898c SI needs help before i throw it in the lake!

**Crappiegirl1** · 03-15-2011, 10:27 PM

On March 6th i purchased the 898c SI from bps. when i got home i opened the box to find "no mount". bps is 40 miles away. next day take it back , ask for another which they gave. now 160 miles roundtrip (2). next day transducer went on as per instructions---not our first transducer rodeo! in the meantime daytime and evenings are spent reading the online manual, as the cd that came with it was blank and customer service said they would send out another---has not arrived yet. after many settings changes, i read in the forums and on this forum that an update is needed. takes me 2 days of customer service to figure out why my "card" will not load the update from my computer---surely that is the reason for the "no fish symbols and depth all over the place---i live on the harris chain and im out in the boat evry day looking for crappie with a $1500 fishfinder that wont show fish or depth. i dont do arches---

spent all day this monday trying to reach customer service, from noon to 4:30 finally someone answered. GUESS WHAT?? SOMEBODY FINALLY SAYS your finder should always be on "HIGH DEF SIDESCAN" disregard the settings of dual beam, quad beam (you dont have it) regular sidescan and compact sidescan.maybe thats the problem----great out to the boat, make sure im on high def sidescan----same problems----by the way the update is now done----------still same problems---ok , after lurking on the forums, lets put it on its own battery---lug another temporary battery to the boat---hook it up----same problems. in the meantime i am fishing with my eagle(good faithful eagle) on my trolling motor which is a terrova us2. today i spoke with customer service again and the call was dropped before we could address the fish symbols( yes they are turned on and set to high). the other problem i was discussing with customer service, was the readouts. i am very familiar with how to program these. the 2nd readout box i had set to temp. guess what it keeps leaving temp all by itself and alternating with courses. one service rep say that is not possible---i said are you calling me a LIAR. im telling you it is happening all day long.
i have the pigtail for the hookup to the terrova su2---tomorrow i am going to hook it up and troll around the canal to see what it does---after that im taking it back to bass pro---WHY SHOULD WE TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THIS EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT? it should work out of the box!! for 1500 dollars that what i expected! 80 more miles ---now 240 miles at 3.50 a gal---

**Crappiegirl1** · 03-15-2011, 10:30 PM

thank you for reading my rather long VENT!

**gabowman** · 03-15-2011, 10:33 PM

I feel your pain.

And from all I've heard & read I though HB looked after their customers better than that. Now theyre sounding like Lowrance CS.:o Hope you get it fixed.

**crappiemax** · 03-16-2011, 03:58 AM

I'm a Low guy but HB is a good company. Once you guys get it figured out you're going to love that thing.
This SI, DI stuff is amazing. I just had my new unit out for the 1st time this past Sunday.
Please don't turn this thread into a HB vs Low thread.

**kosmo** · 03-16-2011, 05:54 AM

hang in there. you will get it going then you will like it

**Crappie Reaper** · 03-16-2011, 06:36 AM

Send a message to Joby, perhaps he can take the time to talk to you by phone. He seems like a great guy and am sure would be willing to help. You might have received a unit that slip through quality control. It happens with any manufacturer. I hope you get it worked out soon.

**GrumpyLoomis** · 03-16-2011, 07:07 AM

Hey Crappiegirl, love the rant, but before you jump ship on HB try another unit. I had a Low that was back and forth to the factory several times and never did work right. As soon as warranty was up they offered me the upgrade deal. I would not be above taking it back but the HB units are generally good and changing brands is no guaruntee. Good luck.

**chaunc** · 03-16-2011, 07:30 AM

Take it back and get a refund then go to cabelas or gander mt and get one there. If you're having that much trouble, it has to be a bad unit. Stop wasteing your time and gas money. You probably have a couple hundred more dollars invested already.

**Shellback** · 03-16-2011, 07:37 AM

I'm thinking that with the missing mount, maybe it was sold to someone and returned because it was defective! Could this be the case? A long drive, but I'd return the whole works to BP and get a new one. Those big box stores are terrible for putting returned defective merchandise back on the shelf. If that's not possible ask H/B for return authorization. What I've done with H/B and Lowrance with defective units, is to have them send a new one right out charging your CC, then they credit you once the defective one is returned. This way you don't have to wait till the return gets there before they send a new one out.

**mduncan62** · 03-16-2011, 08:21 AM

Sorry you are having problems. I agree with Shellback, you shouldn't have to burn another dime of your gas to resolve this. They should ship you a new unit.

You shouldn't have to ask Greg or Joby for help with Customer service. Who helps people that aren't on Crappie.com when customer service fails? This is the customer service that everyone gets, it should be good and shouldn't take this long to resolve.

I hope they get you fixed, and make you happy.

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