Faulty Garmin Watch

matta691

Hi all. I have had a garmin sports watch for just over 20 months. It has recently developed 2 faults 1 is intermittent the other is constant. I have contacted Garmin who have said that they can't repair the fault and as the item is now discontinued they can't offer a direct replacement. They have offered a 30% discount on the newer most recent version of the watch. Is this fair? The watch is quite expensive and even with a 30% discount I am going to be unable to afford the replacement at the moment. The newer version does have more features etc but 70% of a high-value sports watch is too much for me!
Should I be able to get more than 30% ?

lisyloo

Multiplying that up. It comes to 5.5 years life.
As a lay person I'd say that's reasonable.
However the issue is that the 30% discount is not usable to you.
Have you explained that to them? to see what the suggest?

matta691

Excuse my ignorance how does 30% discount for a product I have owned for 20 months work out to approx 5.5 year life span?

Aylesbury_Duck

matta691 said:

Hi all. I have had a garmin sports watch for just over 20 months. It has recently developed 2 faults 1 is intermittent the other is constant. I have contacted Garmin who have said that they can't repair the fault and as the item is now discontinued they can't offer a direct replacement. They have offered a 30% discount on the newer most recent version of the watch. Is this fair? The watch is quite expensive and even with a 30% discount I am going to be unable to afford the replacement at the moment. The newer version does have more features etc but 70% of a high-value sports watch is too much for me!
Should I be able to get more than 30% ?

No harm in asking, but it's not wildly different to what I'd expect.  If, for example, your current Garmin is a Forerunner 35 that cost £100 and the new entry model is the 45 at £130, you're getting the newer one for £91, which is a "refund" of £39 or 39% on the faulty watch.  That's not too bad after 20 months, especially if you've used it a lot.  In 20 months I would run about 2000km but others may only run 5k a week of course, in which case it's not such a good lifespan.

However, that's just what's reasonable/right/fair.   You're in a different position because you don't want a credit towards a newer model if it's only 30%, so go back, give them your budget and see what they can offer.  If Garmin is the retailer here (did you buy directly from them?) then they seem to have acknowledged the fault.  If they won't increase the credit value, ask for a "cash" refund which you can then spend on a refurbished older model or a cheaper brand.

I've got an older Garmin model which I hope keeps going, because I have no need for many of the additional functions the newer base models have, so the much higher price means I'm buying a load of stuff I don't want.

lisyloo

My initial maths was 20 / 30% = 66.66666 months

but by asking you've made me realise the error in my formula

You are paying 70% not 30%.
So 20 / 70% = 28.57 months

Now I've corrected my maths I'd say 28-29 months is not a reasonable timescale so they shouldn't charge you 70% use.
I wouldn't be happy with that.

sheramber

What does the Garmin guarantee state about when they cannot repair?

Grumpy_chap

matta691 said:

Hi all. I have had a garmin sports watch for just over 20 months. It has recently developed 2 faults 1 is intermittent the other is constant. I have contacted Garmin who have said that they can't repair the fault and as the item is now discontinued they can't offer a direct replacement. They have offered a 30% discount on the newer most recent version of the watch. Is this fair? The watch is quite expensive and even with a 30% discount I am going to be unable to afford the replacement at the moment. The newer version does have more features etc but 70% of a high-value sports watch is too much for me!
Should I be able to get more than 30% ?

Where did you buy the Garmin from?
I ask because John Lewis used to offer a 2-year guarantee and were very good at honouring that when my wife's Garmin watch failed.  Did you retailer offer anything similar.

Which (and how expensive) Garmin do you have?  I ask because I have the Garmin watches and after about 3 years I'm happy to switch up to a newer version, however I do that by starting with a more budget choice from the range.  If I had the more expensive versions, that would be painfully expensive however there is no technology reason why a more expensive watch would actually last longer.

Based upon comments from others, here and in other threads, my life-expectation from a Garmin watch is lower than some others share.

nyermen

Can't speak for legalities such as warranty/need to prove inherent fault / etc, but just to note that garmin updates (software) continue for at least 3 years, so 20 months is definitely not a reasonable life.

born_again

IslaMujeres said:

What kind of discount did you get at the end?

Op has never been back since posting
Last seen Mar 13, 2023