recommendation for simple bike GPS? and a warning about Garmin devices

[fullupandslowingdown]

what happened to the generally accepted principle of consumer rights that says if something goes splutt before it's sixth brithday party, you can have a repair or replacement from the seller

[Paulatic]

what happened to the generally accepted principle of consumer rights that says if something goes splutt before it's sixth brithday party, you can have a repair or replacement from the seller

I think you’ve to prove it was faulty when you bought it 6 yrs ago. Good luck with that

[RickH]

what happened to the generally accepted principle of consumer rights that says if something goes splutt before it's sixth brithday party, you can have a repair or replacement from the seller

I think it is oft quoted but somewhat inncurate

[A fault develops after] Six months or more

If a fault develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time you took ownership of it.

In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems across the product range.

Find out more about how to return a faulty item and claim a refund, repair or replacement from a retailer.

You have six years to take a claim to the small claims court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland.

This doesn't mean that a product has to last six years - just that you have this length of time in which to make a claim if a retailer refuses to repair or replace a faulty product. (my bold, link)

[Sweep]

what happened to the generally accepted principle of consumer rights that says if something goes splutt before it's sixth brithday party, you can have a repair or replacement from the seller

Never heard of that.

[andrew_s]

The basic problem with the OP's Garmin is that it's got a built in battery in it. It would be the same for a Bryton or Magellan/Mio of similar age and use.

Lithium batteries deteriorate slowly from day one, and less than ideal charging only makes them deteriorate faster, so anything with such a battery has a limited lifespan unless you can get in to replace the battery with a similar, but new, one. It doesn't really matter whether it's a GPS, a phone, or a laptop - if it's older than 5 years or so, the battery life will be significantly less than when new.

As others have suggested, the answer is to get an Etrex or similar, that uses AA batteries.
It still won't last for ever, but death will be down to physical damage, or random component failure.

Garmin's out-of-guarantee repair policy has always been replacement by a refurbished unit at around 1/3 the cost of a new unit. The unit you sent in will either be refurbished for someone else, or cannibalised for spare parts.

[nez]

Garmin's out-of-guarantee repair policy has always been replacement by a refurbished unit at around 1/3 the cost of a new unit. The unit you sent in will either be refurbished for someone else, or cannibalised for spare parts.

It's 30% off, not '1/3 of the price.' And I wonder what's your source for the second statement, since they've already said they don't refurbish them and won't be doing so. What good would a stock of spare parts be to someone who doesn't intend to refurbish?

[Oldjohnw]

what happened to the generally accepted principle of consumer rights that says if something goes splutt before it's sixth brithday party, you can have a repair or replacement from the seller

no
I think it is oft quoted but somewhat inncurate

[A fault develops after] Six months or more

If a fault develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time you took ownership of it.

In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems across the product range.

Find out more about how to return a faulty item and claim a refund, repair or replacement from a retailer.

You have six years to take a claim to the small claims court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland.

This doesn't mean that a product has to last six years - just that you have this length of time in which to make a claim if a retailer refuses to repair or replace a faulty product. (my bold, link)

I once returned a 3 year old lap top to Currys. Their immediate reaction was to laugh me out of store. I wrote to Curry's HQ using EU consumer law (I'll look it up and get back). I got an immediate reply asking me to return it with evidence of the fault (the on/off switch wouldn't work) and my money back

[nez]

Well I bought a battery repair kit - quite inexpensive and I couldn't have bought the spudgers and special screwdrivers for less - only to discover when I took it apart the usb connector was corroded off the board. This is an item which is machine soldered in place and I think would be near impossible to solder back by hand. No wonder they don't want to repair them.

I must say I've had Garmin devices going back before 2000 - mostly marine instruments - and they're forever changing formats of maps and charts, making leads or connectors or digital media redundant or using cr&p assembly methods for what are, after all, premium devices. I've had enough of them. The magnet on the wheel and the OS map never gave anything like this much trouble!

[Sweep]

Sorry to hear that.

As for "changing maps" not an issue for the ones I know about. mainly etrexes. Just use one of many flavours of OSM out there. No need to bother with garmin maps at all.
These are always going to be available I think - and updated regularly