BagBlog

Below is a sequence of correspondence (in reverse chronological order) with Tom Tom over a Palm TX / Tom Tom 5 purchase I made. There were problems with the software which customer services seem to have been very uninterested in resolving other than for me to send back the items.

Since I had started using the Palm TX and had spent some time setting it up, I was naturally reluctant to spend more time clearing the data off it, repackage it, send it back and then set up a replacement.

Amazon won't accept just the GPS part of the package as a return.

This has put me off buying electronic goods on the internet and has certainly put me off buying anything from Tom Tom. I recommend the cheaper alternative - a £5 road atlas and a few post-it notes!

I am therefore sending back both items for a refund rather than replacement since I don't think Tom Tom deserve to make any profit on this. Their customer service is non-existent and their QA is worse than useless since the item didn't work out of the box or have a complete label on the CD (See below - codes deliberately blurred out).

I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who has experienced such problems with Tom Tom products. If you have had similar experiences, add them to the comment section below.


Discussion Thread
Customer 06/02/2006 02.54 PM
I see that to make a complaint I have to write a letter rather than an email. Therfore I won't bother. Consider this sequence of communications (or lack of it on your part) as my complaint.

Customer 06/02/2006 02.51 PM
Spoken just now with a customer services representative from Tom Tom who says that they cannot issue a new product code. Therefore I will submit a complaint and will return the product for a refund later this week. All of this hassle will also feature on my blog. Thanks for nothing Tom Tom.

Customer 06/02/2006 01.08 PM
Amazon have just informed me that they would require both the TomTom GPS AND the PDA to be returned. In which case I will ask for a refund rather than a replacement. Especially if I don't hear a satisfactory response from you by the end of today.

Customer 06/02/2006 01.06 PM
You could take a chance and mail out a new card and relevant keys to me as a matter of urgency. There is a small risk to you that I am dishonest and want to get my hands on the card and key for free. There's also a risk that by sending it out you may actually have a satisfied customer (even though the satisfaction is delayed).

Customer 06/02/2006 10.47 AM
In addition to this, Amazon will probably require me to return both the TomTom unit and the PDA (Palm TX) which is now in use by me. This will be very, very inconvenient since I have spent a lot of time setting up the Palm TX

Customer 06/02/2006 10.19 AM
OK so there will be about 2 weeks turnaround while I send it back and get another one. Great. Will I be compensated for not being able to use it? Can you not just send a new card? BTW I transferred the data to an SD card to try it and on trying to activate the maps it did not recognise the code. This is just yet another problem. I feel inclined to just return the item for a refund if it has so many problems out of the box that you cannot resolve for me in quick time.

Response 06/02/2006 09.56 AM
Dear Mr Bagnall,

Based on your picture the product code has been damaged but not by you. If this item is brand new return this to your point of purchase for a complete exchange.


With best regards,

The TomTom Customer Support Team

Auto-response 04/02/2006 04.19 PM

...

Various meaningless FAQs followed here
...

Customer 04/02/2006 04.19 PM
I am very disappointed since there are 2 problems:

1. When SD card inserted in Palm TX - no TomTom icon to click.
2. CD sleeve label incomplete therefore cannot install software (see attached photo).

I therefore cannot use the GPS this weekend when I wanted to for a long journey.

Labels: Tom Tom Customer Service dissatisfaction Palm TX