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Garmin Complaint - Short battery life - Garmin NUVI 650
Garmin NUVI 650 - Complaint
Some time ago I purchased a Garmin NUVI 650. It was not a cheap unit. It lasted about 6 months before the rechargeable battery died. I complained to Garmin about it and also about the fact that the user cannot service (change the battery). At that time they had me send the unit back. What they sent back looked like a used unit and they did not even bother to transfer all the info from the old unit to the new one. The second unit lasted about 6-7 months and the battery has died again. The only way to use it now is with the power cord. Using it on my motorcycle is now impossible. Contacted Garmin again. Because this has been an on going issue I thought maybe they would try to make it right again but no. Now they want $79.00 and only offer a 90 day warranty. Big deal. Based on past history, the unit will only last just a little longer than the warranty and then the problem will return and I'd be out the money and still have the same problem. Guess I'll look at Tom Tom or Magellan instead for the next one.
Comments:
Posted by Skye on 2010-09-23:
If it's a rechargeable battery, couldn't you have just recharged it? I guess if you do not have the charger, it's a useless suggestion.
Posted by MRM on 2010-09-23:
Go to Amazon.com and find a battery for your GPS.
Posted by Prince-Caesar on 2010-09-23:
Garmin sucks, and their customer service is even suckier.
Posted by MRM on 2010-09-23:
I love navigating the streets with my BlackBerry Curve!
Lil Yaya agrees!
Lil Yaya agrees!
Posted by singsing on 2010-09-23:
I think it wise to just buy a new unit after all these hassles. If it was inexpensive to begin with and you've had it a few years, then it's probably time to move on. They have gone down in price considerably over the past few years, so it wouldn't make sense to even try one of the battery stores. Thanks for the post.
Posted by GenuineNerd on 2010-09-23:
Sometimes those units can't even be opened up without damaging the case or the insides...and the battery is most likely soldered in. Either get a new unit (the prices on GPS's have gone down drastically) or run it off the cigarette lighter cord.
Posted by Chrger66 on 2010-09-25:
For Skye: Ya, I do have a recharger. After charging overnight, it still dies after about 15 min. It only works now with the power cord plugged into the car. This unit is only about 6 months old. It got replaced by Garmin once before because of the same problem. Seems to be a recurring theme. At the time, it was not an inexpensive unit, it was top of the line.
For GenuineNerd: As I stated before, it only really works now with the power cord. This makes it impossible to use on my motorcycle unless I splice in some kind of alligator clips so I can go direct off of the battery. Not a good solution.
For SingSing: Yep, a new unit is probably in order but it WON'T be a Garmin.
For GenuineNerd: As I stated before, it only really works now with the power cord. This makes it impossible to use on my motorcycle unless I splice in some kind of alligator clips so I can go direct off of the battery. Not a good solution.
For SingSing: Yep, a new unit is probably in order but it WON'T be a Garmin.
Posted by Lizette du Plessis on 2013-01-21:
I have a Nuvi 710 : same background. Poor service and backup from Garmin. They want to replace it but I need to pay more than what a new one will cost! So i told Garmin I hear good reports from tom tom and i need to replace it in that case rather with a tom tom? Also the iPhone is great? But why does Garmin not realize that they have a defect in the battery of the product and try to help us? I went the same root like you
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