- Garmin recently announced a new premium subscription
- Angry customers have wasted no time expressing their displeasure
- Thousands have taken to Reddit in support of boycotting the service
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Just hours after Garmin announced a brand new Premium subscription service, angry customers in the thousands have taken to Reddit to express their displeasure over the move.
As we reported earlier this week, Garmin Connect+ is a new subscription tier for Garmin users. Priced at $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$12 or $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$120 annually, it gives users AI insights into their training, a performance dashboard, a Live Activity feature, expanded LiveTrack, and more.
Garmin stressed to us that "The Garmin Connect app is a free, personalized experience, and that’s not going away," evidently keen to get ahead of user backlash. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have worked.
A post on the Garmin subreddit with over 6,000 upvotes and a plethora of angry comments has taken over the forum, as customers respond to the news.
"To everyone who cares about the future of Garmin customer service: DO NOT SIGN UP," the original poster wrote. "We need to take a firm stand to stop this totally detrimental trend of subscriptions everywhere. We are already paying hundreds for watches that only last a few years because batteries are not replaceable."
The furious post calls on users to "Unite to fight for our customers' right to software as a service for a thousand dollar watch," and to stand up against the change that will "reduce the usability and ownership of our products in the future."
Garmin users unanimous in subscription fury
DO NOT sign up for Garmin Connect+. Unite to fight for our customers' right to software as a service for a thousand dollar watch. This is a slippery slope and will reduce the usability and ownership of our products in the future. Profits will increase and more and more will get behind paywalls! from r/Garmin"Never paying for the subscription," one commenter said, "but it is going to make me rethink my future watch purchases," they continued. "I could justify the Garmin expense when I knew I was getting all the features with the watch, but we all know what happens to a service once a paid tier is introduced."
"Looks like Coros is back on the menu, boys," one disgruntled user said. "Of course I am not paying for that s***," another calmy added.
Other users have encouraged submitting feedback to Garmin via its ideas page. Unanimous is a strong word, but I'm yet to see a single positive comment or reaction to the move.
It's not just the reaction to a general subscription that users seem upset about, but the value of the specific features on offer. "I signed up for the free trial and I don't see any value in it. I was kinda hoping I could get rid of Stava premium but nope," one said.
Garmin must have anticipated some user backlash, announcing a subscription to a previously free software platform is always risky business, but I'm not sure it could have fathomed such a fervent outcry.
The problem, in one sense, is context. Garmin users have endured a mass outage this year that saw devices unusable for 24 hours or more. More recently, Garmin users have raised concerns that expensive and powerful devices are being left behind by a fragmented approach to rolling out software and new features.
We've reached out to the company for comment on the furore around the announcement and will update this story accordingly. Also, stay tuned to TechRadar for an open forum where users can share their thoughts. A total walkback seems unlikely, but Garmin might be pressed to do something given the current situation.
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