Linda Colt - Navico

[joepa]

Thanks to this message board I got the name Linda Colt for my problem with a Lowrance transducer.
I emailed her and boy did she respond quickly. Thanks to her my problem was taken care of. Sure would be nice if other companies took the hint and treated their customers as though someone cared.

Thanks again WC and all the knowledgeable contributors, and much thanks to Linda Colt?

[RDJ]

I had a question for Lowrance and left a voice message for Linda yesterday morning. I figured Mondays would be ugly days for their customer service dept. so I also sent an email to Linda hoping one or the other would find its way to the top of her "to do" list. Within 30 minutes I received a call back from Linda and my question was answered and about 20 minutes later she even replied to my email hoping she had answered all my questions via our phone call and thanked me for choosing Lowrance..This was a nice touch..RJ in Montana

[Danger Dan]

You are correct that Linda Colt rocks........ She gets to the bottom of all issues and cuts thru all the BS.....

Linda Colt is what makes Lowrance great............

[whofan]

You are correct that Linda Colt rocks........ She gets to the bottom of all issues and cuts thru all the BS.....

Linda Colt is what makes Lowrance great............

Linda Colt is great, Lowrance needs to work at making Lowrance great.

Linda is a good inspiration for what can be, but it takes a team.

I don`t know how much money Linda makes, but doubt its enough if we here know her by name.

[Johnnielund]

Could someone please give me (PM or post) Linda Colt's e-mail address. I have an LMS 522 that has been in for service twice and the problems are still there. Now I keep losing my GPS signal. Possibly she can help me. This is my third Lowrance (the best, I used to think) product and I am very dissapointed in the LMS 522. If I had the money, I think I'd jump ship to Hummingbird.

[joepa]

Do a search. Her address is on here a couple of times.

[Wall@y@]

Linda Colt's phone number is 1-800-324-1356 extension 8747 or 1-918-438-8747. I have contacted her by using these numbers and I would think you can too. Yes, she does marvelous things and can be counted on to follow through with your requests. An outstanding employee for Navico.

[1shooter]

She is good.

linda.colt@navico.com


Hey Lowrance if you are reading these posts give her a big raise. I can guarantee she has personally helped Lowrance retain many of their customers.

[Ristorapper]

Several months ago I had some problems with a 102c unit. After reading the forum here I contacted Linda on what to do with the unit. I mainly wanted to know if they still serviced that unit. She assured me they would take a look at it. She sent me a RA (return authorization) number, I sent it in (prepaid label) and was just the other day when I got it back. I didn't get my specific unit back, but then that is not a big deal if it helps turning these things around especially when we are still using them. The 102 they replaced it with looks a lot like the one I sent in other than a matching serial number.

Will have to hook it up tomorrow and give it a test on Sunday.

Linda answered all my questions, got me headed in the right direction on getting it repaired and did a wonderful job while doing it. I appreciate customer service like that. You sure can tell she appreciates doing what she does.

I was afraid to do what I was told by a buddy to do with this unit. He told me to tie some trebles on it and take it trolling (I wasn't sure on the dive curve). I was also afraid I'd be so upset with Lowrance customer service that I'd jump ship to another company. LInda Colt calmed all my fears.

[Ristorapper]

Powered the 102 C unit up and works great so far. Only one complaint: I did not get my Lowrance 102C protective cover back from customer service. I sent it in with the protective cover on it in case something should happen, the screen wouldn't get scratched/broke......... SOOOOOOO if you send your unit in, send it in stripped down or you may not get the accessories back!! I had my name on it so maybe with a little note to Linda it will be returned.

[Ristorapper]

I did get a reply from my e-mail to Navico and a protective screen cover is on its way back to me.

[icontact]

Although I have not had to call Lowrance for service, (I have a pre Navico) unit, it sounds like Miss Colt is doing an excellent job. I am wondering though what the heck are the rest of the service people at Lowrance doing, it appears everyone in North America only seems to get good (great) service when they talk to one person.

[Ristorapper]

That's like a lot of workers out there. Clone the producer and fire the rest!! I know they'd like to do it where I work. They sure as heck wouldn't clone me!!

[lollyjoe]

Anyone have any recent communication with Linda Colt? I have emailed her several times over the last 3 weeks on a problem with my Lowrance fishfinder and have had no reply. I hope she is still there!

[wilbur]

Linda responded yesterday to an e-mail I had sent to her a while back regarding a software update issue. She just e-mailed me this morning with a very generous resolution/solution to the problem.

[jignminow]

Anyone have any recent communication with Linda Colt? I have emailed her several times over the last 3 weeks on a problem with my Lowrance fishfinder and have had no reply. I hope she is still there!

I have also been e-mailing her without a response. I finally got one this morning. She has been out of the office and trying to respond to, as she says, 1540 e-mails.

I finally re-directed my inquiry to the general e-mail address. We'll see waht happens

[Backwater Eddy]

Linda apparently is an exceptionally dedicated and responsible costumer service technician, and I applaud her efforts.

I do have a gripe with Lowrance costumer service, and I'll explain it as best I can.

I also work for a nationally knows sporting retailer..we will call it Retailer-X... in one week this summer I had 11 Lowrance units walk in that we did not sell to the costumer in the first place, and all needed various warranty work or various re-sets done or some had serious obviously terminal flaws with the units.

This was very unusual, but I didn't get the connection at first.

As I thought this odd I asked a few walk in costumers why they decided to bring the units to me at retailer-X to look at once they established they had an warranty issue to deal with.

Well...all I asked said that Lowrance costumer service said to bring them to me at Retailer-X and I would look them over for them....and in some cases also told them we would exchange them on the spot, even if we didn't sell them the problem unit.

This information provided my Lowrance costumer service was obviously incorrect and it put our electronics staff at retailr-X on the spot as we could not warranty a unit we did not sell and we also have in-store company return policies and time restraints as to when/what we can do if we indeed sold that unit.

They passed the buck, and we "Boots on the ground guys" at retailer-X had to deal with the fall out for it. I was not very happy at this revelation.

I managed to help many of these individuals where I could, and where I could not I had to direct them back to the Lowrance warranty center as it should have been handled there in the first place.

Some just chose to blame me for policies I had no control over....but I understood there frustration in this situation as they were obviously getting the run around.

I passed this up the cooperate ladder at Retailer-X, and the mysterious service issue and warranty issue walk in's stopped abruptly.

So obviously now I have my own unique understanding of why costumer service issues are popping up at Lowrance.

[yarcraft91]

Interesting story, Eddie. One can draw conclusions from it.

My experience in corporate America:
- People who perform beyond expectations are rewarded.
- People who behave outside the corporate norm are not.

I wonder what Linda Colt is experiencing?

[Burr]

I have a unit sent back to Lowrance - and spoke with Linda earlier this week. She's there.

I haven't looked specifically for Linda - I just contacted Lowrance through the regular channels, coming in to the standard phone line, and work with who-ever picks up the phone. I've spoken to 3 different people the 3 contacts I've made with them - all of them were helpful and knowledgeable.

I'm a bit frustrated by the product, but I have no complaints about customer service representatives. There is only 1 piece of information we did not communicate clearly. I sent my unit back with RA on September 3, and understood the service cycle to be 3-4 weeks. It was later explained to me the 3-4 weeks starts when a diagnosis is made - which happened on September 21. I've been told my unit will be replaced - but I don't understand how when they don't make them any more?

I should know in a few days. Hopefully before I leave for the tourney next Wednesday.

[yarcraft91]

Burr:

I expect you will find that Lowrance replaces your unit with a used, refurbished unit from their stockpile. If so, check the replacement unit carefully. I had to get 3 re-furbed units before I had one that was fully functional.

[ozarkeyes]

I have been reading all the Lowrance customer service posts here on WC and to me, it seems there has been a pretty clear pattern established relating back to when Navico bought Lowrance.

Navico is a large international sonar/radar company (Norway) whose primary customer base was the yatching, (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous crowd) and shipping. Lowrance, a well established American sonar/GPS company whose primary customer base is the millions of recreational and commercial fishing/boaters in North America, some aviation, and outdoor enthusists and whose product was on the cutting edge.

Navico, a foreign company, now purchases Lowrance, which Lowrance products made for the consumers and are covered under American manufacturing laws (warranty of merchantability). Navico, being a European company do not deal with "consumers" on the level Lowrance does, after all, Navico customers are those who can afford to have one or two back up units in reserve and then will send in the bad unit for repair. But the corporate philosophy of Navico rules Lowrance.

In addition, Navico has spent millions to buy Lowrance, so cut the costs of the purchased company to show the Navico stockholders they are making a super rate of return on their investment. What gets cut?, quality control, and labor in non-productive areas such as customer service.

Its a shame the guys in Norway cant read English and read about how frustrated the Lowrance owners have become over the downturn of the reliability of the Lowrance products since Navico purchased the company. Just my thoughts.