HELP, Nuvi does not like the North and TMC

[cantgetlost]

Since posting that my Nuvi 350 had lost contact with its GTM unit so I have no traffic warning I took Swings advice and contacted Garmin expecting to be asked to send it to them as per Swing and others advice.
After a prolonged explanation the lady at Garmin told me that the unit just needed restting from internal menu, holding the bottom left of the screen whilst turning on took me to the inner menus and I followed the instruction over the phone to the lettter finaly leaving the unit on my garden table so it had unhindered access to the heaven above so it could reset with the satellites etc, being advised that I should leave the unit for around 40 minutes or so.
Well I left it for an hour and it seemed to work fine, that was until I needed TMC, well there was no difference and with work and holidays coming up I decided to live without the TMC.
Our exotic holiday destination was North Yorkshire Dales and the Redcar area, normally my I3's and the Nuvi give warning before a junction and the map position shown on the screen shows you alongside turnings as you pass them and a T junctions or roundabouts when you get to them.
But up North that was not the case, positioning on the screen seemed to leg well behind position on the road, so numerous wrong turns ensued.
Not normally a problem but with an 8 metre caravan behind it was not so funny a few times. And even out in the open Dales solo we ended up on wrong roads due to the bad positioning, having been back home for a few days I find I have my accuracy back and position on screen is where I am on the road.
I'm about to call Garmin again and will see what I can find out

[swing]

When exactly were you on holiday? I found during the last week of August / first week of September that my car SatNav unit (with full wheel sensors to handle a lack of GPS signal) had a habit of putting my position a little "off". I put it down to either freaky weather (well, it was sunny) or a freaky positioning of the GPS satellites causing less than perfect positioning in the GPS.

I have heard of full resets fixing a lack of TMC data before, so it's a sensible step for Garmin to try, but in the case of a very broken TMC unit (which I've experienced, but based on a software failure, not a hardware one) it's one of the earliest steps (and one that I have never performed on my Nuvi - having 2 GTM units helps me, as if one stops working and I swap over to the other and everything is fine, it's a bit of a hint it's not the Nuvi )

Finally, did you have routes planned on the i3 / Nuvi when they were lagging behind?
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[cantgetlost]

Hi Swing and other readers. I will SWING for Garmin as they now have one really p****** OFF customer.
As posted a few weeks back, I had GTM problems with no signal and Swing and others posted advice and I contacted Garmin where the nice lady lead me through a re-set. I had to go away working and then straight on Holiday.
The day after the reset I had no TMC signal to either of my GTM units and noted that positioning was not right as before but I could live with that. But heading North it was way out and caused some chaos to say the least.
At one point we found ourselves on a single track public road with no turning place and gates that had to be opened and closed to stop sheep escaping from the moorland farms! All due to to the positioning being wrong.
I called Garmin today and was informed that as I do not have my purchase receipy available they will charge me to fix the Nuvi 350, the fact that the unit is registered wiith them as is my map sourtce purchase etc and previous returns counts for nowt!
On the point of exploding I got put through to a guy there who gave me a grilling as to why I updated the 350 (never had a problem until I did), i weexplained that I was only doing what Garmin advise, but he suggests that my 350 and I may need to return the GTM10 as some were sent out with only a 3 month subscription. The fact that my GTM 12 also does not work since the same time seems to be to much for him to cope with or beyond his comprehension!
Having one of the first Nuvi 350's and with the purchase price of the original GTM unit that failed and had to be replaced I now seem to have around £500 of ******* useless GARMIN satnav equipment.
On my first call I was told that they were aware that there was a problem with the nuvi's loss of Subscription so they would run me through the reset option that would fix it, now I'm told by Garmin that the advice given on this forum is wrong and that there is no issue but my GTM10 will be the likely problem, fact that GTM12 also does not work does not seem to concern them.
Having been loyal to Garmin I am well p***** now after being spun so much drivel and basically being told that I am a likely Satnav thief as allthough I have past dealings with Garmin Europe directly I no longer have access to a purchase receipt. The company I bought it from has folded and I made the mistake of paying cash so I have no Credit or Debit card statement.
It came across that they were saying it was my fault for updating the unit in the first place but in the next breath that it was just a coincidence that I lost the GTM connection right afterward the update and that the Nuvi would not be effected, what good sending one of two GTM units back rather than the Nuvi 350 when both do not work since the update is beyond my humble brain!
All I say now about Garmin is on the lines of "Sex & Travel"

cantgetlost
Rant over. Garming Heading through nearest open window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cantgetlost]

ps. Apart from the guy at GARMIN stating that some GTM Units were sent out with only 3 month subscription why that would be an issue when both my different GTM units have worked for over six months is beyond me.

[swing]

The loss of subscription is tied to GTM units, not the actual GPS. It was caused (although Garmin will not admit this) by a GTM firmware update, which may have affected existing units, not just new ones, although I'm not sure on this point). Having said that - have you checked the TMC subscription page? If this says "expired" then the problem is the GTM unit, and I may be able to help you here.

It's rare, if ever, for a GTM12/20/21 to suffer the subscription problem, so I suspect that will be fine. Do you know what GTM firmware you had before you upgrading, and what version you have now?

I'm not aware of any comments on this forum indicating a generic problem with Nuvis, so Garmin may well be right with that comment.

I still think the GPS problems were a one-off, the loss of traffic on both GTM units may be caused by the firmware or the local radio station (they do have a habit of breaking the service when you need them the most) or, to be honest, the day of the week, and whether there is an "r" in the month...

Whereabouts in the country are you? (by PM if you prefer to provide quite an accurate position)

The 350 may well be out of warranty now, hence if it needs to go back to Garmin there is a set repair charge, but personally I don't think you have had enough diagnostics to be able to confirm the unit itself is broken.

You may, unfortunately, simply confused the Garmin rep by listing more than one issue at the same time. I think each issue is a separate, unrelated issue.
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[cantgetlost]

Thanks Swing. Sorry but Garmin really have P***** me of with their attitude and then saying one thing and contradicting it a few moments later.
Being asked why I have updated the Nuvi when they recomend that you keep mthe units up to date is beyond me.
The fact that the unit and GTM worked fine until I updated and then seems to have lost positioning after their guided reset means nothing to the "brains" at Garmin.
I'm sorry but if an automatic download is loaded and then the thing is screwed up that is Garmins fault and their should be no question about them fixing it.
I'm not in the position to give them a receipt over a year after purchase.
And as I have given Garmions as gifts I have never handed on the receipts, as I'm sure many others have not.
Quite frankly if their downloads scew up the unit and then they use the receipt issue to get out of fixing the unit for free, then the unit and Garmin update and service are not fit for service.
I will PM you if you do not mind.
When I plug in my GTM12 it says I have a subscriotion but has niot worked since the problems arose after the upgrade and the GTM 10 says there is no subscription and does not work.
The guy at Garmin says that he will accept the GTM10 back that they supplied as replacement for the discontinued model that went wrong as I obviously have no receipt for that, as he says a few were sent out with only 3 m onth subscription. TGhe fact that I have had the unit for much longer than three months and it has worked until the update point seems to mean nothing to him.
Having had to make many many calls to get through to Garmin before I get an answer again I feel justified in blowing my top.
If I can not get satisfaction I will be heading to trading standards as theri attitude is very poor.
I was planning to buy another Garmin but that will not happen now!
And I will advise others to avoid them like the plague now.

[cantgetlost]

Any more thoughts swing?

[swing]

I'm afraid not. You've tried a hard reset, you've tried all the other obvious things (multiple GTM units), and I'm out of ideas. I would suggest the GTM10 gets returned to sort out the subscription problem, and you can only hope you have a mysterious local problem with the TMC signal that will come back with time.

I would try keeping the GTM12 plugged in - I have found the newest firmwares take a lot longer to lock onto a signal than previous ones, so it might be trying, but not succeeding to work.
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[cantgetlost]

Hi swing.
I've done another simple reset on the NUVI and the GTM12 is now working again, but there is no life from the GTM10 and I'm getting the no subscription message so I'll send it back to Garmin.

[swing]

Glad the GTM12 is back to a better working state.

Is the GTM10 giving a "no subscription" warning, is it giving a "subscription: expired" message, or giving a "New subscription: pending" type message? Only one of these is fixed by returning the unit to Garmin.
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Please don't be offended if I do not reply to a PM - please ask questions via the forums.

[cantgetlost]

Today I got a nice lady at Garmin who was prepared to listen, just the same as before, but the lady listened and then gave sensible replies and sugestions.
The Nuvi has again been reset in a different way to before and seems to be spot on position wise this time, the only thing is I've lost all my favourites!
And the GTM10 is winging it way by recorded Royal Mail post to Garmin returns dept, I got the idea that yet another replacement will be sent out!!!! As she checked if they were in stock!
That is contrary to what I was told before, I wait with baited breath to see what is returned

cantgetlost

[swing]

[cantgetlost]

Back again swing.
Nuvi 350 is back lagging behind re road position. In built up areeas in 30 and 40 MPH limits I'm passed a turning and heading around a roundabout before the 350 has me at a turning a 1/4 mile back.

Any bright ideas ?

[swing]

Do you have a route planned at the time?

The Nuvis do seem to lag behind with no route set, but with a route set I would expect the unit to perform without a problem. If you have a route set, I definitely think you should speak to Garmin, but this time, only raise the single problem on the phone to keep things simple...
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[cantgetlost]

Never known it before the upgrade that coincided with losing the GTM subscription. Lags behind just on mapping or when on a route!

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