Some ideas: Maybe Motorola was overpricing in the first place? Maybe Motorola has cheaper manufacturing facilities or in-house manufacturing facilities overseas? Maybe more people buy GMRS devices than GPS units = economy of scale? GPS units have more complicated hardware and firmware than GMRS radios. Andy -----Original Message----- From: az-geocaching-admin@listserv.azgeocaching.com [mailto:az-geocaching-admin@listserv.azgeocaching.com]On Behalf Of William Noll Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 8:48 AM To: listserv@azgeocaching.com Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] Garmin Customer Service Are you sure it is really a resurrection of your old unit (did it still have personal data / waypoints)? You may have a brand new unit. Refurbishment costs big money (especially for American electronics technicians with small hands to repair Taiwan-made units) and it is significantly less expensive to replace a unit with a new or a factory refurbished one. Faster, too. Which brings me to a curious thought for the group: FRS / GMRS radios have gone from $150 each for a Motorola Talkabout 5 years ago, to Motorola GMRS Two-Packs under $50 today. So then, why has the basic GPS unit not been able to fall to the under $20 range? The technology is not exactly 'new' anymore (it was first initiated in 1973, operable in 1993) and the US government provides all necessary operating specs free of charge. So is this price-fixing? Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 12:55 AM Subject: [Az-Geocaching] Garmin Customer Service > A couple of weeks ago a posted a request on how to fix My Garmin Vista which was having a problem with the rubber trim coming off. The GPS is about 2 years old and was well over it's 1 year warranty period. I e-mailed Garmin and explained the problem to them. To my surprise they gave me an RMA # and told me to send it in and they would fix it without charge. I sent the unit in and got it back exactly two weeks later. > > Upon receiving my GPS I noted that it looked BRAND NEW :) Upon reading the service report I discovered that they noted that my trusty Vista was looking a little well used. I have had the unit for about 2 years and with all the rock hopping and rattling around on my ATV have dropped it several times scratching the screen and case. Garmin replaced the Screen, Case, click stick and entirely refurbished it before sending it back to me. Total cost for out of warranty repair and unexpected total refurbishment $0.00!!! > > Garmin has just made me a life long customer. > > Ken > WhereRwee? ____________________________________________________________ Az-Geocaching mailing list listserv@azgeocaching.com To edit your setting, subscribe or unsubscribe visit: http://listserv.azgeocaching.com/mailman/listinfo/az-geocaching Arizona's Geocaching Resource http://www.azgeocaching.com