Problem With New Wireless Pro Pointer AT And Other Garrett Wireless Products

[Dan B]

I can't recommend this product. I'm on my second one already, because the first one won't stay paired. Now my replacement won't stay paired either. It sometimes pairs, but then drops in and out as you're recovering the target. It's very annoying. I guess I'll be returning this one and going on to a third hoping it works as it should.

Oh, I'm also on my 4th WT-1 transmitter as they keep dying on me. My third replacement lasted about a week.

And when I had my ATMax, I had to return the coil because it was defective.

What's going on at Garrett these days? Do they have a quality control department? Good thing Garrett service is excellent because I sure do need it a lot.

Dan

[Steve Herschbach]

Sadly everyone in the detector industry seems to put out problematic product these days. Quality control is now industry problem number 1.

I do watch all the manufacturer forums on many websites, and more then ever it appears a minimum 6 month wait on new product is advised to let new purchasers find the bugs, which hopefully then get fixed. There is not one genuinely new metal detecting product that gets released that does not seem to go through this, and pinpointers are no exception.

I have had more hardware failures with Garrett than any other brand. Their service is exemplary - it has to be - but their quality control is rather poor. Lots of units seem to work but fail in short order, which points more to poor design/cheap components that work long enough to get out the door, and then fail.

The new XP pinpointer has had ongoing issues, and I was surprised to see all the failures with the new Fisher pinpointer. I mean, if these guys can't make reliable pinpointers, how are we to trust the detectors?

[Dan B]

Although new product is few and far between, Tesoro seems to release reliable equipment. I don’t recall any fuss about the Mojave when it came out. Maybe a bit with the button on the Outlaw, but that might just have been the funky nature of that two stage button. 

[Mac]

Wow! I just posted an experience on a different page (this website; the forum as regards detecting). Last night, my Garrett Pro-Pointer AT behaving crazy weird on a mountainous expedition. Signaled on submerged quartz and also tundra moss, which I dug but then the signal ceased. Ran the tip and terminal side of the PP on the soils and materials dug, but nothing sounded. As if the alarm hadn't happened and so I questioned myself. A few minutes later, same area, same thing. Alarm sounded on a large quartz vein in a 30lb piece of slate. Pulled it from the water and then the pinpointer didn't alarm! WTF! Well, I carry a backup pinpointer (White's brand) and that signalled strong in the same area of the quartz where the Garrett first sounded, then went silent. No visible gold on the stone but a massive oxidized quartz vein on it, so needless to say I found room in my backpack for it and brought it home to run the Gold Bug 2 and Garrett ATX over it today. The Garrett Pinpointer? Not a cheap tool. Have banked on it. But 100% lost confidence in it now. How can a tool be used when a user lacks confidence in its reliability and efficacy? The answer is obvious. 

Also last night, with both pinpointers I experienced wild crazy bad interference like alarm sounding on both of them. But the Garrett had such a weird odd alarming that it was like it was sounding an alarm different from what it's programmed to do. I mean an interference of some unknown source that made that thing make a nonstop noise markedly different in tone and volume than any use of it to-date. Just odd. And was in the mountains around nothing and no one and no electronics at all. Just dark clouds above so I wondered if it was detecting conductivity in the skies and got the hell out of there. 

You know, reading the above comments as regards these problems is disheartening. I own the Garrett ATX and that's no cheap detector, nor is the Garrett Pro Pointer AT a cheap tool. We all expect to pay more for quality and maximum performance but when paying more for less reliable performance and questionable quality is unacceptable.

Garrett may have great service but it's irrelevant as far as I am concerned. It seems as if they put their focus on the backend (service as a result of problematic gear) rather than on the frontend such as quality engineering and pre-distribution quality assurance, which is a common sense business strategy that avoids the backend and prevents customer dissatisfaction and all the costs. What really gets to me as regards problem detectors is it's not just about the expensive gear purchased that drives our costs as detectorists, such as our out of pocket costs to buy their gear, but the opportunity costs we pay due to poor quality gear that misses gold and other costs also, such as wasted time dealing with their service dept.

Given this is the norm for detectors, which I had no idea until just now, makes me all the more determined to maintain my skills as an old fashioned prospector reading the natural signs to find where the gold is and not rely solely on detectors, but use them as a tool in concert with the other tools that DON'T miss gold!  

I might have to make some inquiries as a business consultant; have quality management and quality measurement expertise and now have reason to question if the Garrett folks have this knowlegde. Doesn't seem to be the case per my readings of how many problems that a great many detectorists are experiencing ... Garrett's brand is strong and they have much to lose. They want to compete with Minelab, they have to match the Minelab quality, which seems to be less frought with issues than Garrett but that is an assumption only. I wonder what the military experience is in terms of the quality (reliable, effective high performance) of Garrett's equipment? 

Sorry for the dissertation. 

[Steve Herschbach]

The vast majority of metal detecting products work just fine. People don't get on forums to post "my detector is not broken". Following "problem" threads on internet sites gives a vastly inaccurate picture of reality. These are just consumer electronic products and it sure is not just metal detecting products that have warranty issues,

I sold many thousands of detectors and people came to me when they had a problem with one. From this background I would say one or two detectors per 100 might have an issue of some sort. The exception is this "first six months" after introduction of new machines when bugs are being discovered.

Minelab has as many issues as Garrett as does Fisher, White's and others with first run models. You are a Garrett owner so it seems otherwise to you. Again however, the forums magnify everything. I am a fairly serious person and I do rely on my gear and have had few failures over the years. That said, for mission critical times I never go with less than two detectors - cheap insurance as my time and travel/food costs far exceed my detector expenses.

In closing though - yeah, the industry could do a better job. Keep in mind these are not behemoths however. They are more like "mom and pops" than corporate giants.

[Mac]

Steve, thank you for taking this time to educate me. I was not aware of much of this. Your perspective repositions my own. I admit that as I scan that dissertation of mine I find myself rather embarassed for the uneducated rant, especially as a new member. I share that serious nature of yours and value the advice (to not just carry into the field one detector; and also to rely on it) ... to rely on it means first mastering it then trusting it, and I think that right there is my problem. It's me with the problem, not the detector; I have not yet built my confidence high enough to fully trust what the detector is doing/ telling me. What doesn't help is the ease in which frustration gets the best of me especially when using a technology I've not mastered.