Where To Fix My Garmin Gps In Bangkok

[alohatiger]

It must have corroded somewhere in my travels, because I noticed some green stuff on it and scraped at it. It came off, but so did part of the contact clip.

To describe the piece in question, it is the metal piece that contacts one end of the AA battery to power the unit. It is a strip of metal folded at one end, so it forms a "spring". It is a bright, shiny metal, so it may be tin or something like that. I did speak to a metallics engineer and he said it could be coated tin. I think that may be important in its replacement.

So, should I go to a qualified Garmin shop and be charged up the ying-yang (or maybe not, I hope they're good though and not serious corporate money mongers - this really is a simple fix - I hope!) If reasonable, please tell me where the Garmin service shop is and any contact info if you have any experience with them. (Yes, I've looked them up, but I'm looking for experiences with them here.)

Or should I go to one of these super clever Thai technicians at some places: Pantip Plaza (what floor and which corner for electronics: not just computers!), the top floor of Old Siam, some place near Chinatown called Klong Tomm(?), or somewhere else you suggest? Could you please TRY to provide good directions, because most shops really look the same and it's hard to locate the same place, and each shop has a different take on customer service, I'm afraid.

For that matter, where else are there many technicians waiting for a new challenge to fix something? These guys can be great, and often work for cheap. They should be paid more, since corporate businesses will often charge huge sums of money just to look at your stuff.

I do think, however, some specialized electronics CANNOT be fixed by those folks, however, i.e., super-small stuff. I've got a Sony T-7 camera, super slim, and I don't think anyone except a Sony technician can fix it, because only they have the parts and it does get kind of intricate when you get down to small electronics. Or am I wrong about that? Because I'm getting my camera checked out now by Sony and we'll see how much they think they can separate from me.

[jcgodber]

To have your Garmon repaired go to-

ESRI (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Headoffice & GIS Product Contact: 202 CDG House Nanglinchi Rd. Chongnonsee Yannawa Bangkok 10120 Tel.0-2678-0707 FAX ...

www.esrith.com/

Jim Godber

[kiwi fishing bangkok]

ok I had a very expensive welding helmet repaired, it is a speed glass 2000, ok this has electronics that are small! my electronics friend had a look and could not get it, and he is good! now I went to this guy that works in, on nut 54 go down there he is on the right oppersite the engineering shop.

this guy is good! he changed a chip and it is working again, great it only cost 300 bht this guy knows his stuff, I also had him do some wiring on my weigh station for the load cell and indercator.

so in all he can work some advanced electronics and prices that are very cheap, sorry but i have set a bad standard, I have over paid him each time as I decided he did not charge enough so I paid him more. sounds crazy I know but I believe that you should pay professionals good money so he got 500 baht, that is still cheap to repair my mask!

[alohatiger]

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I'd rather overpay x2 or x3 an honest, knowledgeable technician or honest craftsman rather than deal with some uncaring wage slave who could care whether my stuff was fixed or not. Either way, though, they'll charge me the troubleshooting fee (for their trouble) because they hate my guts since they are working and I'm out trekking. What a world we live in.

I'd very much like to meet your technician, perhaps you can provide a phone number (I speak a little Thai) or perhaps more detail. I'd ask for GPS coordinates, but my GPS is broke!

I tried that ESRI number and this is the number they forwarded me to:

026368421

Chong Nongsi MRT

Sathorn Nakorn Tower

22nd floor

8am-5pm

Turns out they say the examination is free. I will see how much they want to charge me.

If possible, I will have them diagnose the problem (they are good troubleshooting their own equipment, usually) but I'll have the work done somewhere else. I don't mind paying a small troubleshooting fee (they usually have things setup for that, and it's easy for them), then take the parts and diagnosis to a reputable, experienced technician / craftsman. I've done that with car dealerships and a good, honest garage mechanic. The dealerships will charge huge sums of money because you don't want to go somewhere else. If you know an honest mechanic, you can save some dough by going to the dealer, getting a specific diagnosis, then taking that and all the parts to a good mechanic. You do have to know what you're doing, but it works out after the first time or so.

I may do that, or I may not, depending on how ESRI handles things. Maybe it is a simple fix they can handle (it's just a broken contact spring, for chr*ssakes!)

Wish me luck!

Alohatiger

ok I had a very expensive welding helmet repaired, it is a speed glass 2000, ok this has electronics that are small! my electronics friend had a look and could not get it, and he is good! now I went to this guy that works in, on nut 54 go down there he is on the right oppersite the engineering shop.

this guy is good! he changed a chip and it is working again, great it only cost 300 bht this guy knows his stuff, I also had him do some wiring on my weigh station for the load cell and indercator.

so in all he can work some advanced electronics and prices that are very cheap, sorry but i have set a bad standard, I have over paid him each time as I decided he did not charge enough so I paid him more. sounds crazy I know but I believe that you should pay professionals good money so he got 500 baht, that is still cheap to repair my mask!

[Haddo]

I just wanted to report back on excellent service from ESRI (address as above) - the backlight on my Garmin iQue wasn't working because I'd broken the internal cables whilst changing the battery. They repaired the unit for free in 40 mins - I hadn't even bought the unit from them (although I had bought the Thailand map a while back - maybe they had my name on file).

Anyway, it's good to be able to report great service!