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Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14893 Location: Keynsham
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:15 pm Post subject:
Well, I just spent half an hour using their new (to me, anyway) CHAT system. It is a great improvement on the support service - I now got the standard replies instantly instead of "within two working days". But that's all, just sort of TT a la MSN. I'll paste it in here when I get home later, but in the meantime it was more or less - soft reset, factory reset, traffic details will show 40-50 miles and will update every minute (or two minutes) and you will be able to reroute when it updates. I ended by asking for it to be referred upwards. It seems this Bot had no knowledge of any change - "Traffic details are up to 50 miles and yesterday belongs in Dementialand".
I now have to go setup all my 550's settings again after humouring "her" with a factory reset. _________________ Dennis
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14893 Location: Keynsham
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:53 pm Post subject:
Ah well, here's the transcript
Quote:
Hi, my name is Sophia. How may I help you?
Sophia: Please be aware that this is support for Europe and South Africa only. If you are outside that region. I can however provide you with the phone number for support line of the country if you need it. Please also be aware that most issues can be resolved by Chat in less than 20 minutes, but if this Chat session lasts 40 minutes and you are a UK customer, I will arrange for someone to call you within 24 hours of the Chat session ending to resolve the issue.
DennisN: HD Traffic service is no longer showing the same range as previously - it now only shows up to approximately 50 miles radius. It used to show all my route's traffic.
Sophia: Can you please confirm where exactly are you contacting us from?
DennisN: Keynsham, UK
Sophia: Okay.
Sophia: You have stated that you are not able to access live service on your device efficiently.
Sophia: I would request you to please perform a soft reset on your device and then check whether you are able to access live service on your device efficiently.
DennisN: I do NOT have problems accessing the service - the service is only providing very limited information compared to previously. PocketGPSWorld.com has two threads currently discussing this problem.... http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=87608&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 and http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=87798&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 This is not a fault with my device as many people are experiencing it.
Sophia: To soft reset your device I would suggest you to follow the steps as instructed on the following FAQ after selecting your device http://uk.support.tomtom.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6965/kw/6965.
DennisN: I don't need to soft reset my device, thank you. I need you to provide a comprehensive HD Traffic service.
Sophia: I would request you to please try a soft reset.
Sophia: And then check whether your device still shows a limited information.
DennisN: I have already carried out a soft reset - several times.
Sophia: Okay.
Sophia: I would then request you to please try a factory reset on your device.
DennisN: Will that give me Traffic details at a greater range than 50 miles?
Sophia: I would like to inform you that normally the traffic details on your device will be visible for approximately 40 to 50 miles.
Sophia: However if you are not getting accurate information within 40 to 50 miles, try to perform a factory reset and check the data you receive.
Sophia: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
DennisN: I would like to inform YOU that until recently the traffic details on my device were visible for the ENTIRE LENGTH of my journey. My reason for contacting you is because those details have recently been reduced to 40 to 50 miles and I am not satisfied with this.
Sophia: I would like to inform you that traffic details keeps updating every minute.
Sophia: So those changes should get updated within shorter route intervals.
DennisN: Yes, I am perfectly aware of that, but I need to see exceptiona
Sophia: Thus the traffic details distance were reduced, so that you wouuld be able to access accurate traffic service.
Sophia: Please be assured that the traffic information you will receive with 40 to 50 miles would be much more effective and accurate.
DennisN: I need to see problem areas much earlier so that I can change my route and not be caught up in any local diversions in operation. Please stop making further comments until you see my responses!
Sophia: The traffic information does keeps refreshing itself after every two minutes.
Sophia: So please be assured that you can change the route as per the traffic information.
DennisN: I already know that! But if you read the threads on PocketGPSWorld, you will see that I and many others want to change route long before we approach problem areas
Sophia: As I have stated that the information keeps refreshing automatically after two minutes.
Sophia: So you will be able to change the route before you reach there or near to that particular location.
DennisN: Would you please refer this problem to higher authority so that they can see the situation is bad. I have to close this chat now as i have been called out to work.
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14893 Location: Keynsham
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:35 pm Post subject:
Yes, here's before and after just now.
Even at 100 miles it is unsatisfactory, really. If I'm going to Edinburgh, I can choose to go up M1 by turning north east at M42 Birmingham, or straight up M6 and via Glasgow. If either route has a serious holdup within, say 30 miles of Edinburgh, (like the M1 fire not long ago) I need to decide before the M42 junction, otherwise my only choice will be to join everybody else on the TT diversion.
So we all agree - the devices download about 100 mile radius of incidents, then hide/discard/ignore/delete anything above approx 50 miles as the crow flies.
This is a change from HD Traffic when it was launched, for the worse.
So, how do we go about getting an official response from TT? We know the support ticket route is a complete waste of time as all you will get is the reset, reload, it is all your fault and you are imagining things response from TT.
Can PGPSW ask for a statement from TT and an explanation?
If the device was not even aware, albeit briefly, of traffic incidents more than 50 miles away then we could reasonably assume it is to reduce data charges, but this is not the case as the device has the info then ignores/hides/deletes this info.
I think we are all in agreement that a 50 mile radius is too short for long distance drivers.
So, what next guys????
I have more screenshots showing the same behaviour but seem to have lost my USB cable!!!
How frustrating is this to actually see. All the data I want, and it is then removed by a programmer.
Not good that incidents approaching London are not visible from the Midlands. That is the point where you have to decide M6/M1 or M42/M40 and don't have the traffic info.
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 14893 Location: Keynsham
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:51 pm Post subject:
What it needs is to take serious umbrage on the grounds suggested by Mikealder in the other thread.
Raise an absolute stink about them degrading the service we have paid for. Forget trying to tell them why, just play hell that they've robbed us.
That will be my next step when/if they reply to my further email - the Chat service gave me a transcript of the chat and said I could reply to the email (unusual - their normal emails are not answerable, you have to click to go back to My Questions in the Support site).
So what is the best way to get a campaign of complaint going? Maybe something on the lines of that campaign to get Brian Blessed voice (in which I didn't participate)? I'd even let somebody tell me how to work tweet if that could be a suggestion. - everybody tweet that TomTom have ripped us off by taking our money then reducing the service provided? Or what does blog do? Or somebody create a Facebook page to complain on (I haven't the faintest idea how to do it)? One thing that seems unlikely to achieve anything is us all bleating about it here - I have never seen any indication that TomTom pay us much attention. And their own forum is a joke.
Here's my email back to them...
Quote:
I regret that the Chat session was entirely unsatisfactory. My complaint is that the HD Traffic service has been changed and now it only displays incidents up to 40-50 miles ahead. In my work as a same day delivery driver, I normally travel far more than 50 miles and in many instances it would be of great benefit to be able to see traffic incidents a long way ahead. For example, a journey to Edinburgh from Bristol now shows me only incidents half way to Birmingham and even at Birmingham will show only incidents 50 miles further along. In order to have a better journey, I need to decide which route to take if there is an incident on the first route close Edinburgh - I would judge the severity of the incident (i.e. I would make an estimate as to whether the incident would persist and still be in effect during my travel time) and perhaps change my route from travelling up the east side of the country, instead travelling up the west side. That would not greatly increase my mileage or travel time. If instead I followed my TomTom GO550 Live until the incident was shown, I would then be offered a diversion, but so would everybody else and I would then probably join heavy traffic in the diversion route. I am self-employed and before I accept any work, I quote a price per mile for doing it, by first setting the route on my GO550. If traffic is fully displayed, I could judge whether to travel through or around certain cities and set my quotation accordingly.
I can appreciate and understand that the 550 is checking traffic constantly and will inform me when it reaches 40-50 miles away from the incident. But if it doesn't give me any details and offer a different route until 50 miles from the problem, I'll still probably suffer delays which I might otherwise avoid by taking a more direct diversionary route starting much earlier along the way.
I think you should go look at the two topics I have linked for you in the PocketGPSWorld.com website, where great annoyance is being expressed. These are people who are committed TomTom customers. I myself have owned over a dozen TomToms and right now use three every day. Only one of them has Live services. I bought it specifically for HD Traffic and Local Search, from which I have greatly benefitted, and only last month renewed my Live services. I can assure you that if I had known then that this service was to continue at this badly reduced range, I would not have renewed. I might instead have considered another brand (e.g. Garmin) which is reputed to have a further reaching Traffic service. I don't want to do that, because I have been using TomTom devices ever since my first purchase in 2005 and I like them.
Would you please consider this representation for revision back to a much further distance traffic information display. I would add that "we" have just discovered that the traffic details seem to be downloaded to the device, but then degraded to only 40-50 miles.. The following screen shots of my display show the facts - initial download degraded after maybe 5 seconds. If you download the details, for heavens sake, please display them.
My name is Auto Matedresponse from TT support and am here to day to assist you.
In order for us to progress your question further could you please provide me with the exact co-ordinates, time of day, and phase of the moon when you first experienced these challenges.
I will then wait 2 days and ask you to perform a soft reset of your device and then let me know if this has fixed the issue.
Another 2 days later and I will ask you to perform a full factory reset.
Another 2 days later I will ask you to run the clearflash tool.
Another 2 days later I will ask you perform a full format and reload of your device from a backup made in Home.
I will then hope you have gone away for good because you aren't obviously going to get past the auto responses.
Still here??? Oh, you are.
You obviously cannot follow instructions so can you do all of the above again, but this time in a different order.
2 days later can you please wait while I pass you to second line.
Second line have never heard of your issue so will ask the developers.
At this point the lights go out and your ticket gets auto closed after 72 hours of being ignored.
Leave it a month or two later and it magically disappears from your list of questions asked.
At some point we will send you a customer service questionnare asking how helpful and knowledgeable we are, and more importantly could you do some free marketing for us and tell all your friends to buy TomToms because they are brilliant.
End of rant.
On a serious note, I know how much effort certain individuals on here went to when RDS-TMC didn't work because TT had cocked up the Navcore for the UK, just to get TT to even believe there could possibly be an issue and look in to it. It will take some serious shouting and banging to get them to listen again.
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