Garmin SPECIAL DEAL: PAY NEW Fenix5+ and GET a REFURBISHED

Former Member over 6 years ago

I seriously need your opinion on this special deal by Garmin:

- I purchased a brand new Fenix 5+
- The watch had battery issues - disappointing max. 2.5 days battery life
- Took me 2 weeks to send back after uninstalling widgets, resets, new firmware, documentation, etc, to make sure its not due to any wrong settings
- Customer service promised to send me a new watch, but actually replaced my watch with a refurbished one and now closed the case

The result:

- I payed the full price for a new Fênix 5+
- Did the final quality check for Garmin who missed out
- Received a refurbished watch I could get for approx. $250 less and
- I am not happy customer at all, with the deficies in quality of the product and the customer service

Wouldn't you feel kind of ripped of, too or do I just have exaggerated expectations from a premium brand?

Top Replies

Odie21 over 6 years ago +1 suggested

In the first call they said they will send a new one due to the fact the watch was from beginning faulty. Now they say I should be happy with the refurbished one.

After dealing with Garmin’s customer service…

All Replies

0 Browner40 over 6 years ago

Did you call back to customer service and complain when you realized it was a refurbished unit? How did you know it was a refurbished unit and not new?

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 6 years ago

The refurbished units are basically brand new. When I last had to get an iPhone fixed by Apple within their 1 year warranty period, they did exactly the same and sent me a ‘refurbished’ unit that as far as I can tell was brand new. This is simply industry practice and nothing special by Garmin.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

The refurbished units are basically brand new. When I last had to get an iPhone fixed by Apple within their 1 year warranty period, they did exactly the same and sent me a ‘refurbished’ unit that as far as I can tell was brand new. This is simply industry practice and nothing special by Garmin.

I do not have issues with refurbished products, just if I pay the full price for it then I feel ripped off.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Did you call back to customer service and complain when you realized it was a refurbished unit? How did you know it was a refurbished unit and not new?

The refurbished ones do not come in original packaging and have a sticker on it indicating "refurbished". In the first call they said they will send a new one due to the fact the watch was from beginning faulty. Now they say I should be happy with the refurbished one. I just feel stupid a lot because I can get a refurbished for much cheaper and I am really disapointed by their quality. To deliver a watch with such a poor battery life is definitely missing quality and testing gates in the production.

+1 Odie21 over 6 years ago

In the first call they said they will send a new one due to the fact the watch was from beginning faulty. Now they say I should be happy with the refurbished one.

After dealing with Garmin’s customer service on several occasions, I’d be VERY surprised if they actually said that “you should be happy with a refurbished one”. Did you ask to speak with a manager, or did you say “thank you sir, may I have another?”

It’s pointless to post here and expect to get a resolution. If it was truly only a few weeks old, you should have taken it back to where you bought it for an exchange or refund.

+1 Former Member over 6 years ago

Welcome on the world of Garmin!
At least they are good in providing consistent bad customer experience throughout the whole company (software,service,management).

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I would definitely escalate this with support if I were you. I've had Garmin devices replaced under warranty and have been sent new in box units. The only time I got a refurbished unit was when it was a replacement done outside of the normal warranty period.

+1 Former Member over 6 years ago in reply to Former Member

Finally they agreed on sending a new watch. Today the parcel arrived. It was the same refurbished watch inside I sent them. I don't know what's wrong with them. Something seriously is going wrong there.

Next week i will be on vacation. 300 km hiking. And I will not take the refurbished one with me. I will send it back. All this stupidity shows me I don't need stupid Garmin products. I will find my way without GPS watch.

But I will continue escalating this. This should be taken to management level what's going on there.

0 kaz911 over 6 years ago in reply to Crispin_Ellisdon

A known problem with Apple refurbished is that apple are quite bad at board level repairs. So any Apple refurb is a complete gamble if it will last or not. I don't know if Garmin is the same as I have never done a teardown on a refurb Garmin watch.

But I have seen plenty of Apple refurbs - with replaced chips where it looked like it had done by amateurs.

So I would never ever buy an Apple Refurb product.

0 tnasaelpm over 6 years ago in reply to Former Member

That has not been my experience at all, and I have been a Garmin customer since their beginning.