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Old 12-12-2017, 04:57   #1
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Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

I am really quite annoyed with this, not least because the Garmin takeover of Delorme inReach was probably a disaster waiting to happen.
Here in the UK we always paid the US price, converted to pounds £.
Garmin have now just imposed (well last month but I only just noticed it) new billing from a (spun-off subsidiary?) Garmin UK and my recreation plan subscription which was:
$24.95 = about £18.50
has now jumped to £25.49 = about $34.20.
A 37.78% increase. Inflation in the UK is currently (uhum) supposed to be 3%.
I think this is unreasonable and despite having used inReach from the beginning feel I am likely to abandon my subscription. Inmarsat behaved like this with iSatphone PAYG credits a while ago. It's all a rip off.
If you are based in the UK, be aware of this.
Surely, with a relatively small UK market compared to USA this will just kill off the goose that laid the golden egg?!
Why do huge, innovation gobbling, monopoly providers, always always behave so badly!
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Old 12-12-2017, 05:12   #2
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Can you buy the foreign subscription or has the price been raised all round?

I know when I last paid for Navionics I just listed a address in Monaco for billing so that I wasn't charged VAT/IVA
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Old 12-12-2017, 05:14   #3
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

It use to be that you could more easily trust the big companies because they cared about their market reputation and potentially had a lot to lose. Now they're the biggest offenders. Garmin is a good example and there are many more.

In the US, anti-trust efforts are supposed to prevent big monopolies, but enforcement seems to be declining. Now, as if we don't already have enough problems with health care costs, the biggest for-profit hospitals are seeking a merger.
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Old 12-12-2017, 05:32   #4
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

were are you heading that needs a £25 pm satellite fee?

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Old 12-12-2017, 05:43   #5
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Garmin has become the PacMan of the recreational GPS industry, gobbling up everything competitive/complimentary in its business universe, and as such can/and does pretty much as it pleases price wise and with "scheduled" (rather than simply planned) obsolescence to force upgrades/replacements to still functional equipment. We will not buy anything from Garmin any longer.

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Old 12-12-2017, 05:58   #6
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Has anyone seen this in the US or elsewhere yet?

I just assumed, based on past history, that Garmin would be increasing prices and reducing development and support for InReach at some point after purchasing DeLorme. It won't give me any satisfaction if my assumptions turn out to be correct.
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Old 12-12-2017, 06:06   #7
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

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Originally Posted by CaptTom View Post
Has anyone seen this in the US or elsewhere yet?

I just assumed, based on past history, that Garmin would be increasing prices and reducing development and support for InReach at some point after purchasing DeLorme. It won't give me any satisfaction if my assumptions turn out to be correct.
Garmin just did this with their tablet chartplotter software. They dropped BCM (blue chart mobile) and introduced a new app. BCM chart purchases aren't transferable and the same charts in the new package are double the price!
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Old 12-12-2017, 06:13   #8
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

One of the biggest reasons I Retired was this kind of thing. The business owner would do something that to me just stunk of profiteering and when I’d complain and tell him that it wasn’t good, he would tell me it was “just business”.
It was amazing at what he could justify and sleep well at night by determining it was “just business”
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Old 12-12-2017, 08:58   #9
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Actually, your new price is about what I pay here in the USA. Maybe it was incorrectly priced before and such a management error may be one of the clues as to why they sold out to Garmin?
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Old 12-12-2017, 09:34   #10
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

My heart sank when I heard that Garmin bought Delorme. I may give up my subscription with "Road Post" (The new name they gave inreach) All I need is an excuse like a price rise to give me a nudge. I have been gouged by Garmin way too many times. Maybe it's time to start using all the free stuff out there.
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Old 12-12-2017, 09:50   #11
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Where am I going / have I been - that I need it? World cruises on QM2, oh dear oh dear, that doesn't sound good does it, complaining about the price! Uhum... Well first half of cruise to Sydney, not the whole 120 days. Not that I Need it. It's a communicator/maybe someday a lifesaver/certainly a breadcrum trailer that I feel is amazing as a service, but the price hike is excessive. I do also use it walking in hilly areas like Lake District where there might be no phone signal on any mobile network. Not exactly USA 'wilderness' I grant you, not anywhere near like it, but I do use it like that.
I have the continual rolling annual contract, not the stop-start as I please arrangement, so it really IS a lot more expensive.
In isolation I might be more tolerant, maybe, but the Android versions of the earthmate app (Garmin linked app to device) since they became Garmin branded no longer transfer the messages from device to phone if you only pair-up once you see the msg light flashing. An approved way to use it, but it shows an error (on multiple Android phones I tested) then deletes the messages. So as a communicator, it no longer communicates. Garmin gave me inane pointless replies to my support question that could have been written by a Russian troll factory. I use the original inReach, that takes AA batteries (a big ++ in my book). It was only when I downloaded every prior version of the app from (hopefully not contaminated) on-line sources and installed them progressively backwards that I found a version that worked perfectly once more, and that was the last Delorme one (with the green rectangular map logo/icon). Should customers really have to do this? How many have the wherewithall to even try? So in my book Garmin chose to break compatability with the original device. That annoyed me no end. Needless slash and burn to generate more revenue from sales of new devices. Well I don't want the new device with the battery that will go flat. I want the AA battery compatability.
So from my perspective this is a drip...drip reduction of quality and increase in costs. I know I'm naieve to think that a comms system so Utterly Fantastic should be made available to the whole world at a 'fair' price - but when I feel 'screwed' then I get annoyed, and it's in the British pyche to respond in this kind of way. We're a bit like that over here. It damages their brand. I guess they don't care. I rather suspect that Delorme Did.
UK is going through the whole Brexit thing at the moment and it seems just an excuse for all companies to increase costs and reduce service. Almost all foodstuffs cost more... way more than the inflation rate, but get smaller and smaller. But for us to pay SO much more than USA is unfair. Besides, don't we mostly earn less that you!
I so wish I could write a glowing recommendation of inReach under Garmin ownership and I'd be the first to be a brand ambasador as the whole world should know about the amazing service. But it's starting to sour.
That's all and thanks for bearing with me. I will keep the device for the cruise then probably terminate it after and revert to my PLB when in the hills.
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Old 12-12-2017, 10:50   #12
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Sad to hear of your woes. Putting bloody satellites in the sky... well, yes, the technology's crazy expensive. Profiteering? Or is a business entitled to make a profit in it's investments?

I live in San Francisco. It costs me 100 dollars a month for two iPhones. It costs me another 85 dollars a month for high speed internet. It costs me another 110 dollars a month for satellite tv with premium channels. It all makes me crazy. Connectivity!!!

So, when I see the price you r paying for something that can actually save your life on a boat... sorry, but I just think it is worth much more than that. Really... you don't even need it for the reason most people use it for.

I know some of your irritation must be the angst all of Britian is experiencing with Brexit. Cancel your subscription if u must.
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Old 12-12-2017, 11:44   #13
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rorzech View Post
My heart sank when I heard that Garmin bought Delorme. I may give up my subscription with "Road Post" (The new name they gave inreach) All I need is an excuse like a price rise to give me a nudge. I have been gouged by Garmin way too many times. Maybe it's time to start using all the free stuff out there.
The problem is, there really isn't any other comparable product. Maybe this will spur someone to create one. DeLorme was a great (Maine!) company, and treated it's customers right. They used cutting-edge technology, but only enough to get the job done, so they were able to offer just the needed functionality at a fair price. They didn't abandon their products every 12-18 months in favor of developing new ones.

They obviously didn't understand the way big companies are supposed to be run nowadays. Screw the customers! Screw the employees! It's all about quarterly returns.
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Old 12-12-2017, 11:51   #14
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

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Originally Posted by alansmith View Post
Sad to hear of your woes. Putting bloody satellites in the sky... well, yes, the technology's crazy expensive. Profiteering? Or is a business entitled to make a profit in it's investments?

I live in San Francisco. It costs me 100 dollars a month for two iPhones. It costs me another 85 dollars a month for high speed internet. It costs me another 110 dollars a month for satellite tv with premium channels. It all makes me crazy. Connectivity!!!

So, when I see the price you r paying for something that can actually save your life on a boat... sorry, but I just think it is worth much more than that. Really... you don't even need it for the reason most people use it for.

I know some of your irritation must be the angst all of Britian is experiencing with Brexit. Cancel your subscription if u must.
Pretty sure Garmin isn't launching or owning any satellites. They use the GPS satellites (free) and the Iridium satellite network.
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Old 12-12-2017, 13:25   #15
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Re: Garmin inReach Huge price-hike in UK

Quote:
My heart sank when I heard that Garmin bought Delorme. I may give up my subscription with "Road Post" (The new name they gave inreach) All I need is an excuse like a price rise to give me a nudge. I have been gouged by Garmin way too many times.
Same here. Garmin victimizes their customers and treats them like sh-t. After my last experience with them, I swore I would never buy anything from them again. Ever.
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