Well well well, got a surprise from Humminbird today

[assists21]

This is a shame... I have no idea why they are doing this. It just doesn't make any sense to me! The scupper swap was the decisive factor, well that and the fact I have a Ocean kayak, for going with Humminbird. It's not like it's a price difference between the 2 where they'll lose money on it. It seems like greed to me.

MM- I've seen a many of issues with mounting in the hull. The scupper transducer is not only a breeze to install, but also care free because you don't have to worry about if your getting a good reading or interference from shooting through the hull. I intended on buying a new FF this season, but this is definitely changing my mind!

Mytmouse

I'm not sure what fishfinder you are considering, but if you already have the scupper mounted transducer many of the other HB fishfinders are compatible with it. I'm sure you already knew this, but just an FYI.

[Memory Maker]

This is a shame... I have no idea why they are doing this. It just doesn't make any sense to me! The scupper swap was the decisive factor, well that and the fact I have a Ocean kayak, for going with Humminbird. It's not like it's a price difference between the 2 where they'll lose money on it. It seems like greed to me.

MM- I've seen a many of issues with mounting in the hull. The scupper transducer is not only a breeze to install, but also care free because you don't have to worry about if your getting a good reading or interference from shooting through the hull. I intended on buying a new FF this season, but this is definitely changing my mind!

I understand but it's one of the most basic units out there ........ you won't lose alot of data. This unit has got to have a VERY small profit margin if any ......... just doesn't make sense to give away a $135 transducer on a $140 DF ........ if they did it before then I guess the found out how much money they were losing. I have a bunch of Lowrances and Humminbirds and I can tell you hands down that HB has the better customer service and the units have less trouble.

Guys ...... your buying hamburger and expecting Filet Mignon ......... I'm surprised they are giving you a credit for the regular 1.

[buzz]

But they are not "giving" it away. You have to return the transducer that came with it before they will exchange.

The point is, at least for me, I bought the FF with the understanding that I could exchange the transducer for just the cost of shipping the transom mounted one back. And although its nobody's fault but mine, its a major disappointment none-the-less.

$135?.... I could have sworn when I was looking back in December the price to order the scupper mounted transducer (without a trade) was only $80. Other than the extra bits of plastic, what makes the scupper model so much more expensive than the transom model?

[billd]

Did a little research today and found out this exchange program went back and forth from "free to fee" a few times in the past years. Looks like we are now in the "fee" stage.

[Mmacro]

It depends on how active they are on Twitter. It can go either way. I'm a PR and Corporate Communication masters student and I've learned that if a company is active on Twitter and is doing a lot of 2-way communication on the system then you stand a good chance of really getting their attention. The trick is to use their hashtag (@HumminbirdFish) in your post so it alerts their social media team...

I took a quick peek into their feed and it looks like they post and get mentioned a lot. So it cant hurt.

[Pinch]

I understand but it's one of the most basic units out there ........ you won't lose alot of data. This unit has got to have a VERY small profit margin if any ......... just doesn't make sense to give away a $135 transducer on a $140 DF ........ if they did it before then I guess the found out how much money they were losing. I have a bunch of Lowrances and Humminbirds and I can tell you hands down that HB has the better customer service and the units have less trouble.

Guys ...... your buying hamburger and expecting Filet Mignon ......... I'm surprised they are giving you a credit for the regular 1.

I actually agree with this...

[mytmouse]

I don't. It would be one thing if we were asking them to do something that they didn't offer in the past. So the dude that drops $700 for his FF and is still charged for swapping out his transducer is buying prime rib and expecting filet mignon? And yes, they'll still have to pay. Why? Because the thru hull still supposedly costs them more.

This wouldn't even be an issue if they didn't offer it before. I highly doubt they were losing any money. Basic business 101 tells you that what a product is sold for isn't indicative of what it costs to make. I think they saw that more and more customers(mainly yakkers) were using the swap program and decided to make a little extra coin.

[Memory Maker]

I don't. It would be one thing if we were asking them to do something that they didn't offer in the past. So the dude that drops $700 for his FF and is still charged for swapping out his transducer is buying prime rib and expecting filet mignon? And yes, they'll still have to pay. Why? Because the thru hull still supposedly costs them more.

This wouldn't even be an issue if they didn't offer it before. I highly doubt they were losing any money. Basic business 101 tells you that what a product is sold for isn't indicative of what it costs to make. I think they saw that more and more customers(mainly yakkers) were using the swap program and decided to make a little extra coin.

The DF is $144.99 including shipping .......... it's hamburger ........ not even Mc Donalds ....... not $700 .......

That's my point ........ you can't give a $135 transducer when you only have a $145 DF ........

Besides ....... deals have expiration dates ....... they all do ......

[mytmouse]

No you miss my point. The person that pays $700 has to go through the same pay up as someone getting a Piranha Max. So the price of the unit itself has no validity in this argument. This wasn't a deal. It was a policy. You keep bringing up the retail price when it has nothing to do with it. We don't know the production costs, which is the only factor if they are losing money or not. Which we don't know.

What sucks about this is that some people have purposefully purchased Ocean Kayaks because of the advertised scupper transducer, which of course is only factory compatible with it's partner company Humminbird.

[Mmacro]

No you miss my point. The person that pays $700 has to go through the same pay up as someone getting a Piranha Max. So the price of the unit itself has no validity in this argument. This wasn't a deal. It was a policy. You keep bringing up the retail price when it has nothing to do with it. We don't know the production costs, which is the only factor if they are losing money or not. Which we don't know.

What sucks about this is that some people have purposefully purchased Ocean Kayaks because of the advertised scupper transducer, which of course is only factory compatible with it's partner company Humminbird.

It does make quiet a difference if they offered the same swap regardless of model and just keep turning the offer on and off.

And regardless of the price or model, it seems a way to trick people into paying more for something they thought they would get free. It's not illegal, because as others said... Buyer beware.

But that doesn't necessarily make it not a bait and switch maneuver.

[billd]

I'm going to give them another call next week. The TD in a $500 597ci costs $5 less than the one in my cheepy leepy $140 hamburger DF , figure that one out. I'll ask how much it will cost to exchange the TD in the 597ci then this mystery should be solved.

[Cowpokey]

I'm going to give them another call next week. The TD in a $500 597ci costs $5 less than the one in my cheepy leepy $140 hamburger DF , figure that one out. I'll ask how much it will cost to exchange the TD in the 597ci then this mystery should be solved.

Weren't the 500 series discontinued recently and replaced with 600 series?

[billd]

UPDATE .... After posting my dissatisfaction on HBirds facebook page I got an email within 12 hours and a call first thing this morning from customer service. They said they'll honor the free exchange so I'll be sending the TD back tomorrow. No questions asked, just "no problem we'll take care of it" attitude, very nice indeed.

[mytmouse]

WTG!!! Glad to hear it. Well now I know what to do when I get my new one! Lol

[assists21]

I got a nice surprise from Humminbird today. I posted on their Facebook page how I was dissatisfied with their transducer
exchange policy now charging $75, so I received an email from them a few days later saying they were willing to give me an even exchange for my transducer. Politely expressing dissatisfaction can go along way.


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