lunartalks

I got the impression my handheld Garmin GPS was wrong when it gave my position as in a Co-op carpark. Odd: I was on a boat floating in a harbour in 4.6 metres of water. Sailing some hours later I put a GPS-derived position on a chart, and had I been where the Garmin Etrex had said, we'd have been aground, not sailing neatly through the buoyed shipping channel in Donaghadee Sound. Tried to phone customer services: my call was important, but was never answered. Tried several times. My call was still important, and still never answered. By now I'd established that even when the unit was claiming to be accurate "to 35 feet" it was actually giving latitude and longitude fixes that were out by about 400 metres. On a boat in coastal waters, that can put you on the rocks and in my case end people's lives and my career. So, back on land, I send them an email. No reply. Annoyed (they took my £119 easily enough) I email the press office - I do occasionally write for sailing magazines - to ask if they routinely ignore customers who've been sold bum units. No. Someone would be back to me soon, I was assured.

Soon is obviously a relative term in Garminworld. Then again: their slogan is "We'll get you there." Not with the thing you sold me, you won't. You'll get me to within 400 yards of there. Tonight I checked the speed function: car doing 50 mph, GPS unit registering 66.8 mph. According to quantum theory a particle's speed or position can be measured, not both. If it's carrying my Garmin GPS it won't have a clue about either and my cat will understand quantum theory before Garmin do me the courtesy of ringing to explain why they sold me a random position and speed generator.

PS: and hoo-rah for the internet. Within seconds of posting the above, another misled Garmin victim leaves a comment.