Email from TomTom: US can bugger off

[RobertB]

So I just got this email from TomTom:

Map Update Service

Roads are always changing. Fortunately, with Map Update Service?, you'll know where those changes are and how to take the smartest route. The service guarantees you every new version of your map over the year. You get all four new map downloads from as little as just ?7.95 a quarter!

Whatever the year ahead holds, you can be sure you've got the latest map to guide you.

Awesome, that's just what I want! I can tell you right now that when the time comes to pony up $80 bucks for a new map, I'm going to be flat broke. I want it, I understand the intrinsic value of the information, but I'd bet $80 that I don't have now that I won't have it then either. $15 every three months, though, I can do -- and it's cheaper over the course of the year to boot.

So I go to the link and hit the link that says "Get a personal quote for your map with TomTom HOME". But nothing new shows up, just the same list of maps that has always shown up. I do some poking around, use different browsers in case the link's not working right... nothing works.

Finally, I see the little dropdown in the top right corner for my location. It's set to the United Kingdom. Changing it to the good ol' U S of A reveals the awful truth: "We are sorry, but this service is not available in your country at this time."

What a tease! Offer me just what I need, something I'd slap down my worn-out credit card for in a heartbeat, and then tell me "Oh, sorry, we're still peeved about that little 1776 incident, so bugger off!"

If any TomTom folks are reading this: Do me a favor. If you're not going to let me buy a service, don't offer it to me. I was on the edge of buying a traffic receiver, and if I had the spare $100 (see above), I'd have done it. Not now. I can't trust your site to give me a straight answer about what services are and aren't available.

Get your stuff straight and I'll buy what you're selling. Jerk me around and I'll go back to the $5 Rand McNally at Wal-Mart.

 

[naviathan]

That blows, I'd be interested in a service like that also.

 

[dhn]

It was (strongly) rumoured that TT would announce a subscription map series in NA last week similar to the one Europeans have enjoyed since October.

Maybe, in their sadly established manner of screw-ups, the email for the European series was a foul up and, in fact, an announcement of the NA series is imminent......maybe ................

 

[Peter715]

That sucks and trust me I know. I went through exactly the same last week!

 

[RobertB]

Got another one:

Dear (my last name only)

Have you already ordered our Map Update Service?

TomTom Map Update Service(tm) guarantees you every new version of your map over the year. It spreads the cost too ? you get all four new map downloads for just ?7.95 a quarter! Whatever the year ahead holds, you can be sure you've got the latest map to guide you.

The year ahead holds disappointment, apparently. Because clicking on the link in the email, then clicking on the "Add to TomTom" link, just pulls up the same "Maps" as before. And it's not until you go to the dropdown on the web page that you find out that we're screwed again.

I know, that "old Europe" thing was really stupid, and "Freedom Fries" got old real quick. But we got rid of *that* President. Please, TomTom, Can we *please* have our map updates now?