Interesting email conversation with Traffic vendor -- then Garmin

 

After the incredibly positive response we had with POI's on our vacation.... I decided that I would re-consider the traffic information options....

I browsed the posts here on traffic information options, and found one I thought sounded best, and then contacted them about a demo..

Why contact them about another demo when I already had had a free 30 day demo? Let me count the reasons:

1. After entering in the code to start the demo.... NOTHING HAPPENED... I never remember getting any prompts whatsoever.... except that the code had been entered properly.... and a prompt offering to sell me a subscription after the "Unseen" Demo was over...
2. Our Nuvi 660 received multiple firmware updadates, that included multiple Traffic & FM firmware updates -- Did that have anything to do with it??? I Dunno!
3. Or, because were were totally "New" to GPS's in general.... Could it have been trying to tell us something, and we didn't notice? I Dunno!

So anyway, I contacted a traffic supplier (Who it turn out is the one I demo'd when we first activated our Nuvi 660) and received a real nice email thanking us for our interest, and she gave lots of info about how the system had improved, but I'd have to contact Garmin for another demo.... A truely positive response!

This is where things turn dark & Ugly....
So with that wonderful email under my belt, I did email Garmin support, indicating how our demo had gone years ago, how there have been firmware updates on this, etc., and we received a very rude email back, indicating that "You already Had your Demo" and if I wanted to buy it, do so... but no free demo's were to be had... and references to a yellow tag with a code on that, and once that was used, there are NO MORE DEMOS!

I got this email at work and was so incensed with the tone of the email, I deleted it, then contacted the lady who had been so nice..... and we corresponded a couple more times again, with her asking WHO had sent that email atg Garmin, would I PLEASE Forward that to her, and she'd make sure his attitude would receive an adjustment.... (She apparantly visits Garmin and trains their staff on how to explain that traffic plugin, in other words I really lucked out corresponding with her, as she knew that system inside and out!

But I had deleted that email.... DAMN ME!

So.... Seeing that I aparantly will never get another demo from Garmin.... and I've let myself calm down for a couple weeks prior to posting this..
I thought I'd ask here OUT IN THE OPEN, if there is any 3rd party traffic plugins that use the FM receiver that allow for a demo (weekend would be enough) that will run on a Nuvi 660 with FM receiver in the mount?
We live in Chicagoland area (North Suburbs)

Thank you for your constructive answers POI Folk!

No Thank you to Garmin! (This is the 2nd "Heavy Handed" email I received from Garmin.. First one was with them when I mis-interpreted a O for a 0 in the serial number, and they wouldn't answer me because I wasn't registered, and when I tried to register, it failed..... It took 3-4 calls to support before I finally got someone on phone who was into customer service, instead of following flip card instructions to the letter.... (Yeah, I'm still venting....)

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

Try this

JanJ wrote:

I got this email at work and was so incensed with the tone of the email, I deleted it. . .

Many corporations are required to store all inbound and outbound emails for legal discovery purposes - length of storage is dependent upon company policy.

That being said, you may be able to have your corporate IT/CIS department recover that email for you. You will need to disclose the date and who it was from (their email address is the best if you have it) and anything you can recall from the subject line.

Give a a try - what do you have to lose

--
JRoz -- DriveSmart 55 & Traffic

Was using my ISP's web email

Was using my ISP's web email viewer...
I believe it's gone...

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

Not good news

JanJ wrote:

Was using my ISP's web email viewer...
I believe it's gone...

Can you go to your webmail's deleted messages folder? - usually these are not deleted automatically, just like junk mail and one needs to go in manually to delete them.

--
JRoz -- DriveSmart 55 & Traffic

Yeah, I checked that...

Yeah, I checked that... it's set to empty on logout.
My fault... BUT!!!

I did find who I talked to from the Traffic Plugin!
(have one computer set up as email master, and others "Leave Copy" on Server... From the master got this part of information.... But none from Garmin cause it had been deleted via Web interface...

Amy's email:

I am so sorry that happened. If you would like to forward me the e-mail, I
will make sure it gets back to the head of their customer service
department.

I have gone to Kansas and trained their staff on our data and everyone I met
was incredibly friendly and helpful. I think they should be made aware if
someone is not following suit.

Again, apologies.

Thank you,
Amy
Amy Austin
Director of Operations-TTN DFW

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

perfect

This is a perfect example why companies servers run out of juice.

Yeah but

Yeah but JanJ ... I'm a little confused. While I appreciate your plight ... you did have your shot at the demo ... and like you said, either was bad from the get go, or you miss entered something.

There really is no such thing as a continuing free lunch ... and while you can kill a lot of bees with honey ... you can't really expect Garmin (or any other company) to just hand out a continuing string of free demos ...

Buy the darn service ... it's not that expensive.

For what ever reason, your shot at a "free" demo has passed. Get on with your life and get on down the road

--
Garmin 205, 260W, 1450LMT, 2460LMT, HEREwego for iPhone ... all still mapping strong.

No, I think you missed my

No, I think you missed my point...
I either didn't see anything, or one of the multiple firmware updates prevented me from seeing anything...

And seeing that I learned how important POI's were on last vacation, I though.... Maybe traffic info might be something to look into...

Except that I never saw anything...

So am I trying to get a "free lunch"?

Well, seeing that last time I never saw the 'food', I can hardly be expect to know anything about the chef..... ???

At this point, money will stay solidly in my pocket, as... If... and Until someone can show me what I'm missing, and prove it with a demo.... They are the one's who will be missing something (my money)..
I won't...

Do you work for Garmin? With your attitude, sounds like you've drunk the Kool-Aid!

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

.

Have you considered the third option: There is no traffic service available in your neck of the woods?

Regardless, I also agree with cbwatts. You used the free demo already. If you thought it wasn't working correctly, especially if you were running into traffic constantly, then you should have contacted Garmin immediately to find out what the problem is. Not ask about getting another free demo many moons later. They are completely within thier rights to deny a 2nd demo, simply cause of the fact that many out there would abuse it ("buy" a dress for a party and return it the next day type of problem comes to mind).

Kool-aid my a$$

JanJ>>sounds like you've drunk the kool-aid

My 2008 2500HD came with a three month subscription to XM ... and a one year subscription to On-star.

Never really used either one of them and both are now expired

Comcast retention department gave me a six-month free subscription to HBO.

My wife and I never really watched it. My six months are now up.

Are you suggesting that I call up and whine that I need another free trial of XM, On-Star and HBO.

Good luck with that.

You get a trial subscription for Traffic ... and because you never saw anything, you whine and suggest the non-sympathetic Garmin rep's need sensitivity training?

Sounds to me like you are the one who needs training in the art of getting on with your life.

There are whiners and there are doers.

Traffic subscriptions don't cost that much. You've wasted more of your life on this issue than it warrants ... and you've certainly wasted more of ours.

--
Garmin 205, 260W, 1450LMT, 2460LMT, HEREwego for iPhone ... all still mapping strong.

Free Lunch?

cbwatts wrote:

Yeah but JanJ ... I'm a little confused. While I appreciate your plight ... you did have your shot at the demo ... and like you said, either was bad from the get go, or you miss entered something.

There really is no such thing as a continuing free lunch ... and while you can kill a lot of bees with honey ... you can't really expect Garmin (or any other company) to just hand out a continuing string of free demos ...

Buy the darn service ... it's not that expensive.

For what ever reason, your shot at a "free" demo has passed. Get on with your life and get on down the road

I do believe you missed your true calling. I understand Garmin is hiring "Customer Unserviced".

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Feel the love here!!! I

Feel the love here!!!

I think you mis-interpreting an attempt to determine if something is worth purchasing with Free Lunch...

Chicagoland Appears to have great traffic coverage... Except it didn't do anything during the demo... That's not my fault....

I approached them in Good faith, and in the email I sent them described that nothing happened.... They should know what their product does, shouldn't they?

Instead of saying something like: "No, you should have seen the following: " but they didn't... They became overly heavy handed, reading directly from their flip cards....

Same thing could be applied to most of the posters to my comments on this thread....

You could have said: "No, Jan, you should have seen _____ during the demo" But you didn't!

Please remember, my plan behind this post was to determine the worth and use-ability of the Traffic system.... And it turned into a discussion about cooking: "Free Lunch" and Kool Aid...

Why don't we all re-approach this thread and concentrate on the origional questions....
Which Traffic system seems best...
What do you see on the Garmin when it does 'It's thing'... and
How helpful has it been to you?

Like I've said repeatedly, I'm just trying to determine what it should have done, and how it works... Without a demo.....

Jan

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

Another way to look at it

Jan,

You have a systems that has a traffic receiver built into the power cord. That cord will only receive either MSN or Navteq/TTN. To try the other system you need to purchase the power cord and receiver for that service and that cord comes with a subscription for a year of service.

So the question you are really asking is: Is the service that comes with this model receiver worth the price?

If you don't like the service, and the minimum commitment for a service is a year, then you either buy the other cord new or buy one off the used market. The used market may cost you more as you then have to pay for a subscription.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

If Only

You had made this last post your first one...

Why didn't you ask:

Quote:

Why don't we all re-approach this thread and concentrate on the origional questions....
Which Traffic system seems best...
What do you see on the Garmin when it does 'It's thing'... and
How helpful has it been to you?

in the first place? I see a lot of looking for another free lunch in the original post...

--
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

Not good faith

JanJ wrote:

I approached them in Good faith, and in the email I sent them described that nothing happened.... They should know what their product does, shouldn't they?

Good faith would have been during the demo period, not "some years later" as you stated. Granted, it never hurts to ask for an undeserved freebie. But the reasonable answer was "sorry, no", so you need to move on.

I did not know that

I did not know that receivers were specific to the services....
When it DOES WORK, what does the end user see on the screen when a traffic service 'kicks in' ??

Thanks again for that information a_user!

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

It depends

JanJ wrote:

I did not know that receivers were specific to the services....
When it DOES WORK, what does the end user see on the screen when a traffic service 'kicks in' ??

Thanks again for that information a_user!

I have MSN on mine. It will display a yellow diamond with some information on it. If it is numbers, it is the amount of delay one can expect on the current route. It also will post a message letting me know there are significant delays ahead and an approximate distance to the delay area. I then have a choice. I can either continue on toward the delay or, the way mine is set up route around the trouble area.

I have no experience with TTN/NAVTEQ.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet