TomTom service

[gerry]

Hallo Gerry,

I know that you probably see this totally different. First time I visited the US of A there were nationwide news about a woman who brewed herself up spilling hot coffee over her belly at a McDonalds restaurant. She was lucky enough to get a smart lawyer and McD was sued to a large amount of smart-money (can't remember it exactly, but it was more than a million bucks). Maybe you should try this way as well.


Oskar (head-shaking)

Hello Oskar!!

Yes, you are correct. I do see it differently.

My friend's bum did apply the force to break the screens, and I truly believe this would not have happened if the 720 was out of the case. We'll never know though because I sure am not going to experiment!! You can choose to believe it would not make a difference. We can agree to disagree. I do damage assessment on sophisticated electronics for the largest defense contractor in the world. WE would have worked with the customer after examining the hardware. TomTom did not care to do a physical inspection, I would gladly have paid for return shipment.

The METAL snap on the case gave the screens a concentrated pressure point that if the snap were on the BACK of the case where any decent engineer would have put it... this would not have happened. The case obviously had NO engineering involvement, or someone would have seen the obvious... there was probably no testing either.

I recall the McDonald's event. I however completely agreed with the woman, back then McDonald's coffee WAS too hot. But you can never make everyone happy, and McDonalds should have settled with her in some way without a lawyer... again just MY own opinion.

Funny though, I was at my local Radio Shack with my broken 720 trying to get them to fix it ( they fix 720's sold by their stores ). The manager said this was the second TomTom he had seen broken in a similar manner, i.e. the snap on the case generated sufficient pressure to crack the screen. His opinion.

My touch screen AND LCD were both fractured. A soft bum would absolutely not do that with a 720 outside the case.... ( my friend has a pretty soft bum )



But bigger than this is why TomTom's screen's are not available to the repair market. The touch screen is. Perhaps one day I can pickup a dead 720 on Ebay that has a good screen. Who knows.

Thanks for the comments from abroad sir!! I have not completely given up on this event. I will get someone from TomTom to listen more intently SOMEHOW!!!

Gerry-

 

[Oskar]

WE would have worked with the customer after examining the hardware.

Hello Gerry,

you deliberately forgot to tell that this is why defence is such a costly thing.

I agree that there are much better ways to fix that metal snap. It will be great for all the TT-customers if your complain makes them think it over and do an extra shift in engineering. Although I still believe in your particular case that would not have made any difference, it may do so in some other more "lighter" situations. Let me please advice you to address that complain to the TT-Management in the Netherlands instead to these poor guys from the support.


Oskar

 

[gerry]

Oskar,

We deliver BIG value, I am convinced. Whether it has any application in the commercial ( non-military ) world, is always determined by how fast someone wants the technology. We are cutting edge. I am proud of that.

Educate me please. I was under the apparently false impression the TomTom was a British product. Not sure where I was getting that. If the TT people in support are not in the Netherlands, I take it that means the Netherlands must be home base ( reading this and playing detective at the same time )

Who in the real land of TT could I address a concise letter or email too. I feel compelled to help others in the same situation ( I know of only one, but none the less ).

My 'factory refurbished' 720 from Amazon.com should arrive tomorrow. For the $165 or so U.S. dollars it cost, I am anxious to see what it includes. Hopefully at least 2008 maps and the latest firmware.

Then on to TT support to see their reaction to a refurb'd TomTom i.e. what TomTom Home version 2.x will allow me to update/upgrade etc. If it gives me full updates, I will be QUITE a bit happier.

Gerry-

 

[Arno]

Let me please advice you to address that complain to the TT-Management in the Netherlands instead to these poor guys from the support.

Oskar,
I hadn't been paying attention to this subject until I noticed your name.

I wasn't aware of TomTom's refusal to non-warranty repair, not even during
the duration of the normal warranty. Yet, they sell factory refurbished unit with warranty.

A company that will not service what it sells (and we are not talking Dollar Store items here)
has lost all its good will and, even though I am more than satisfied with my unit,
I will not be able in good conscience to recommend the product to friends any longer.

Pity.

 

[gerry]

Oskar,

A company that will not service what it sells (and we are not talking Dollar Store items here)
has lost all its good will and, even though I am more than satisfied with my unit,
I will not be able in good conscience to recommend the product to friends any longer.

Arno,

Thank you for this explicit comment. It cements my feelings. I am quite willing to take a hit for breaking my TT, but my gosh... I want them to fix it. The unit is still in the original 1 year manufacturer's warranty period for petes sake. I also have a 4 year Best Buy warranty on it.

If ANYONE from TT management can be contacted I would certainly appreciate an opportunity to chat with them.

BTW, I received my factory refurb'd unit from Amazon.com just tonight. For $168 it is WELL worth it. TomTom support only offered me a customer loyalty discount of $100 for a new TomTom 720 if I purchased it from them. $278 I believe was the cost. Nah, I like my $168 unit just as much.

The Amazon unit is just like a new one out of the box. Full 1 year warranty, software upgrades and I'm hoping a one time guaranteed map upgrade ( I envision 2009 maps in my near future... ). It loading all the updates as I type. Can't wait for the full performance...

Hopefully others will one day benefit from some of this conversation. I would like to hear from an official TT person though.

Regards to all, I'm back in business with my Amazon TT720!!

Gerry-

 

[gerry]

Nope, it says my 'latest maps' guarantee has expired. Guess here goes another complaint. Sheez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the 'Operate my TomTom from my computer option returns a error:

Note: This function is not yet supported for your TomTom Device or operating system

Well thats nice. I'm running XP Pro and this function worked on my OTHER TT720....

 

[dhn]

Call support......do not write.

Though I suspect that if you got the refurb unit, someone prior to you used the lmg.

 

[tukatz]

If you contact support and tell them you just got this unit they may well put the maps in your user account area. But a question. Did you setup a new account at TomTom? I bought a refurb 910 that stopped taking a charge after about 6 months. TomTom had me send it in and they sent me a refurb 920 to replace it. I could not get the new maps and called them and told them I just received the unit. They asked if I had any document showing when I got it and I told them I had the packing slip. They instructed me to upload an image, which I did. They placed the new maps in my user account. I did have to setup a new account at TomTom when I got the 920 because it was a different model. You might have to do the same thing because it is a different serial #.

 

[Arno]

If ANYONE from TT management can be contacted I would certainly appreciate an opportunity to chat with them.
[ ... ]
Hopefully others will one day benefit from some of this conversation. I would like to hear from an official TT person though.

TomTom N.V.
Rembrandtplein 35
1017 CT Amsterdam
Netherlands

Let us know what comes out of your letter writing campaign.

 

[gerry]

Gents, thanks for all the responses. I will write a letter to the address Arno supplied, it will proably take a week to get there. Much better would be an email address.

Last night I got the "control my TomTom from the PC working". I still am getting the message that my one time upgrade on maps has expired. I will try settting up a new tomtom home account, to see if that changes anything. I did use a difference login name, I figured that would be enough. This is a shame, the system should not be this hard for factory refurb'd units, nor should TT refuse to repair a unit that is still under warranth or NOT. According to support there is NO repair of any TomTom for physical screen damage. What?? Is it glued together so well it gets destroyed in the process?

Lame. As much as I like TomTom this is a seriously bad issue for the loyal owners of these devices. I could have purchased a rebuilt Garmin or Magellen off Amazon, but I did not. I like the TomTom, its a great box. Support needs to meet the same standard.

Gerry-

 

[Arno]

Nope, it says my 'latest maps' guarantee has expired. Guess here goes another complaint. Sheez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ISTR when refurbished models were offered first week of September by TomTom that those were specifically excluded from the Latest Map Guarantee but I cannot find a reference on that site.

And the 'Operate my TomTom from my computer option returns a error:
Note: This function is not yet supported for your TomTom Device or operating system

How about tapping on the GPS signal strength to display the NavCore version of your 720. Tap again and tell us line-by-line (except the first one, which is the serial number of your machine) what is displayed.
Better still, tap the left hand top corner, connect to the PC, open Windows Explorer, click on your device, click on SCREEN, click on column "Date Modified" (change the arrow to descending order if necessary) look at the newest dump1234567890.bmp file. Convert it to a JPG. Then, reply to this post and attach the JPG.

 

[sageuvagony]

You will get LMG PERIOD! Just call them, they will ask you to fax or email your receipt, and that's it! Map is in your account ready to download in minutes. I've bought 2 refurbished units in the last 2 months and got my Latest Map. Everyone else here who bought refurbs here lately have still also gotten the LMG. Don't give up so easy. For my ONE XL, the LMG worked from the Home software without calling, and the 720 required a call, which took under 5 minutes. Very painless process.

 

[gerry]

LMG now functions, as does the control unit from TomTom Home. Several updates of the device had to occur. Now I am back on the hunt to get my original 720 looked at by someone at TomTom.

 

[gerry]

Better still, tap the left hand top corner, connect to the PC, open Windows Explorer, click on your device, click on SCREEN, click on column "Date Modified" (change the arrow to descending order if necessary) look at the newest dump1234567890.bmp file. Convert it to a JPG. Then, reply to this post and attach the JPG.

Arno,

Tapping the left hand corner of my TT720 upper, zooms , lower left displays volume control.

So I need a little more info.

I do not have a screen directory on the tomtom 720 drive, probably because its a temp directory or something?

Here is a screen print of the version info screen from within the 'operate my TomTom' section of TomTom Home.

Gerry-

 

[Arno]

And the 'Operate my TomTom from my computer option returns a error:
Note: This function is not yet supported for your TomTom Device or operating system

My previous reply was refering to the above. Your saying that you cannot connect to the computer.
The picture in your next quote shows that you are connected via HOME.

Tapping the left hand corner of my TT720 upper, zooms , lower left displays volume control.

Without being connected to HOME, tapping the [+] in the LH top corner will make a screen print. You will even hear the the click of a camera shutter.
If you do not have a folder named screen in your TomTom folder, make one.
Then disconnect the 720 from the computer. Switch it on, click on the [+] (zoom) and listen for the click. Do that with a few different screens.
Reconnect to the computer and with Windows go the the folder screen click on thumb nails and see the different screen prints made earlier.

Here is a screen print of the version info screen from within the 'operate my TomTom' section of TomTom Home.

 

[gerry]

Very interesting. I will make the folder and do some experimenting.

I was just working with the Google Maps 'Send' feature last night and am happy they have made this one step easier.

Now on to that letter to TomTom....

 

[sageuvagony]

Very interesting. I will make the folder and do some experimenting.

I was just working with the Google Maps 'Send' feature last night and am happy they have made this one step easier.

Now on to that letter to TomTom....

He forgot to mention that you must create a file called "capture" in the screen folder with no extension

 

[gerry]

He forgot to mention that you must create a file called "capture" in the screen folder with no extension

Ah ha! Now it works!

Thanks!!

 

[sageuvagony]

Ah ha! Now it works!

Thanks!!

No problem. Keep in mind that no matter what screen you are on, if you tap that area, it will take a screen shot. Even if you are at the menu screen, tap the area, and it will take a pic

 

[Arno]

He forgot to mention that you must create a file called "capture" in the screen folder with no extension

Ooops! Youse folks are pickey, ain't cha.

Tops for catching that.