call- still awaiting tracking # from 3 weeks before? Im driving to the repair center in Fort Worth tommorow, to tell them what I think about their services…and demanding my unit broken or repaired…and refusing to leave until i get it…Also taking along a cop buddy…since they are trying to commit theft..
So it worked…not only did i get my unit back (repaired)…magellan also contacted me and told me how sorry they were…and insisted that I accept their apology with a free maestro 3200…its cheap, but hey free gps.. While I was at their FW location..i noticed lots of ups boxes stacked up, which im suspecting are units that peole had sent in, and their just their gathering dust. If you really want your unit back…go to the repair location…and DEMAND IT. Dont leave till you get it either. phone calls rarely get anything accomplished.
Don’t send your unit. I have been calling support for months. I was dumb enough to return my product. I have made numerous calls (communication is terrible-English is not a first language) always being told my product was received and my refund is in processing. By the way the shortest call was just under 30 minutes and I was placed on hold multiple times every call. The last call, again going through the whole explanation and confirmation questions, my receipt was requested to prove I returned it , I had already been told the item had been received. They confirmed the item was received with every call I made. Why do you need proof you sent the item if they have already received it???? I faxed the receipt and guess what???…..they haven’t called back and no refund.
I’m mailing a letter to the address I sent my return and if I ever find a another physical address, I plan to send copies to see if that works. I’m giving them two weeks to respond before contacting the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General’s Office!!
The product may be good but BEWARE as they do NOT handle customer service well (If at all). Now I have neither my product or the money deducted from my checking account or the money spent to return it. If you have doubts that the service is that bad just search Magellan complaints on the internet.
Everyones complaint along with my inability to contact magellan makes me wonder if something could be done to stop companies like this from treating customers like we are being treated.i have always been told that a product is no better than the service that goes with it.
thanks and good luck
Has anyone ordered and received the new map update for the Roadmate 2000, and if so did it work okay without any of the problems mentioned in all the other messages. Let me know before I order it… Thanks
OK, guys, here’s my story: Bought a 3100 last fall when Radio Shack had them for $129. I have a Blazer12 that still works so I figured another Magellan can’t go too wrong…I didn’t know about Thales, or Shah. Looking for new or corrected maps got me to Magellan’s site and the 2.18 firmware. Bought the DVD, as a 900 meg download would put me on Hughes s***list for at least 24 hrs.
Did the upgrade and pffft…no more workee. Called Magellan and one of the first things “Ray” (Raj?) said was ‘there is no upgrade for the 3100′. Finally led him to the right page, he put me on hold, comes back with an RA number and the ATCLE address, said ‘they’ll fix it and put the new firmware and maps on it, and send it right back’.
So, I ship it USPS Priority on June 23rd WITHOUT proof of purchase…THEN I find this blog, and realize I’ve sent my newest toy to the black hole of Calcutta. Made a note in the planner to call Magellan in a month, and bought a Garmin 200. I like the Garmin but the receiver isn’t as sensitive as the 3100, and I liked the Magellan’s informative display of the sat status.
So, here’s where believing something I read on the internet bites me in the a**: On July 14th UPS delivers my 3100 – 3 weeks to the day after I sent it to them – and it works like a new one, with the updates in it. And I’ve already done the ’6 million POI hack’ successfully.
I bought a magellin triton 2000 about 5 month ago, Guess what ? Magellin claims that they have trouble with fraud on canadian creditcards. Therefore, on the 2000, maps downloads can only be done with a credit card. The triton 2000 runs on sd cards only, maps need to be cofigured to the particular machine. I wonder if my warranty is going down hill like my paitence.
norm burton alberta canada
Should I contact ATCLE to get the status of my repair? Because Magellan sucks. I called customer service and tried to explain that I wanted to get it overnighted back to me when it was done being “repaired” whenever that will be and one girl said that it wasnt possible. Then I hung up and luckily got in touch with someone else who said that it was possible. I guess I am going to have to call back everyday to find out some information on where my GPS is.
I bought my Magellan Maestro 4250 beginning of June, 2008. Best Buy said I was entitled to a free lesson so I’d learn to use it. The lesson was a waste and all I did was watch the kid set it himself and I knew nothing. I went home and the next day started going through the box looking for the owner manuel. It wasn’t there, but I don’t know if it had ever been there or if it fell out (or was being read by a household member).No one knew where it was. I called Magellan and then told me that there is no manuel for my model but that I could download the 82 pages from the website. Meanwhile, my story is about the same as some of yours, though I still hope things will come together. It.s August and I still haven’t been able to use it. I can’t figure out how to find the item to download. They claim there never was a manual with it, but that seems impossible.
Does anyone know if this model comes with a manual? And if so, could someone tell me where to go to download it – copy it – whatever?
I’m getting close to throwing it away and going straight to the Garmin.But is is aggravating to keep spending more and more money on all of this and still not really know if a manual exists anywhere which I could buy and hve sent to me.
Its getting worse, if possible. The website does not accept accurate input, they are not answering their phones, and e-mail suppost requests are returned by postmaster. Looks like they are going out of biz! And all I want to do is purchase a data upgrade for my 2-year old Roadmate 700.
Lesson. Check the blogs before you buy.
This is for Muriel that wrote on Aug. 1st
Muriel the User Manual does not come with your unit. You can download it by doing this:
Go to http://www.magellangps.com/support/ Then a window comes up click on Magellan Maestro Series then click on the arrow and go to Maestro 4250, then click on Submit. A new window comes up then click on Manual English and the Manual comes up. You can save it into your computer by clicking on the little floppy icon in the upper left. After its saved in your computer you can always go right to it for information. Good luck
Oh, let me add to the fun!!
To make a long story short: RoadMate 760, gift Thanksgiving 2006, worked great. Attempted to purchase map upgrade December 2007 – “coupon is invalid”. Call after coupon expired said they would not honor it. Finally bit the bullet and paid full price in February 2008. Before long trip in May 2008, attempted to upgrade maps – found out DVD is corrupt. Call to customer “service” tells me to completely WIPE OFF my hard drive. Knowing this was completely wrong, we did it anyway. Received a shipping label promptly, mailed it the next day, told to wait 6-8 weeks. Spent most of this summer traveling, forgot about the unit until cleaning out email inbox, attempted call today. After 45 minutes, told it was never received at the Ft. Worth center (UPS tracking said it was received AND SIGNED FOR), and they’ll send me a RM 1430 (newest model) for free. When attempting to get a transaction #, “server was down”, will call me back. Phone call received 6 hours later says they’re sending me a RM 800, and I need to call back to talk to their supervisor because “he’s in a meeting”.
Ok, so that wasn’t very short. However, I would like to THANK everyone who found and posted the numbers of the CEO (who is no longer Chan, btw), his assistant, and the VP of Service. I have phone calls in to each of them, and am awaiting a response. Hopefully they’ll respond as quickly and positively as you all say they do.
We did purchase another unit – TomTom OneXL – before our trip in May, and so far we haven’t had any problems. I love that I can connect it to my computer and automatically update it without having to go through tech support. My husband does miss the information screen, though, that showed elevation, speed, etc. I’ll keep everyone updated on how this fiasco turns out (9 months after original problem).
I received a Magellan Maestro 3250 as a gift. I noted that at the time of reciept the map data was almost 18 months old. Magellan stated that new map info was coming out shortly. Tried using the unit but my destination had some one year old streets so the GPS was useless. Magellan finally came out with new map info after nearly two years and had the audacity to try and charge me $79.99 for it. If I had received an up to date unit originally I could understand the update charge but to sell a unit with outdated info and then charge to bring it up to date is ridiculous. Ethics would at least require labeling on the box noting the date of the data installed on the GPS unit. But then ethics has no place in Magellan’s modus operandi. DON’T BUY MAGELLAN!!!!!!!!
Mageallan GPS Unlisted Corporate #
(408) 615-5100
Is they’re unlisted corporate # in Sunnyvale, Ca.
You will be ablt to speak directly with their VP’s.
Your Welcome,
Anynonmous
Own a 760 Magellan that won’t boot up when I turn it on. Was looking for a service center to send it to for repair when I stumbled into this blog site, and I am very glad I did. My 760 is out of warranty and I had planned to pay to have it repaired. Now after reading nearly all the horror stories I think I’ll just put it in the trash and buy a Garmin!
I just sent an e-mail to Magellan about how ticked I was about having to pay $80 for a map upgrade. I have a Maestro 4040, and it has worked great, but it has a voice command input that you have to pay extra for. I have a Samsung I-760 with voice commands that worked right out of the box. I’m surprised now that they actually send a power supply!
Say what you like about Magellan products and their features. The products are very good when they work, but dealing with Magellan customer support is like pulling teeth with tweezers. For a month now I’ve trying to get my 4210 fixed, it’s like beating my head against the wall. Magellan Canada is almost nonresistant. I think they have only one guy to handle all of the country. It seems like Magellan US don’t want to deal with Canadians. On top of that the units come with outdated maps and you have to pay extra ($80US) for current Maps. My friends who got the Garmin’s had no problems and their maps were updated free. I was better off with a Chinese knock-off.
Folks… Playing Devil’s advocate here.
1) If we look on the box that our devices came in, we’d notice the statement “Quick reference guide, reference manual on CD-Rom” — this is where the manual is. I guess if you don’t have a PC, well then, you are one of the few.
2) Maps are provided to Garmin, Tom Tom, and Magellan by either NAVTEQ or TeleAtlas. Any compnay who acquires these maps will then have to compile the data so that it can be read by their proprietary unit. This is not a short undertaking. So when the maps are provided, there is some work involved that may take months and in worse case scenarios… could be up to a year (especially for smaller companies like Navigon, Mio, etc…). Then take into account store inventory. It may sit on shelves for months before they sell out of the units.
3) Repairing old units – For most Consumer Electronics company, the cost to repair an old unit with older technology makes not sense. For instance, try getting a part for an IBM 486 computer. It will cost you an arm and a leg, and the supply is limited. So question then is, why not sink your money into a new device. GPS units are nothing more than portable computers… yet why don’t we all complain when the top of the line computer I bought 6 months ago is no longer the latest and greatest? Do we go back to Dell or HP and say… give me a newer computer? I didn’t think so.
4) Paying for map update. Are you guys serious? Try buying a new car with built in GPS in the dash. You get what you get, and in 4-5 years when map updates are available… guess what? Lexus, BMW, MErcedes, Acura… they all charge you. Sure, I’d like to get it for free for the lifetime of my product, but that’s just not realistic. Also, for less than $100 for an upgrade, that’s peanust compared to what the car dealers are charging. Something in the likes of $400 – $800 depending.
So yes… I am in agreement with everyone that there are challenges that Magellan faces. In the same light, there are challenges that Tom Tom and Garmin face as well, or any company as a matter of fact. But reading through this blog, I see that it started due to the fact that “Ben” had some issue with getting a repair. But looking through your complaint, Ben, you got upset because someone asked you for a receipt? Come on guy, what business doesn’t ask for a receipt nowadays? End result is that you got your unit back safe and sound. So why the moaning and groaning?
my two pennies..
A note from the admin – the post above came from someone at Thales (the parent company of Magellan) – the post came from IP: 12.9.11.194 , irouter.thalesnavigation.com. So, take everything the author says with a grain of salt.
To address the specific issue I had, the GPS unit I got was given to me as a gift. More importantly, it was purchased at CostCo, which doesn’t do gift receipts. So, I didn’t have that to fall back on. If you’d read my complaint, you’d see that quite clearly. Fortunately, Costco was able to look up the purchase on my wife’s account in order to provide a proof of purchase. If she’d bought the unit elsewhere and we couldn’t look up the receipt, I’d have been out of luck.
Here’s an example of how you should do it: I just bought a $500 set of cordless Ridgid tools at Home Depot last month. They provide a *lifetime* warranty, even on consumables like the LiIon battery packs. All I had to do was register on their website and provide the unit serial numbers. Now, 5 years down the road when I burn out the motor on the impact wrench, I don’t need to search for a piece of thermal receipt paper that would have long since faded. I’ve had thermal-printed register receipts last <1 year anyhow, so making them an absolute requirement isn’t entirely realistic.
Oh, and by the way, the last GPS unit I bought was a TomTom. They gave me my first map update for free, since it came out within 30 days of my purchase. I’ve actively discouraged folks from buying Magellan units.
There are a lot of commenters here who have legitimate complaints – your call center that people rely on is absolute shit. There’s no polite way to say it. When people feel like their GPS unit disappears into a black hole when they send it in for service, you’re doing something wrong.
Here’s another point to keep in mind – customer service is a countermeasure. If I need to call you, it means you’ve already screwed something up. Bear that in mind when you’re trying to rationalize away our complaints.
(and by the way, I hope you’re authorized by Thales to speak on behalf of the company, because I will be forwarding this comment back to your executive team along with timestamp and whatnot. Have a nice day.)
A followup to the comment above:
I got an e-mail from Magellan’s Manager for Customer Advocacy apologizing for the astroturfing post above and ensuring me that such activity will not be happening again in the future. He also solicited my feedback on what they could improve upon – I basically gave him three focus areas:
1) Get rid of the receipt requirement and provide a more consumer-friendly alternative (like the Ridgid tools I described in the last comment)
2) Provide more transparency into the RMA process – let us track our warranty service like we can track a UPS package.
3) Give customers up-front info on how long their warranty service will take, and stick to (or beat) those numbers. I told him I felt 3-5 day turnaround (not counting return shipping) would be a reasonable expectation.
So, the good news is that we’ve got their ear, and they’re trying to make things better.
–Ben Johnson