SPOT Tracker Renewal Fees - Being Gouged?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Serious question so I hope I don't cause any offence ...

It's not often when I need but when I am out somewhere away from home e.g on the Yorkshire Dales for 2 days last month, the wife would of been on edge for 2 days wondering if I was ok so I'd of felt compelled to keep texting her when I could to let her know I was ok. With the SPOT I can just ride and not worry about anything else, but if it was much more I'd have to consider if it was worth the cost.

Do many people suffer this. I'm struggling to get my head round it and I can't really see any benefit for either party. Unless the person at home has access to Thunderbird 2, then what are they going to do anyway?

[Asposium]

....I don't really see I've any choice but to pay up. ......

inReach
If used for 12months the inReach is more expensive; however, the service can be suspended with zero cost

the cheapest inReach monthly plan does not include free tracking ....tracking costs 10pence per point.
however, given that we are seldom without cellular connection in the UK I had a cunning plan.
more info here if interested....
https://www.facebook.com/DavidBirkinAdv ... 2407158809

[Scattamah]

SPOT fees suck. I think we can pretty much all agree there. To my way of thinking, it's just like insurance. We all hate paying for insurance as it feels like money down the drain. But when you need it...when you *really* need it...it's worth it (unless you have one of those arsey insurance companies that likes to try and take you sans vasoline).

It's also a cheap way to keep the family entertained throughout the year. :)

Greetz

S.

[sean_iow]

No offence taken. I think the need to know where I am might be caused by the fact that the SPOT provides this. In the days before I had the SPOT I would just go riding for the day and not check in with Jane (the wife) and then return home late for dinner and covered in mud

Now I have the SPOT I tend to use it more than is necessary but that might be to justify the cost? If I'm off biving Jane likes to know where I am and finds it reassuring. I could just text most of the time as where I live there are very few places without signal.

When I did the Braunton earlier in the year Jane and my friends tracked my progress which gave them something to do rather than just sit around. I take your point though, if my trace does stop moving there's not much she can do. She could try to contact me to see of it was a SPOT issue. In Yorkshire the spotwalla website didn't show my location for the first few hours and this actually made things worse for me as I wasted time trying to sort it out so perhaps I'd of been better off without it.

Is our reliance on technology caused by the technology itself and the fact it is available? When I was growing up in the 80's we would head out on our bikes all day in the countryside and no one would worry were we were as long as we were home for dinner. No SPOT trackers, no mobiles, not even 10p for a phone call - not that there were any phone boxes where we were anyway. We didn't know how far we'd gone or how fast, no strava or garmins, and I'm sure I was having just as much fun, maybe more

[Bearbonesnorm]

Is our reliance on technology caused by the technology itself and the fact it is available? When I was growing up in the 80's we would head out on our bikes all day in the countryside and no one would worry were we were as long as we were home for dinner. No SPOT trackers, no mobiles, not even 10p for a phone call - not that there were any phone boxes where we were anyway. We didn't know how far we'd gone or how fast, no strava or garmins, and I'm sure I was having just as much fun, maybe more

Oh so very true and can we also add the carrying of large knives too

[Ray Young]

Serious question so I hope I don't cause any offence ............Do many people suffer this?

My wife is prone to worry, she will always find something to worry about. Every time I go bikepacking she worries I will come home in a coffin. She would love me to have a spot tracker but there is no way I would pay their (in my opinion) extortionate fees. I usually leave my route on viewranger on my tablet at home then ring her once or twice a day to tell her i'm OK. "Ce la vie" i'm afraid!

[ScotRoutes]

My wife rarely checks to see where I am but I find the tracking is only a side benefit of having the "check in" message and, of course, the SOS button. I still regularly find my self in locations with no phone signal.

[gairym]

I'll be putting a two spot devices (Gen 1 and Gen 3) up in the classifieds next time I'm in the UK as I just don't see the need.

Mrs Gairy complained about not knowing where I am so I bought the spot(s) and signed up the service.

Fast forward a few years and I no longer take it with me, annoyingly forgot to cancel the auto renewal the end of last year and even when I have taken it with me the service is sub standard and no one bothers looking at it at home anyway!

Like anything each to their own but personally I don't want to be tracked while I'm heading out into the wilderness to escape modern life*.

*ok, ok, so if I get signal I'll happily update faceache with some nice pictures of that days ride so I'm a hypocrite too!

[Mariner]

Sorry to keep mentioning this and I haven't tried it myself but apparently a text message can get through even when no signal for phone call.
Apparently a recognised system used by SMR if phone is pre registered.
Perhaps someone could try this and report back.
If this works then could be useful way of getting everything ok message home without paying over the odds.

[ScotRoutes]

Sorry to keep mentioning this and I haven't tried it myself but apparently a text message can get through even when no signal for phone call.
Apparently a recognised system used by SMR if phone is pre registered.
Perhaps someone could try this and report back.
If this works then could be useful way of getting everything ok message home without paying over the odds.

SMS messages can sometimes get through if it's a very weak signal, your phone keeps re-trying and the stars align.

The emergency services pre-registation thing is also handy of course - http://ngts.org.uk/esms_index.php

[Asposium]

Sorry to keep mentioning this and I haven't tried it myself but apparently a text message can get through even when no signal for phone call.
Apparently a recognised system used by SMR if phone is pre registered.
Perhaps someone could try this and report back.
If this works then could be useful way of getting everything ok message home without paying over the odds.

Without sounds flippant, if there's no signal then there's no signal.

Now a weak signal is another matter.

Taking a modern age analogy as an example, a full G signal is rubbish for skype, WhatsApp etc, but perfectly fine for text, voice.
The point, depends on the usage.
But, once that connection is gone it's gone.
Damn annoying internet myth, person who started it should be hung to dry for spreading potentially dangerous information.

[ScotRoutes]

IIRC there was a case a couple of years ago when someone drifting on a boat in the South Atlantic managed to get a SMS message through when all attempts at voice calls had failed. I think it pretty much stems from that, but the idea that a SMS message will get through with absolutely no phone signal is plainly wrong.

[Tom]

Called up to cancel tonight as my renewal's due on the 1st September. Bit of a nuisance having to phone them in the USA and then, after having been cut off by them once, wait on hold for quite a long time. The lady in the "deactivation" team offered me a $100 rebate if I didn't cancel. I guess that's about £80 or so renewal fee which is still quite a lot but I do intend to use it next year. Spot want to make it as inconvenient as possible to cancel but also want a means to retain your custom so by having to speak to a member of their retention team gives them the opportunity to do that.

[Taylor]

Serious question so I hope I don't cause any offence ...

It's not often when I need but when I am out somewhere away from home e.g on the Yorkshire Dales for 2 days last month, the wife would of been on edge for 2 days wondering if I was ok so I'd of felt compelled to keep texting her when I could to let her know I was ok. With the SPOT I can just ride and not worry about anything else, but if it was much more I'd have to consider if it was worth the cost.

Do many people suffer this. I'm struggling to get my head round it and I can't really see any benefit for either party. Unless the person at home has access to Thunderbird 2, then what are they going to do anyway?

I'm afraid my wife suffers from this affliction too.
On the last winter event, I'd not got an ok spot through at bobo time so by 9 am she was about to phone the police to go find me. I was with 5 other people that night but that didn't occur to her.
Matt didn't help the situation when she phoned him either. She then got cross with me because it was all my fault.
She panics about everything though, I've just had her on the phone(I'm working away) making sure my parents are still having the dogs for the weekend. I reminded her that my mother said she'd have them and would put it on the calendar.
Does my Swede in.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I blame modern society, smart phones and the continual communication culture ... for everything, including why it's still raining. However, maybe you should just send your mum a text, just to make sure she did put it on her calender

[whitestone]

I'm quite happy to be incommunicado, I'll send a text to my wife if I think I'm in range of a mast but it could be a day or two between contact. The rest of the time the phone is switched off.

The SPOT is useful for ITTs, obviously for some it or similar are required, but other than that it's more a "nice to have". A lot of people seem to think that any accident in the outdoors is a potential scene from a medical drama and requires full MRT callout, search helicopters, etc. (not getting at you Greg!) when in reality most accidents are minor.

[benp1]

I'm quite lucky like this, my wife is pretty relaxed about me checking in. I don't have any signal most of the time anyway

Grateful for that as the SPOT fees sound ridiculous

[Mariner]

Again without being flippant or wishing to cause offence it seems the common thread regarding 'everything ok' messages is not the sender but the recipient.
Could you not therefore say if you need this then it will cost you the SPOT subscription?
My SMS suggestion falls down because we only have one mobile.

[sean_iow]

I'm sure the wife and myself could get used to not knowing where I was again (pre-spot days) without too much difficulty but, now I have it if I cancelled and then needed it in an emergency I don't know how we feel about that. The worst case scenario for me would be to come across someone else who's badly injured in a remote area with no phone signal and then have to leave them to summon help.

[Matt]

Somebody told me (Maybe Greg will know) that a good alternative is to get a PAYG Sim from Manx telecom as it will always use the best available UK operator rather than trying to stick to Voda/O2/EE etc. That way if there is any signal you should have it at least.

Also http://www.mountainsafety.co.uk/EP-Emer ... Phone-Text

[Mariner]

I'm sure the wife and myself could get used to not knowing where I was again (pre-spot days) without too much difficulty but, now I have it if I cancelled and then needed it in an emergency I don't know how we feel about that. The worst case scenario for me would be to come across someone else who's badly injured in a remote area with no phone signal and then have to leave them to summon help.

Why have they not activated their SPOT emergency call?
Isnt dealing with this scenario yourself one of the unwritten rules and not resorting to call out as first response?

Think we will have to agree to disagree about this.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Somebody told me (Maybe Greg will know) that a good alternative is to get a PAYG Sim from Manx telecom as it will always use the best available UK operator rather than trying to stick to Voda/O2/EE etc. That way if there is any signal you should have it at least.

When Chw and me were in the IoM a couple of years ago, UK phones wouldn't work over there - nothing, bugger all, zip. Kind of seems odd that a Manx phone would work over here? Saying that, I know nowt about phones and am constantly surprised how logical thinking proves to be wrong.

[sean_iow]

I was thinking more that I'm riding along and I find an unconscious body lying on the ground. I'd need to call the emergency services and the SPOT could save valuable time if I was in an area with no phone reception. Of course in reality the chances of this happening are statistically just about zero.

Calling the emergency services should only be for life threatening incidents, I'm only too aware of that, even if the jeans wearing/trainers/no waterproofs/no map muppets I used to see in Snodonia seem to think it's some kind of free guiding service. What's more amazing is the look I'd get walking up a snow covered/icy Snowdon with crampons/axe as one of these 'walkers' tried to make it up an icy path on all fours using finger nails for grip, the look being that I was over-equipped as it was only "Snowdon' and there's a train to the top so must be a tourist path even if it is February

[Asposium]

Somebody told me (Maybe Greg will know) that a good alternative is to get a PAYG Sim from Manx telecom as it will always use the best available UK operator rather than trying to stick to Voda/O2/EE etc. That way if there is any signal you should have it at least.

Also http://www.mountainsafety.co.uk/EP-Emer ... Phone-Text

The Manx sim will roam on any available UK network.
However!!! A 999 call will use any available UK network. The technical term is called camping.

[Mariner]

However!!! A 999 call will use any available UK network.

Oops Lightbulb moment
I see now why they referred to the MR text as a '999 txt'.
Bin talking tosh as usual.