inReach account set-up, not for me (continue reading for try #2 success)

[robby denning]

I’m sitting in front of the ups store. Last chance to ship as I leave early tomorrow and have a full day of work ahead of me. In good faith, I gave it one more shot.

Same results. But this time they answered phone. I’m on with her now. Wish me luck...

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[robby denning]

Update. The gal who answered the phone spoke great English, check that box as good. They’re located in Maine. I explain my problem, and she laughed. She said this is one of their most common problems. Even when you’re setting up a prepaid plan, you have to allow recurring billing, so that they can continue to bill you if you don’t cancel. I understand that’s a pretty common practice, but she agreed, it is not explained on their website. They’ve requested that to be fixed way before I called in, but she said they don’t have much control on the website content (Garmin CEO, you shouldn’t farm out your CS pinch points!)

So the way it works, you can pre-pay as many months as you want, but you have to leave your card on file, and then cancel 30 days before the pre-pay runs out, so that you don’t get billed additional months.

We checked that box to allow the recurring billing, and right now my activation is pending. She said it can take about an hour to clear their system, then I need about 20 to 30 minutes to link to the satellites, and then I should be good.

Glad they answered the phone, they might’ve saved the sale.

I’ll let you know how it pans out. By the way here’s the screen where the confusion lies.

Now I know some of you are going to go all wise on me and say something like “don’t you understand that?“

But consider that I don’t own credit cards, I run debit cards, so I am very hesitant to set up any recurring billing on anything (think overdraft charges .). I don’t just blindly check boxes that tell me they’re going to send me charges that I have not authorized, and as the gal explained, they really need to clear that up for people. Unfortunately many companies tend to abuse people with these auto renew options. I’ve been burned before.

I’m setting up a reminder in my phone right now, for November 20, to make sure I jump on and cancel my plan before the last 30 days begins.




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[PNWGATOR]

Despite the frustrations, you’re gonna love the ability to check in at home and have the ability to ask for help if you need it.

Get this thing set up and your frustrations behind you and go have a GREAT hunt and find the buck you’re looking for.

 

[KHNC]

I was totally pumped to finally make the leap from one-way/SOS messaging on my Spot, to two-way messaging.

Five years ago, my father-in-law died when I was in the back country, nobody could get a hold of me. I felt pretty bad when I got out and found out everybody was trying to reach me. However cash was still tight so I didn’t make the jump to two-way. I just tried make sure to call my wife as often as I could in the event I had cell service Instead of just sending her a spot one-way every day,and it worked pretty well for the last few years.

I finally got to the point financially I could justify the two-way, Plus where I’m hunting this year doesn’t even have cell service on the 10,000 foot peaks. So me and my wife were really excited. I hunted with Jordan Budd last week, and she had the Explorer, and man was it nice to be able to check in and make sure everything was OK at home.

I had six days between hunts, (I read several of the reviews on Rokslide, and nobody indicated that that wasn’t enough time to make the leap) so when I got home I got on the email with Rob at S&S archery to get one coming. We decided the mini inReach was for me. I’m leaving Friday, ordered it Monday (paid full price) with next day shipping and got it Tuesday. The mini is sweet, fits in your palm.

I read the instruction booklet cover to cover, charged the mini overnight. And then this morning jumped on their website to buy three months worth of the plan. I was excited because you could just go month-to-month, so I was going to pre-pay for three months.

I entered everything that it asked for, including my credit card. I approved it for $195 charge, more than enough for three months. Then it would not let me proceed. “All fields must be completed” is all it would give me. I went over every page with a fine tooth comb, every field was complete.

Logged out, logged in and tried it again. same thing. Emailed Rob, who answered me within three minutes. He said someone else was having that problem a few days ago, and to just log back in in a bit and try it. So I did that, and didn’t even get as far as I did the first time before it locked up. I searched all over their site and finally found two phone numbers. I tried them both, one of them gave me a message that they are no longer offering instant phone support, but to leave a message and they would call me back. I’m not gonna play phone tag with someone I just gave 500 bucks to, so I didn’t leave a voicemail. The other number said that they could take an email at some address he rattled off, of which I didn’t even bother to write down.

So it’s bye-bye Garmin. I don’t have time to fiddle fart around waiting on their stupid website... And if paying over $500 for an item/plan is not enough for them to put someone on the phone with me, they can kiss my ass.

I’ve got it boxed up and headed back. I’m even paying shipping although Rob offered, but it’s not S&S Archery’s fault. It’s Garmins, pure and simple.

I’m so pissed off I could scream. A multi-million dollar company dominating the two-way communications world, and they can’t even build a freaking website that can take my money. That’s the easy part!!!!!!!

Now I know some of you are gonna log on here and say “I didn’t have any problem“. I get that, but if these companies wanna dominate, like Apple has, they got to make streamlined experiences that anyone can run, or have the support to back it without sucking up their customers’ time.

So there’s my review on Garmin’s website= IT SUCKS! Would love to have reviewed the mini, but that’s not gonna happen this year.

(Oh, and @Ryan Avery, the force is with me)

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Well, they could have told you what you told me when i had a problem on Rokslide a while back.

"We have two million members on RS. I dont have time for any BS you may have created for yourself."
My response: " I dont think i did anything wrong, can you please explain?"

"I am way to busy to respond to this kind of crap. If you waste ONE MORE minute of my time i will ban you permantly from the site"

Ok, Does that sound familiar to you? Ryan Avery was kind enough to message me and took care of the MINOR issue that was keeping me from posting.

I have not had any issues with Garmin and neither has a buddy of mine that has the mini you mention. Next time maybe have a little more patience when someone is asking you for help. Its entirely possible you may have to interact with someone you have been rude to in the past.

Just a thought. GOod luck with finding a better solution than Inreach. And good luck on your next hunt.

 

[robby denning]

Well, they could have told you what you told me when i had a problem on Rokslide a while back.

"We have two million members on RS. I dont have time for any BS you may have created for yourself."
My response: " I dont think i did anything wrong, can you please explain?"

"I am way to busy to respond to this kind of crap. If you waste ONE MORE minute of my time i will ban you permantly from the site"

Ok, Does that sound familiar to you? Ryan Avery was kind enough to message me and took care of the MINOR issue that was keeping me from posting.

I have not had any issues with Garmin and neither has a buddy of mine that has the mini you mention. Next time maybe have a little more patience when someone is asking you for help. Its entirely possible you may have to interact with someone you have been rude to in the past.

Just a thought. GOod luck with finding a better solution than Inreach. And good luck on your next hunt.

Let’s move this to another post. https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/khnc-post-your-complaint-here.143711/
And make sure you pull up all those PMs, so people have the context of what we were talking about. Not just the ones you got your feelings hurt over

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[robby denning]

OK, I'm over an hour with my mini outside the building hanging on a pole next two a cut grain field with a WIDE OPEN view of the sky. I've checked it twice, first time (maybe 20 minutes later) I was getting a connection message of some sort, so all good. Went out 40 minutes later and now it's saying something like "Connection is taking a long time, please connect online."

totally stumped. Super swamped right now, so I just left it out there until I have time to connect online.

I'm losing that loving feeling....

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Damn! Sorry to hear yours is being a pain to set up. I recall screwing with setting mine up for about an hour, then, PRESTO! life was good and the thing has worked like a charm for the last year. Hang in there, it'll pay off in the end.

 

[EastMT]

I may have missed it but at the beginning I had to plug into the computer to get all the updates loaded up.


I have yet to be begin to procrastinate.

 

[jmez]

Your troubles won't end after activation. I've had mine for two years now. It works ok. Far better if you are willing to leave it on all the time. If you don't want to screw with charging it and save battery prepare to get frustrated and shut it off after waiting 30 minutes for a message to go out. Sitting in the exact same place that it just took about 20s for the last message to go out.

Also tell your wife that often times, her messages to you and yours to her may come out of the order they were sent. It will save a lot of confusion on both ends of you are aware of this.

Also, pair it with earthmate on your phone, it is pretty much useless otherwise, unless you are only sending pre set messages.

It isn't the panacea many make it out to be. Of course in the fan boy, #iveneverhadanissuesoitsimpossible era that is to be expected.

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[robby denning]

Ok just hit the two hour mark (so approaching 4 hours of set up time all together— am I patient enough now?) and this is where I’m at

I'm on hold right now (8:27) and cheating on my boss.

I did try to "confirm activation online" but it's seems to make me want to purchase another plan before I proceed. I won't enter my card info again (I don't want to fight with the bank for a week to get a 2nd charge reversed) so it won't let me proceed.

Luckily the UPS store is on my home too, as this isn't looking good.


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[robby denning]

Your troubles won't end after activation. I've had mine for two years now. It works ok. Far better if you are willing to leave it on all the time. If you don't want to screw with charging it and save battery prepare to get frustrated and shut it off after waiting 30 minutes for a message to go out. Sitting in the exact same place that it just took about 20s for the last message to go out.

Also tell your wife that often times, her messages to you and yours to her may come out of the order they were sent. It will save a lot of confusion on both ends of you are aware of this.

Also, pair it with earthmate on your phone, it is pretty much useless otherwise, unless you are only sending pre set messages.

It isn't the panacea many make it out to be. Of course in the fan boy, #iveneverhadanissuesoitsimpossible era that is to be expected.

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thanks for the tips/warnings. And great hashtag!

 

[robby denning]

Was on the phone 11 minutes (trying to feel good about cheating on my boss by working on a few other tasks). I got tired of their prerecorded “ your call is very important...” constantly repeating, so I tried to turn the volume down on my earbuds and got disconnected.

Certainly my fault but I’m counting it against Garmin because if this set up worked as I’m told, I wouldn’t be on the phone or even on this thread right now. I called back and am 6 minutes in now

That doesn’t count the 20 minutes on phone gone this morning....


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[robby denning]

while on hold, I watched this video from their support site (they send you there while you're on hold).

I've done all those steps. Still nothing...

 

[brsnow]

Sometimes putting out positive vibes goes a long way in a successful outcome.

 

[elkstabber]

I refer to mine as the Garmin Out Of Reach.

I've used a number of Garmin products over the years and they simply lag behind all of the competition in the depthfinder and GPS markets. Their reliability and customer service are lacking.

They got into the satellite texting market only because they bought DeLorme out.

My (older DeLorme) unit will randomly unpair itself from my phone. Sometimes messages arrive the next day when my unit indicated that they were sent within a minute or two. It is truly entertaining in camp when a couple of guys get together to recount our messages. Now I include the date and time when I send messages because it minimizes confusion.

I look forward to when competitors such as BivyStick, Briartek (Cerberus), and SatPaq get serious about putting pressure on Garmin.

EDIT: It looks like there are 6 or 7 competitors to the Garmin according to this website:
https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topi...ocator-beacon?specs=n&n=0&sort_field=#compare

 

[brsnow]

I use mine a few times a week. I view it as a safety device first that has messaging as an added bonus. Messages take between 5 and 30 minutes. It serves its purpose for me, but if I expected it to text like a phone I would be disappointed.

 

[robby denning]

Sometimes putting out positive vibes goes a long way in a successful outcome.

I believe that, I'm trying....I really am. On the phone with them right now, he's admitting that their website is the problem...but we're finding others.

pushing 4.5 hours of set up now, reality sucks

 

[robby denning]

And we’re still not even to the connect to satellite step


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[KurtR]

Dang I need to get mine going this year seemed pretty easy last year and brother got his going they are both the full size gps wonder if that makes any difference. Messages on mine sent out fine last year in Idaho and so far my brother was in the frank last week and he sent me a bunch of texts.

 

[robby denning]

OK, after that 55 minute phone call posted above (pushing 90 minutes on phone today) I finally got the email that my account is set up.

Now this is only part-way, still have to sync devices and satellite. I might get fired over this deal, though.