PLUS traffic is broken
- Thread starter mvl
- Start date
I have been using Plus Traffic and/or the RDS receiver since it first became available. I know you have to open up the traffic from the bar on the right (very awkward and dangerous at times) The resulting display is still very inadequate.
Even in an urban area like the SF bay area, the display is so vague as to its location that it is difficult and often impossible to locate - even when sitting still with the unit in your hand - much less while driving with TomTom's universally dim screen (I use the highest contrast scheme and a sunshade).
I thought maybe Live traffic would offer some improvement, but the desctiption from the link above was still not impressive
"When viewing this same field on the 740 LIVE you typically just see the name of the road displayed again. The details are arguably not all that important? just the amount of delay is. But I did notice that the data isn?t quite as specific as that coming from other providers."
The inclusion of traffic incidents and graphical delays on the main map is a superior and much more usable solution - don't know what TT chose their current awkward system.
As for outages - I have confirmed these with TT support at least a dozen times in the last year and a half - and i don't call them every time it happens - plus I only use it occasionally, so it would be expected to be much more frequent than my observations.
Even in an urban area like the SF bay area, the display is so vague as to its location that it is difficult and often impossible to locate - even when sitting still with the unit in your hand - much less while driving with TomTom's universally dim screen (I use the highest contrast scheme and a sunshade).
I thought maybe Live traffic would offer some improvement, but the desctiption from the link above was still not impressive
"When viewing this same field on the 740 LIVE you typically just see the name of the road displayed again. The details are arguably not all that important? just the amount of delay is. But I did notice that the data isn?t quite as specific as that coming from other providers."
The inclusion of traffic incidents and graphical delays on the main map is a superior and much more usable solution - don't know what TT chose their current awkward system.
As for outages - I have confirmed these with TT support at least a dozen times in the last year and a half - and i don't call them every time it happens - plus I only use it occasionally, so it would be expected to be much more frequent than my observations.
The 740's traffic reporting and graphical display is not what I expected from them. There's no display of delays where the IQR historical data already anticipates it. Not very useful if you don't have a destination set. You could be driving right into heavy, IQR anticipated traffic and never know until you're in the thick of it. Cycling thru the traffic incidents and delays detail doesn't give you enough information, for example even the city, to determine where they are in relationship to your current location. Even accessing the detail requires that you exactly touch one of the map traffic icons, which are very small. No way you're going to do that safely while operating the vehicle. All in all, just not presented the way I had hoped. Both Telenav's Shotgun, using Inrix, and Garmin's MSNDirect from traffic.com, present traffic in a much better way IMO. But I have noted that the 740 is finally displaying a bit more coverage, closer to some of the primary local state roads shown on MSN. This has been over the past week, so perhaps they have begun augmenting TrafficCast data with some from Inrix. If you're curious what Inrix coverage is, you can check it out at MapQuest.
What I do now is look at a traffic map on my BB or PDA. Then I can see the traffic slowdowns on the map itself and decide on a route BEFORE I turn on the TT.
If TT had the traffic congestion on the main map, and warned of it as it changed - that would be much better than the way they show it now. It would have to toggle back and forth easily between 3D and 2D mode to show the traffic map to make it work.
If TT had the traffic congestion on the main map, and warned of it as it changed - that would be much better than the way they show it now. It would have to toggle back and forth easily between 3D and 2D mode to show the traffic map to make it work.
TomTom Support said:
Since my traffic was comped, I can't really ask for an extension. However, I am asking for a refund on my map update subscription or that they extend it to a year after the fix is issued.
Speaking of, how can I roll abck to 830? Traffic is more important to me than a current map.
Can I have both 830 and 835 installed?
Just my 2 cents here, I tried rolling back to the previous map and it still wasn't working properly for me. One tech recomended I do this. They just had me work with the version of the map that was already on my pc. I would think that if you put the other map on a SD card it might work, but I could be totally wrong there, someone else might be able to answer that better. I know there is an option to select which map to work with.
Let me know if you can get plus working with the 830 map
dhn
Moderator
If you have a Go model, you can have 1 application and map on the sdhc card and a different app and map on internal. The unit will boot first to the card if it detects an application on it.
So, you can have 8.350 + map on card and 8.351+map on internal. When you want 8.351, then just start the unit without the card inserted.
So, you can have 8.350 + map on card and 8.351+map on internal. When you want 8.351, then just start the unit without the card inserted.
mvl
Moderator
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- 5,475
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- Boston, MA, USA
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Every time I've called, I get the initial "it's the new maps' response. Then I tell them that I upgraded my map to version 835 on 8/20/2009, and PLUS worked fine until 8/27/2009 when the outage began. I also told them I tried my map 830 backup, and it didn't help.
Then they say "Oh, it must be something else, our engineers keep telling us it's the map. But don't worry, they're looking into it".
Very frustrating.
I asked for a 2 week extension since the outage was 2 weeks so far, the CSR took a ton of info and put me on hold. They said they could extend it and I'll see it take effect in 3-5 days. I'll post back if an extension does go into effect.
Regarding usage of PLUS, I agree that the info provided is less than the competition, although Tomtom improved this substantially in the x50 interface. But due to IQroutes2 underlying the traffic, you can actually trust the Tomtom's PLUS rerouting. I set the Tomtom to autoreroute and I just rely on whatever it tells me for directions and arrival time. Those who are familiar with traffic on non IQroutes devices may not be used to thinking of things in that way.
Then they say "Oh, it must be something else, our engineers keep telling us it's the map. But don't worry, they're looking into it".
Very frustrating.
I asked for a 2 week extension since the outage was 2 weeks so far, the CSR took a ton of info and put me on hold. They said they could extend it and I'll see it take effect in 3-5 days. I'll post back if an extension does go into effect.
Regarding usage of PLUS, I agree that the info provided is less than the competition, although Tomtom improved this substantially in the x50 interface. But due to IQroutes2 underlying the traffic, you can actually trust the Tomtom's PLUS rerouting. I set the Tomtom to autoreroute and I just rely on whatever it tells me for directions and arrival time. Those who are familiar with traffic on non IQroutes devices may not be used to thinking of things in that way.
No they are still doing that - the form letters have been all they keep sending me - I have yet to see anything from TT to me acknowledging the problem - the tech keeps saying "no known issue"
I wonder how many people who don't know better or how to diagnose a network are swallowing that and letting it go or not even calling TT in the first place.
As of today - still busted in Seattle
dhn
Moderator
Why not call CS and ask for an email address to send a link to this thread to them?
Then let them try to tell you it's not a known issue..................
Then let them try to tell you it's not a known issue..................
mvl
Moderator
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- Dec 19, 2008
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- 5,475
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Country
- TomTom Model(s)
- Tomtom GO for Android
I've emailed them the link to this thread about a dozen times. At least they acknowledged that a problem exists and they're working on it. They closed my ticket as resolved and I wrote back to request they keep it open until the issue is actually resolved, which they did. I really do hope they will fix this ASAP. I can't believe this has been going on for over two weeks now.
plus service traffic
Called phone support twice this afternoon. First person told me to repare with my cell phone which I did and did not solve any problems He told me that he had no idea that their was a problem with plus services. Second call did the clear flash tool thing and it did nothing. Was told to call back for a repair that it had to be my units problem which is a joke. I just can't understand that tom tom which is such a lare company can't have a telephone support team that all read on the same page. Its really discusting even though I love my 920. PLEASE TOMTOM READ THIS FORUMS THREADS.
Called phone support twice this afternoon. First person told me to repare with my cell phone which I did and did not solve any problems He told me that he had no idea that their was a problem with plus services. Second call did the clear flash tool thing and it did nothing. Was told to call back for a repair that it had to be my units problem which is a joke. I just can't understand that tom tom which is such a lare company can't have a telephone support team that all read on the same page. Its really discusting even though I love my 920. PLEASE TOMTOM READ THIS FORUMS THREADS.
Well I did speak with TomTom today and it seems I found a tech who actually knew what was going on. He did confirm that this was a known issue and the techs are still trying to figure out if it's something with the maps or the application that's causing the hang up, he did say that they're looking into it and when I asked about getting an extension he asked me to call back once it started working again, so that I wouldn't have to ask again when the service is restored. Going on week 3 here in the Twin Cities... can't wait til my tomtom is useful again!
mvl
Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2008
- Messages
- 5,475
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Country
- TomTom Model(s)
- Tomtom GO for Android
I've found that pressing 3 in the main menu for LIVE services, rather than pressing 1 for Tomtom GO, sends me to techs who are more familiar with the issue.
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