Nightmare #8345

[Blackbeard]

Gotta rant here on the terrible situation I've just been through with TomTom and the map updates.

It's been a nightmare to say the least. On July 1, 2009, a route that I must take to get about everywhere I go was opened that replaced an old road. The new section was rerouted away from the old route, so when I traversed the new road, I'm shown to be in a field by my TomTom. This is a fairly long section, about 15 miles, and intersects with an interstate highway. So I report this to TeleAtlas on September 3, 2009.

The new route involves a new interchange with a bridge on one end, so this is what I report since you can't report an entire road, hoping that the entire road would be updated. TeleAtlas reports that they have updated their maps with the new interchange. After giving it more than a year, I decide to update my TomTom maps.

On TomTom Home, there is a very explicit banner which lets me join the Map Update Service. They can't tell me what the price will be since I have to be at a current map before I can join the service, so the cost is unknown until I submit my request. So I click the banner and am taken to form to fill out and find that the cost is $59 dollars. Knowing that I get a discount on the update to the current map, this seems reasonable. After purchasing, I'm offered to download the new map. Of course, why wouldn't I since I bought it?

Come to find out, the $59 was for a one time map with no map update service. There was nothing on the form that indicated I was not buying the MUS, and clicking the banner that led me to believe I was, I just assumed that was what I was buying.

So I call TomTom. The agent I get says I have to wait until the transaction clears, but I could get a refund and then buy the MUS. I tell the agent that I had already downloaded the new map, and he still says this will work. It takes about 4 days for the transaction to clear.

I recall TomTom and get a different agent. I give her my incident number and she looks it up. She informs me that I can not get a refund since I have already downloaded the map. I explain that it's silly for me not to download it during the original transaction since I purchased it. Too bad.

Now here's the real bad part of this. The road that I hoped would be on the new map isn't part of the map. As a matter of fact, the bridge intersection I originally reported to TeleAtlas isn't changed either. And the MapShare updates I submitted indicating they have the turn sequence wrong have gone back to the original wrong way. So I'm worse off after purchasing the map than I was.

TomTom tells me I can still purchase the MUS, which will cost me $39 more. I tell her that why would I do that if the road has not been fixed yet and I don't know when it will? Total cost for a useless map would be $100, and I could probably get a new GPS for a little more. She suggests that I wait a while before purchasing the MUS, but I tell her that that would involve the $39 plus the upgrade to the current map fee since I'm not going to buy a map that's not current with the roads I travel.

All in all, I'm really considering a different brand of GPS. TomTom has hard rules that they offer no way of breaking when mishaps like this happen. Their map updates are pretty much useless and costly. I really feel this is all due to their misleading banner at the bottom of Home, and hope others don't have this type of experience.

I'd sure like to hear opinions of others about situations like this before I consider a Garmin or something else.

 

[stsva]

I'd call their customer support back and, if they don't resolve it to your satisfaction, ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

[mvl]

Tomtom takes fat least 9 months, if not longer, to create new physical roads on a map. I understand that Garmim is similar. The best realtime map additions would be on Google maps, as used on android phones.

 

[Blackbeard]

Tomtom takes fat least 9 months, if not longer, to create new physical roads on a map. I understand that Garmim is similar. The best realtime map additions would be on Google maps, as used on android phones.

Well it's been 17 months from the time I reported it to TeleAtlas now and still no update on this road. I rechecked on TeleAtlas and although it was reported as resolved, it stll was incorrect on the site, so I re-reported. So the new map is due in May, and it won't be in that one, I just reported it again, so there's another 9 months perhaps, so it looks like 27 months minimum.

This is a major trucking route, plus a major route from SE Ohio when heading east. Not as important as an interstate, although it does connect directly to one at a new interchange, but gosh, how long should a new reported road really take?

Latest Map Guarantee does not mean Latest Valid Map by any means, just a new useless map. Thankfully, there aren't many new roads being built due to our economy.

 

[tony22]

Tomtom takes fat least 9 months, if not longer, to create new physical roads on a map. I understand that Garmim is similar. The best realtime map additions would be on Google maps, as used on android phones.

How does Google manage to make corrections more quickly?

 

[dhn]

More resources. Human and especially $$$$$$$$$$$. Lots of $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[canderson]

How does Google manage to make corrections more quickly?

My assumption?

Google doesn't have to process the raw map data for a whole pile of different platforms per customer specs based upon customer schedules the way TeleAtlas and Navteq do. There's no secondary testing of the compiled data as would be in the shops of customers of TeleAtlas (e.g., TomTom) and Navteq (e.g., Garmin). There's no need for secondary packaging with the other data that accompanies the maps as TomTom and Garmin do.

Google publishes for their own mapping format now that they're operating more or less independently, and can do so whenever they please.

 

[mvl]

That's the advantage of cloud mapping. Google makes a change, and all Android phones pull in that change in realtime.

The downside, no map coverage if you lose data signal. Google does cache your route, but if you drive offroute in a cell deadzone, you're SOL.

Tomtom gives you a map even with no signal, but it has to go through so many batch transformations and downloads before it gets to you.

Hopefully Tomtom will better integrate Teleatlas, so at least a few months can be removed from the timeline. Nine months is way too long for a self-owned company.

The best solution is the one Nokia uses with Ovi maps. Navteq maps are updated realtime (just like Google) on a Nokia phone, but you can pre-download the entire global Navteq map to your phone, so you have it during data outages. You can refresh your download at any time, and you can set up "autodownload" of your local vicinity so you're never out-of-date.

 

[canderson]

The best solution is the one Nokia uses with Ovi maps. Navteq maps are updated realtime (just like Google) on a Nokia phone, but you can pre-download the entire global Navteq map to your phone, so you have it during data outages. You can refresh your download at any time, and you can set up "autodownload" of your local vicinity so you're never out-of-date.

I've been curious about this. Granted, Nokia now owns Navteq, but how are they recouping costs for the maps? Some sort of deal with the carriers for all of those data minutes that would be eaten up in the process of grabbing new map data? No cost for the application. No subscription costs. No advertising support. I don't see the business model (yet). One could imagine location targeted advertising down the road, but ... Nokia surely isn't getting that much more hardware business from this, and these days, everyone wants to sell razor blades and give away the razors.

 

[mvl]

I think their goal was to have a similar model to Google, the only difference being better pre-caching implementation:
- Both an offensive and defensive protection of hardware sales (which would have worked had their latest S60 phones been even slightly reliable)
- Map localization-based revenue (eg: advertising)