Magellan Rip off, be careful!

russ · 12-13-2007, 9:17 PM

The power input broke (3050T)and I waited two months without hearing a update on its progress. What a eye opener it was to call India and be transfered 3 times and have to speak VERY slowly in order to communicate. I was told they would send me a newer model a 3210 I believe. Well after I hung up I looked on line and they low balled me and wanted to send me a model a full two hundred bucks below my 3050T! I called back and went through the same HOLD/TRANSFER crap and we agreed to send me a 4040. I wanted to hold for a reference number and they HUNG UP on me!!! No call back. Nothing. I doubt I will get a replacement sent to me. Once this unit is broken ( if it arrives)I will not use this company again and have made it my mission to tell everyone I meet my tale of Magellans poor support.

Andy · 12-14-2007, 7:13 AM

Welcome to the site!

That's terrible support! I guess something could have happened for you to get disconnected but you would think they'd call you back.

russ · 12-16-2007, 7:45 PM

No call back. They sent me the wrong ( cheaper ) model. Im going to the mat with this company even if it costs me more than the gps itself. Thx for respondiing.

GaryGGR · 12-17-2007, 11:31 PM

I had the same problem with my RoadMate 3000T. I shipped to Magellan TX. They had for about three weeks. I got back about a week ago.

Now if I try to save a location from the Location Screen the unit freezes and must be shut down to restore function. I Emailed them.

The Email must go to India. The reply give three fixes none of which addressed the problem.
The phone conversations are so bad they could almost be a skit on Saturday Night Live. Each sentence took about 10 minutes to complete, with each of us spelling out most words. Total time was over an hour.

Why would Magellan keep these people?

I do like there products I own one of there original hand held units and I have been through a lot of wilderness with my Meridian Platinum.

Andy · 12-18-2007, 12:35 PM

That is just insane. With that kind of customer service it sounds like they are after new customers and no repeat business.

LAPTOPGAMER · 12-20-2007, 1:35 AM

I bought a Roadmate 1200 and the first one did not recharge the battery, so calling India got me no where, I doubt if the even understood me at all.

Well I went back to Circuit city and exchanged it and bought an extended warranty to cover me so I don't have to deal with India again. This is my first GPS and I love it as it is very easy to use and I was up and running in no time.

BugDoc · 12-21-2007, 10:48 PM

Magellan Tech Support has my GPS at the moment because the maps update disk deleted the old maps but gave me a "copy failed" message and did not upload any new maps. I know they got the GPS because I sent it certified mail. It has been 2 weeks and I have heard nothing from them. Spent an entire day with their so-called customer support trying to get another issue resolved. Nothing got resolved and now I am waiting to get charges off my credit card for software I canceled and then, when the disks arrived at my door, returned. I also got hung up on when I was waiting for a confirmation number. Then I was told an email confirmation would be sent - although I was never asked for my email. When I mentioned that fact and asked if I was just being told that confirmation would be sent to get me off the phone, I was told YES! Next time I am buying a Garmin.

russ · 12-22-2007, 6:30 AM

Good thing you sent it certified! I waited 8 weeks before calling on a repair. In your case I hope they send you a new one. Be on-line and look at what they offer you and make sure it is roughly equal price. This is a horrible company and the so called support is reason enough to switch to another company who is a leader in the industry. If they had stock Id short sell. Funny thing is I researched models and no review has ever mentioned these issues we face. What is frustrating is you can barely tell them your issue and you get transfered and have to give all info all over again to some other person who one can not commuicate with. By the time you get to the bottom of a problem you can hung up on and no confirmation number is given and the problem still exists. Good luck to you, I dont have any answers. Russ

BugDoc · 02-01-2008, 6:49 AM

Well, I did finally get my GPS back in working order after MANY phone calls. They didn't update the maps though, which was half the reason for sending it in. Never again will I buy a Magellan product.

Shasta · 03-11-2008, 8:16 PM

This is very disappointing since I just purchased a Magellan. I pray it just works flawlessly over its lifetime.

This is what happens when companies try to save money and outsource their support where customers have a difficult time trying to communicate with support members who are not intimate with the product or share the same language and no disrespect to the support workers because they are trying to do their best but communication frustration eventually gets the best of both parties.

When are companies going to realize the real profit comes after the sale, not during the transaction. If companies could freeze a moment in time, it would be during that 3 minutes when we purchase a product because it is only then a customer is most happy with their purchase. Any bump in the road after the sale soon diminishes your elation of the product.

hogger · 04-12-2008, 9:33 AM

I purchased the Triton 2000. What a disappointment and I can wave my 500.00 good bye.

Andy · 04-14-2008, 7:16 AM

hogger.

This seems to be a common theme from Magellan.

MagellanSUCKS · 05-02-2008, 5:26 PM

Oh DEAR LORD!

I was literally just on the phone with Magellan waiting to check on the status of a warranty repair I sent in a month ago (my eXplorist 500 simply stopped working one day, but it was still within the warranty so I believed I was OK).

Their call center and phone menu tree is insane. They should just have the message tell you what they are really thinking:

"You have reached Magellan. We would say thank you for calling, but since we already have your money we really have NO interest in hearing from you. In fact, why are you are bugging us? Please hang up now and die. If you wish to proceed at your own risk, please press 1, and be prepared to spend the next three hours in HELL; hope you can speak Hindi...."

Someone on here said that they wished they could short Magellan stock -- AMEN! Their products really are not bad, but I have NEVER seen worse service from any company, ever. Period.

After spending 15 minutes or so wading your way through a useless tree of phone menus, you will eventually end up speaking to someone in India who can't speak English. This is so sad for so many reasons -- I mean, the kids on the phone probably mean well, but it's the middle of the damn night for them, and they have absolutely no clue what you are saying, nor can you understand anything they are saying.

All I wanted to know was when I might expect to get my broken GPS back. Mohinder or whatever the guy's name was on the phone could not offer me a single shred of help....he did say that their records showed they received my unit last month, but he did not know what the status was, did not know if the repair was done (as if someone is actually doing a repair as opposed to simply shipping a new unit), and he did not know when I would get my unit back.

"Gee, that wasn't remotely informative or worth the time," I thought as I hung up.

I mean look, if you do not want to offer any warranty service, then you should simply sell your crap for cheap and let consumers know that there is no warranty. On the other hand, if you offer a warranty and need to charge a little more to employ actual US-based people to answer the phones, then DO IT! What you should NOT do is CLAIM that you offer a warranty, but then provide consumers with a process to obtain service that is so unbearable that it's equivalent to no service at all.

Anyway, the good news is that I am a lawyer and I sue people all day long, so Magellan has about another two weeks to pony up a fixed GPS unit or I will simply take their asses to court. Easy for me, expensive for them!

Word to the wise -- just vote with your wallets here. Don't buy from Magellan unless you are personally skilled in GPS repairs.

shonkydaz · 05-17-2008, 3:43 PM

Shonky Magellan @$#%&* I wonder if this thread can can be screen captured and sent to Magellan HQ or other posts !!!!

BugDoc · 05-17-2008, 6:45 PM

As far as I can tell, Magellan doesn't really care. I only heard from them after they FINALLY shipped my GPS back to me after months of long pointless annoying phone calls, and that was only because I sent the damaged data disks back to them (the one that erased my GPS but did not then download the updated maps) with signature required, and using that as proof of return, got my credit card company to remove the charge for the software, then "lost" my credit card so I had to get a new card (with a new number). Magellan couldn't charge me for anything so they called. Twice. This time I hung up on them. When they had my GPS and when I was trying to get refunded for the 2 extra data disks they sent me and charged me for, I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone or return my calls. They are absolutely the worst company I have ever had to deal with. Next GPS will NOT be a Magellan.