RJD Posted August 22, 2013 Share #1 Posted August 22, 2013 Let me just say I am not real pleased with Garmin right now. MY 550 froze up a few weeks ago, as many of them seem to do. When I got home I called them and we went through their dog and pony show, trying to decide if it was something they could fix over the phone. this was not possible and I shipped it back as part of their return and exchange program. I payed my 150 dollars and waited.. got the email tell me they got my unit and my refurbished unit would be shipped soon.. well first of all I read way way too many messages about these units locking up and having to be returned. I would say they must realize they have a problem and do something to solve this. Now I am seeing people with the newer units having the same problem. But I am the one that has to pay the $150. Now lets get to the first call to find out where my unit is. It seems the refurbished units are on backorder and there is no hope that they will even know if one is available until August 30. At that point they will have to see if they got enough to cover all the back ordered units. I may or may not get one of these and if not I will have to wait till there are enough available. The kicker is they do not send them in for repair until they have a certain quanity of them sent back..I thought this company had more on the ball than this!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddlebum Posted August 22, 2013 Share #2 Posted August 22, 2013 I am about to send my 660 in for the same reason, locking up. Now your scaring me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_wells Posted August 22, 2013 Share #3 Posted August 22, 2013 I did the refurbish thing 2 years ago It took 5 weeks until I received a replacement unit ( That was a bit long ) they did say turn around was 3 weeks When I sent it back it had all the following issues... The touch screen was not working Battery was dead Maps were outdated The screen was all pitted it was 5 years old Other than the long wait I think I did good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meach Posted August 22, 2013 Share #4 Posted August 22, 2013 My 550 died after returning from a long trip, 50 miles from home the touch screen went south. Did the freeze thing shortly before leaving for trip and battery removal solved the freezing. Going to spend $20 or so to order new touchscreen and replace myself, if this doesn't fix it then prob. just gonna buy a different GPS, this one came with bike from PO. I don't use most the features of the 550 anyway, use google maps (or an actual map). Mainly was using the 550 for the built in mp3 player and for more accurate speed. Garmin has a pretty good reputation for customer service, sorry you're having to wait. The 550 are older tech. by todays standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRider Posted August 22, 2013 Share #5 Posted August 22, 2013 My 550 died after returning from a long trip, 50 miles from home the touch screen went south. Did the freeze thing shortly before leaving for trip and battery removal solved the freezing. Going to spend $20 or so to order new touchscreen and replace myself, if this doesn't fix it then prob. just gonna buy a different GPS, this one came with bike from PO. I don't use most the features of the 550 anyway, use google maps (or an actual map). Mainly was using the 550 for the built in mp3 player and for more accurate speed. Garmin has a pretty good reputation for customer service, sorry you're having to wait. The 550 are older tech. by todays standards. I replaced the screen/touchpad a month or so ago. Works great now and is a bit brighter. My 550 is about 6 years old and has been beat around pretty well. Never had a problem with it. Use it for routing, MP3s, XM, and bluetooth for the phone. I have gotten my money's worth. The 665 will be next if the 550 ever dies. BTW, I almost always carry paper maps with me just in case. RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meach Posted August 22, 2013 Share #6 Posted August 22, 2013 I replaced the screen/touchpad a month or so ago. Works great now and is a bit brighter. My 550 is about 6 years old and has been beat around pretty well. Never had a problem with it. Use it for routing, MP3s, XM, and bluetooth for the phone. I have gotten my money's worth. The 665 will be next if the 550 ever dies. BTW, I almost always carry paper maps with me just in case. RR Where did you get your screen? I've looked at a couple sights but haven't ordered yet. I would prob. use my 550 more if I could read it without putting reading glasses on. If I had $ the 665 would be nice to get with the overlay weather maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted August 22, 2013 Share #7 Posted August 22, 2013 I bought my Zumo 550 in January of 2007 and it just failed two weeks ago. It has been in use since day one in my service truck if not on the bike. I think that I got my money's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted August 23, 2013 Share #8 Posted August 23, 2013 I've told the story how my LG GPS was almost two years old (1 year warrentee) when I dropped it. The service rep gave me an account number for shipping to Toronto (150 miles away). It was picked up on Monday....and returned 2 days later on Wed!!!! (shipping paid by them) They put a new screen on it..no charge. It's still going... almost 8 years old now. Now that's what I call customer service. Since then I have bought 2 fridges, Washer, Dryer, Plasma TV, and Computer monitor...ALL LG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRider Posted August 23, 2013 Share #9 Posted August 23, 2013 Where did you get your screen? I've looked at a couple sights but haven't ordered yet. I would prob. use my 550 more if I could read it without putting reading glasses on. If I had $ the 665 would be nice to get with the overlay weather maps. I bought it from an EBay site. Will need to do some checking to find the seller. Will let you know when I find it. RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted August 23, 2013 Share #10 Posted August 23, 2013 Knock on a big chunk of wood. I guess I'm blessed. I picked up 2 used LN Garmin Streetpilot c550's off eBay for $50 and $80 bucks 3 years ago and so far they have performed flawlessly. One for the bike and one for the suburban. They look just like the C550 Zumo's except they are not waterproof and the screen is a little hard to read in the direct sunlight, but still do-able. They do have bluetooth for the cell phone, an MP3 player, and of course the GPS. The only glitch I run into is Garmin keeps hammering me to upgrade the maps every time I go to their site online. Up grades are a waste. 99% of the map info is still current, and I'm not going to pony up the bucks just for that 1%.... My Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 23, 2013 Share #11 Posted August 23, 2013 Like mine which I bought from Mother who got if off ebay about 5 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 23, 2013 Share #12 Posted August 23, 2013 Like mine which I bought from Mother who got if off ebay about 5 years ago - pushed send too soon. Wanted to add that I like the features that Condor mentions so much that I am thinking of searching for another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mother Posted August 24, 2013 Share #13 Posted August 24, 2013 Like mine which I bought from Mother who got if off ebay about 5 years ago and it even has lifetime map updates, lol i have picked up a couple of Garmin Nuvi and i am liking them more than the c550. they are a slim design , wider screen and it fits in your shirt pocket. it also has longitude and latitude if you break down you can give exact location or if you geocache you can get them off ebay for 75 to 100 bucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 24, 2013 Share #14 Posted August 24, 2013 and it even has lifetime map updates, lol Yes, but only if you know Mother who is willing to personally deliver the update!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted August 30, 2013 Share #15 Posted August 30, 2013 I replaced the screen/touchpad a month or so ago. Works great now and is a bit brighter. My 550 is about 6 years old and has been beat around pretty well. Never had a problem with it. Use it for routing, MP3s, XM, and bluetooth for the phone. I have gotten my money's worth. The 665 will be next if the 550 ever dies. BTW, I almost always carry paper maps with me just in case. RR Well, after reading this, I did a little surfing and found this http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=528905&highlight=digitizer . Paid $26.98 (including freight) for the new digitizer and it works like new. Miss Garmin lives to "re-calculate" another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted September 5, 2013 Share #16 Posted September 5, 2013 More info FYI. My digitizer was shipped by this company http://www.palmdr.com/cart/garmin-zumo-450-and-550-digitizertouchscreen-p-174.html and worked great. I notice on this website, that for what appears to be a reasonable fee, they will do the repairs for you and also offer other repairs. I have no first hand experience with their work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mariner Fan Posted September 6, 2013 Share #17 Posted September 6, 2013 I am on my third replacement 550. The touchscreen went out on my last unit. $150 isn't too bad compared to a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meach Posted September 13, 2013 Share #18 Posted September 13, 2013 So I ordered a new digitizer from eBay, cost me $22, installed it and 550 works as good as ever, beats paying $150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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