Humminbird Customer Service, Beware

Sounds like the op musta peed someone off!! On 2 occasion had awesome customer service just my 2 cents good luck

You really always roll the dice with tech help on the phone-one thing I don’t like is their CS dept. is open like 9-5 M-F, that’s tough if you work those same hours.

nstats25 wrote:

As a loyal Humminbird user for 14 years when it came time to update my electronics I turned to Humminbird as have always been happy with their products. THINGS HAVE CHANGED at Humminbird in 2021, My story about a helix 12mega + g4, Helix 9 mega + g4 and a Mega 360 and installed on boat. Had issue with 360. Would go to a message called “preparing pod” and no further, no pictures of any kind. Contacted my retailer, he spent 3 hours trying to get it to work and then decided unit bad so replaced it (good for dealer) got it on boat same issue. Called Humminbird, after 2 hours on hold, got msg they would call me within 2 hours which they did. Spent 1 hour on line while they tried differnent options , none of which worked and they asked me to send unit back for examination, When I sent back they said it works fine. So I asked for help in determine what “preparing pod ” meant so I could determine if problem was something on my installation, lady said “really, it means it is preparing the pod”, I asked to speak to a technician again and was told no, I asked if lady I was speaking with was a technician and she said “close enough, I am the closest thing you will ever talk to a technician”. I anxiously await to see if works but hold out no hope. I would not recommend anyone to buy from Humminbird again. Buyer Beware.,,,FYI the dealer sold me a $500 dollar lithium battery to use on 360 as he said the unit had problems with some 12v coneections. Enough of my rant..If anyone has a soluction to the “preparing pod” issue would love to hear.

Amazes me how someone asking for help turned into a bash thread.

Have you unhooked the different units and tried each separately to try and isolate where the problem is. As mentioned earlier the 360 Mega has a wet switch have you cleaned this off good with some rubbing alcohol as some have found this to be an issue have you actually had it on the water while testing. Have you unhooked the bow depth finder from the network and have just the 360 hooked up? many questions to be asked to help narrow down where the problem is coming from.

Tom P. wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nstats25 wrote:</div>
As a loyal Humminbird user for 14 years when it came time to update my electronics I turned to Humminbird as have always been happy with their products. THINGS HAVE CHANGED at Humminbird in 2021, My story about a helix 12mega + g4, Helix 9 mega + g4 and a Mega 360 and installed on boat. Had issue with 360. Would go to a message called “preparing pod” and no further, no pictures of any kind. Contacted my retailer, he spent 3 hours trying to get it to work and then decided unit bad so replaced it (good for dealer) got it on boat same issue. Called Humminbird, after 2 hours on hold, got msg they would call me within 2 hours which they did. Spent 1 hour on line while they tried differnent options , none of which worked and they asked me to send unit back for examination, When I sent back they said it works fine. So I asked for help in determine what “preparing pod ” meant so I could determine if problem was something on my installation, lady said “really, it means it is preparing the pod”, I asked to speak to a technician again and was told no, I asked if lady I was speaking with was a technician and she said “close enough, I am the closest thing you will ever talk to a technician”. I anxiously await to see if works but hold out no hope. I would not recommend anyone to buy from Humminbird again. Buyer Beware.,,,FYI the dealer sold me a $500 dollar lithium battery to use on 360 as he said the unit had problems with some 12v coneections. Enough of my rant..If anyone has a soluction to the “preparing pod” issue would love to hear.

Amazes me how someone asking for help turned into a bash thread.

Have you unhooked the different units and tried each separately to try and isolate where the problem is. As mentioned earlier the 360 Mega has a wet switch have you cleaned this off good with some rubbing alcohol as some have found this to be an issue have you actually had it on the water while testing. Have you unhooked the bow depth finder from the network and have just the 360 hooked up? many questions to be asked to help narrow down where the problem is coming from.

Aren’t those the questions that hummingbird customer service are supposed to ask?

Tom P. wrote:

Amazes me how someone asking for help turned into a bash thread.

It seemed fairly obvious the OP wasn’t looking for answers anymore and was only venting….It’s been done on here too many times to count.

Funny, I am on hold with HB right now, and then I find this thread. My TM took a dirt nap, purchased a new Terrova with iPilot Link, built in MEGA DI ducer, and a Helix 7 MEGA DI CHIRP GPS, also purchased a Lakemaster MN chip. Got it installed, took the boat out, couldn’t get the DI working, called HB Support, and after getting disconnected five times was able to speak with somebody, got the ducer issue corrected, but will have to say, not impressed with the view. Installed the LM chip, and nothing happened. HB tech reset head unit back to factory settings, still no “lake list”, tried again, no go. HB sent email that they will be shipping a new LM chip, that was week and a half ago, still no email on order status, and that’s why I am on hold with them now. BTW I have a Lowrance HDS Carbon 12 on console that I have been very happy with.

Still on hold with HB, 45 mins now

Bearcat89 wrote:

My garmins have been flawless. And customer service I hear is top notch.

Not fishing related, but I recently had issues with my garmin running watch. I got someone from customer service on the phone in under 5 min after calling the 800 number (which is an impressive feat in itself these days), ran threw a couple trouble shooting items. After those didn’t work, they had a brand new watch on its way to me via UPS later that day. All I had to do was ship me old running watch back to them and that was that. With that experience, Garmin gained me as a customer for life.

Paul D wrote:

Still on hold with HB, 45 mins now

Update from yesterday, on hold two hours, told order was shipped yesterday and a confirmation email would be sent shortly. Today – Have not received email confirmation. When the replacement order was submitted by the tech I was speaking with, I had the confirmation email before I was off the phone with him.