Lowrance Help

[FM_Mike]

First of all I am not looking too bash Lowrance. I need to know if anyone has had any luck or know of anyone besides Customer Service to get help with a sonar sent for repair.

Heres the situation:

I called Lowrance with an issues with my 102c with the the unit turning itself on at random. The said send it in and if not repairable they would upgrade me to a x510c for 199.00 plus shipping. Said ok and asked how long they would take to get me the new unit, said 3 to 6 weeks. Ok, not overly happy about the time but ok. Sent the unit in mid May. Called today and now I am told that it will be 2nd week of September before they will get the unit too me. 120 days to replace my unit?? Spring and Summer will be all but gone by the time my unit gets here.

And on top of that, the new unit only comes with a 6 month warranty. Chances are I will not even get to use it before next spring at this rate and it will be out of warranty before I ever put it back on the boat.

Again not here too bash only looking for ideas that others have used if any to speed up the process.

Any ideas would be great.

Thanks, Mike

[AaronM]

Not really much you can do. I feel bad for your situation, and wish it would have turned out differently but nothing you can do now. If I were you I would keep calling and press a little bit, the best time to reach them is right away in the morning; that gives you the best chance of talking to someone.

[bigbad401]

I too would be calling as much as I could. If it is a replacement unit that is getting sent back there is no reason for that long of a delay. Try and get a manager on the line and like fishingfrenzy says, press a little. When I had to send in my handheld GPS unit to Garmin they had a replacement unit back in my hands in a week and a half.

[Deep_Sinker]

Well, that definitely is not the ideal situation and I feel for you. I would of jumped on that offer too, but now it seems you are getting the short end of the stick. I'd get a hold of a manager and at least try to get something worked out. If not, get the original unit back asap. I have had great luck with my Lowrance units but something like that might just make me look at the competition. Good luck!

[Ed Carlson]

Bad deal....but here is a counter plan for you to try. It's time to get you game face on, and do a deal...it can be done.

Call them back, give them your incident case number they gave you when you first contacted them with the warranty issue.....and then speak with a product support specialist...be insistent.. but reasonable and polite.

Request that since your looking at a very long delay to get the upgrade and you can not get the same unit you now own, due solely to Lowrance's low/no supply of them, that you would consider the upgrade to the Elite 5 or Elite-5 Gold instead....and see what they say.

If they buck, but I don't think they will......Then offer to pay the difference to do the upgrade...that's if if they push it. This is money far better spent...by far.

This way you get the new generation unit but at a significant or reasonable discount. And they are available NOW...not in 120 days....be sure to emphasize this point..now...not then.

I see this as the best case situation as you do not want another Lowrance "Legacy Unit" that will have the same problems with a warranty 6 months down the line...do you?

I think they will do it....be polite...but insistent...it will pay off. If you hit a wall at costumer service, accelerate the issue to the shift supervisor...it will go if you are persistent...and polite.

The top 2 people on this earth I don't want to be are...That guy with the grain shovel behind the elephants in the parade...and a Lowrance product support specialist dealing will all this..."Stuff". Keep that in mind too!

Good luck!

[ripper]

I find this an interesting topic because just today I just sent in my Eagle 642c unit for the same reason's this unit was sent in! It keep coming on by itself randomly? Then the power button wouldn't work at all. Sounds like a Eagle/Lowrance issue? Anyway, they are offering to upgrade me at no extra charge to the Lowrance Elite 5. Was told 3 weeks....we'll see I guess.

[FM_Mike]

Thanks for the advice Ed.

Heres where I at, talked to Lowrance today and did as you suggested. Worked my way up the chain. They are going to do the following for me:

They were going to upgrade me to a elite 5 but have none in stock.

Then they were going to upgrade me to a HDS 5 for 299.00 but again none were in stock.

Finally we agreed on a HDS 5 with GPS and chip for 349.00 and it would ship out today. I agreed to that even though it was more money than I really wanted to spend, but it gets a unit in my hand in 3 to 5 days.

I have noticed that the same unit I am getting retails for around 699.00 so I think I did ok.

As you said at least I have a new finder and not a legacy one witch was the other option if I wanted to wait till mid September.

Again, I guess if I am happy thats all thats matters.

Hopefully the new unit will work well for years to come.

To recap, a new HDS 5 with GPS and chip for 349.00 or a 510c with no GPS and a unit that they will not support after 2011 for 199.00. Think I did OK.

And on a side note, they also told me that they are raising the price for any legacy unit sent in for upgrade to 299.00 plus shipping.

Again Ed, thanks for the tips and all others that replied.

Mike

[walleyemaniac]

I don't care, that's a deal in my book!! Everyone I know that's running the HDS-5 loves 'em. Wish I could afford the upgrade.

[Ed Carlson]

Well lets see....you stood your ground, regained your investment, and have a forward looking unit with all the latest upgrades installed (Most likely), and a working warranty,... and a chip...Bada-Bing..Bada-Boom..BINGO!.

I say...You did well Grasshopper!

Glad I could help.

[FM_Mike]

Talked to Lowrance at 2pm as stated on Wednesday. New unit was at my door when I got home yesterday Thursday. Now to figure all the setting out. Needless to say Lowrance did as promised and exceeded my expectations.

Thanks to all and a special Thanks to Earl at Lowrance.

Mike

[Ed Carlson]

Mike if you want to speed up your leaning curve with the HDS line, pick up Bruce "Doc" Samson's new "HDS Sonar" training DVD. Doc knows his sonar/GPS systems very well.

It is a toolbox in itself, hours of helpful pointers, and will greatly simplify settings and shortcuts. $29.99 well spent in my book.

Chapter #1 is..."Lets open the box, and lets install it"...it's very comprehensive.

[delcecchi]

Check the Lowrance face book page.

[RumRiverRat]

Too bad to get the most out of that HDS 5 you have to spend extra money on the Structure Scan package which will run you another $599.99

[PerchJerker]

Too bad to get the most out of that HDS 5 you have to spend extra money on the Structure Scan package which will run you another $599.99

I would not agree with that statement at all. HDS units have features that the 510c and the Elite units do not have, and with just the HDS-5 he'll have a current unit that performs well. And he has the option of adding the StructureScan module if he ever decides he wants it.

[herefish101]

Lowrance has unit simulators on their HSOforum. You just download it and then you can figure out all the basic settings while your sitting at your computer. I did this when the H20 first came out, it really helped to figure out the fetures of the unit before going out on the water. I dont know if they have these for the new HDS units yet, but it's worth a look. I belive it's under the downloads header.

[herefish101]

I just checked their HSOforum, they call em "Emulators", there is nothing on the list for the HDS units but all the LMC's and X units are there. It's kind of fun to screw with the settings without screwing up your unit.

[delcecchi]

What features are you referring to? Networking is the big one, and that might not be too important.

Fishing electronics are priced high as the heavily advertised boutique items that they are. I can buy a laptop with a 100 gigs of hard drive and a 768 by 1280 color screen for like 400 bucks, including the operating system. I can buy an iPad for 350 bucks.

And a midrange depthfinder/gps costs like 600.

I have messed with electronics for years, and the cost of manufacture has little to do with selling price when it comes to depth finders.

How many of those HDS units do they sell a year? How much do they pay all those pro fishermen (and guides) in cash and merchandise for their endorsements?

The real thing is that it is a free market and they can charge what they can get for more desirable features.