luckym1ss - VIA Live will not power up

[luckym1ss]

I have a tomtom via live bought in March this year. I did a round trip on 256 miles on 25th Nov.2012 no problem. tried to use it 26th and its as dead as a dodo. wont charge in car battery or computer. the tomtom has not been dropped or misused in any shape or form. Some one suggested it might be condensation, whatever that may mean so I did as suggested and put it in a warm place......still dead!!!!!!! who is responsable for exchange or repair ...the seller or tomtom

 

[drledger]

Generally the seller will have a brief time for return but that really depends on the company. Tomtom would ultimately be responsible so after checking with the vendor..just in case they will accept it...and I doubt they will...contact TT support by phone. There might be a known issue that can be resolved but electronics do fail. Had something similar to happen to one of mine and a reset did the trick. You might try that. Does the charging light come on when you plug in the unit?
Be sure to post back about the resolution. Other more technical moderators may have some suggestions.

 

[canderson]

In the UK (I had to peek at your IP address.. we have a Bolton in 3 different states in the eastern US, too), you seem to have a somewhat different approach to returned goods than we have here in the U.S. In the UK, it seems to be the case that in-warranty failures are often returned to the seller, even after some considerable period after purchase. While that is possible here as well, it's more common to go back to the manufacturer for support. It depends upon the policy of the seller.

So I'd try the seller first, then only if that fails, contact TomTom. Be sure you've got as much evidence of date of purchase as you can muster.

 

[canderson]

As to the problem itself ...

What model do you have, exactly? There were a number of 1000 series units that shipped with dodgy batteries, but I hadn't heard of Via models (I assume yours will be either a Via 120 or 125 Live) having this problem.

Does your unit operate (not charge, just operate) at all when connected to an external power source? Are you using the original cable, or at a minimum, have you tried substituting another similar cable to see what happens?

 

[luckymiss123]

Thankyou for all your replies. the answers to the questions you ask are as follows:
I have a tomtom via 125.
The unit does not operate when connected to external power source and no charging light comes on.
I do not have another cable to use.

 

[canderson]

Would hate to think it's only the cable. Any chance you could cadge one (I love that word - you never hear it over here) from a friend just for a quick test? It's a fairly common USB connector these days.

If not, I'd say it's back to the shop for a replacement.

THAT SAID, if you do obtain a replacement unit, we need to discuss your online account with TomTom and your Live account (if you've subscribed). Do NOT simply try to use the new unit with the old account. There are a couple of options, but we'll need to know if you purchased a Live subscription for the old unit first.

 

[- et -]

Thankyou for all your replies. the answers to the questions you ask are as follows:
I have a tomtom via 125.
The unit does not operate when connected to external power source and no charging light comes on.
I do not have another cable to use.

When you say that "no charging light comes on", are you talking about the light on the charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter, or the icon on the face of the GPS? Even if the GPS is dead, the light on the charger itself should still come on when it is plugged in. If it does not, I would suspect the charger except that you said that nothing happens when plugged in to your computer.

Like canderson, one of the first places that I would look is the cable. If you take your unit back to the seller, they should have a cable available that you could use to test with while you are in the store. It would be to everyone's advantage to eliminate that as the cause rather than just exchanging the unit.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

 

[luckymiss123]

the charger in car does light up but the unit remains dead and there is absolutely no response when plugged into computer. I will do as you suggest and return to shop , hoping they can test the cable for me.
Thankyou for your interest, it is much appreciated

 

[luckymiss123]

thankyou for advice, much appreciated. Returned to shop today. they say the item simply needed to be booted up, which they did and tomtom is now working but wondering if I have go a dodgy battery as suggested in one of the replies...will just have to wait and see !!!

 

[canderson]

Now that's odd. Evidently they rebooted the device with a 20 second press of the power button (you have to release it as soon as the drums sound and the logo appears). I can't imagine why something like that was required out of box, but I'd sure be keeping an eye on it.