I agree 100% with your comment because I am also a victim.

I wholeheartedly agree with the poor rating that Magellan deserves, especially in terms of tech support!

The numerous times that I called tech support were met by a person in India, often very difficult to communicate with, and less than knowledgeable about the product.

I had a Roadmate 2200t which had what I believe were a few programming errors. To navigate to my home heading north on a major roadway, the route that was clearly shown on the map were accompanied by faulty navigation instructions that, rather than telling me to turn left (west, indicated clearly on the map) at the next intersection, advised that the next turn to be right (north), several miles down apparently missing the need to first turn west! This error from one of the most major local roads, repeated at the 2 intersections (home mid-way between), and the error was present going in the opposite direction (south-west-south) from the other major one-way street where it would say the next turn was left, again missing a large chunk of road in-between! This error also occurred in at least one other area of town, which gave me little confidence in the unit.

The tech(s) would advise that it was the satellites losing signal (they were not), or any other reason, ultimately resulting in their instruction to do a re-set of the unit. "This will correct the problem, sir!" It never did. I was lastly told that an up-date would be coming out at the end of November, which would likely correct the problem (no up-date released).

I also wondered why the update to the new map look for the Crossover was not available for the 2200t, though I was told the vehicle nav portions were identical. They could not assure me that up-grading to the Crossover would solve my issues, or make the unit compatible with the additional "look" update.

I finally ended up returning the unit to Costco (thank goodness for their reasonably flexible return policy), and got a Garmin Nuvi!

100% spot on regarding Magellan's atrocious customer support. You forgot to mention the numerous reports of those Magellan customers sending in their units for repair and Magellan losing the units and/or having no record of the RMA they had given out over the phone.

I cannot, for the life of me, think of a worse customer support department than Magellan, and I've experienced quite a few.

So Magellan thinks that relocating their support to the Philippines from India will help?!?! What difference will that make (other than a new accent to decipher) when the problem obviously lies in Magellan's inadequate training and horrific management?

Their useless website, broken links, much-needed updates that either never come or come too late and seeming lack of regard for their customers goes well beyond what country their support people reside. That said, it WOULD be nice to talk to someone who speaks American English; this way the misinformation they give you and their lack of knowledge could at least be understood. (dripping with sarcasm).

The bottom line is, the Maestro can be a B- (it's a C- in my book) but is it worth it if you know you will be getting the absolute worst service after your purchase? I think not.

Regrettably I have to agree...I have been a HUGE Magellan supporter for many years and have owned their units from the "beginning". I just returned the 4250 that I had been anxiously been waiting for months to buy. The routing was very bad and when I called for support, I could not understand Indian, so I was really hosed...so back to Costco it went. I also tried several versions of the newer Garmin Nuvi's but they were not as good as my old Magellan 760. So I guess I will use it for awhile longer until someone introduces a reasonable alternative. Maybe one of the new kids on the block will figure out the magic formula...?

I got a Triton 1500 for my boyfriend and he loves it - I got one of the early ones, and before I could give it to them, the company contacted me and said they'd replace it with a new one (I guess the first one was missing cables), so my experience has been good. Haven't had to deal with Indian customer support, and my boyfriend loves the unit, so no problems here.

I have a Maestro 3250 and think it's great overall. Had a minor issue and talked to someone at Magellan who helped me figure out how to resolve it. So far, so good. Maybe Magellan is trying to address their customer service problems afterall.

Comments are spot on. I sent in my Roadmate 760 because of a power problem. After 8 weeks of no return I started to call. Every call was 1 hour with absolutely the worst customer service people I have ever talked to. The unit was returned with no repair, and no apology. They tried to upgrade me for a $50 dollar discount on a newer unit but not the 4250. I think I would look for a different company if you need a GPS.

I have never used a GPS until a couple of days before Christmas when I decided that I had to have one. I picked a Magellan Triton 200. I was going to go for one of those Garmin Etrex machines, but I went with this Magellan because It had some basic maps on it and it was under $150.

When I put the batteries in it, it worked fine.

Quite an interesting device.

Unfortunately it runs on Windows CE. It has already crashed on me about 3 times. You can't reset it like a computer. You have to pull the batteries out. When it boots up it puts a map of California on there. I guess Magellan is based there? It gives the time as 5 hours ago even though it gives the correct location, Waco TX after it acquires the signal. That is out in the Pacific somewhere. Not useful information. Pretty stupid if you ask me.

When I tried to hook it up to the computer, and install the software, it went straight to the website and wants me to download 37 megabytes of data just to talk to Windows XP Pro. More stupidity. Why isn't the software on the CD rom? There is 600 megabytes of storage on there. The manual is crap, just a pamphlet. I should have bought the Garmin. Who knows if it would have worked better, but surely it beats the crappy user interface on this gadget. Gives useful info, but I still have not installed the software to talk to the computer, because I am on Dialup and the first download failed. Bet it takes me a week to get it working. I guess they expect you to spent $1000 to get a better gadget that will talk to the computer out of the box. Maybe they assume you have broadband. Stupid assumption. You can use this device anywhere in the world. There is no broadband in the middle of nowhere. What If I want to install it on the road on a laptop? It simply won't work. Bad engineering.

Oh well. It is the bottom of the line Triton product, but if this is what I can expect from Magellan, then I won't ever buy from them again. Next time I'll try Garmin or some other brand.

Everyone want cheap but good. I understand you can get cheap if you don't mind dealing with Magellan customer support. At my retail store, we give our customers our own tech support number and also offer out of box replacements or loaner units when needed.
We charge MAP price for our products but we offer the service that everyone is looking for.
You want great service, try www.autonav2000.com.
Fletch was a customer of Auto Nav many years ago and loved his Magellan 759Nav.

Magellan manufacture a great product at a fair price, the low failure rate is only noted due to the poor customer service.
We sell tons of these and we don't have many returns or failure. Most issues are user errors that can be fix over the phone.

You get what you pay for, we charge for good product and great customer support and knowledge.

I just visited Magellan's web site looking for the long-promised map update to the 6000T NA. Imagine my surprise (maybe I should'nt have been surprised) to see the version 2 software and map update available! With a $20 discount. Wait...a discount? On a supposed-to-be-free-(or at least they never told me there would be additional charges) upgrade?? I'm expected to plop down $79.99 (on sale, don't forget!) to upgrade my device to version 2 and get new maps? Well, I guess they have to pay for that relocation to the Phillipines somehow...I'm seriously considering flushing the 6000T straight to the e-recycling center and getting something that doesn't string me along for months then charges for an upgrade. Has anyone actually bought the upgrade? Is it worth even 80 cents?

Absolutely the worst customer service I have every experienced. I ordered the V2 map upgrade from Magellan for the RoadMate 6000T and after 3 months it never worked and they refused to give me a refund. Wasted hours on the phone with customer service and tech support.

I have a Crossover and I think you are being way too generous. At best I would give it a "C". I specifically purchased it (4/07)with the idea of buying the North American Detailed Topo Map SD when it became available (promised 6/07). To date, it still is not available and all mention of it has been dropped from the website. The V2 upgrade does not mention Topo map. In your report card you state "...additional maps can be purchased for greater detail". OK, where can I get the detailed Topo map of North America? Other problems I won't bother mentioning, but rest assured, never again a Magellan.

Help. I am have been suffering the customer support nightmare with Magellan. I returned an item and they have confirmed receipt during the NUMEROUS phone calls I placed about my refund. Each call is frustrating, sometimes the accent is so heavy they are difficult to understand. I have to go through the same song and dance each call and am always placed on hold multiple times for several minutes each.
Does anyone have a mailing address?

Thanks in advance

Help. I am have been suffering the customer support nightmare with Magellan. I returned an item and they have confirmed receipt during the NUMEROUS phone calls I placed about my refund. Each call is frustrating, sometimes the accent is so heavy they are difficult to understand. I have to go through the same song and dance each call and am always placed on hold multiple times for several minutes each.
Does anyone have a mailing address?

Thanks in advance

Magellan Customer Unsupport is a total bunch of BOVINE SCAT. I have been anally penetrated repeatedly by their 42 foot long plastic phallus in one series of phone calls, and they did not even give me a kiss afterwards. F'em! buy a product from Garmin.