Tom Tom is KILLING my business - they won't get our address right in GPS!

[Kristine Rhodes]

We are a fairly new business - a Wedding Venue and B&B. A new road was named after our business and we have had to go into all navigation systems and have our new road added to the GPS. ALL GPS' EXCEPT TomTom have made the adjustment. The killer is that TomTom map app is what is pre-loaded into all apple devices. SO we have very unhappy guests that are staying at our B&B OR worse yet, guests for a wedding, that are being directed by TomTom to a COMPLETELY wrong address. I have brides that are touring our property who say that they decided against selecting our property for their wedding because of the navigation problems and their worried their guests will not make it to the wedding. THIS IS KILLING MY BUSINESS!!!! We went through all the correct channels with TomTom to get it fixed. Spent HOURS talking with, submitting written requests through their portal and doing EVERYTHING they asked us to do to follow "PROTOCOL" to get this fixed. They assured us by August when they had their new update that the problem would be resolved. I had a SUPERVISOR on 7/9/2015 email saying that it would be resolved. I just got off the phone with TomTom because the changes had not been made and they just told me that we did NOT make the update in August and it would be another 8 MONTHS before it was corrected. I am LIVID and worse off, concerned about what this does to my business. We cannot afford to have this happen and TOMTOM is holding us hostage. IT'S DISGUSTING and I hope everyone sees this. I have tried to talk to supervisors, they refuse to let me talk to them. They say they will call back and they don't. TomTom - you are the worst business I have ever known. Google fixed their maps right away. WHY CAN'T YOU!!!!

 

[canderson]

Google can change their maps immediately since there's no issue of distribution. It's all there on the web, even when using their maps on a smart phone.

Unlike Google, TomTom maps are resident on the smart phone (no internet service required), and are updated along with all of their other device maps and those for other companies as well.

TomTom builds maps for not just a number of generations of their own units, but others as well, and each is unique and must be beta tested before release. So while I understand that it takes too long, with the current system, it will never be as fast as Google who has no questions about builds or distributions. The same is true for Garmin who has distributions for their maps as well. So I'd be curious to know when and how you submitted the new street name to both Garmin (NavTeq maps) and TomTom (Teleatlas maps). Also, one wonders why people are being sent elsewhere. Is your business' street name similar to that of some other existing street such that it's being picked up that way?

A little more detail would help. Any chance you could provide the address in question. And had you considered doing what everyone does for rural address issues (which are common) ... just give them the coordinates? That's a feature that all of these devices have in common, and would leave no question about location.

 

[Kristine Rhodes]

Google can change their maps immediately since there's no issue of distribution. It's all there on the web, even when using their maps on a smart phone.

Unlike Google, TomTom maps are resident on the smart phone (no internet service required), and are updated along with all of their other device maps and those for other companies as well.

TomTom builds maps for not just a number of generations of their own units, but others as well, and each is unique and must be beta tested before release. So while I understand that it takes too long, with the current system, it will never be as fast as Google who has no questions about builds or distributions. The same is true for Garmin who has distributions for their maps as well. So I'd be curious to know when and how you submitted the new street name to both Garmin (NavTeq maps) and TomTom (Teleatlas maps). Also, one wonders why people are being sent elsewhere. Is your business' street name similar to that of some other existing street such that it's being picked up that way?

A little more detail would help. Any chance you could provide the address in question. And had you considered doing what everyone does for rural address issues (which are common) ... just give them the coordinates? That's a feature that all of these devices have in common, and would leave no question about location.

 

[Kristine Rhodes]

Thanks for the response. First, I understand the GPS thing. I will tell you that I've submitted requests to all the GPS' using the NASA/Gov't site on February 3, 2015 at www.gps.gov/support/user/mapfix I heard from a few that said they were correcting the problem. I also know our coordinates and have been giving that to everyone as I've been asking everyone to add our new road to their maps. I have been investing hours upon hours trying to resolve the problem. Part of the issue is that there is another address that is similar. We are CW Hill Country Ranch, 13 CW Ranch Road, Boerne, Texas 78006. There is another 13 CW Ranch Vw, Boerne, Texas 78015. Different zip code and "View" not "Road". BUT that's the only address that TomTom picks up so people go there thinking it's correct and don't even notice it's the wrong zip code because TomTom doesn't supply the zipcode in the app/map. SO people assume and don't realize. I tell people to link to our directions and to google map that launches off our website. I try to do everything. With brides touring and with guests I sent them an email and call as follow up to ensure they understand NOT to follow but people sometimes still don't listen. The worst part, and what's killing my business is that brides, rightfully so, are concerned that their guests won't find the property for their wedding. All their guests have is an invitation with an address. And they cannot give coordinates. In fact, that suggestion was an interesting one - I tried that from my TomTom map off my iPhone and I did not see where I can plug in the coordinates. And I'm a fairly tech-savvy person so I'm thinking others won't use that.

My biggest beef is that I've been spending HOURS trying to resolve this problem. Submitting requests over requests via my pc and off my tomtom app on my iPhone. I've spoken with COUNTLESS people and several supervisors at TomTom and they assured me the issue would be resolved in the August release. AND IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I had a very upset bride last week because there were several people who didn't show up for her wedding because they got lost. One couple in particular, came all the way down from Kansas City. When they finally called me to get directions they were 35 minutes away and the ceremony had just started. They missed the wedding!!! I cannot fix that problem. Can you???? I've spoken with several supervisors at TomTom and no one seems to be able to solve my problem.

 

[dhn]

Have you tried correcting the information at tomtom.com/mapshare/tools?

 

[Arno]

This should have been the first reply yesterday.
Don't know what happened but my AV, acast, disappeared without a trace.
Back now with a safe computer I'll sent it anyway for the temporarly work around.
=============================================================

Do you realise that you are posting in a peer-to-peer list without any business connection to
TomTom.

In our experience it often takes 3 quarterly installments until a road change shows up in a fixed map.
Until that time approved changes may be sent via MapShare to a device when the user connects it to the proper TomTom web site.

Since that will be a hit and miss as most users do not connect unless they buy a map subscription I would suggest a work around until the company catches up.
Give them the coordinates of the intersection where your new road starts and tell the to turn left (or right) until they get to your place.
Example:
"If your GPS cannot find Abcd Road, enter coordinates 29.946886 -99.068356 and turn 'left' into the new Abcd Road."
Little solace but that should allow 99 % of the current misses to find your establishment.

I had been fighting them for 2-1/2 years to change a road name and I don't know how for how long it had been wrong until I noticed.

 

[Kristine Rhodes]

Thanks for the suggestions. OF COURSE I tried to submit requests on tomtom.com/mapshare/tools? That was my first stop and I tried it MULTIPLE times from my device, my husbands, my PC. Again, what bride is going to put coordinates to the venue location on their invitations. Ultimately the brides are walking away because they don't want to or HAVE to deal with it.

 

[Kristine Rhodes]

To follow up - here is my account within TomTom and my submission which was accepted. It shows the status, the road, the property location and everything. It was submitted on July 14, 2015 and accepted. The supervisor I talked to that very same day said that it would make the August release. It did not. That is what's frustrating me so much. I understand process but what caused it to not make this August release. And THAT's what's bothering me and making me crazy. I just need a solution.

 

[dhn]

You won't like my answer but patience is what is needed. Maybe November's map release.

In the meantime, if your model has Help-->Where am I, it should show a mapcode. Well, if you provide that value on your website, many tomtom models can drive to the mapcode location and get to your location.

 

[Kristine Rhodes]

Thanks. You're right. I don't like the term patience. When I'm a new business and losing money because TomTom couldn't get it fixed it bugs me. My bank doesn't like the idea of bad numbers either and the term "patience" isn't in their vocabulary! BUT what your suggesting is interesting. How would I set that up on my website. I'm a bit confused.

 

[Arno]

Map code is still not your solution for printed invitations. (More)

For Google maps enter the coordinates as 29.97306, -98.67607.
If that is entered in the search filed at http://www.mapcode.com/getcoords.html?Submit=Interactive map
it will show the map code at the bottom as TX BK.VQ1C
If typed in the Address field / Search field of a TomTom it will get to your location.

Tested with 3 generations and it does not work with 7+ year old TomToms. (NAV2 devices)

(All TomToms will get to the right address by coordinates at 29.97306 -98.67607 [no comma].)

 

[canderson]

Just about any GPS will allow a person to select a point on the device's map and navigate to it. Be certain that your web page provides a map with sufficient detail such that a person can navigate to you in that manner. That should help in the interim.

That someone told you that a July submission to the correction site even COULD appear in the August release is unfortunate. By the time you made your submission, the August map was already locked in and in beta test. They're getting quicker, so there's at least some hope for November.

 

[canderson]

Thanks for the suggestions. OF COURSE I tried to submit requests on tomtom.com/mapshare/tools? That was my first stop and I tried it MULTIPLE times from my device, my husbands, my PC. Again, what bride is going to put coordinates to the venue location on their invitations. Ultimately the brides are walking away because they don't want to or HAVE to deal with it.

My wife is in the business. Given the competition for venues and the difficulty of scheduling, I'd be surprised if a geolocation issue was at the top of any bride's list of concerns. Many times, we find that invites include maps as needed for both weddings and receptions. It's not that difficult a problem to solve.

 

[canderson]

Hmm.. not quite all of the mapping services have caught up as you said. Have you tried entering your address into Bing maps (that would be Microsoft, not TomTom)? They also have no idea where 13 CW Ranch Rd, Boerne, TX 78006 is.

 

[mvl]

Tomtom handles "points of interest" through a various web of vendors, and fixing that isn't immediate.

What you need to do is resubmit the correction as a "road name" correction. That goes in right away as soon as they can verify it and then starts the 9-month timer to distribute to Tomtom devices and some other non-disclosed-but-hopefully-shorter timer to make it into Apple maps. In addition, put in a "House number" correction, which locates your number on the street. Both house number and street name matter most to people keying in an address into a GPS, and those combined are more in Tomtom's direct control and will be fastest for them to resolve.