Auto-Zoom forced upon us. Does TomTom not listen to customers?

[SpiritX]

Seriously. I don't mean to just complain and moan. But this has me wondering.

I got a TomTom One for Christmas. I finally got around to really playing with the features. I always assumed there was a way to shut off this annoying feature - namely the auto-zoom which keeps the map zooming WAY in to my location, after I zoom out.

I was shocked when I started poking around and found this was not controllable! I would never have guessed a GPS would be made which would force a zoom level upon the user. I could only wonder "what were they thinking"?

I'm looking around for a fix or update to this obvious problem, otherwise this GPS is useless.

In my searching, I've found all kinds of posts, here and other places, of people REALLY ANNOYED with the auto-zoom feature! I read where a couple irate customers were going to return their units because of this one feature (despite otherwise liking it). This awful feature made it unusable to them, as it does to me.

So that brings up a point. Doesn't TomTom listen to their customers - at all? Don't they realize they've lost numerous customers to this? After all, I noticed many of these frustrated comments were dated 2007, 2008 and early 2009. Plenty of time to fix this problem.

It should be a very simple software fix, just to add a menu item to disable this annoyance.

It's perplexing that, after losing customers and many complaints, they wouldn't make a simple patch to fix this.

Hello? McFly? Anyone home???

 

[mikealder]

You get the option to disable the auto zoom on the Go models, the lower priced/ budget One units don't have the auto zoom disable - Mike

 

[SpiritX]

You get the option to disable the auto zoom on the Go models, the lower priced/ budget One units don't have the auto zoom disable

I realize that but my point still stands - and in all its fervor!

It's not like I'm referring to an EXTRA feature, which one might expect only on higher-end systems.

No, I'm referring to something VERY BASIC - which is actually DISABLING an annoying feature which shouldn't even be there in the first place, if it can't be turned off!

If someone, for example, designed a feature where the system turned off every 10 minutes, requiring it to be turned on again by hand. If people complained that this feature couldn't be disabled on the less expensive units, would you still say "but the higher-end units have the ability to turn the automatic shutoff every 10 minute feature off", as if that somehow made it OK?

Point is, an automatic zoom of this nature SHOULD NOT BE ON A GPS - UNLESS IT CAN BE TURNED OFF! So why put it there?

There are plenty of other NICE features on the "budget" units; any of which I'd gladly give up to be able to set the zoom as I like it. Because this automatic zoom makes the unit UNUSABLE.

So the question still stands - doesn't TomTom even bother to listen to their customers and care that customers are being driven away?

 

[dhn]

Okay, you've made your point. You are disappointed that your lower end model doesn't have that feature. And you've done so, over and over in various thread, including some over two years old.

The bottom line is that TomTom made the decision that lower end models wouldn't have certain features. They won't implement it now. You said you'd return it if there isn't a resolution for your model. There won't be.

Your rants are beginning to get tiresome.

 

[doctormstein1]

Okay, you've made your point. You are disappointed that your lower end model doesn't have that feature. And you've done so, over and over in various thread, including some over two years old.

The bottom line is that TomTom made the decision that lower end models wouldn't have certain features. They won't implement it now. You said you'd return it if there isn't a resolution for your model. There won't be.

Your rants are beginning to get tiresome.

And to add, I think most people really enjoy this feature including myself.

 

[SpiritX]

Okay, you've made your point. You are disappointed that your lower end model doesn't have that feature.

Actually you have me wrong.

I'm disappointed it has a feature that it shouldn't!

I'm only revisiting this point, now, to try to clarify.

You make it sound like I'm ranting about the lower-end TomTom not having a feature the more expensive ones do. But that's not the case at all! Please don't misrepresent my argument.

I'm upset that these units have a feature which makes it virtually unusable for many would-be customers.

The bottom line of this thread, though, is something I still wonder about. Given the fact that most users don't like the feature, doesn't TomTom listen to these customers?

The bottom line is that TomTom made the decision that lower end models wouldn't have certain features. They won't implement it now.

Once again, I ask you to THINK about what I'm commenting on.

I've repeatedly said that it's not that we want a feature which is not currently on the lower-end units -

It's that we want a feature which exists to GO AWAY.


You may say I'm "ranting" and it's "getting tiresome", but please consider that maybe the reason it sounds that way is that you have pegged me for an irrational ranter and haven't stopped to understand the points I'm making.

Your further comments demonstrate you don't understand what I'm trying to write.

So, please, before you dismiss my comments as "rants", at least stop for a moment and try to understand what those comments are actually saying.

 

[SpiritX]

And to add, I think most people really enjoy this feature including myself.

You're saying you never want to actually see more than 20 seconds ahead of your current location at freeway speeds?

The auto-zoom feature actually COULD be very nice - if you could manually override it and have your zoom level "stick".

I have read numerous posts here and on various sites, including reviews on the TomTom One on review sites, which state this feature makes it "unusable".


Anyway, whether one user likes the feature or not, the fact is, there are still a substantial number of users who really, really HATE it - to the degree it becomes unusable! So it still begs the question - is TomTom not listening to those people?

Especially when the "fix" for this serious problem is nothing but to make a very simple software modification to allow it to be shut off. It's not like we want a substantial feature change which would require hardware mods and complete OS rewrites! No - just a quick patch and we would be happy.

 

[mikealder]

The option to disable the Auto zoom has only relatively recently been introduced and is only available on higher end devices, this is something only TomTom can resolve, by all means give them a ring to complain as we have nothing to do with TomTom or send your unit back and purchase a higher spec device.

When you complain a fellow Moderator is accusing you of ranting on the forum, please cast your mind back to the 6 or 7 threads all with the same entry only a day or two ago, one post is fine to make a point but excessive threads/ posts with the same content within an hour is over the top, had I not been in a rush for an early 200 mile drive on the day in question I would have probably deleted most of them! - Mike

 

[SpiritX]

The option to disable the Auto zoom has only relatively recently been introduced and is only available on higher end devices, this is something only TomTom can resolve, by all means give them a ring to complain as we have nothing to do with TomTom or send your unit back and purchase a higher spec device.

But where can I send the comments such that they will actually reach the dev team? As far as calling the main number goes - I know how these call centers work. Masses of phone personnel with the answers to pre-prescribed questions and trained to give scripted answers. Telling them about my concerns probably has as much chance of impacting anyone in corporate as putting a note in a bottle. It's much more likely SOMEONE who cares might browse one of these forums. I would have hoped someone here could say "this is how you reach them".

As for the ability to disable the feature only being new; it still leaves me flummoxed at the notion this feature ever made it in the feature set in the first place! As soon as I learned of the inability to disable, I thought "you must be kidding me; who thought a forced zoom level is a GOOD idea"? Besides, I first got familiar with in-car GPS units in Hertz rentals. I don't recall what brand those were, but those didn't force-zoom the screen after a few seconds. In many ways, the TomTom One has many more nice features that the Hertz unit. Yet they also added the forced-zoom, which makes it inferior, in terms of usability.

I don't see why I should have to get a higher-end unit to get rid of a feature which should never have been forced upon us in the first place. Especially knowing when an applications programmer who is familiar with this unit could fix the problem with about an hour's work! Yes, I'm likely to return this unit or sell it, unless there's some clever programmer who figured out how to patch this bug. Yet I'm not likely to buy another TomTom, given the lack of responsiveness to a problem which should have been fixed long, long ago.

When you complain a fellow Moderator is accusing you of ranting on the forum, please cast your mind back to the 6 or 7 threads all with the same entry only a day or two ago, one post is fine to make a point but excessive threads/ posts with the same content within an hour is over the top, had I not been in a rush for an early 200 mile drive on the day in question I would have probably deleted most of them! - Mike

As for multiple posts, I apologize, I am new and didn't realize they were all funneled into a larger forum at the time; it seemed like there were multiple discussions about the same topic. I had thought it was best to talk to as many people as possible about it. After I understood the forums better, I figured, perhaps, it's better to create my own thread getting at the heart of the issue.

While it's fair to say "you posted too much saying essentially the same thing", it's not fair to use this to dismiss the content of the message, which I consider to be very reasonable and on the mark. After all, I'm clearly not the only one who feels this way.

 

[doctormstein1]

Actually you have me wrong.

I'm disappointed it has a feature that it shouldn't!

I'm only revisiting this point, now, to try to clarify.

You make it sound like I'm ranting about the lower-end TomTom not having a feature the more expensive ones do. But that's not the case at all! Please don't misrepresent my argument.

I'm upset that these units have a feature which makes it virtually unusable for many would-be customers.

The bottom line of this thread, though, is something I still wonder about. Given the fact that most users don't like the feature, doesn't TomTom listen to these customers?




Once again, I ask you to THINK about what I'm commenting on.

I've repeatedly said that it's not that we want a feature which is not currently on the lower-end units -

It's that we want a feature which exists to GO AWAY.


You may say I'm "ranting" and it's "getting tiresome", but please consider that maybe the reason it sounds that way is that you have pegged me for an irrational ranter and haven't stopped to understand the points I'm making.

Your further comments demonstrate you don't understand what I'm trying to write.

So, please, before you dismiss my comments as "rants", at least stop for a moment and try to understand what those comments are actually saying.

You must be kidding. Most users love this feature including myself and many friend and tomtom users. In fact these users would probably not buy a tomtom if it did not have this zooming feature. We want to know on a closeup exactly how the turn looks. It is for safety and information to the user and is definately very neccessary.

 

[SpiritX]

You must be kidding. Most users love this feature including myself and many friend and tomtom users. In fact these users would probably not buy a tomtom if it did not have this zooming feature. We want to know on a closeup exactly how the turn looks. It is for safety and information to the user and is definately very neccessary.

You misunderstand the feature I'm complaining about. Please read my original post.

I like the "auto-zoom-at-turns" feature. That's NOT the auto-zoom I mean.

The feature I'm talking about is the fact that when you zoom out, during normal operation, it zooms WAY in again, with about only 1/2 mile view ahead of you. I wouldn't even mind an auto-zoom feature in this regard if it could be overridden when you zoom out... or if the zoom level to which it zoomed in after a few seconds could be selected, instead of a 1/2-mile viewport.

If there's a better term for this particular kind of auto-zoom, I'd like to know what it is, since the zoom-at-turns is not the same as the zooms-in-again-after-a-few-seconds zoom.

 

[tt101]

I'm second that ...I'd like to be able to ZOOM out any where i want ...and stay there ..till i click reset ..
Then of couse it will zoom in at the turn .....and zoom back where i have set it .....
My cheap Mio c320 can do this ...

 

[kontiki]

I.m happy with mine the way it is, I don't see how you can claim 'most' users unless you know more than 50% of them Your statement that it makes the unit virtually unusable is a gross exaggeration. & you are wasting peoples time because its something that annoys you.

As for calling Tomtom here in the UK I found the people I dealt with were very helpful & reasonably knowledgeable of their product (this was only the first level customer support). Have you ever actually called them???

 

[doctormstein1]

I'm second that ...I'd like to be able to ZOOM out any where i want ...and stay there ..till i click reset ..
Then of couse it will zoom in at the turn .....and zoom back where i have set it .....
My cheap Mio c320 can do this ...

Just to let you know that with the remote on a 9xx model you can zoom in and out at will.

 

[SpiritX]

Just to let you know that with the remote on a 9xx model you can zoom in and out at will.

I appreciate knowing that.

But as I understand, the 9xx models can disable the "zoom back in" feature, thus not requiring the constant zooming out to maintain the desired zoom level.

Problem is, it's odious to think one has to buy a much more expensive unit to get rid of a feature which never should have been forced on us in the first place.


To those reading this - what GPS was put in Hertz rental cars, around 2006-2008? That didn't have the annoying "forced zoom" and I would like to at least research it.

 

[gatorguy]

Magellan AFAIK

 

[mvl]

Yes, I drove lots of Hertz cars. Definitely Magellans.

SpiritX, are you setting a destination when you drive? Tomtom's programmers make the assumption (correct or not) that owners will spend most of their time with destinations set. Things like traffic, upcoming streets, etc don't show well without destinations programmed.

I've found that with a destination programmed, auto-zoom zooms out on highways, I usually can see the next turn with at least 30-60 seconds notice, and the voice repeatedly tells me about the turn even if I'm not looking.

Perhaps you are using the Tomtom like mapquest to just "see" roads like a map, with no destination set. Tomtom's really don't work well that way.

 

[sageuvagony]

To say that the device is "completely unusable" is insane. Then you say that "most" users hate this feature. Really??? It's most likely a very small percentage, or TomTom would have done something about this. I've never seen someone make such a huge deal over nothing. Auto-Zoom absolutely does NOT make the device unusable.

It's can't be any easier to read the TomTom screen than it currently is. Is there a reason why you MUST view the map zoomed out? Is it that difficult to read the map screen while following a route? All you have to do is follow the colored line. You make it seem as if you don't look at the road at all and simply stare at the unit 100% of the time. The device does more than enough to warn you that a turn is coming up. It also counts down the distance until your next turn on your status bar if you have it set that way.

Seriously, either buy a higher end unit that allows you to disable this (awesome) feature or just get rid of the device and quit pulling out your hair over such a tiny matter. Unusable? Please....

 

[doctormstein1]

To say that the device is "completely unusable" is insane. Then you say that "most" users hate this feature. Really??? It's most likely a very small percentage, or TomTom would have done something about this. I've never seen someone make such a huge deal over nothing. Auto-Zoom absolutely does NOT make the device unusable.

It's can't be any easier to read the TomTom screen than it currently is. Is there a reason why you MUST view the map zoomed out? Is it that difficult to read the map screen while following a route? All you have to do is follow the colored line. You make it seem as if you don't look at the road at all and simply stare at the unit 100% of the time. The device does more than enough to warn you that a turn is coming up. It also counts down the distance until your next turn on your status bar if you have it set that way.

Seriously, either buy a higher end unit that allows you to disable this (awesome) feature or just get rid of the device and quit pulling out your hair over such a tiny matter. Unusable? Please....

Thanks my thought exactly

 

[SpiritX]

Yes, I drove lots of Hertz cars. Definitely Magellans.

SpiritX, are you setting a destination when you drive? Tomtom's programmers make the assumption (correct or not) that owners will spend most of their time with destinations set. Things like traffic, upcoming streets, etc don't show well without destinations programmed.

I've found that with a destination programmed, auto-zoom zooms out on highways, I usually can see the next turn with at least 30-60 seconds notice, and the voice repeatedly tells me about the turn even if I'm not looking.

Perhaps you are using the Tomtom like mapquest to just "see" roads like a map, with no destination set. Tomtom's really don't work well that way.

I find the unwanted behavior to be present in EACH of those cases.

If I have a destination set or not, it still ZOOMS IN AGAINST MY WILL whenever I zoom out.

With a destination set, it will zoom in at turns, which is nice, but I'm not talking about at turns. I'm talking about the straightaways, where it will zoom in again, a few seconds after zooming out.

At this juncture, I'm looking for a replacement GPS but I'm very leary of which models do this, as well.

I thought, for a while, at least the 900 series Go TomToms were able to behave as I want, but apparently not; if I disable the auto-zoom in that, apparently the auto-zoom-at-turns goes away, too.

I like the Magellans in the Hertz cars. They were smart - if you zoomed in or out, they STAYED THERE, until you got to a turn, in which case it would zoom in, then go back where you put it.

WHY TomTom decided to take this "zoom in to where WE say you should be, not where you set it" approach, I have no idea. It's awful.