Navman - abysmal quality, abysmal service

NZGraham · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 26, 2011 Posts: 2

I have a Navman MY500XT, bought in New Zealand, loaded with W. Europe maps. I bought the original unit 12 months ago, after suffering continual lock-ups and doing several operating software re-installs, Navman finally accepted it for servicing, decided it was faulty and replaced it in August last year.

I'm just finishing a trip to Europe, with a lot of driving. The unit worked fine for about 3 days, then the touch-screen just locked up completely, nothing would get it going.

Ok, urgent email to Customer support, help I'm stuck in a foreign country, you need to get me a solution so I can drive !

36 hours later the response from Navman:- "download the re-installation software, fire up Navdesk, install original installation DVD, etc etc". I'm travelling light with a Netbook, I emailed back that I didn't have unlimited Internet downloads, a PC with Navdesk, a DVD drive, and for god's sake, I don't for the sake of it carry software installation DVD's around the world with me !

The response another 36 hours later - "if your software re-installation did not fix the problem, you may need to send the unit in for servicing".

Note, this was the second unit that had failed.

The moral of the story ..... If you want a GPS unit that you can rely on, and a company that gives you timely and helpful support when you really need it,

DO NOT EVER BUY A NAVMAN

And the eventual solution to get me driving ? A mixture of iPad Maps, and managing to borrow a TomTom off a friend for a few days.
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Andy_P · Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:12 pm Post subject:

To be fair, I don't think ANY sat-nav company's response would have satisfied you.

Any 'fix' like this is going to involve re-loading software from SOMEWHERE, so asking you to download stuff isn't unusual if you don't have original disks with you.

Did you actually try downloading the replacement software? That would have been a pretty small download.
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NZGraham · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 26, 2011 Posts: 2

You mis-read, they required me to download the software AND ALSO have the original installation DVD. I don't know about you, but I don't carry installation DVD's for my total technological requirements around with me when I'm 12,000 kms from home. Nor do I carry a DVD drive.

When I'm travelling I disable all software downloads, it's a logical thing to do when you're on limited 3G broadband. How do you think I'd feel if I blew my download limit by downloading Navman software, I wasn't in a position to buy more, and then couldn't do emails for a week ?

The real point is, you absolutely depend on these units when you're travelling, this was the second unit in a row to fail, Navman haven't been doing very well financially, I get the absolute impression that they are taking shortcuts on quality, with the inevitable result - their units aren't reliable.

The customer service is a no-brainer, when you sell a product that your customer relies on, and that product fails and your customer is left in a jam, if you have a good service ethic then you pull out all stops to help that customer. The robot-like responses from Navman customer service were pathetic, to say the least. The facts seem quite straight, Navman can't be depended on for reliability, or for helping you when you are in a jam.

xtraseller · Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:24 pm Post subject:

I don't think anyone would have come to your assistance

Whatever the rights and wrongs, we're paying next to nothing for PND Sat Nav units, providing more and more features, and the manufactures are struggling to make any money, let alone ship units around the world - to unconfirmed, un-registered addresses - because one has gone faulty

Maybe the answer would have been to buy a £60 unit, then either sell it (or your replaced Navman - whichever you found you preferred) when you got back and got it re-stored or replaced as necessary

It's the price we pay for driving prices down. And not just with sat-navs
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Gwiblon · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 14, 2011 Posts: 2

Hi, I have been using Navman for 8 years or more, never had any cause to complain, just upgraded to a new Navman, nearly half the cost of TomTom or Garmin, seems to be a another wonderful piece of kit. Anoying as it is when something fails, you can't expect any manufacturer to help out when you are away from home, and useful as a satnav is it is not essential, nearly all roads have road signs, and maps are still available in paper form. I too would be lost without my trusty sat-nav, but would muddle through.

CaptainDrift · Regular Visitor Joined: Nov 16, 2006 Posts: 248

Andy_P and Xtraseller I agree with you, people are expecting more and more sevice for less money.

NZGraham- What were you expecting Navman New Zealand to do?
Did you try contacting The European call centre?
I can appreciate the frustration, but from expirience if I am travveling with a netbook and a sat nav I would take a copy of the software just in case.

mostdom · Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:43 am Post subject:

What does frustrate me and I feel for NZGraham somewhat is when support centres fail to actually read your cry for help. The standard 'We are sorry, please download...' response is very in-personal.

I'm sure if any of you were in the same situation you would feel better with a response that reflected your situation regardless as to how helpful it might be!
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HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
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