Simrad nightmare

[chowder]

I sure hope none of you guys have to go through what I have gone through with Navico. I bought a brand new AP 12 last fall , had it installed this spring- went thru the same B.S. that many others have gone thru- no this, wrong that,etc. That kind of thing I can see, I don't like it but hey, it's part of life and so are the people on the tech line that know nothing and care nothing. But buckle your seat belt because what comes next is unbelievable! After a considerable amount of difficulty the unit is in my boat and lo and behold there is something seriously wrong w/ the main helm unit, it will not hold course and sometimes won't disengage (tried 2 different compasses, etc) After a number of phone calls from my professional installer we get a guy at Simrad who upon hearing the serial number says send the unit next day air, they will inspect it and send another. Two weeks go by w/ numerous phone calls and finally I am told that if I buy a new unit they will refund me the purchase price of it when they get around to inspecting my original brand new unit to make sure I did not modify it in a way that would violate the warranty ( somebody there admitted that it would probably be a month or more before they would get to it). Talk about black mail! So, it's here, next day air, unit no. 2. I will let you know what happens from here on it, good luck to you all!

[Tim Bromund]

that's just crazy, glad I got my AP14 when I did, before Navico bought Simrad, I can't believe some of the customer service horror stories I'm hearing lately. It sounds like they are getting as bad as Lowrance. Yikes!!

Tim

[chowder]

Navico is Lowrance now- look out!

[chowder]

Hank got the new helm unit in today and it works like the first one should have. Now if I can get my money back as promised I suppose I will be satisfied, though I do feel bad for Hank who got stuck w/ a bunch of labor bills that Simrad probably won't take care of!

[Fishstix]

You must have got a lemon .. I absolutely love my Simrad.

I dont touch the steering wheel unless in pullling into the marina or docking.

It wont hold in real high winds that create the flat sided waves that hit in all directions

but I probably should have not been fishing in those conditions anyway.

Hopefully the new one"s performance will exceed your expectations.

Good luck...

[Frisco]

I'm having the same problem with Simrad that Chowder had. They simply refuse to honor their warranty without upfront $$$$$$. In other words send us the unit and the cost for repair then we'll tell you if it's under warranty. They had the nerve to suggest that my AP12H was damaged by high voltage due to faulty installation. I work for a utility so electricity is my business. I asked them to explain to me how a 12 volt system can produce high voltage.....Their response was that maybe it was hit by lightning!!! INCREDIBLE......... Their customer service stinks.........I suggest if you purchase their product document everything and keep all invoices. If this doesn't work out for me I'm off to the Attorney General.