In August 2008, I bought in the United States a Forerunner 405. Since then, my experience with the product has been one of the best. I’m a personal trainer, work mainly with running training in São Paulo (Brazil), and the Forerunner brought me new resources and has helped make my work easier. However, last april, it stopped working: more exactly, I couldn’t charge it anymore.
I sent it to “Teodonível Equipamentos Topográficos”, Garmin’s representative in Brazil, also responsible for technical assistance. Their answer was discouraging: my Forerunner can’t be fixed!!! According to the technician who evaluated the product, all the problems are due to excessive oxidation, caused by sweat..... And, for an even bigger surprise, Teodonível’s representative told me that “it’s very common for this product to show such problems in Brazil”. Sincerely, I find it hard to believe that a brand that develops such an advanced technology could make a mistake on such a simple detail and that simply isn’t possible to replace a few of the components in order to make the product running normally again.
Since Teodonível is the only one who grants technical assistance for Garmin’s products and I don’t have the means to hear a second opinion, I hereby would like to know if there is another company in Brazil that provides technical support, or if it would be possible for me to send the product to USA’s Garmin for a more precise evaluation.
sonia