Before you buy your next electronic device

[steve c]

Turned on my radar and a " No Radar " message appeared on the chartplotter. Checked and the same message also was indicated on a second device. I reviewed the trouble shooting info in the manual and checked the required solutions to no avail. I called technical support and was #24 in the que for app. 1 hour and 45 minutes and I gave up since my position was still 24th. I emailed my problem on 5/6 and finally recieived a response on 5/21 with the same solution as the original info in the manual which I had referred to when I sent the email. On 5/4 I tried a phone call at 9:22 AM and was in the que for appx. an hour and a half. I was advised so check the same info from the manual and I explained I had performed those checks. I was then transferred to a level 2 tech at noon. I was #3 in the que and at 1:30 I was " next ". At 3:36 I was disconnected. 6 hours and 12 minutes of my time was wasted. The moral of this story is that when you have sorted out the piece of equipment you wish to purchase, call the customer support line before you hand over your money.

 

[Capt Chad]

Inquiring minds want to know. Who was it? Raymarine?

 

[steve c]

Simrad

 

[Bob Bradley]

I replaced my Raymarine electronics with Simrad on my old boat and regretted it immensely. They absolutely suck. When I bought the current boat it had Simrad. I promptly replaced it with Furuno and have been very happy with it, and particularly with their customer support. You talk to real professionals without a lot of runaround.

 

[Capt Chad]

Simrad was my next guess.

I have been very happy with anything I ever purchased from Furuno. And the old stuff that came on boats I have owned.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Simrad is also the company who purchased Northstar and promptly closed them down. Northstar made excellent nav products for marine and surveying and military uses, and they made them in the USA.

 

[steve c]

Unfortunate for me. I have 2 Simrad Chartplotters, 2 Simrad radios ( 1 with AIS transponder ), BG1 sounder module, WIFI and the mentioned radar system. I'm not in a position to replace the core stuff. I just wished that after 2 hours hey just told me that they were not interested in supporting their equipment, just taking my money. It will be Furuno the next time.

 

[steve c]

PS: I still use my Northstar GPS plotter fo phantom loran.

 

[sixty]

Simrad

My boat is loaded with about $40k in Simrad electronics. I have TONS of trouble from them that never seems to stop. I have a friend that is sponsored by Simrad and had their techs on my boat just scratching their heads. Their only solution was to upgrade to the latest software which was already done or buy their "latest" units which are so much better . My boat electrician used to work for Simrad and said they have adapted really old software that never worked right and did not follow suit of the other vendors using modern, common operating software.

I definitely will not be buying any more Simrad in my future.

 

[bigbill]

this is a good reason to buy from an authorized dealer/installer. they will be there to help you with problems

 

[Boatsb]

I installed a simrad IMO autopilot on a 150 foot vessel and had a few technical issues. While their tech support took a l9ng time to contact I was given very competent help. I think Bill said it right. Go with a good dealer installer or don't go at all.

As a victron distributor I'm responsible for all the support of units sold through me. I will not sell to many resellers as they do not have the knowledge or expertise to support what they sell and they usually cause more trouble than they are worth.

I've had insane issues with all the brands and have actually logged into a radar through an interface on a laptop to load firmware. It's not a DIY world with the larger systems. It also takes spares and resources to properly troubleshoot this gear. Anyone buy a NMEA tester yet? Only $800 or so. But when you need it there's no substitute.

 

[rsmith]

I just put a full garmin suite on my center console when I repowered with new Suzukis. 2 12” displays and in hull transducer. All integrated with the engine instruments. This Nema 2000 is finally real plug and play. Everything has improved so much in the last few years it’s really worth getting rid of the old stuff.

 

[steve c]

The point of my post was to suggest that before purchasing significant arrays of electronics that in addition to researching features and price it would be prudent to contact the manufacturer's support network. After the original warranty expires I would expect a company to offer reasonable and TIMELY support for their products. In too many cases the company who produces the equipment will offer the newest and greatest at a slight discount rather than trying to help the customer. When you purchased the gear it was supposed to be the latest and greatest. My post was not to tout a particular company but to suggest that service and support are just as important as sales.

 

[rsmith]

We live in a throw away world. The days of sending something back for a guy with a soldering iron and osiliscope are gone. Unless it’s a software problem or still in warranty no matter how good the response is the answer is going to be the same.

 

[Captain Ralph]

My boat is loaded with about $40k in Simrad electronics.

May I ask, who sold and installed this $40k in equipment?

 

[Captain Ralph]

Unfortunate for me. I have 2 Simrad Chartplotters, 2 Simrad radios ( 1 with AIS transponder ), BG1 sounder module, WIFI and the mentioned radar system..

May I ask you also, who sold and installed your equipment?

 

[Captain Ralph]

this is a good reason to buy from an authorized dealer/installer. they will be there to help you with problems

Correct..

 

[Pascal]

Customer service is becoming non existent these days, maybe Simrad is worst than others but I try as much as possible to use any resource before picking up the phone

About 2 years ago I had a FLIR installed at the “office”, FLIR having been bought by Raymarine. I didn’t want the video to be displayed on either of the garmins but on a big monitor so the installer ordered and installed an IP converter from Raymarine. Well that converter supplied by Raymarine can only be configured using a PC running Internet Explorer with the Microsoft Silverlight plug in. Both having been discontinued by MS years ago. So yes Raymarine / FLIR is selling unsupported outdated accessories.

Last month, for some reason the converter lost its configuration… but Microsoft in a recent windows update has eliminated the option of using Microsoft explorer…. After a few emails to FLIR support and unhelpful replies I didn’t some research online and found that you can force Internet Explorer to open by setting the IP or domain name in an exception list. Problem solved… no thanks to Ray/FLIR.

As to your issue, check the settings in your SIMRAD system. I ve had issues both with Furuno Navnet 3D and Garmin where suddenly the system loose track of the radar config. Easy fix when you know where to look

 

[steve c]

Seller=Defender ( no help), installer=out of business, 8 weeks out for new installer/technician, manufacturer=Simrad ( no help yet but I'll keep trying )

 

[Captain Ralph]

Seller=Defender ( no help), installer=out of business, 8 weeks out for new installer/technician, manufacturer=Simrad ( no help yet but I'll keep trying )

I am sad to read of your troubles with Simrad.

I work thru dealers and techs that have better phone numbers than I do. When investing big bux on these thingies, it does pay to find a supporting dealer and techs.

My original contacts were with Robertson and Stowe. Support was based in the north left coast. They were fantastic in supporting old products. After the merge, there were some hic-ups but the products are good. Not for sure where the support tech are (around?) now.

I also remember the original Northstar 800 Loran. There was nothing sweeter or faster.

I miss that good ole stuff.

It’s been a couple of months now, but when I did e-mail or call Navico/Simrad direct regarding used and out of warranty equipment, It was pretty good service. When my cell phone droped, they would call me back.

These technologies are changing so quickly, it makes me dizzy (more?) sometimes.
I wonder how often their help/support changes things around. Maybe just a bad week for you?

Maybe if you could explain your issues, one of the HOF members may have been here before.

If you’re not tight with another dealer yet, Max Marine is a great help also.

Good luck
Ralph
Simrad fan