I am doing this with a heavy heart because I have been a loyal Garmin customer since April 10th 2015, when I got my first vivoactive. When the first fenix came out I got one, and have owned every fenix model since, When the Epix Pro came out, I got the 51mm version of that.
The fact that I have all those years of data with Garmin made it very hard to come to this decision, but recent events have pushed me to decide to leave Garmin for good, and not to recommend their products to anyone.
It started when Garmin added the ECG function to the fenix pro & epix pro models. It just seemed to appear out of nowhere that this feature was added (to me anyway), so I followed the instructions, and agreed to all the terms to get it working. It made me agree to the terms of the 2FA, and although it probably said it was permanent, I guess I did not read carefully enough to realize that it was irreversible. Once I got it working I realized that in order to use the ECG I had to log into GC, wait for an email with a code, get the code, go back to the login screen, and enter the code to log in. Not the end of the world, but still an inconvenience.
Someone started a thread about this 2FA thing, and I asked why apple, fitbit, and samsung did not require this 2FA thing to use their ECG function. Others also asked the same types of questions, and we were told that the garmin is a medical device, and it was an FDA regulation to have to have this 2FA to be able to use the ECG function. I started googling stuff and discovered that the garmin devices are NOT medical devices, and that the ECG function is FDA cleared just like apple, fitbit, samsung, etc..., and no other devices require this 2FA inconvenience except garmin. We just kept being told that the garmin is a medical device, that we agreed to the permanent 2FA agreement, and that nothing would be done to reverse it (even if we deleted the ECG from the device), so now we are stuck with this permanent 2FA for life.
I started using my apple watch ultra to see if maybe I was missing something, and that had some form of 2FA or something. I was able to do an ECG, and share it with my doctor (or anyone else for that matter) without having to do anything extra. I posted that fact in the thread, and was basically told "good luck with your apple watch". I also posted about what I found about garmin not being a medical device, and the ECG function was FDA cleared, just like all the other manufacturers of fitness devices that have ECG.
Eventually I was called a troll, and told that I could be banned from the forum for name calling (which I never called anyone anything). I was the one who was called a name (troll), and the person who threatened to ban me for name calling is the same person who called me a troll. Then, the thread was closed, the post that I was called a troll in was edited out, and some of my posts were deleted. I assume this was done in an effort to make me look like the bad guy or something.
I was on the fence about leaving garmin because of the inconvenience of the 2FA thing, but only because the other makers of fitness devices that have ECG do not put this inconvenience on the customer. If they all had this inconvenience, then it would be that big a deal.
Well, after the way I was treated, and the way it was covered up to make me look like that bad guy, I'm not on the fence anymore, and will not be buying/using any garmin products or recommending them to anyone any more. In fact, if anyone asks me what kind of fitness device they should get, my reply will be... "anything except a garmin".
It's a shame too, because they have some top notch devices, but the way I was treated here is a prime example of how much they care about their loyal customers.
Pretty sure this thread will be edited and/or closed, and I will be banned from the forum, but I'm just not the type of person to just let this kind of thing slide.
Regards,
Bob