Lowrance HDS 7......Plain Junk

The first week these things hit the market I was looking at buying one. I saw Jammie (hunterofmoorecrappie) at Bass Pro Shops and I asked his opinion. He said I should wait a few months for the prices to stable. I sure wished I had listened. So far I'm on my 3rd unit and this one has quit on me. I don't know what to do at this point. I paid over $1300.00 on a unit that is a piece of junk. When it works, it is fine. I'm just tired of playing roulette. I don't know if it's going to work from trip to trip and one of the biggest reasons I bought the thing is because it was supposed to have side viewing available for it soon. Now I'm hearing it may be October before it's available. In order to get anyone to talk to at Lowrance you have to wait on hold for at least an hour. It's just ridiculous. Oh, but they did send me a lowrance hat in the mail last week for some reason. Sorry, I just had to get it off my chest. Maybe they'll upgrade me to a HDS-8 if I complain enough.

The eight will be just a bigger piece of junk. Good luck. Keep us posted.

Hummingbird all the way!

wes I will talk to Jason on monday and see if I can get you a person you can talk too. I will remind him of the bad rep they can get from all this on the world wide web

hate to hear that....I was looking at them but I think I will go back to looking at the humminbirds...they got their issues too but not as bad as the things I keep hearing about lowrance right now....hope they get it worked out soon

Now you know how I feel about that TERROVA. I talked to the factory and they said that I couldnt have this problem. I thought that was a little funny. I followed there instructions and it still doesnt work. I am sure I will work it out eventually. It would be nice to know that when you spend that kind of money you could count on it working as advertised. Good luck !

Called Lowrance again today about my HDS 7. I told them I wasn't interested in yet another replacement. I want either my money back or a different unit. I was informed that the HDS 8 units are on back order till the end of the summer and all they would do is replace the one I've got. The lady told me they had the water intrusion problem fixed and I shouldn't have any more problems. Problem is, I was told the same thing last time. How my times does it have to be replaced before something significant happens? I'm fed up with Lowrance. Wished I had never spent that $1250.00

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by score300

Called Lowrance again today about my HDS 7. I told them I wasn't interested in yet another replacement. I want either my money back or a different unit. I was informed that the HDS 8 units are on back order till the end of the summer and all they would do is replace the one I've got. The lady told me they had the water intrusion problem fixed and I shouldn't have any more problems. Problem is, I was told the same thing last time. How my times does it have to be replaced before something significant happens? I'm fed up with Lowrance. Wished I had never spent that $1250.00

---

Sorry to hear you are having problems but I'm glad you posted this I was thinking about buying one. They really look good with the detail but if you never know if it is going to work it ain't worth 15 cents.
Thanks,
Lynn

For those of you that are concerned, I had the Southeast Regional sales director contact me today and is trying to make things right. I'll keep you all posted.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by score300

For those of you that are concerned, I had the Southeast Regional sales director contact me today and is trying to make things right. I'll keep you all posted.

---

how did you get in touch with him? i have one of the 8's and am trying to get some satisfaction. so far nobody is helping me.

First I talked to one of my sponsors which is a vendor for Lowrance, and then I went to Bass Pro shops and talked to someone in the electronics department. It turns out both of them have the same sales rep. When he called me, he said he was getting heat from both of them. He seems genuinely concerned about my situation. This IS the 3rd unit I've had go bad. You're going to HAVE to bypass customer no service.

Sounds like you guys got the problem covered pretty well. Lowrance is running a fine name into the ground the last few years. Reminds me of what Winchester did to itself back in 1964. They ruined the name of that company and it never did return to an elite status.

These days word gets around FAST in the consumer world and a good name once ruined is awful hard to recover. I had the same trouble with Humminbird until Johnson Outdoors took them over. It took me years to take a chance on them again. The glowing reports I read on this forum had a lot to do with it.

Lowrance was having trouble with their other units and the new HD series has really been another disaster. I made a rule for myself never to buy anything the first year out. With what these HD units cost you would think the utmost care would be taken in their construction. From the reviews I have read here and at Cabelas the exact opposite has occured.What a d--n shame.

the onley probablem i have with humminbirdis i can`t aford the SI :(

wes maybe the people at lowrance should see this thread. i was thinking about getting 1 also. but now i don't know,,,,,,

I've sent them a link to this thread as well as a few more I've found. They're upgrading me to a HDS-8, but they don't have any at the warehouse. It'll be a little while before I get it. I did recieve another 7 by Fedx today. I pluged it in and the GPS isn't working right. The sales rep I'm dealing with say's to just use it till the 8's come in and he'll personally replace it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by score300

I've sent them a link to this thread as well as a few more I've found. They're upgrading me to a HDS-8, but they don't have any at the warehouse. It'll be a little while before I get it. I did recieve another 7 by Fedx today. I pluged it in and the GPS isn't working right. The sales rep I'm dealing with say's to just use it till the 8's come in and he'll personally replace it.

---

can you share the info to get in touch with this guy?

Not trying to be ugly or anything, but untill MY situation is taken care of I really don't want to tick this guy off by giving out his information. I know that probably sounds ugly and I'm sorry. I'd suggest going to your retailer and having them contact thier sales rep. I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot by trying to help someone else out right now. I hope you understand.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by speckfinder

can you share the info to get in touch with this guy?

---

Man, sorry you are having so many problems with them. They sent you another one by Fedx and the GPS doesn't work? I hope it wasn't a new one, just something they had laying around. Maybe Lowrance should have put the side imaging on hold for awhile and worked on reliability of there regular units.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by score300

Not trying to be ugly or anything, but untill MY situation is taken care of I really don't want to tick this guy off by giving out his information. I know that probably sounds ugly and I'm sorry. I'd suggest going to your retailer and having them contact thier sales rep. I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot by trying to help someone else out right now. I hope you understand.

---

totally with you on this. too late for me to go back to retailer. guess i'll have to wait for lowrance customer "no" service

good luck wes keep us posted. maybe i'll stick with my eagle(lowrance's lower end units) for a while longer untill they get all this worked out. man i'm sorry this happened to ya.

Like most of y'all I don't have deep pockets, and I have to make my dollars count. I dearly wanted a Lowrance 522c but since they've been discontinued it's a roll of the dice to find one. If it's bought on line, it may or may not have a warranty. So I look to the new models and find out I'm in no better shape here. Unit quality and slow customer service both at an all time low. Humminbirds are a harder unit to learn but I haven't heard about the Snafu's like the HDS are generating. I think it's a good time to sit back and watch the show. Rolling the dice with over $550 doesn't fit my budget.

Just got the news (in writing) that i'll be getting the HDS-8 as a replacement. I also found out about their "structure scan". It's going to be a $600 add on. I'm told it'll be available in about 1 month. Lets see if it's water proof!!!!!! If you'd like to take a look at it, here's a link. scroll about half way down. Icast 2009 - Lake Lanier Fishing Reports