FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
A Rant.
First a little background. A couple of years ago we decided to switch from Lowrance to Humminbird when we changed GPS/locators. (I do not have the exact dates, except we called them after less than a year from the date of purchase.) From the git-go the unit was just so inconsistent at finding and keeping a fix on the GPS. After a few months I called Humminbird and spoke with a representative and explained the problem. We were led to believe that it worked fine, we just needed to understand that it could take up to 20 minutes to find a satellite.
After guiding and traveling this country for decades to fish I knew that seemed like a load of BS, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, maybe the boat gremlins would get it working better, and some days it would, then it would go off and on repeatedly, but hey, the company told us during the warranty period it was ok, just the way it worked. So I finally got tired of it the other day for not finding a fix until I got to the first bank and so I sent them an email last week simply asking if it could use an external antenna like some have suggested to me when I wrote about this before. So here is a copy of my email, then their response.
we put the 688CI HD on the boat about 2 years ago. it has always been slow, real slow to find a fix, and at times it will lose it repeatedly throughout the day. As a full time blogger and fisherman who fishes new places this is a real issue. I called last year and was told by the lady it can take 20 minutes to find a fix, hard to believe, and not really acceptable for what the average fisherman uses it for. So before I ditch it I have a question:
Will the antenna ASGRD 408920-1 work with the 688CI HD? Will it improve the GPS performance? It really has become a pain in the rear.Thanks for any help you can give me.Doug
Dear Mr. Coppemoll,
Thank you for contacting Humminbird. We appreciate your interest in our products. I apologize for the issue with your unit. The 688CI HD are not compatible with a external antenna. Please copy and paste the link below for repair information if you choose to send the unit in.
http://www.humminbird.com/Category/Support/FAQ/RepairFees/
If we can assist you further on this subject or any other Humminbird related questions please feel free email us again or contact our Customer Resource Center at 1-800-633-1468 to speak with a Customer Service Representative. Our hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. C.S.T.
Good Boating and Fishing!
Beverly
Customer Service Representative
ARE YOU KIDDING ME BEVERLY!!!!
So we buy your unit and it seems it does not function properly from day 1. We first call your company and are told there is nothing wrong with it, it just takes up to 20 minutes to find a satellite, (I definitely again call BS, but hey your representative knows right?) and then your response to my question implies that there is something wrong with it. No offer to look at it or suggestion to return it when it was under warranty when we first called your customers service number? So which is it? Does it function properly or not? It acts exactly like it has from day 1. Is this the way Humminbird works? When it is under warranty no offer to help but now you are happy to look at it if I pay? Tell a customer with a new unit that there is nothing wrong with it, and then later after the warranty is out send a response that I can pay to fix the problem your representative told me was not a problem? One thing about being an attorney is I have a pretty good memory – and that is what your company told us then – there was nothing wrong with the unit. Well it works exactly like it has from day 1. Good freakin’ God. What a way to deflect warranty work.
So for the 100,000 of you who read this stuff every year a word of warning. If you buy their products this is the kind of help you can expect. So if you interact with them be sure to get a name and take extensive notes. And a word to the wise – What freakin’ good is a GPS to a traveling fisherman that can take 20 minutes to find a satellite? Man this kind of stuff drives me nuts. Buy their crap at your own risk. And Humminbird, I am not asking for nuttin’, and you guys did great.
I would like to apologize to you who loyally read this stuff, I try to keep it all about the fishing but sometimes I just don’t get it. Who knows, maybe it is me. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Line
(I am back from my desert trip last week and will post the pictures and some interesting stuff later today but I wanted to share the above with you. As you can tell I am not impressed!)
