Open letter to TomTom about address lookup (Navigator 3 GB)

DavidW · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:01 pm Post subject:

Update from TomTom (well a reply from TomTom Support, at least)

(I hope that was sufficiently prominent!)

I've received the following reply to my question:

We apologies for the delay and thank you for your patience,

We are aware of the issue,

Currently our developers are investigating this as we speak. We are trying to find a solution
asap.

Please watch our website for information regarding this.

We hope to have answered your question to your satisfaction.

With best regards,

The TomTom Customer Support Team

Has anyone else got anything similar? I haven't yet replied to TomTom - do people think I should, and if so, saying what? I'm wondering whether I should suggest that they put some kind of announcement on their web site.

Hopefully this message does indicate that TomTom are now taking the issue seriously. I think, at this stage, a little more pressure may not be a bad thing - though try to be encouraging of TomTom's apparent concession that they are aware of the issue and developers are looking at it. (I'd feel a little more comfortable if I had some contact from the development team or TomTom management as well as this reply from a nameless individual at TomTom Support)

I certainly won't let this drop. For what it's worth, I don't think Navigator 2 got address lookup right either (it was merely less bad than Navigator 3 is). If I enter a town/city, I would like the results to relate to that town/city.

David

tom9851 · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:17 pm Post subject:

David,
In my humble opinion, you should perhaps just leave it for a while. Your letter was very factual and thorough and they have responded by saying they are aware of the problem and are seeking a solution. I think that is a reasonable position. If they had responded by saying they didn't believe there was a problem then that would be another matter. But since they appear to agree that there is a problem, maybe we should wait a while and see what they come up with next - since they have indicated they will make an announcement about this on their website then maybe there is nothing more to be done just yet. Personally, I think it is a very positive step that they have actually agreed there is a problem!

Tom

Oldie · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:26 pm Post subject:

David,

I received the same response and I decided not to send a follow-up message, but to wait for a while and see what they come up with. However, as the originator of the open letter I think that you should reply so that they are aware of your (and our) continued interest in this problem.

Richard

Razer · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 04, 2003 Posts: 67

I have just submitted the open letter also Smile

Steveg · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 1:55 pm Post subject:

Looks like a bog standard auto reply to me - I got the same even though I added before the standard letter my own gripes about Outlook integration - so yes I would agree with the poster who said that as you are the writer of the original letter you have most right to a follow up question, and certainly a more considered answer

Cheers

Steve

DavidW · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 1:55 pm Post subject:

I think Richard (Oldie) has the right idea, so on behalf of everyone I have added the following to my question with TomTom:

--- BEGIN ---

Dear TomTom,

I'm grateful for the reply indicating that this matter is being looked at.

As you can probably appreciate from the number of copies of my 'open letter' that you have received, there is considerable interest in this matter. I, and many others, look forward to TomTom providing a fix for Navigator 3 GB that deals with the address lookup issues raised in the open letter. I hope that the comprehensive description in the 'open letter' of what are felt to be the current deficiencies from a British perspective is useful.

Navigator 2's address lookup behaviour was unhelpful at times - there were times when it returned multiple results even when there was only one street of that name in the "City" entered. I hope that an eventual fix for Navigator 3 will not just restore the Navigator 2 behaviour but will surpass it.

I am happy to keep the Pocket GPS World forums updated on this issue if you send me (by email, or in reply to this question) any updates on the progress you're making towards improving matters. Indeed, I am personally ready to help TomTom in any way I can. If any members of the development team or other TomTom staff wish to contact me directly over this issue, they are welcome to email me.

I'm sure many Pocket GPS World forum members and readers will continue to follow this matter with some interest. The discussion thread containing the 'open letter' is now 'sticky' and therefore stays near the top of the TomTom forum.

I wish you well as you attempt to resolve these issues.

With best wishes,

David Wood

--- END ---

I provide this 'for information only' here - and hope that others are happy to leave the situation with TomTom for a while to see what they come up with.

David

PhilJ · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 3

I have also received the same response from Tom Tom to the open letter.

So far, so good.

Phil

SpeedCam · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 8:52 pm Post subject:

Like others I've just received the standard response, a little more detail in their email would possibly given people some confidence.

dksbbs · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 10:24 pm Post subject: Sent mine

I have just sent an email with your open letter attached. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

Reference number back was '040510-000893'

So I presume I was 893 person to write to them today, hopefully some of those 893 will also be on the same subject.

Thanks again David

Mark R Penn · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 11:17 pm Post subject:

I agree we should now allow TT to investigate, but also believe it is important that we continue to let them know the depth of feeling. As such I have just submitted your letter, with the following prologue:

"I write in total support of David Woods' open letter, copied below. I apreciate that you are already looking into a solution, and do not wish to swamp you with unecessary mail, but think it important that you understand just how poor address lookup is in the UK version of TTN3, which I believe is close to being unfit for purpose.

I also support David's assertion that lookup in TTN2 was far from perfect, and that any solution you devise should ideally be better than, not just equal to, that.

To summarize my own view of this:

1) Why, when I ask TTN3 to look for an address in, for example, Southampton, does it return streets in Guildford - an entirely different city some 40 mile away?

2) Why is it that many postcodes are simply wrong? In Crawley, Gatwick Road RH10 9.. is not found at all, while Gatwick Road RH10 2.. is found instead. Gatwick road Crawley has not been in RH10 2.. since 2001. I have found many other examples in the short time I have had TTN3 - far more than would allow you to ligitimately claim that your product offers any kind of useful address/postcode lookup.

For now I have resorted to a free third party application, which so far has found every single postcode I have entered, down to the full 7 digit UK postcode resolution (i.e. virtually door to door). With the resourses available to TomTom I expect the same level of accuracy from you.

BEGIN QUOTE:

......................"

My reference is 040511-000007.

Doghead · Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 1:16 am Post subject:

fwiw, I've also just sent David's open letter to TomTom by e-mail.

Ref number '040511-000036'.

I happen to do a lot of my navigation plotting whilst enroute, which requires an easy reference freeroaming city/street address lookup, as rarely do I have postcode information for destination plotting.

I'm geographically challenged as it is, and can do without an address lookup listing all the same-named streets which goes well beyond the city/town/area I'm searching for, especially when I have no idea what postcode applies.

Not happy with TTNav 3. Evil or Very Mad

bagmans911 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 26, 2004 Posts: 31

David,

Thanks for your time and effort, great letter, sent today (040511-000516). lets hope that TomTom start to get the idear that we as users are not happy with this 'upgrade'.

chris_de_wet · Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 2:22 pm Post subject:

I too have received a reply from TT to my complaint that was emailed before the form letter was available.

It is in the same vein as those above - 'watch this space ...'.

R1chard · Regular Visitor Joined: Feb 07, 2004 Posts: 64

I've just received a response from TomTom which includes the advice: "As a workaround try searching with the County name and then the street name."

Is it me?

Confused

Richard

spile · Regular Visitor Joined: May 08, 2004 Posts: 163

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