As you may know, I’ve been trying to install a Lowrance Elite 3X fishfinder on the kayak for nearly two months now without success. I bought the fishfinder from Dicks Sporting Goods because it was on sale. Turned out not to be such a bargain because the fishfinder that I bought was defective out of the box. I’ve been going back and forth with Lowrance Customer Service since then and it’s pretty clear that I am not going to get a working fishfinder from them. When I called Lowrance customer service on the phone since they do not respond to emails and told them about the problem, they sent me a transducer/power cable. Of course, since the fishfinder is defective, all this did was give me another couple weeks of no fishfinder and more frustration.
When I called again and told them the fishfinder was still not working, they told me they might be able to fix the unit OR “for my troubles” I could upgrade to a more expensive model at a “discounted” price. So, Lowrance sells you a defective product and when you request warranty service, they try to up sell you. That’s a pretty messed up way of doing business.
Since the warranty that comes with Lowrance fishfinders is basically worthless, back to Dicks Sporting Goods where I inform them I will be disputing the charge for the fishfinder, do they want me to send the fishfinder back? Dicks Sporting Goods said they would replace it under the 90 day return policy. When I called a few days later, there was no record of this. I’ve just about had enough of Lowrance and Dicks Sporting Goods. If a retailer sells you a defective product, why is it such a hassle to exchange it? I paid for what they advertised; a working fishfinder with a one year warranty and I got neither.
If you are thinking of buying a Lowrance fishfinder or sonar/GPS unit, especially one of their more expensive models, I would strongly advise you to think about it. If you do buy a Lowrance unit online, you better make sure the place you buy it from has a bullet-proof return/refund policy, because dealing with Lowrance warranty service is the road to nowhere.