InReach Troubles

[Wintertime]

I know this doesn’t go here. However this area has action. I want this to get seen by as many as possible. Really think about your InReach purchase before you buy.

was really reluctant to post this. But I'm very upset about how this was handled by Garmin. I have an Inreach SE bought in 2016, it has worked well I have had a yearly plan for almost all that time. Last Jan. my Inreach shut off while riding didn't know it till back at the truck. I was unable to turn it back on or anything like a dead battery however, I knew that was not it. I returned home e-mailed Garmin they instructed me on how to reboot it and gave me some ideas of why it may have done this. They were thinking possible cold mostly the Inreach was in my coat so No. I rebooted it worked fine for the rest of the season and all summer while out fishing etc. Hunting season second day out fully charged tested updated it does the same thing, shuts off. I e-mail Garmin with the old e-mail attached. I get a response that being how old my unit is to either buy a new one or a repair for $150. I then proceed to tell them that this is a survival unit and that those opinions are not very good and ask for a discount for a new one. They tell me no and will do the repair for $100 as a one-time courtesy and that my unit will be 4 years old in Jan. and out of warranty. I ask about the repair process and if I can get details of what is wrong with the unit after repair. I'm then informed that it is not a repair at all you get a repaired unit that someone else had repaired, remember this survival device Basically the only thing I can do is repair it or throw it out and get a new one? I'm not very happy with how this was handeled by Garmin. The noted promblem started a year ago and they were notified by me. A new Inreach SE is $289 at almost all retailers on the Garmin site $399. The Se is all you need with Earthmate Bluetooth to your phone you have and Explorer and then some. Not trying bash or anything just hope nothing goes wrong with your unit if it does you get someone else's problem or you can shell out another $300-400 for new. Either way, I'm not happy, this will be my last Garmin product and I may just throw this one in the trash and cancel my service and look for other options. It's a trust thing with a refurbished survival unit. I do understand that they can not warranty something forever that would not be possible. I really think a trade-in or a discount on a new one would be ok? I really don't know what the best options are. However, the way the e-mails are worded and the responses I have got it is pretty cut and dry buy new or repair that's it. Your unit is old.


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[Wintertime]

More on this topic:

Call Garmin this morning explaining everything. Was offered 20% off there retail price of $399.00. You can buy them from almost all of there retailers for $289 so no deal there. I spoke may case about customer service. I was informed that the old units have troubles and new don’t. I’m not looking for free or anything just fair treatment. If your giving 20% and your retailers sell 100 less no. They also do not compete with there retailers. Said I may as well buy a Spot. Answer back that’s an option also. They do not care about there customers. I think I’m canceling everything and will go without it. I caution anyone on looking at these hope it doesn’t fail.


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[Matte Murder]

I don’t know man. Stuff breaks, electronic stuff breaks more often especially in the snow and hunting season. 3-4 years seams like a pretty good service life and it sounds like you used it a lot. Hunting fishing and sledding. Not bashing you but just another way to look at it. On another note I have an inreach SE I bought 3-4 years ago and NEVER used it. It’s brand new never been turned on. You can have it for $150 if you want another one.

 

[boondocker99]

What is the factory warranty? My guess is 1 year and oddly you are complaining that they are offering you 20% discount...

 

[shattuck]

I had the same problem but mine never would reboot. I was just a couple months out of warranty but didn’t fight it and bought the updated version.
I don’t expect much in the way of customer service these days but two of the best I’ve dealt with are TKI and Tobe. Klim is a joke now they won’t cover anything. For example their new Lochsa mono suit is advertised as 185% more durable. Why? It’s becuse the previous one was a 185% not durable enough but they won’t cover any rips or tears on them. Go figure.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

I was on the fence, not sure whether it was worth the cost to keep running my inReach (an Explorer, couple years old), and then circumstances "solved" my problem, and I'm not going back to them. My complaints were that it was maybe half as useful as my old Dakota GPS as a handheld – the Explorer I had anyway – and I ended up paying around $120/yr, only activating it for backpacking and sledding. I know you can pair it with a phone, but it just seems stupid carrying an extra device. What really got me upset though, was that I somehow enabled sharing (to nothing, it wasn't even set up) when I was using it this summer and got charged extra for that. I complained and they told me to pound sand. Anyway, the story came to a quick, merciful end. The last hike I went on this summer, scrambling around a steep bolder field, I somehow caught the clip on a rock (the unit was inside my pocket, with just the clip outside). I heard it bounce a couple times somewhere down below, and crawled around looking for it, to no avail. So short of moving several car-sized rocks, it'll never again see the light of day, and now I never have to worry about Garmin billing again. So, good riddance.

As for the hardware issue mentioned, it's unfortunate, but that's basically been the standard for electronics for at least a decade. Five years is about the maximum design life anymore, and 3.5 years is more than acceptable to the people selling the stuff. A few things can be repaired, but mostly things like batteries. It's pretty much take-it-or-leave it. With something like that, I'd replace it if it gets flakey. At this point it's long past warranty, so I'm not too surprised Garmin isn't offering much. Like I said, I'm tired of paying so much for something that's mostly an emergency, peace of mind thing, so I've been looking at alternatives. For my purposes, I think the best choice is going to be the RescueMe PLB. No service contract, no batteries to worry about (integrated lithium battery lasts seven years), and not terribly expensive. I'm even told they're replacing the ancient survival radios in the T-6s I fly with them. Having the text function was really nice a couple times, but it's just not worth the cost to me, and having something I can toss in with no more thought than a spare pair of socks seems nice.

 

[Wintertime]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Matte Murder]

FWIW, these things are life savers, just like a Sat Phone. If Baron had bounced down that rock field instead of his InReach and had ended up in those boulders with his femur sticking out of his pants all the billing issues he had would have been long forgotten and forgiven. A few years back a guy we were riding with ended up busted up REALLY bad. If there wasn’t several people there who had their sheet together and one friend with a SAT phone or like device he’d be dead.

 

[High Voltage]

Matt is right on the money. I got an inReach mini last year, and if all I do is have to test it and never really need it I will be a happy man. I also subscribed to life flight, just to make sure I never need it too.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

I agree, if it saves your life, you really can't put a price on it. But after researching it, it's pretty clear to me that Cospas beacons like the RescueMe are hands down the best choice for no-kidding emergencies. Three reasons for that. First, there's no subscription to worry about: even if you give Garmin or SPOT your CC and tell them to run it all they want, there's still a chance it expires or there's a problem with your subscription. With no subscription, you might as well carry a pet rock (and really, would it be impossible to offer SOS without a subscription?). Second, batteries: because it's not intended for other-than-emergency use, it uses non-rechargeable battery good for seven years. No need to charge it beforehand, no running dead on longer trips; all you have to worry about is the expiration date. Third, there is a 121.5 beacon that I don't think any inReach or SPOT model has (not universal to all devices; the PLB1 has one). Having messaging capability is great, and I can see why some people won't go without it, but a more powerful beacon with no contracts or batteries to worry about? That's the one I'm going with next.

 

[deschutes]

I have the new SpotX with Bluetooth. So far it has been pretty cool in my playing with it. Great reception, I have been able to send texts from inside the house, and I like having the built-in keyboard. It's kind of like having a satellite connected Blackberry. I have the phone connection option if I want it with the Bluetooth capability.

I like the ability to have two-way communication in an emergency and non-emergency situation. There are some scenarios where you might need some assistance, but you don't really need to send the cavalry.

The PLB's really came from the marine world, where you often have a radio or other form of communication. In that environment, the beacon is used when all other options have been exhausted or you need to abandon ship. Don't get me wrong, a great option to have for the backcountry as well. It just comes down to your methodology.

I have carried SPOT's since version 1, and thankfully have never had to use the emergency feature. Being able to hit the check in button has been good to have a few times though. From my perspective, I would rather have a tool like the SpotX that I can use to communicate regularly, as well as use for emergencies.

Having it on our boat is great too. Being able to text and ask for tow because we have an issue, or being able to hit the emergency button for a 911 scenario are two totally different options. A PLB is emergency only, and you cannot cancel a call.

The above point about the battery goes both ways. You cannot charge or replace the battery on a PLB. You have to send it in for repair, and a battery replacement is expensive.

Either way, my opinion is that someone in the party should have some type of emergency communication device when riding in the backcountry - PLB or satellite messenger.

 

[Matte Murder]

Wintertime I karmically forked myself with my reply to this thread. I have a Pieps Avy bag and it was throwing an error code and wouldn’t take a charge. Had the same thing happen on my sons Pieps bag right after we bought it and they fixed his no problem. I got an email back from Black Diamond(the ones who own Pieps now) and they said they put in a new battery but that didn’t fix it and advised me to PACK SAND. They sent the bag back for some reason as its useless now lol. They did offer me a 40% discount on ANOTHER new item from their catalog so I could maybe get another dose of their excellent costumer service. I paid big money for the Pieps when they were first introduced, like $1200 plus tax and got 2.5-3 seasons out of this bag. Now I have to figure out what I want to do for an Avy bag.
Wintertime you are welcome to mock me and rub this in mercilessly lol. I really like the fan technology, I actually practised with this bag every season at least a couple times and just blew it for fun more than once. The new fan bag from KLIM/BD has a super capacitor that can take a recharge from a couple AA batteries and that seems pretty cool but I am obviously wary of a second dose of the az raping I just took.
The way I understand it is that KLIM was selling Pieps technology Avy bags and then Polaris bought KLIM. Looks like Black Diamond(not the friend of shedders in any way) is selling the bag guts to Polaris which is using them in KLIM products.
I am going to snivel to my contact at Polaris and see if they can get me KLIM fan AVY pack as the ones on BDs site are backcountry and skiing specific and not as user friendly as the KLIM version.

 

[Wintertime]

All Good!! The new Klim bags look good. I wish I would have looked at them more at Hay Days. There is so much to look at there that I missed somethings. I thought I saw where Black Diamond was a Sponsor or whatever to that Winter Wildlands Alliance? I was going to buy there Pieps beacon. I bought a BCA because I was very familiar with it.

 

[shattuck]

All Good!! The new Klim bags look good. I wish I would have looked at them more at Hay Days. There is so much to look at there that I missed somethings. I thought I saw where Black Diamond was a Sponsor or whatever to that Winter Wildlands Alliance? I was going to buy there Pieps beacon. I bought a BCA because I was very familiar with it.

 

[shattuck]

I would be wary of a Klim bag my experience with Klim has been poor. I had a hydro pack of theirs that I broke the mouth nipple on I didn’t even know how I broke it so I called them up they wanted a receipt for the pack I didn’t have so I said no problem I’ll just buy a new hose and mouthpiece. No deal to that either we must have the receipt to sale you one. I thought that was crazy it turns out it’s a common item you can get through hydra pack. In contrast I had a set of Tobe boots that it felt like my feet were getting wet after a few rides I called them up and they sent me out a new pair no questions asked.