We bought a new Nitro Z-17 in March and decided to put a "large" 9 inch Lawrence, rather then the 7 inch we had on the bow of our previous boat. I searched the net for the best price and on 4-23-20 I ordered the 9" split screen with GPS from "West Marine". The outside of the box looked exactly like previous Lowrance models I have owned. ( I still have 4 boxes to compare). While I never anticipated using the GPS on the bow, one day I was looking for a drop off I knew to be there and switched over to GPS split screen to locate it. The water showed blue, but no contour lines. I called Lowrance Customer Service on 8-11 and spoke to Jay. After about 45 minutes on the phone, Jay tells me that I need a $149.00 C-map chip in order to see the contour lines. I asked to speak to Jay's supervisor and Braydon picked up my call from their supervisor que. Supervisor Braydon tells me that they sell West Marine a "special" model, which only has off shore contour lines and I will have to pay an additional $ 149.00 to get my local lakes contour lines. I asked to speak to Braydon's supervisor, so I could relate my displeasure and recommend Lowrance put these "special" models in a different box in the future. Braydon tells me a 2nd level supervisor will call me back in about half an hour. After 11 days, still no call !!!
I am posting this here, in the hopes others will not fall into the "marketing trap" I did. I think Darrell Lowrance probably rolled over in his grave hearing this brand of "Customer Service and support to Lowrance Customers".
I am posting this here, in the hopes others will not fall into the "marketing trap" I did. I think Darrell Lowrance probably rolled over in his grave hearing this brand of "Customer Service and support to Lowrance Customers".
