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SPOT Failure

M38A1

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Scott
I read that this morning, whew.

I was thinking about buying one of those this year. Wonder what a better option would be as well.
 
Crazy story. What I don't understand is why they kept trying Spot SOS service on multiple devices for over an hour and then able to request aid via a cell phone. If I had cell phone service that would be my first choice.

I've used my Spot SOS button once and it worked like a charm. That makes me feel a little better as the no SOS problem is by unit not systemwide I guess.
 
Makes me wonder how many SPOTs are sold, how many subscriptions are active, how many have been used for emergency purposes and how many failed. Some additional context would be good.

Not sure how you would ever get that info. At best, SPOT might track active subscriptions and SOS calls, but how could they track failures unless customers let them know, like in this case? Then who knows how many are out there now that may be defective but folks just don't know because they've never tried them.

If they don't already have it, I think it would be a good idea for SPOT to have some kind of "Test/Verify" button that a user could push before heading out that would verify a signal was sent and received. This would not actually trigger a request for help. But if it failed, then people would know BEFORE they got in a bad place.
 
Not sure how you would ever get that info. At best, SPOT might track active subscriptions and SOS calls, but how could they track failures unless customers let them know, like in this case? Then who knows how many are out there now that may be defective but folks just don't know because they've never tried them.

If they don't already have it, I think it would be a good idea for SPOT to have some kind of "Test/Verify" button that a user could push before heading out that would verify a signal was sent and received. This would not actually trigger a request for help. But if it failed, then people would know BEFORE they got in a bad place.

I agree that we could never know the whole picture, especially considering the idea that we'll never know about the trackers that never are used for emergencies. SPOT does need to get ahead of this with the numbers they have if they can, if for no other reason than how social media can amplify things. Of course if it is a known problem for them, then they need to stay quiet.

A few years ago, there was a guy who modified his suspension then took the bike off road. The cast swing arm broke in the desert at something like 50mph. He was lucky that he didn't get hurt, but the subsequent public fight with factory to get a new swing arm really skewed opinions. Nobody cared that he had modified the suspension or that it was out of warranty or that the manufacturer finally offered to fix it - but not just give him a new part to repair himself. For years guys complained about how bad the swing arms were on that one model even though only two failures were known worldwide his and some guy crossing Siberia.

I seem to have read that they do have a test feature on the new ones, but I don't know for sure. They do need one.

m
 
I had a Gen 2 and certainly hoped I would never need the SOS function, but when I went down alone in Pike's Peak National Forrest it worked as promised. I now have a SPOT X, and my wife would not even consider letting me go on any kind of riding trip without having it with me. So, I guess everyone's experience is different.
 
I read that this morning, whew.

I was thinking about buying one of those this year. Wonder what a better option would be as well.

I've got an inReach Mini. Works fine and battery life is sufficient (if set @ 10 min between tracking points).
 
Not sure how you would ever get that info. At best, SPOT might track active subscriptions and SOS calls, but how could they track failures unless customers let them know, like in this case? Then who knows how many are out there now that may be defective but folks just don't know because they've never tried them.

If they don't already have it, I think it would be a good idea for SPOT to have some kind of "Test/Verify" button that a user could push before heading out that would verify a signal was sent and received. This would not actually trigger a request for help. But if it failed, then people would know BEFORE they got in a bad place.
Good idea. Would cost company satellite time, but for an additional charge you could purchase a code test ticket for a fee on their website with an automated pass or fail time stamp email notification. I would think it would be easy enough for them to figure something out, and they could probably generate extra revenue while ensuring customer confidence in the equipment.
 
From the account info on my in Reach. It's not the sos button, but at least you can verify it's connected.



Test Your inReach
  1. Select Start to send a test message to your inReach.
  2. Take the device outside, powered on, with a clear view of the sky.
  3. Use your inReach or connected mobile app to send a test message to testinreach@garmin.com.
  4. You will receive an automated reply to your test message. Keep your system powered on, and stay outside until you receive the reply.
    You are not charged for the test messages, and they do not count toward your monthly plan. You are allowed up to 5 test messages per month.
 
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