Skycaddie subscription........

[Marko77]

Well, went for my game today, turned my skycaddie on whilst in the pro shop paying sweep, etc and when came out it had found its signal but the only course available to me was one I had mapped out myself.

My 1 year expired on 9/3 and contrary to what I had been told and what I believed the courses I had downloaded and had on my unit were not available.

I thought this information may be useful to those who had purchased with a view to 1 year subscription. It looks like renewal every year even if you only intend using up to 10 courses....

Will of course by checking this out with Skygolf before shelling out more £.

 

[theeaglehunter]

Interesting as I was also under this impression. I will probably have re-subscribed anyway but I guess I have to now- very cheeky indeed!

 

[SS2]

Yup, they want your money every year, as do most online subscription thingies these days. It is a bit crap to deny access to courses that you have already downloaded under a previous subscription but I am pretty sure that their lawyers will have this covered (unfortunately).

 

[haplesshacker]

So the Skycaddie honeymoon is over.

 

[gjbike]

Did mention this in an early post that if you do not pay your annual fee the courses are removed from the skycaddie and when pay your subsciption it is backdate to the date that it expired no such problem with sonocaddie

 

[Marko77]

So the Skycaddie honeymoon is over.

Not at all, I will pay to keep it going and will benefit from having continued access to other courses that I wouldn't otherwise have had. I just didn't plan on renewing this and would have been happy to stick with the courses I already had on the unit.

It was just incase others had been sold the unit with the same advice that I was given.

 

[Marko77]

Did mention this in an early post

I do remember that post and tried finding it however my searching capabilities are rubbish! I mind some saying they were lost and some saying you kept what you had downloaded with the later being the majority verdict.

 

[GB72]

Certainly this has put me off Skycaddie. Was considering one but would in all reality not need more than 10 courses so to have to keep up a subscription just for them does not make financial sense.

 

[Canfordhacker]

Certainly this has put me off Skycaddie. Was considering one but would in all reality not need more than 10 courses so to have to keep up a subscription just for them does not make financial sense.

It does seem to be a bit of a fly in the ointment. I think this would make me question getting one, despite its obvious strenghts as a unit.

 

[Imurg]

This is a bit of a bummer!!
I don't get to play many new courses so, like GB72, wouldn't need access to loads of courses all the time. £30 a year just to keep the ones I've got is going to mount up over time.
Having said that, the unit cost me £150 against £250 for the Sonocaddie. So 3 years worth of subs and the cost is the same.
After 3 years the products may well have been updated, the technology changed and better units may well be £150ish with no fees. So I'll stick for the 3 years at least and then take it from there!

 

[Herbie]

£30 will get you a round at many a good course, even one or two top ones if an offer is on. seems to me its a bit like road tax, you buy an expensive car, then you have to pay a tax to use it on the roads but you never feel you are getting what you pay for when you go out driving, only difference is you can get nicked for driving without tax but you cant for using SC without subscription......yet!

 

[Imurg]

You can use it without the subs - you just have to map your own courses.

 

[SS2]

So the Skycaddie honeymoon is over.

No, me and the SG5 are still very much a item !

 

[Leftie]

My 1 year expired on 9/3 and contrary to what I had been told and what I believed the courses I had downloaded and had on my unit were not available.

I can't believe that Skycaddie can access and change what is on your device unless it is connected via the 'net. Did you access their software after your membership expired?? If so, I suppose there is little grounds for arguement.

Be interesting to hear what Skycaddie say...

 

[Jahmoo]

Funny, I found the same thing happened to me. Had 6 months out of the game, from end of August to Mid Feb, but found the same thing happened, SG3 empty, had all the courses needed, but all gone, Bugga, so had to re-subscribe

 

[USER1999]

Do they send you a reminder when it is due?

You wonder what this 'golfbuddy' gps will be like. 20,000 courses preloaded. Be interesting to see one.

 

[SammmeBee]

My 1 year expired on 9/3 and contrary to what I had been told and what I believed the courses I had downloaded and had on my unit were not available.

I can't believe that Skycaddie can access and change what is on your device unless it is connected via the 'net. Did you access their software after your membership expired?? If so, I suppose there is little grounds for arguement.

Be interesting to hear what Skycaddie say...

They can - on a different note if you ever lose your Skycaddie - ring them and they can actually 'turn it off' and it comes up with a message saying please return to Skycaddie as the unit will no longer work...apparently works quite well for getting them back.....

 

[GB72]

The one thing that confuses me is that this subscription issue has never been mentioned in any reviews. To me this would be a major factor when deciding what to buy. I always knew that you needed to subscribe in the first place but not that you lost your courses at the end unless you pay more.

Thanks Marko77 for pointing this out, has potentially saved me buying the wrong GPS for me.

 

[viscount17]

because you do a complete reload whenevr you download a course there is nothing to prevent there being a sub-routine that is time limited. it doesn't actually need to delete the courses just prevent you from viewing them.

memo to self - make sure renewal date is in the calendar.

 

[Marko77]

It was giving me messages when I switched it on about resubscribing but as I believed I only had to resubscribe to continue downloading and changing the courses I wasn't taking any action as would have been happy to stick with the courses I already had.

I just wonder how many others were/are under the same impression I was.