How accurate should maps be?

[ticklepin]

Forgive me if this subject has been discussed before, but my search failed to reveal it.

However I can hardly believe the question has not been discussed: How accurate should we expect our sat-nav maps to be?
In 2009 I bought a Nuvi 1490.
At a point less than a mile from home, instead of indicating a simple left turn, it routed though the driveway round the grounds of a private house.
This was not a subject for 'updating'; there had been no changes to the road in more than forty years

I reported this confidence-sapping fault to Garmin, and received an acknowledgement on 08/02/2010.
I have patiently continued to update the software, which has failed to correct the error.
(Knowing little about how sat-navs work I thought the error lay with the algorithms rather than the map)
Becoming a little exasperated I again wrote to Garmin and received this reply[shortened by me]

"I am happy to help you, I can see in your MyGarmin account that the last
update of the maps you did was 2010.20 version. We are now on the
2012.10 map version so this is more than likely why you have
discrepancies on your device. The software you discussed only updates
the software on the device and not the mapping.The map updates can be purchased in two different formats. We offer the onetime map update which is £49.99 and the lifetime updates are £74.99.
They are both full European updates."

To which I have replied:
"I wish point out that the map feature that is the cause of this
correspondence is in no way date dependant.
I emphasise that there has been no change to that particular road in at
least forty years.
Your map was not out of date, but the routing associated with it was just
plain wrong.
I have waited patiently for it to be put right.
Can you suggest a good reason why I should buy a further map which may, or
may still not be correct?
How am I to know?
Do you believe and maintain that you have provided a satisfactory product
and service?
All I ask is what I paid for - a trustworthy navigational device."

Is my attitude reasonable?
I appreciate that no program is ever bug free, nor anything made by man, perfect.
However I think that a defect that potentially turns a private drive into part of a scenic route for strangers requires rapid correction.
Also, is it too much to ask that the reporter of the error be supplied with a corrected map, gratis?

What do people think?

[Andy_P]

I can only sympathise about your inaccurate maps, but I'm amazed you haven't been able to find any previous discussion about it... it's probably the #1 annoyance for ALL SatNav owners.

There are actually only two "mapping" companies in general use - Navteq and TeleAtlas, and all the SatNav manufacturers use one or the other. (Open Streetmap is beginning to get used on some smaller brands, butt he big boys like Garmin and TomTom stick with Navteq and Teleatlas respectively.

Both claim "up to date mapping", but both have glaring errors that are years old, as well as being very slow to make alterations when new roads are built or existing roads change. TeleAtlas is generally considered to be even worse than Navteq at responding to reports of errors from users.

TomTom have a clever system ("MapShare") to make corrections on your own copy of the map and to share them with others, but they STILL don't tend to be incorporated in the core map data for the next "update".
_________________
"Settling in nicely" ;-)

[ticklepin]

Thank you Andy_P.

Further searches under "Map updates - Expected updates not shown" and the more sombre - "sales of goods act" did elicit many responses, but it is the very ubiquity of the subject that causes the fog.

Most of the posts seemed to be around 2006/7.

What is the state of play now?

As I understand it, at the moment, the Sale of Goods Act targets the retailer.
This is of no use to us, when the real culprits are the mapping companies hiding further back behind the Sat-nav manufacturers.
Perhaps buying a Nuvi from Amazon and challenging them, might concentrate a few minds . . .

Garmin also produce maritime equipment.
Charting errors in those applications are likely to be more dangerous than those occurring on land.
Does anyone know how such chart errors are dealt with, and chart updates provided?

Can nothing be done to make the mapping companies responsible for their basic errors?

[AliOnHols]

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