TomTom Questionnaire

afitc · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 21, 2004 Posts: 4

Recieved an email from tomtom,

Dear TomTom GO user,

At TomTom we are continuously trying to improve our products and services. It is very important for us to know what our customers think of us and our products in our search for continuous improvement. Therefore we are asking you for 10 minutes of your valuable time to fill in our TomTom GO customer survey.

Has everyone got these? Great to see Tomtom listening to their customers. Hope everyone mentions their suggestions especially qwerty keyboard.

Afitc

MrRubberGloves · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:56 pm Post subject:

I got one aswell, hopefully they will take a few new ideas onboard.

wez99 · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:12 pm Post subject:

Yep, I got one and I did mention the QWERTY along with a few other things, notably up to date maps.

Cheers
john
_________________
TomTomGo730

icsys · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:02 pm Post subject:

As TTN3 has a qwerty option it seems ludicrous not to have the same functionality on the Go!
_________________
Ian.
iPAQ 2210 | Navman 4100 BT Receiver
Navman iCN 635
TomTom GO
Anquet OS mapping

mutant · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 19

I fear this is little more than a PR stunt.

If they were seriously interested in knowing what people thought of the product they could start by reading and answering some of the mail sent to their support department.

I sent them long and considered note covering eight areas of concern - some relating to bugs / problems with the hardware and software and others to suggestions for product improvements etc.. Where appropriate I enclosed screen shots of the problems I had referred to. I also asked about the their failure to supply a carry case and for details of how to obtain a black fascia panel.

The four line response I received was largely unintelligible and appeared to be little more than a quote or extract from some sort of brochure which was loosely related to just two of the points I had raised. They made no reference to the other six. It was clear that they had made little or no attempt to read or understand any of the issues I had raised.

To add insult to injury they finished their response by saying “We hope to have answered your question (singular) to your satisfaction”.

I have no idea whether this is indicative of some sort of language problem or just corporate indifference. Either way it makes the idea of a customer satisfaction survey laughable.

I have now resubmitted my questions in somewhat simpler language and am awaiting a further response.

Michael

afitc · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 21, 2004 Posts: 4

I hope the questionnaire is a format tomtom are using because its very easy to compile results of what people want rather than try and read all the emails sent to them.

mutant · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 19

So, if your theory is right I have got to fill in a Customer Survey to let them know that I would like them read an email I have sent to their support department !

And then if I am lucky and provided there is sufficient demand in an easy to compile format they might be willing to read and respond to their incoming mail. I think not.

My point was not that they shouldn’t conduct a Customer survey but that if they really wanted to "improve their products and services" they could start by spending "10 minutes of their valuable time" answering one or two of the requests for help sent to their support department.

I paid nearly £500 for this machine and I would like TomTom to address the problems I have raised and for the device to work as advertised. I would like to know how the battery is going to be replaced when it finally runs out as it surely will. And I would like to know when and how they plan to update the maps. I would also like the carry case that I have already paid for and I would like one of the promised and heavily advertised fascia panels.

None of these requests are, in my book, unreasonable.

Michael

afitc · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 21, 2004 Posts: 4

Chill Mutant, your requests are not unreasonable. I dont have any theorys, just hope tomtom are listening in there own way Wink

wolfy · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 02, 2004 Posts: 13

I'm with you Mutant! I do think Tomtom Go is an awesome product, but the computerised response that you get from their support team doesn't meet the standards you expect when you've just forked out almost £500.

Why advertise Go with all the different colours when their not even sure they're going to sell them!

mutant · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 19

I'm sorry afitc if I took advantage of your post to express my frustration - my complaint is with TomTom not you.

Like everyone here I was seduced by the idea of the TomTom and was especially sold on the idea of the Gatso database (which, of course, is nothing to do with TomTom). I therefore feel slightly foolish to have bought something on the basis of glowing recommendations here and elsewhere only to find that the reality is slightly different.

Most people, if they bought something as cheap as a torch and found when they got home that you couldn't change the battery, would be incensed. And yet here with a device that costs a hundred times as much the response seems to be "hopefully TT will come up with something when the time comes". Why shouldn't we know if it will be possible to change the battery and more importantly how much it will cost.

Looking again at the TTG website it is easy to see that they have been very careful to gloss over what the device can and can't do. I now realise it is what they don't say that is significant.

There is no mention of the fact that the device comes with the smallest SD Card they can get away with - so one is forced immediately to buy a new card if one wants to add even a small amount of data.

There is no mention of the fact that the device can only handle one 'Travel via' for any given route - making any serious route planning virtually impossible.

Their Map of Western Europe web page which previously said you could "Save and load frequently used itineraries" has now, after I asked where the feature was, been changed to say "Easy itinerary planning".

There is no mention of the fact that the A-B routes don't work if you are in range of a satellite and you choose a start point other than your current location.

The Maps of Western Europe are described as the "The latest and most accurate maps available". Had I been a forensic scientist I suppose that I might have been alerted to the fact that the same was not said about the UK maps….

And there was certainly no reference to the fact that the promised carry case was not in the box.

And so on…

The bottom line is that I feel as though I have bought an album on the basis of a track that I heard on the radio only to find that the rest of the album is not quite as good.

It will be interesting to see if I receive a questionnaire.

Michael

Eldar · Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:36 pm Post subject:

Michael

Although it is hard to argue that TTG has a number of shortcomings, it is one of the best car navigation products on the market, made even more remarkable by the fact that it is a first fo foray of a software company in hardware design. Six months ago it was also the cheapest all-in-one solutions. My understanding is that TT is currently recruiting a number of people to deal with customer compaints and suggestions (mentioned elsewhere in this forum).

To answer some of your questions: there is a safety camera database with version 4.40

What device can and cannot do should have been looked at the shop where you bought your GO - I believe it is a common practice.

Smallest SD card - the obvious reason would be to keep the price down and the fact that a large number of people would not need a bigger card.

The battery is not user replaceable, but it should be easy to replace in a service centre (yes, I did take a GO apart)

Everyting you said about the product description on the website could be applied to the majority of businesses, not just to TomTom, that's why when I was thinking of buying a GO I came to this site for more information and guess what - I found it.

You wouldn't believe how many times I've contacted the company which made my car - I'm not happy with the way the front grill looks, but the bastards have never done anything about that and I paid quite a few bob for it.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with GO, but the bottom line is that if you are unhappy with your product - you have a number of options opened to you - try returning it, sell it, take the manufacturer to court.

rob-bob · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:28 am Post subject: tomtom go

eldar
sorry but i have to agree with michael
there is not a great deal of stand alone devices like tomtom go but im sorry to say that tomtom go is not a good piece of kit.....if it was so good then why" My understanding is that TT is currently recruiting a number of people to deal with customer compaints and suggestions (mentioned elsewhere in this forum). "are they doing this if the product was that good the extra staff would not be needed.....

as for your car statment the way somethjing looks and performs are totally different...if you bought a tv that looked good and the company made claims of what it could do and you got it home and could only get two channels i think is a bit different from buying a tv that you was not happy with the way it looked but did the job...sorry but you can see how tomtom looks but you cannot see how bad it is until you have used it.....

tomtom seem to have rushed this product out without it being fully ready...im sure the cost between the sd cards at trade price is minimal....the case was not ready and the maps and routing are not good enough...and the if you dont like it take it back,sell it, take them to court answer should be.......how about tomtom delivering what they said they were....you will find more people complaing about this product the more they use it......
Cheers
Rob
p.s im sure if michael was to ask someone would upload the camera database for him

mutant · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 19

Eldar, thanks for the comments. How much better it would have been if someone from TTG had made the same effort.

I'll try to avoid this turning into further rant so I'll just make a few points.

1. I'm not sure how you got the impression that I hadn't managed to load the Gatso database. It was in fact one of the first things I did (hence the need for a larger card) and is in my view is probably the best use for the TTG.

2. It was not possible to try the TTG in the shop before I bought it as the SD card with the software was sealed. In any event it would hardly have been apparent that the maps were out of date etc. As for this being their first venture into hardware the problems that I am aware off are almost all software related. As with any software there is bound to be the odd bug or two but the way for them to deal with that is to say sorry and they are working hard to get the problems / missing features fixed.

3. If as you say TT are recruiting support staff (and you don't say how you know this) then they could alleviate much of the current criticism by saying as much on their web site with an apology for the lack of service. Likewise, instead of sending out meaningless replies to support enquiries they should be honest and say that they are overwhelmed and that they will deal with things as soon as they can. The beauty of the web is that companies can communicate with their customers at almost no cost and with very little effort.

4. As for a bad experience I don't think my experience is any different from anyone else's. Perhaps I am just less tolerant of a GPS system that doesn’t allow me to customise a route with more than one Via, to plan a route between two points or to save a route for future use. It doesn't matter how pretty the case is if the functionality is flawed. If I just wanted to drive up and down motorways I wouldn’t have bought a GPS system.

That said, there is probably very little wrong with the TTG that can't be fixed by a software upgrade. All that is needed is the willingness to tell people what they are planning to do and when.

Michael

Eldar · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:30 am Post subject: Re: tomtom go

Eldar · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:52 am Post subject:

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