A Fairy Tale

[Shellback]

Once upon a time Lowrance/ Navico had a customer service dept. Evidently it has been closed or they are up to their ears in customer complaints, because you sure can't get threw to them on the phone. Anybody know the President of Lowrance? Maybe you could call him and ask him to wait on the line for an answer at customer service. Looks like their HD units are the Fitch motor of OMC.

[Gill]

Let me know if you get through to him. I e-mailed Lowrance 9 days ago and haven't heard a peep from them. They must be swamped with questions on their hds series. Not very pleased at this time with product support, customer service.

Gill

[blueicecpa]

Linda Colt @ Lowrance
I find an E Mail does work Quicker :}

She has been a great resource for us all.

Linda Colt
Customer Walk in Service Department
12000 East Skelly Drive
Tulsa Oklahoma 74128
1-800-324-1356 ext 8747
Direct Line 918-438-8747
Linda.colt@navico.com

[1shooter]

I had a little better luck getting a hold of them. I talked to them about my depth issues on my 27 and they said it had to my transducer since I had tried everything else. Problem was they said the replacements were on backorder but they would put a rush on it when it came in. I ended up calling back the the famous Linda Colt and she shipped me one that same day.

Funny thing is I received the one from Linda then 2 days later received a 2nd. I thought about sending it back but figured to hang on to it just in case. That weekend I put the new one on and it was worse than the original. I tried the 2nd new one and there was alot of improvement but still lost depth once and awhile. I talked to Linda and ended up sending her the head unit and received a replacement.

Guess what......I still have the problem but will deal with it since I leave for Canada next week. At that time I am going to put a full court press on them to get the problem resolved. I spent way too much money to have these issues. I will either look for a fully functionally unit or a full refund.

The scary thing is that the issue they are having with the depth has been going on for some time and it appears thay have given up on trying to fix it and are now focusing on the new HDS units.

[Shellback]

Yes, Linda Colt is the best asset they have. Unfortunately, she can't always help walking people threw technical issues on set up. If you need something replaced or sent in for service, she's the best.

[Hawker]

Best time to get hold of Linda is early morning. Linda comes in approx 4:30-5:00 AM (on her own time every weekday) to answer emails and get a head start on making return phone calls for the day. She is the hardest working cust support person you will ever work with anywhere bar none. Get up early, make the call or send her an email direct and she will do her very best to make you a satisfied customer.

[yarcraft91]

Yep- Linda Colt is wonderful. She worked through an issue with my LMS-334i and left me a happy customer.

I have what sounds like a common issue with the depth readout on the LMS-527 I have. At times, it decides the water is always between 0.9' and 2.0' feet deep, even though it's clearly deeper. So far, this has only happened in the "Shallow Water" mode of the 2.4.2 BETA software. If I switch the unit to "General Use" mode, the problem clears immediately. I have several experiences with this behavior- all consistent.

If it's a transducer issue, it's not limited to Lowrance 'ducers. My 527 is connected to an Airmar P66 and I'm informed that Airmar doesn't make the Lowrance transducers. My thought is that it's still a Lowrance software problem- otherwise why would it clear up immediately when I re-configure the software operating mode?

Good luck getting Lowrance to fix the software for these 1-year-old "legacy" units.

[Lowrance Dumb]

Yep- Linda Colt is wonderful. She worked through an issue with my LMS-334i and left me a happy customer.

I have what sounds like a common issue with the depth readout on the LMS-527 I have. At times, it decides the water is always between 0.9' and 2.0' feet deep, even though it's clearly deeper. So far, this has only happened in the "Shallow Water" mode of the 2.4.2 BETA software. If I switch the unit to "General Use" mode, the problem clears immediately. I have several experiences with this behavior- all consistent.

If it's a transducer issue, it's not limited to Lowrance 'ducers. My 527 is connected to an Airmar P66 and I'm informed that Airmar doesn't make the Lowrance transducers. My thought is that it's still a Lowrance software problem- otherwise why would it clear up immediately when I re-configure the software operating mode?

Good luck getting Lowrance to fix the software for these 1-year-old "legacy" units.

Here is a dumb question, where do you find or change between "Shallow Water" and "General Use" modes on a LCX111 ? What menu is this found under ?

Please help this "inept Lowrance user".

Thanks

[yarcraft91]

Here is a dumb question, where do you find or change between "Shallow Water" and "General Use" modes on a LCX111 ? What menu is this found under ?

Please help this "inept Lowrance user".

Thanks

Dunno about the 111, here's what I do on the 527.

First, you need to have software version 2.4.2 BETA. Then, make sonar the active screen, hit MENU, select SONAR FEATURES, find the sonar mode selection window at the bottom right, drop down the list and there you find modes to select.

[Wall@y@]

Yes, Linda Colt is the best asset they have. Unfortunately, she can't always help walking people threw technical issues on set up. If you need something replaced or sent in for service, she's the best.

Yes, Linda Colt is the best. When you E-Mail her she answers very quickly. In my contacts with their technical department I find that if I call very soon after they open at 8 AM central time I have less dificulty getting through and being placed on hold is 40 minutes or less.

[spaniel235]

After a 40 minute wait yesterday, I did talk to her. She was absolutely fantastic. I was glad she had a great deal of patience. She walked me through everything and now my HDS7 works with Navionics like a charm. Thanks again, Linda.:o

[Shellback]

Well we seem to know Linda Colt is the best asset they have. I wish I could change my thread title. It should read, Linda Colt, alias Cinderella the Fairy Tale Princess, and the manager of customer service would be the evil stepmother! LOL.
I'm kinda embassed to have even made this post because of people like Linda, she excells at her job.

[1shooter]

I have had lowrance units all my life in the past they have worked awesome. Its seems like the issues that people are having revolved around units that are 2004 and newer and with the GPS/sonar units.

It would be interesting if someone would do a poll on this site to see if there is really alot of people out there with problems or just few people with problems.

Maybe if the % of issues are legitmate we could get them to come out with a fix.

[Backwater Eddy]

After watching many Tech Support posts over the past couple of years....I can't help thinking...whatever they pay Linda Colt, just can't be enough.

She has to be pulling a heavy work load, and by all accounts, doing it very well.

Honestly the first time I seen a fan of hers post her contact info at Lowrance...I thought..OH MAN...she has a "Bulls eye" painted on here now...the poor girl will get no piece... ever... Uf-Da.

She still is going the extra mile to help, and I admire that, Bulls Eye or not.

Ada Girl! :bowdown:

[whofan]

Not too long ago I got flamed pretty good for sharing my Lowrance experience. Maybe too much but I was just tring to give people heads up on the new Lowrance products.

God bless Linda Colt but a company like Lowrance can`t be saved on the back of poor Linda Colt.
Lowrance needs more than one Linda Colt.

Humminbird should offer Linda a job! She is a good employee for her company.

Lowrance needs to get their game together.

I loved my old 1998 X75.

Today if I were to rig a new boat, I will not drill a hole in a perfectly good boat for any Lowrance product.

There are other companys out there who work harder for your hard earned cash.

My Vexilar works good just like my old Lowrance use to. My 2008 x510c was junk, now its gone.

Note to Lowrance; Life is short I`d rather be fishing than fixing.

[1shooter]

I am serious about creating a poll to actually see how bad the issues are. Would the moderators be cool with this poll?

I would think with this site having as much traffic as it does if the poll showed a high % of people having issues just maybe Lowrance would take them seriously and come up with a fix.

I for one am extremely unhappy with spending all this money to only have a unit that is ok at best.

Thoughts?

[yarcraft91]

I am serious about creating a poll to actually see how bad the issues are. Would the moderators be cool with this poll?

I would think with this site having as much traffic as it does if the poll showed a high % of people having issues just maybe Lowrance would take them seriously and come up with a fix.

I for one am extremely unhappy with spending all this money to only have a unit that is ok at best.

Thoughts?

1shooter:

I've been thinking about your suggestion of a poll to influence Lowrance. While that might make a big difference, I observe that:
- It's already clear that Lowrance has understaffed customer service- call them any day and see how long you have to wait. Either they don't care or there is an overwhelming number of calls.
- Lakemaster, who make products just for Lowrance, isn't any better. I've contacted them twice through their website regarding the problems I have using their Lakemaster Michigan chip in my LCX-27 and they have completely ignored me. I find Navionics much more responsive.
- It's not apparent that Lowrance pays any attention to this message board.
- I do not recall any messages from people claiming to represent Lowrance- compare that to Jeff from Navionics, who is a frequent contributor.
- I wonder if Lowrance would give the poll any serious weight?
- This message board has hundreds of participants- weigh that against the thousands of units Lowrance sells each year.
- It's apparent to me that Lowrance already knows they have a problem- consider the very short lifetime of the LMS-300 and LMS-500 series products and the BETA software release last year (which has never been formalized as promised) for the LMS and LCX series.
- My guess- Lowrance is working as fast as they can to improve their products, but they are currently unable to compete as a 21st century technology company. Lowrance is living on its reputation, which is being eroded by a series of under-performing, very expensive products that do not measure up to the competition. I hope the HDS series is a success, but now that the fishing season is in full swing, the HDS complaints are beginning to surface and it sounds like "same song, third verse".

All that said, my Lowrance units work most of the time, but not as much of the time as the older units did.

[1shooter]

I hear what your saying but my thought is if there were some actual numbers posted it may send a message.

[newbietroller]

Well, I saw this post yesterday and decided to give Linda a try. I ordered some parts over a month ago and got 1 of two items, but was charged for both. After reading this post, i e-mailed Linda. She responded yesterday afternoon and I have the part today. Unbelievable. If anyone at Lowrance reads these threads, give Linda a raise and a big pat on the back. She is awesome.

[acar555]

I emaile Linda twice, Monday and last Friday, and have yet to get a response. She has been great to work with in the past though.