Who would have thought? I didn't even get hired the first time I applied at Garmin; I interview for a trade-show assistant position and was interviewed, ironically, by a guy I work with quite a bit now. In five years at Garmin, I've had six different titles, five bosses, worked at Headquarters, the Olathe Call Center and back at HQ again. I've worked with Rec/Outdoor (hiking, hunting, geocaching) and Fitness (running, cycling) products for almost the entire time, with just a brief one month flirtation with the marine team getting in the way.
Current role is marketing specialist, working exclusively with the Outdoor team as a go-between who funnels direction and feedback from the engineers and salesmen who create and sell the products, to the art directors and copywriters who create advertisements, TV spots, brochures and other marketing materials. As you can imagine, every day brings something interesting. Every single day is interesting. Hopefully it will still be like that five years from now.
In honor of this anniversary, the best thing I can do is not summarize my work accomplishments, as I've sort of done above. No, the best way to commemorate 5 years at Garmin is to have the customer tell you how much they appreciate me. The customer who I pride myself in understanding, assisting, advocating for...the customer who is in the back of my mind every time I make a decision. Because in the end...we're here for you. The customer.
(Disclaimer: Below are actual emails I received during my time in product support. No names are used. I have not edited the emails for punctuation or grammar. You will see them exactly as I saw them. This actually happened!)
1) The customer who made sure I knew what my job was:
Should I tell you that you work for Garmin as a Product Support Specialist?
I know, it says so in your .sig, but apparently you don't spend much time readg your email. I thought I'd remind you what your JOB actually is or perhaps "was" would be the right word?
Yes, I am having problems. That is why I sent the email in the first place. I am having problems with my
2) He probably knows what an account is off his computer though:
My appologies for me being stupid, but I do not know what an
account is, on my computer.
3) At least the unit appear to run:
Dog chewed, however needs new wristband and the top will not
stay on. The unit appear to run.
4) Our product is what?
How do I set Triathlon transition time and
change excercises during the event 2) Why I can´t go further than 64 kms when
I program bike in manual excercise? That´s insane Hawaii
This is my third and final email pertaining to the problem I
have been experiencing with my Forerunner 405 CX. As I wrote to you a week ago,
the product worked beautifully for a couple weeks but for some reason the ANT
stick has ceased to receive data transfers from the watch. It will attempt
every few minutes, only to show a message saying the transfer had inexplicably
failed. Now, when I pull the stick out of my USB port, it crashes my entire
operating system and I have to re-start my computer. My previous two requests
for assistance with this problem were ignored. I never received a response or
even a confirmation that my email had been received. Tonight I tried to call
your help desk several times and was told by the recording that I would have to
wait 35 minutes to speak to someone. Not worth it since I live in Hungary
You people are completely incompetent. I'm tossing the
piece of crap I got from you in the trash and getting a new unit from a
reputable merchant. I will never use one of your products again, nor will
I be recommending you to anyone. You can take your worthless assistance
and stick it up your ass.
7) This was the most polite threat I've ever been offered. I did not reach back out to him. Or her:
I appreciate your time. You were polite and courteous
and an able defender of a company that used to have a sterling
reputation but has driven off the road lately. I say Garmin is in the 3rd
act [of a three act play]. The only thing remaining in this slow motion act is
for the car to hit the tree ahead, head on, causing major injuries to all
involved unless someone can grab the wheel of this wildly careening
vehicle and steer is safely back to the road.
If you have any comments you know how to reach me.
I will be forwarding this to the highest levels of management I
can reach if for no other reason than that the issue has wasted a lot of
my time and I would like to see those responsible for this mess removed.
This is not an acceptable response, at all levels. Think
carefully before you answer. Over several years I have been responsible for the
development and installation of several navigation systems into Ford vehicles.
I am also a quality manager.
Why do I continue to have problems after garmin upgrades
software? All changes should be tested prior to release of new software. Who is
making the decision not to test prior to release? Find this person and give him
another job which can not impact your customers.
Good job, Garmin. You people are a bunch of
freaking nimrods…
I'm going to eBay this piece of trash. God I hate Garmin.
Good job, morons!...
12) Still the same dude. Apparently this was a close one:
I called Garmin
to ask them for clarification. I was like...'you have to be kidding me. You're
not that stupid, are you?'…
I tried this, and it was working about halfway right, so I
did a system restore to Monday morning, before I tried the first install, then
I re-installed using the “Alternate Install” method, and it worked…
So, I probably won't eBay this miserable thing just yet.
That was a close one, Garmin. Reallll close.
Actually, the only idiot involved in this story is Jeffry. I
imagine he has had kneejerk reactions and goes off half-cocked all his
miserable life. It must be a struggle when the whole world is stupid except for
you and your self-centered ignoramous ass.
I don't have my receipt any longer. This is the 3rd major
malfunction
with this unit.
I paid over $400 for a product that ahs demonstrated
repeated unrelated
problems. According to your marketing literature, the Edge
305 is
specifically designed to take the abuse that comes from
being mounted
atop a mountain bike.
I have never crashed my bike with this unit in place, and it
does not
have a scratch on it. I have pampered this one due to my
experience with
the first two.
I was hoping you could ship me a re-furb/new one, and I
could send mine
back to you as Garmin has performed on the previous two
mishaps.
If you are unable to accommodate me without additional
charges, I will
likely smash my Edge 305 to bits with a hammer on youtube
and link the
video to a consumer report which I will post to CNET,
MTBR.com,
Craigslist, Performance Bike, Bike Magazine, Bicycling
Magazine, Dirt
Rag, Cambria Bikes, my facebook page, twitter all the local
Bike Shops
in my area, IMBA, and a long of list of other
associations/organizations
I belong to, in addition to the hundreds of serious
competitors and
recreational riders I spend time with.
My intention is not bully you, no more than your intention
was to bilk
me out of my hard earned $400+ tax for a product that
doesn't seem to
work for more than a few months without incident.
Please just build a product that works.
Will you help me without additional charge since I seem to
be one of
your many product test monkeys?
Hello: This
is follow up on my garmin rino 110 walkie-takie radio. It never has worked from
day one of purchase. I called for tech-support and they could do nothing to
help me to get my radio running or working. What is wrong with the
tech-support team?
Now you see I have got my radio working without tech-support or garmin company.
If I were in charge of Garmin company, I would be asking why this happened to a
customer!!!!
Further more If I were boss or in charge, this customer would receive a new
unit with no charge. For he got the radio working without any help from
Garmin-company.
I have to wait till there is solvation for this problem, or
can the file be repaired??
At this point, I want a direct dial number to an experienced,
Tier 3 Technical Expert on this subject matter.
If your department won't get me that number, then get me the
name and contact information for your Vice President of Quality. This is
a problem that Garmin should be addressing not, ignoring. Your department
should be thanking me for bringing this to your attention and for being
persistent enough to drive it to closure and your department should be working
with me to resolve the issue. Instead, your department is telling me I
have to use brand new batteries in some other device for a while until the
voltage comes down. That is neither a workable nor a reasonable solution.
What if I got lost and the batteries in my 60Cx went dead and
only spare batteries I had were new and my device didn't work and I died?
With this, "smoking gun" letter available to my wife's attorney as
evidence for the discovery process, she would end up owning your company.
Your company hereby stands on notice and is hereby informed of
a potentially life threatening problem and thus your company now has
Knowledge. Your company has been ignoring the problem as evidenced by
this extended e-mail train. Having knowledge and failing to act has been
considered by every Court in the Land to be Negligence. Historically, a jury of
my peers have not found in favor of the Defendant in negligence cases.
The name and direct dial contact information for an experienced,
Tier 3 technical person and your VP of Quality, please.
Thank you for the courtesy of a response. I so hope
you have sufficient legal background to know that the situation I proposed was
hypothetical.
The weasel words you so glibly quoted are primarily written
by weasels and intended for weasels. The heartbreak of reality is, in
general, the people who win lawsuits do not do so because they are right or
just or deserving. They win because they can buy more time from attorneys
who are better at dragging the case out longer and digging deeper to highlight
more contradictions and technicalities than the other guy. Hopefully, on
that point, we can agree.
None of this banter gets my 60Cx voltage regulator(s)
adjusted by Garmin so I can use the currently available, commercial off the
shelf (COTS), Duracell and Energizer batteries that have been recommended by
Garmin Tech Support for use in my device. And, I remind Garmin one more
time, that I am willing to pay a reasonable fee for this service.
Please advise a due date for resolution on that matter.
PS: This Unit I bought from you is pissing me
off.
ISSUES
WITH TIME AND DATE RONG AND WILL NOT CHANGE A AND MY PRELOADED MAPS
DISIAPPEARED
your instructions tell us how to install the free maps to
the computer, but do not tell us how to install them to the gps unit.... this
is sooo lame.
True, I have exactly the same stupid resluts here. Very
frustrating.
I obtained its email through my friend of race Marco Polo. I
possess a watch Garmin Forerunner 305 and the same simply it stopped to
function. This fact it occurred after one day that I ran underneath of
much rain. It only binds when this connected to the energy USB cable, but
as soon as I detach it I disconnect. As in Brazil
Since already been thankful.
Where to attach horse heart rate monitor while riding. Heart
rate reading while riding is completely too high. tried conductive gel, monitor
around horses belly so that it sits on heart, also tried on neck.
23) Good reason to not hang out with this guy:
It stops at 48% and freezes. Frustratiing. I'm goint to thow
it at somebody if you don't fix this idiotic software problem.
My protective rubber came off while in the heat
and rain of central america.
well went to go turkey hunting and your product
did not work so i went online to down load topical maps and after just paying
right at 200 hundred bucks it wont even work in my own state and then you have
the gall to ask for two hundred more bucks to get maps I EITHER WANT A FULL
REFUND RIGHT AWAY OR I AM GOING TO START A PROCESS AGAINST YOUR CO. LIKE YOU
NEVER HEARD OF STARTING WITH THE ATORNEY GENRAL AND SO ON AND IF THAT DOES NOT
WORK I WILL STAND OUTSIDE EVERY STORE THAT SELLS YOUR STUFF AND TELL
EVERYONE ON AND OF LINE HOW YOU RIPPED ME OFF A VET ON S.S.
HOPE YUR REAL PROUD GETTING OVER ON PEOPLE ON A VERY FIXED INCOME I
EXSPECT TO HEAR FROM YOU ASAP NO ONE SAID THAT YOU BUY THIS HIGH DOLLAR
SHIT AND THEN HAVE TO PAY FOR THE MAP S THATS RETARDED AND YOU KNOW IT MY TOM
TOM WORKS RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX WITHOUT PAYING EXTRA FOR THE
MAPS SIGN VERY PISSED OFF PAW IF I DO NOT HEAR
BACK WITHIN TWO DAYS I AM CONTACTI NG B.B. AND THE ATORNEY GENRAL PROSECUTEING
ATORNEY AND GONNA STAND IN FRONT OF EVERY WALLMART THERE IS OH BY THE WAY WHEN
I WENT TO RETURN IT THEY TRIED SAYING THEY DIDNT CARRY THAT MODEL THAT IT WAS
OLD I BOUGHT IT ABOUT A MONTH
AGO
VERY VERY PISSED OFF
