Delorme InReach Billing Issues

[Wxx3]

You all know how much I love my InReach since 2014 and the first Atlantic crossing.
Everything was going well and until this past February 2017 I had been paying between $25 to $53 per month.

Since February however, I just realized I was getting billed twice a month for various amounts:
Feb, $106
March, $123
April, May & June, each $25.99
Then crazy again for July at, $51 and
August, $131

Yes, I know, with automatic payments I clearly must pay more attention, but this is bizarre and I think it's about the same time Garmin took over.

In any case, if you do have an InReach, check your bills carefully.
Richard

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Wxx3

You all know how much I love my InReach since 2014 and the first Atlantic crossing.
Everything was going well and until this past February 2017 I had been paying between $25 to $53 per month.

Since February however, I just realized I was getting billed twice a month for various amounts:
Feb, $106
March, $123
April, May & June, each $25.99
Then crazy again for July at, $51 and
August, $131

Yes, I know, with automatic payments I clearly must pay more attention, but this is bizarre and I think it's about the same time Garmin took over.

In any case, if you do have an InReach, check your bills carefully.
Richard

Which plan are you on? Sounds like one of the lower plans where messages are $0.50 each. They area a lot like some phone plans, if you take a lower end plan, then usage can kill you.

Did the plans change?

[O C Diver]

My inreach plan has 40 texts per month and is <$27 per month. Most of the time the bill is the same. A slight fluctuation occurred that looked to be number of billing days in ghe month. There is an unlimited text plan that's $50 per month plus tax.

Ted

[MYTraveler]

If it is any consolation, I had Spot for a while but have not used it in years. Never had automatic billing, and hadn't received or paid a bill in years. Then a few months ago I received an email saying my account was seriously past due. Figured it was spam or a glitch. Last week I received a follow up. I believe it is a scam of some sort.

[GoldenDawn]

We use the Delorme in the Pacific Northwest. Since Garmin has taken over, we have had issues with the tracking, the Share Page and the maps not tiling properly. I'd like to hear if others have issues - not impressed with Garmin to date.

[O C Diver]

I've had no issues with tracking or web page display, but then I don't check the page that often.

Ted

[jungpeter]

To GoldenDawn: I've had some "issues" with my Garmin Explorer+ here in the PNW as well.

Issue #1-This summer, the tracker failed to issue track points for an entire day, even though we were clearly underway. Result was a "track" that showed accurate departure and arrival points and times, but nothing in between. And the tracker history claimed to have issued track points that day on a 10-minute interval, as expected. No explanation from Garmin tech support.

Issue #2-The Explorer+ would not successfully pair with my older IPad, to enable messaging with a more convenient keyboard, and to review my track on a screen I could actually see. After extensive tech support failures to affect the connection, the issue was passed upwards in the tech department, until someone at Garmin forwarded the following:

"I have reviewed the model number that you provided and it does appear that the older iPad is using a different module to process data for Bluetooth to Earthmate. With that said, since the new device has a newer chipset, the device can be paired but will not interact with the Earthmate App due to this difference. This change was done by Apple when they released newer iPads and iPhones with the lightening adapter as it's new standard."

Wish they'd told me that when I bought the Explorer+. Not Garmin's fault per se, but having to fork over another ~$1000 for a new IPad to achieve full functionality wasn't on my to-do list!

No issues with billing, but I'm pretty anal about checking my (few) auto-billing accounts.

Regards,

Pete

[JDCAVE]

We had a lot of problems with the tracking function in the British Columbia this year. We are on the unlimited plan while north of Cape Caution. Message functionality was fine but the tracking was poor. We found we could "fix it" by keeping plugged into Inverter charging. I think we all need to let Garmin know how unhappy we were with their service.

There is a big issue with the requirement to sync the unit when we had to do a reset of the unit. I told them they need to provide a download to the computer so we could do it when we have no cell service. That's not an option evidently but it needs be available in my opinion.

Jim

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by JDCAVE

We had a lot of problems with the tracking function in the British Columbia this year. We are on the unlimited plan while north of Cape Caution. Message functionality was fine but the tracking was poor. We found we could "fix it" by keeping plugged into Inverter charging.

I bought the docking station with charging contacts and a 12 volt adapter. This may explain why I haven't had the tracking problems. Wonder if the tracking issues in the PNW are Garmin or the satellite company.



Ted

[JDCAVE]

I wonder if the age of the device has something to do with the problems we had. It's had a lot of use over the past 3 years.