Forerunner 235 and Garmin in general: Buyer Beware

mine's been excellent, along with all of my other garmin devices. i'm a happy customer.

Thats good to hear. Hopefully my experience is the exception, but I have accurately described it.

Garmin Support and Why I'm Done

It really bugs me out that I have to write this, but after years of being a huge Garmin fan and supporter, I'm moving on. This isn't a knock on the 235 or the engineering team. I really do feel like they do a good job and I've generally always been very happy with my Garmin devices. This is a total knock on the customer service and support teams. (Sorry to the support team on these forums who seem to communicate and care.)

I've been a Garmin fan for as long as I've been using GPS and running watches. I've spent thousands of USD on Garmin devices over the years: Forerunner 10, Forerunner 220, Forerunner 620, Vivosmart, Forerunner 235, and Various add-on's and chest straps. I've also owned several Garmin auto GPS devices over the years and purchased a few Garmin devices as gifts for friends and family, including my fiance's current 235 (who's also having the same problems, by the way). There's absolutely no doubt that I've loved Garmin for years.

I should also note that I've never had to reach out to Garmin for support or warranty work (at least that I can remember). This is the first time I've reached out to Garmin numerous times for the same device. I just got off my last phone call with Garmin customer service and I've never been treated like such an idiot.

A little history on my 235 for those who are interested:
- Pre-ordered the 235 in early November 2015, received the 235 in late November 2015.
- First run on November 28th, 2015.
- Contacted Garmin support via online email January 11th about HRM issues, especially cadence lock. I was very understanding an offered up help in any way I could to help Garmin resolve the issue.
- Received the reply on January 12th that it was a known issue and I was added to the existing ticket: 1187892
- Emailed Garmin support a month later to get a status on the issue. (No response from Garmin)
- Contacted the retailer I purchased from to get a refund in late March, but it was outside their return policy window.
- Ran the Syracuse Half Marathon in blizzard conditions (wind chills below freezing). Noticed a crack in my plastic screen cover shortly after, which I'm unsure was due to that freezing temperature, or something I did. (I have another thread about this.) Either way, I take the blame.
- Contact Garmin about the crack and realize it's $110 (plus shipping) to get it fixed. I was still weighing that option up to today.
- Get the latest firmware push in mid-April, and my HRM goes erratic.
- Went for a run on April 24th, and the HRM didn't work at all. HRM has failed to work since.

My concern today was that since I cracked the plastic screen protector, I wouldn't be able to get warranty work due to the HRM, so I decided to call Garmin support at least just to get it on record that I was still having HRM issues.

I've been defending the HRM issues for months, and I'd still be understanding if not for the phone call today with customer support. I explained the history of my device, including the past emails and phone calls. I explained the current issue. We went through the standard checklist of "are you wearing the device correctly, did you try adjusting it or wearing it on a different wrist, did you do a factory reset, etc etc". I explained again what I've done and what the issues are, and how my HRM totally stopped working as of yesterday. He said "this is really odd, because you're the only one who's complaining about it". That was red flag #1.

He went off to chat with the tech team and review my past runs. He came back to tell me that I wasn't waiting for the HRM to lock-on to my heart rate, which I knew was coming. I told him I've ALWAYS waited a few extra mins to ensure I have a stable GPS lock and HRM lock. He basically told me I wasn't and to "stop talking over him", even though I was completely level headed at this point. After that comment, I actually did start to get heated (and I do apologize for losing my cool). I told him I waited over 5 mins yesterday to get an HRM lock, and eventually rebooted the watch, which was still unsuccessful. I ended up going for a run without it, and it never locked on. He started yelling nonsense about how he wasn't going to offer a return if I kept talking over him and started to yell repeatedly "do you want a return or not?". Eventually I got sick of it, told him no that I didn't want to return it, and hung up.

I do feel bad about blowing up at the end of the call, but after years of supporting Garmin and being so understanding of little bugs here and there, I was expecting a little support in return and all I got was a lecture and treated like I was a 10 year old.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm out. Thanks for the good years, Garmin.

So you've had one bad experience with customer support and you're done after years of being satisfied? I've had a few issues in the past, always resolved by helpful Garmin staff.

If you get so upset with one poor encounter then I think you might need to lighten up a bit :)

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mine's been excellent, along with all of my other garmin devices. i'm a happy customer.

Mine was excellent too...until the last update. I regret I didn't follow the old advice "If ain't broken don't fix it". Now I'm stuck with this update till Garmin release a fix :mad:

So you've had one bad experience with customer support and you're done after years of being satisfied? I've had a few issues in the past, always resolved by helpful Garmin staff.

If you get so upset with one poor encounter then I think you might need to lighten up a bit :)

I'm not sure if this was directed towards me, or the OP. My thread was moved/merged into this one for some reason??

Anyway, my frustration is the culmination of several months of poor support followed by one final last phone call, which was the straw that broke the camels back. It's tough to lighten up when you try to be patient and end up getting treated poorly.

It really bugs me out that I have to write this, but after years of being a huge Garmin fan and supporter, I'm moving on. This isn't a knock on the 235 or the engineering team. I really do feel like they do a good job and I've generally always been very happy with my Garmin devices. This is a total knock on the customer service and support teams. (Sorry to the support team on these forums who seem to communicate and care.)



I do feel bad about blowing up at the end of the call, but after years of supporting Garmin and being so understanding of little bugs here and there, I was expecting a little support in return and all I got was a lecture and treated like I was a 10 year old.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm out. Thanks for the good years, Garmin.

Sincere apologies for the support experience you had today. We care about the experience you have had and your satisfaction with our products. We would like to reach out to you and restore your faith in our products and service. We appreciate your feedback and will be in touch.

Sincere apologies for the support experience you had today. We care about the experience you have had and your satisfaction with our products. We would like to reach out to you and restore your faith in our products and service. We appreciate your feedback and will be in touch.

Thanks so much for reaching out. I would love to restore my faith in Garmin, and look forward to chatting with someone about this.

Mine was excellent too...until the last update. I regret I didn't follow the old advice "If ain't broken don't fix it". Now I'm stuck with this update till Garmin release a fix :mad:

That's the oddest thing. Since the last update, I actually haven't had any issues with the OHM.

It makes you wonder if there's really a "one size fits all" solution to OHMs. I had previously worn a Fitbit Charge HR and an Apple Watch, and really didn't have serious issues with their OHM implementations either. Maybe it depends on how much you sweat, the amount of hair on your wrist, who knows what.

Good luck all with your Garmins; personally, my 235 is my favorite Garmin device I've purchased. I did buy one of those little tempered glass screens from Boxwave for it, once I found out the cost to replace the device/screen. Yikes.

Mine was initially shaky out of the box with strange HR readings and crashes, but since the new FW the other week it's been pretty stable. The device crashed once completely the other day but I think it was something to do with moving out of bluetooth range as an email notification came through.