After a great ride one Thursday evening at
Boyette, I was in a hurry and didn't put away my
Garmin Edge 705 properly. Since I had been very careful with it, I didn't miss it until it was time to go ride again the following Saturday. I turned my house inside out looking for my missing GPS until I almost went crazy. After two days of looking, I realized what had happened to it. I immediately went back to
Boyette to look in the parking lot but had no luck. I posted reward notices on local MTB forums in hopes that some good Samaritan had found it and would want to return it to me. I paid a lot of money for it and the thought of loosing it almost made me cry. I did two trips to the
Boyette parking lot until I found it. However, I didn't find it in one piece.
Here is what my Edge looked like:
Here is what it looked like when I found it the following Monday after I had lost it. It was after four days missing, heavy rains, and a few (probably many) cars running over it:
That, made me cry. I looked on both sides of the road leading to the parking for an hour until I found every piece. I think I recovered about 90% of it. That included the back panel with the serial number and enough parts to make a positive identification. That sure was my Edge.
I went down my list of options on how I was going to come up with money for a new one. Once you use one of these tools for your every day riding and training, you don't want to go on without one. Just like cell phones. We lived happily without them 10 years ago but now can not live without them. I first looked at my house insurance followed by my cars insurance. The deductibles are too high to cover the $400-$500 I needed to replace with a new one. It was then I remembered that I had insured my Edge with
SquareTrade. I quickly picked up the phone and filed a claim. I was then brought back into deep satisfaction knowing that I was covered for this type of damage. My claim was approved within one day and I had a free shipping label to send my damaged unit via UPS. It was received by SquareTrade the following Monday (one week after I found it) and by Wednesday, they had approved 100% full replacement. I had been covered by the "ADH" (Accidental Damage from Handling) that is offered by
SquareTrade warranties. It had a $50 deductible but I received the full amount I paid for my GPS over a year ago. Two weeks later, I purchased a new Garmin Edge 705 thanks to my extended warranty.
While most electronic manufacturers will find any excuse to not cover a warranty,
NOT SquareTrade. Most department store's extended warranties will turn away this type of claim. But if they do cover it, you may not get back what you originally had or paid. If you are lucky, you may get a refurbished replacement. Not to say there aren't any decent electronics extended warranties out there. I just haven't found any with better service. THANK YOU
SquareTrade. Give them a try... protect ALL your electronics. They will even cover eBay items. Even refurbished and some used items. Don't forget about their five day guarantee to fix your broken item or you get 100% of your money back. Really? REALLY!!!
