Garmin Came Through Again

[donkaye, MCFI]

As those of us who installed the early GFC500 autopilot know, there was a batch of servos that were defective.   After numerous servo failures were experienced, Garmin solved the problem and gave owners of the bad batch 5 years of extended warranty to get them replaced.  I decided to wait until one of mine went bad before having them all changed.  Well, the roll servo went bad last December.  Since my installation occurred not near my home airport, I had a local shop do the replacements.  They spent a lot more time than Garmin had allowed so I got charged for the difference that amounted to over $1,300.  I was not very happy, but all of the servos worked so I begrudgingly let it go.  Following the issue on Beechtalk and maybe here on Mooneyspace, I discovered that I was one of the only ones who had been charged.

I wrote a letter to Garmin describing the situation.  About a month later I unexpectedly got a call from Ryan Owens from Garmin asking me about my situation.  He said he would look in it.  Several months went by and I heard nothing.  Memory dimmed and I let it go by the wayside.

I got a call from him today.  He said he had been thinking about my problem and he wasn't comfortable with the outcome.  He asked me if I would be satisfied to have a full year Onepak database subscription to satisfy the situation.  I said,  "Yes, and thank you".

This isn't the first time Garmin has come through for me.  I had an out of warranty Aera 760 have an issue and they did an exchange for no cost.

Many have asked why I am such a Garmin supporter.  In addition to liking the way their products work, I have had this kind of support throughout my dealings with them and I will continue to support them as they introduce new products that I didn't even know I wanted.

[hazek]

I'm constantly thinking I need to own some of their stock. The more I learn about this company the more I like how they do things. I hope they stay true to their core values for a long time to come.

[Pinecone]

Except how the handled the original GPS 100 units.  They were designed and sold mainly to the marine world.  Pilots started buying them for aircraft.

So what did Garmin do?  They put in a software switch that turned off the display if you went faster than 99 knots.   They a couple of months later came out with an aviation version.  The difference?   They added Aviation to the title and allowed it to work at over 99 knots. Oh, and bumped the price by something like $1000.  Otherwise exactly the same.

But then again, that does make them a good place it invest.   But then again, they did not realize that the marine/boating world can spend more than pilots.

[hubcap]

Personally, I am a fan of Garmin. I live about 15 minutes from their location in Kansas and I know a number of folks who work there or who have worked there. I consider Garmin to be a very solid company with great products and they actually take good care of their employees. I like their products and their support. 

[PT20J]

The real issue here is that the shop should not have charged for warranty work. I checked with a couple of Garmin dealers I do business with and neither would charge a customer for extra time to install a warranty item. It's part of being a Garmin dealer and providing good customer service.