Horrible Customer Service

Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
1
My TomTom 930 Go had issues regarding the touchscreen. I have tried to get help from the customer service and here is what happened.
Since I give up and won't touch my or any other TomTom anymore I want to share my experience with you. Beside the case history which follows, I had also a phone call with the customer service which is almost worse than the experience by email.
Enjoy:
(newest first, start reading from the bottom)


"

Response ST Robyn 07/08/2011 05:21 PM
Dear Patrick,

Thank you for updating the incident.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

We would suggest you not to respond back or update this incident. It will automatically move to 'Solved' status after 72 hours.

It was a pleasure assisting you. In case, you have any other queries, please reply and let us know. We will be more than glad to assist you. Your satisfaction towards our product and support is our prime objective.



With Best Regards,

Robyn
TomTom Customer Support




------------------------------------------------------------------



Customer Patrick 07/08/2011 05:17 PM



I give up.

Is it too much asked to respond what I actually wrote. I haven't even asked for a replacement.
I asked for a repair service and if that is not possible a proper connection to a person who can help me.
You just responded with another generic email. Come on!

The worst thing for me is, that there is a solution to fix it - but TomTom refuses to help.

In my time as application engineer I haven't seen such poor customer service from a "big" company. A 500 USD device which is just one year out of warranty is refused to be repaired, even when I am willing to pay the costs - unbelievable.

I wish TomTom good luck on the US market.


You can trash this email or forward it to somebody who cares.

I am out and will stop using TomTom devices and switch to another company.

Congratulation and please do yourself a favor and do not answer to this email. It would make it just worse.


---------------------------------------------------------------



Response ST Robyn 07/08/2011 05:05 PM
Dear Patrick,

Thank you for updating the incident.

We are sorry to inform you that your device cannot be replaced. We would suggest you to contact local repair centers.





With Best Regards,

Robyn
TomTom Customer Support



---------------------------------------------------------------



Customer Patrick 07/08/2011 04:52 PM


I appreciate your help and fast response. I have formatted the device (Fat32) and re-installed the application.

Unfortunately there is still the same problem. The touchscreen actions are appr. 1/2 inch off (low) the actual button. (I press where the letter "b" is displayed but "g" gets activated)

I understand that you have to suggest the standard procedures first, like resetting, reinstallation and now even the formatting. But since that did not help I was investigating in the last 2 weeks in the internet (blogs, forums). This failure has happened with other devices and users has posted their experience. It seems that the only workaround is the adjusting of the calib.txt file. This is not supported or suggested by TomTom and I don't like to try it because it is not documented. But it shows me that there are ways to fix my problem. So far I understand, it is a simple position correction with 4 values (+x,-x,+y,-Y). The thing is, nobody knows the default values since they are unique for each device - and will probably defined during the manufacturing calibration.

So again, I am pretty sure that my device can be fixed but the lack of repair centers and the unwillingness of TomTom not providing solutions to the community makes me thinking change the GPS manufacturer. It is not personal against you, I understand that you bind to your policies. It is just sad to see.


Regards
Patrick


---------------------------------------------------------------



Response ST Robyn 07/08/2011 04:30 PM
Dear Patrick,

Thank you for updating the incident.

We would like to inform you that your device is out of warranty and unfortunately we do not have repair centers.

In this case, let's try and check if formatting the device helps to resolve the issue. Before we proceed to format the device, we would first suggest you to check if your device is recognized by the computer.

If yes, then please take a backup of your TomTom device, as formatting would remove all the data on your device. Here is the link which offers steps to backup your device: Backing up your navigation device

Once the device backup is taken, we can go ahead with formatting the device. To do thiis, please follow the steps provided below:

- Open [My Computer] again.
- Right click on the TomTom drive.
- Select [Format].
- Be sure [Quick Format] is not checked.
- Select the [FAT32] configuration.
- Select [Start].

Please let us know if formatting the device is successful.





With Best Regards,

Robyn
TomTom Customer Support


-----------------------------------------------------------


Customer Patrick07/08/2011 04:15 PM
Hello,

I have just followed your advise speaking with TOMTOM service directly on the phone. I must say that this was a pretty disappointing experience. The girl was definitively not trained helping customer in technical problems. She had to call her supervisor 3 times and did nor understand my problem at all. She started asking me to clean my device and then she began with procedure I did 4 weeks ago, and you (ST Robyn) suggested also. I had to stop her. After asking if I could send in the device for repair she denied and said I have bad luck and should check local repair services. I don't expect a replacement because I am out of warranty but I spent 499 Dollars just 2.5 years ago and I am not willing to give up a device just because the screen alignment is messed up. I am sure that can be fixed either by calibration files or procedures.

So again, is there a possibility to fix my device at TomTom or can you connect me to a person from the technical department who can solve this problem with me.


---------------------------------------------------------------






Response ST Robyn 06/10/2011 04:22 PM
Dear Patrick,

Thank you for updating the incident.

It may be best for you to speak with us directly. Speaking with us over the phone will allow us to work through any issues that may arise. Please call us directly at 866-486-6866. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM until 11:00 PM EST and Saturday, 9:00 AM until 8:00 PM EST. I apologize if you feel that I am passing you off to another team. My goal at this point is to ensure that the issue is taken care for you. Thank you for your understanding.


With Best Regards,

Robyn
TomTom Customer Support
Customer Patrick 06/10/2011 03:56 PM

---------------------------------------------------------------



Hello,

thanks for responding on my support question.

But I have wondered if the tech has even read my email. The response from him described the the very same steps I have already performed and clearly explained in my email.
It looked like the standard response was send out just by reading the subject but not the body. I am surprised that company like TomTom which is known for good products react with such a shallow and unrelated email template.

So again and in case this end up at another tech:

I DID performed all reset steps, re-installations and flashing. The screen is still off.

Please advise with a solution or the procedure to send in the device.


P.S
I am sorry if that email sounds rude, but as a IT support engineer I was really disappointed about your response

---------------------------------------------------------------




Regards
Patrick
Response ST Robyn 06/10/2011 03:25 PM
Dear Patrick,

Thank you for taking the time to contact TomTom Customer Support. My name is Robyn and we are always happy to help.

I understand that your device touch screen has stopped working.

We truly understand how frustrating such kind of issue can be. I am here to assist you and will certainly try my best to resolve the issue.

This issue might occur due to the application or settings on the TomTom device being corrupted.

In order to resolve the issue, please perform the following step-by-step instructions:

A) I would recommend you to first perform a soft reset on the device. This is use......

B) If the issue .......

C) After that, perform a clear flash tool, what this does is .....



With Best Regards,

Robyn
TomTom Customer Support
Auto-Response 06/10/2011 01:19 PM
Title: Change language on device
---------------------------------------------------------------





Hello,

my TomTom Go 930 has an offset at the touchscreen. I have to push several pixels below to the button in order to activate it. Therefore it is impossible to reach buttons on the bottom of the screens with the fingers - only a stylus pen can do it by pushing at the very edge of the screen. The x position is fine, but the y position is off. It seems to me that this happens right after the latest s/w update - but as IT professional I could not imagine how a new revision could affect the screen object alignment.

I have followed the instructions of resetting the device, flashed it with ClearFlash from your hp (3x) and even reinstalled all the s/w.
I have purchased the device in Oct/2008 but not sure if there is still warranty.
If not could you give me an instruction how to recalibrate the screen or the costs for this service/repair.

Regards
Patrick
 
To find out what the device screen calibration values are press and hold the on/ off button when the device resets keep the button pressed until a black screen with white text appears, one of the listed items is the cal data you need to start with - Mike
 
MORE horrible customer service

My experience was the same. They had me going through hoops to give them info, implying they would cover my 2-week-old TomTom under warranty, and then wrote this crazy reply that said basically that because my TomTom was "broken" it was no longer under warranty. I am suspecting that they have a computer that generates random messages.
 
Birdbert, have you got this resolved yet, if not phone customer services and demand to speak to a supervisor, if the operator isn't happy with this mention the device is two weeks old and you have been told that it's out of warranty which contravenes consumer rights - Mike
 
@birdbert -

Where did you purchase your unit?
 

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