Is anyone here from Garmin?

...but if you want support from Garmin you need to contact them through the proper channels

yes definitely if say you think your watch is defective and may want to get a replacement.

If however there is something you don't understand or want to see if others have had a similar issue then here is as good as anywhere.

I personally report a lot of issues direct to the Garmin product team as a result of issues reported here.
I don't work for Garmin but somewhere on the way they asked if I would help to moderate the forums.
Recently have seen posts from Garmin Support stating that Garmin are aware of issues - e.g. pace alerts in workouts. That issue was a good example of one raised here that was able to let them know about.
Some Garmin staff post here but don't say who they are and it's not for me to let you all know!

But, as stated, this is fundamentally a user to user forum so you want to say your watch is rubbish and wish you had bought one from another vendor you can do so!

Just wanted to say I personally appreciate your work and efforts, especially as a non garmin official. I can imagine it might be hard at times as ppl can confuse you for an official garmin employee and start holding you responsible... Then again, it also just helps to vent frustration. But to see so much common frustration, it frustrates even more at times....

...but if you want support from Garmin you need to contact them through the proper channels

Yeah, too bad general customer support is usually useless as hell... (Pick your random answer from: "Please perform a factory reset", "Please update to the latest software", "The issue is known and worked on, please keep an eye out for a software update in the near future" ). So far my personal experience (exceptions to the rule do exist of course).

Every time I've called or emailed support in the US I've received those same statements (add our engineers are currently working on a solution). I'm convinced those answers follow the arrows on support's flow chart after we state our problem or issue. After our time has been wasted with no resolve, the conversation is closed with "I'm reporting your issue to be followed up on. Thank you for contacting Garmin support".

I guess if you contact them with a "known issue" which is a software one not hardware there isn't a great deal they can do to help you other than to reassure that they are working on a solution. If that solution has been implemented and is currently being internally tested maybe they would be able to hint that a fix is on the way.

And of course you won't be speaking to somebody on the product dev team. As such, and especially if you have come here first with such an issue, you may well know more about the issue than they do.

I think that is largely true of any "first line" support service including when I have tried to provide it myself!

Of course there will be plenty of occasions when a caller may have overlooked something obvious and so the support analyst would always need to work through stuff that you may have tried six times already. In such cases you are often going to feel frustrated as a solution probably just isn't there at that time.

I also think "known issues" are good to discuss here as other people may have come up with alternative ways of doing something that you might not have considered. Even if there is no workaround, there is at least some reassurance that you haven't done anything wrong and there really is something wrong.

I agree support should work that way, but let me share some of my experiences with support in the US. I call and tell them I just downloaded the latest update and I'm now experiencing such and such issue. I tell them it's not an isolated issue because the forum is flooded with post about the same problem. First thing support ask me, "What firmware version do you have on your watch?" I hang up because this person obviously didn't listen to a word I said. I call back. I say the same thing to a different person. "What firmware version...." Really? I've emailed support just to have them reply back with they need more information. The information they request is all clearly stated in my original email. My experience with support tells me this is the norm and not the exception.

I agree support should work that way, but let me share some of my experiences with support in the US. I call and tell them I just downloaded the latest update and I'm now experiencing such and such issue. I tell them it's not an isolated issue because the forum is flooded with post about the same problem. First thing support ask me, "What firmware version do you have on your watch?" I hang up because this person obviously didn't listen to a word I said. I call back. I say the same thing to a different person. "What firmware version...." Really? I've emailed support just to have them reply back with they need more information. The information they request is all clearly stated in my original email. My experience with support tells me this is the norm and not the exception.

Considering that

a) there are occasional beta versions floating around that might be the "latest" for some but not others at any given time,
b) sometimes "latest" versions are released at different delays to various regions
c) they're tier1 support on dozens if not hundreds of products, so now they're going to have to look it up somewhere when you could just give them the damn #, and by looking it up they're not even guaranteed to be right (see above). First thing the tier2 support guy or engineer is going to say is "did you make sure the caller actually has this version or did they just say they did." Because having worked in a call center before, users will LIE. They will tell you anything they think you wanted to hear to get to some "good" answer. And nothing is more of a pisser than having your caller swear up and down that they already did the thing you asked them to do/check when you know they're lying because if they had done it then it would have made some unmistakable change to the situation.

there are quite a few reasons to get you to verify an actual firmware version #. So, congrats on being a self-defeating jerk to their support team.

Considering that

a) there are occasional beta versions floating around that might be the "latest" for some but not others at any given time,
b) sometimes "latest" versions are released at different delays to various regions
c) they're tier1 support on dozens if not hundreds of products, so now they're going to have to look it up somewhere when you could just give them the damn #, and by looking it up they're not even guaranteed to be right (see above). First thing the tier2 support guy or engineer is going to say is "did you make sure the caller actually has this version or did they just say they did." Because having worked in a call center before, users will LIE. They will tell you anything they think you wanted to hear to get to some "good" answer. And nothing is more of a pisser than having your caller swear up and down that they already did the thing you asked them to do/check when you know they're lying because if they had done it then it would have made some unmistakable change to the situation.

there are quite a few reasons to get you to verify an actual firmware version #. So, congrats on being a self-defeating jerk to their support team.

Just to be perfectly clear, when I say I'm on the "latest" firmware and telling support I have "such and such" issue, I'm not using those exact words. I was just being brief in my post. In the example I was using earlier, I called and said I updated to firmware 3.20 and sensor software WHR 2.30 and now my HR goes to 72, then gradually increases to my actually HR, but the screen will usually timeout before it reaches the correct reading. In both instances the support rep asked what firmware version I was on. But you're right. They needed to ask that question because as everyone knows, all of us lying self-defeating jerks just call in with the hopes of getting to hear some "good" answer. We're in no way contacting support to actually solve our issue. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I take offense when a complete stranger calls me a self-defeating jerk. Yes, in my haste, I used the word latest. It was implied that the version I was using was provided to support. I also said I had such and such issue. Is it a safe assumption you hopelessly searched this forum for information on the "such and such" bug too?

Thanks for the opinions, it is very interesting.
And a bit disappointing too.

TIMGROSE you have started the topic "24x7 HR Recording - What do you actually want?" - do you have any response to the results?

Perfect timing. I received this email this afternoon. Do I need to say anymore?

>>

Subject: 71/72 HR Issue
Description: May I get an honest answer please? If you don't know the answer, please forward this email to a supervisor. I am currently running 3.40/2.50 on my 235. Towards the end of Dec. 2015, Garmin updated the HR sensors on the VSHR and the FR235 (update WHR 2.30). Since that time, whenever you check the HR screen your HR will start at a random number, go to either 71/72, and then start to go to your actual HR. Most of the time the screen will timeout before fixing on the correct HR. Both the VSHR and FR235 forums were flooded with upset consumers that stated they contacted support for a fix. Around the 20th of January, I finally received an email from support stating Garmin was aware of the problem and engineer's were working on a solution that would correct this problem very soon. Within a couple of days the VSHR received an update that corrected this issue. Based on their forum, the VSHR users are quite satisfied. It's been nearly a month now and the FR235's are still dealing with this problem. Again, I will state that this is not an issue with my device, but all the FR235's. Please read the Garmin forums! So, my question is, why haven't the FR235 users received an update to fix their identical HR sensors? If I was mislead that a fix was coming soon and Garmin has decided to do nothing, please give me the courtesy of telling me this so I can go elsewhere and purchase a watch that works properly. Thank you again.


MarketName: Into Sports
ProductGroup: Forerunner Series
Product: Forerunner 235
Serial Number: ********
User ID:
Name: ***********
First Name: ******
Last Name: ******
Phone Number: ***********
Country: United States
Locale: en-US
BrowserVersion: 13.10586
BrowserType: Edge

The response:

Dear ***********,



Thank you for contacting Garmin International. I will be happy to assist you.

While looking into your inquiry I was able to get some information for you so I hope this helps. While we have sent the update out for the Vivosmart HR to resolve the issue, you are correct that we have not released it for the Forerunner 235 yet. The reason why we have no released it is because we are still completing the software update, when it goes out it will not only improve the optical heart rate monitor but other aspects as well. At this point we are trying to finalize the update so we can get the update out to you. Unfortunately I was not able to get an estimated time for you on when the update will be available.

What we can try if you like is to update the software to the beta software, this update is supposed to help resolve issues with the heart rate monitor. There is a chance that this update may not resolve the issue. If you find that it does not help or you want to remove it for any reason you can revert it to the last public released software. You can download the beta software here: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=9920.

If you have any other questions please let us know.

With Best Regards,

*******

Customer Care - Fitness Team


Garmin International

913-397-8200

800-800-1020

913-440-8280 (fax) Att: **********
www.garmin.com

If you follow the link they sent me, it was for the beta version 2.41 released January 5th. How does one update from version 2.50 to 2.41 that's nearly 7 weeks old after it was clearly stated the issue has been on going since 2.30?