Tom Tom Rider Fault

[steveh]

is it possible too

fix the contacts on the back of the rider DIY? My contacts are drilled but only just and I bought a ram mount and touratech mount so it won't happen again. If I can fix the rear contacts on the rider unit I'll be happy....any ideas on how to repair them? Seems a better option then battling with Tomtom and restoring maps, poi's etc etc

 

[AlanB]

Sorry to say it, but add me to the ever-growing list of disgruntled owners. I have just started experiencing the cut out, cut in problem with my TT, although, despite the fact that I use the thing every day for a 120 mile round trip commute, the contacts seem to be in good shape. But I guess it seems I'm living on borrowed time. If I can add my weight to any collaborative campaign for recall, then count me in.

 

[andyclift]

any ideas on how to repair them? Seems a better option then battling with Tomtom and restoring maps, poi's etc etc

Bite the bullet and battle with Tomtom. Restoring data is not a problem as when they eventually agree to take the kit back they ask you to retain the SD card so its just a case of putting the SD card back in when they send new kit. The only small snag is you need to know the serial numbers for the maps to unlock them on the new Rider. I could not find mine but a call to David, my helpful contact at Tomtom - see below) got me a download of the latest mapping to replace the old maps on the SD card.

If you battle hard enough you can win. I not only got my original Rider and bracket replaced, I also got a Rider 2 kit complete with car bracket and a free subscription to the speed camera and traffic downloads as an apology for the slow service.

First you use the `official' after sales service via the Tomtom website. If that does not get a quick response try phoning on 0845 1610009. If you still get the run around check their website for senior management names and write to them at

Rembrandtplein 35
1017 CT Amsterdam
The Netherlands

You can fax letters to this address, the number is on the website.

I did get a reply to my faxes but th fnal action which worked for me was to start emailing the senior management. They don't publish their email addresses and I can't remember what worked but, for example, if you want to email Fred Bloggs at Tomtom you try [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc. etc. You send an email to each possible address and all except one come back as undeliverable but the one that gets through got me a personal reply inside 30 minutes, a phone call from Amsterdam inside an hour and the new Rider 2 system dispatched by courier the same day. Also got an email with the Chief Operating Officer's mobile number with the instruction to phone him if I had any problems.

 

[Egon]

New E Mail Addy.

I've had to dump the NTL address so anyone trying to contact me can get me on [email protected].

Happy New Year to all

 

[zerocool]

I am currently at the two month period and they arent responding to e mails. I have found a fax number as someone else mentioned so will be faxing a complaint through there hoping someone in authority will pick up on it. I worked for Halfords once and sold hundreds of Tomtoms coz I believed they were the best, how wrong was I and I feel a little guilty in case those customers have to go through this debarcle.

Ive got sesveral TomToms and ive only ever had an issue with my Rider 1 mount.

Im totally inlove with my 720 and Rider 2 units.

You cant mark a whole brand just because of one bad unit.

TomTom admit the mount wasnt great and I think its commendable that they are issueing Rider 2 units out after only a few emails.

Ive also working in retail selling electronics and I can GUARANTEE Garmin guarantee isnt all you are making it to be. Its basically the same, and their products are no better.

Sounds a little bit like your spitting out your dummy over one bad experience. No offence intended but it annoys me how loud people shout about a small issue that will be resolved if your just persistent with their HO.

Emailing the board of directors seems a extreme but effective way of getting a action. I personally found the call centre was able to give me what I wanted, and I got that within 4 days. Very fast and efficient.

Ask yourself... when you ring up, are you being excessively forceful, maybe even arrogant in excess with the intention of getting what you want. This approach often doesnt work. Try being nice with person on the phone and you will more that likely get what you want. Out of all the things I learnt in retail, this is the most important!

Ive always found bad attitudes get bad results. People personalities change so much if they think they are not getting what they want.

 

[andyclift]

Experience with Tomtom compared with Garmin

Tomtom

Main service contact is a horrible web form system that results in a reply suggesting stupid fixes. Example - when I filled a form saying my Tomtom was not powering from the mount, the suggestion was check its charged !!

When web contact frustrates the service number, when you can find it always results in a long wait on line and often after waiting for 20 minutes the message changes from hold to call back later and the line goes dead - so you start again.

Emailing top brass works but it takes some lateral thinking to find an address.

Total time to get a Rider replaced and working was eight weeks - and from many posts on many forums this is not unusual.

Garmin

I broke my 2720, my fault and I was prepared to pay for repairs. Easy to find contact number and they answered after a couple of rings. I was asked to send the unit back and they would quote for repairs and estimated te time as up to two weeks. I sent the unit back on Monday (just the satnav unit, no extras), on Wednesday a courier arrived with a full new retail system with charger, software, mounts etc. and a free of charge invoice. That's service.

After updating my mapping software I was having some problems getting routes in Eastern Europe to work properly. Phoned Garmin, explained problem and was transferred to someone who knew what they were talking about who spent an hour on the phone getting it sorted.

If you have problems with Tomtom fight and you can win. I got my Rider 12 replaced plus a complete Rider 2 kit with car mount and a years database subscription as a gift. It takes time but don't let them get away with bad service.

I won't detail the email addresses I gotwhich solved it but check this link for details how to get them.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clift/tomtom.html

 

[worthy]

Does the Tom Tom rider only work with blue tooth. ? Can a headset be plugged in direclty as with the Zumo..

 

[andyclift]

The only output from a Rider is Bluetooth. I asked Tomtom at an exhibition why no audio out and was told it was because it would compromise the waterproofing - which is clearly rubbish. My Garmin has audio out with no problems and if Tomtom can get 12volts in it's clearly just as easy to get 1 volt out!


You get the Cardo headset with the Rider but that has its limitations as it can be hard to fit to any helmet with a neck skirt. My BMW System 5, Schueberth C" and wife's System 4 all need bits cutting out to fit a Cardo plus they are a nuisance to use as every time you put your helmet on the mic boom needs fiddling under the front. Also of course its no good if you have an Autocom. Again I asked Tomtom about this and they suggested discarding the Cardo headset (that you have paid for) and buy an Autocom Bluetooth dongle.

The Rider 2 is better than the Mark 1 but Tomtom still have not really researched what motorcyclists need.

 

[worthy]

Does anyone know how much the Autocom Bluetooth dongle costs ?

 

[andyclift]

About £80 - the same price as the Rider/Cardo one that you throw away!!!

Check with Autocom first though as, depending on which Autocom you have it can affect other use of Autocom inputs

 

[Markgsxr]

TomTom admit the mount wasnt great and I think its commendable that they are issueing Rider 2 units out after only a few emails.

I havent seen them admit the mount wasnt great. My Rider one was away for two months last year just to have the four pin plate changed, they sent the later design mount and now the unit charges interrmittently from the cradle. Also the drilling has returned and the pins dont line up with the contact points very well. I sent them an e mail through the proper channels 5 days ago and have had nothing except the automated reply telling me to expect contact in 48 hours. I must have sent about 10 e mails and spoken on the phone, never shouting or being forceful and Im getting nowhere.

I would be grateful if you could point out anywhere that they admit the mount wasnt great great so I could qoute it to them.

When its working I personally feel the Tomtom is the easiest to use and I like the display so have no desire to switch brands, I would just like my Rider to be fit for the purpose it was sold for!!

 

[mike wright]

I havent seen them admit the mount wasnt great. My Rider one was away for two months last year just to have the four pin plate changed, they sent the later design mount and now the unit charges interrmittently from the cradle. Also the drilling has returned and the pins dont line up with the contact points very well. I sent them an e mail through the proper channels 5 days ago and have had nothing except the automated reply telling me to expect contact in 48 hours. I must have sent about 10 e mails and spoken on the phone, never shouting or being forceful and Im getting nowhere.

I would be grateful if you could point out anywhere that they admit the mount wasnt great great so I could qoute it to them.

When its working I personally feel the Tomtom is the easiest to use and I like the display so have no desire to switch brands, I would just like my Rider to be fit for the purpose it was sold for!!

contact the head office and send it to one of the directors... Also do a search on reports and include the websites. They sent me a V2 for free to replace the V1 after a bit of agueing. Quite a few people have had the same success but it requires perservence

 

[andyclift]

Markgxr

Check the link on how I got satisfaction. My problem was similar to yours. Long delays, not respnding to enquiries and a nightmare getting through on the phone.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clift/tomtom.html

I not only got a brand new Rider 1 and bracket but within two hours of emailing the Chief Operating Officer of Tomtom I had a phone call from Amsterdam telling me a complimentary Rider 2 system with car bracket and free traffic camera subscription had been sent to me by courier as well.

I don't wish to sound condescending but this is what I did. I sent a very polite email suggesting that the senior management may not be aware of the problems in their service department. I then listed each stage of the saga. Details of faults. Dates and details of emails and phone calls, time delays on responses to emails (if any) and time holding on the phone. Date faulty unit was collected, date replacement was received etc. Concluded by asking if he could be of any help in restoring my faith in Tomtom. The result was an immediate email back telling me the matter would be resolved that day and if I had any trouble he gave me his private mobile number.

 

[Markgsxr]

Andyclift, I followed your advice. Guess what, within 20 mins of sending an e mail the support dept sent me a mail, to which I replied and got an almost instant response, to which I replied and got another almost instant response.

Then within the hour a phone call from Amsterdam and soon a nice new Rider 2 will be winging its way to me. Im not getting any extras like European mapping, camera's, car brackets etc but Im not complaining. At the end of the day I bought a Rider and as long as I come out with a Rider that works I'm happy.

Just hope the ram mount etc means I dont have to buy a Wunderlich/Touraterch mount.

Long winded path to get to this conclusion but hats off to Tomtom for resolving this issue.

 

[Markgsxr]

Ive got sesveral TomToms and ive only ever had an issue with my Rider 1 mount.

Im totally inlove with my 720 and Rider 2 units.

You cant mark a whole brand just because of one bad unit.

TomTom admit the mount wasnt great and I think its commendable that they are issueing Rider 2 units out after only a few emails.

Ive also working in retail selling electronics and I can GUARANTEE Garmin guarantee isnt all you are making it to be. Its basically the same, and their products are no better.

Sounds a little bit like your spitting out your dummy over one bad experience. No offence intended but it annoys me how loud people shout about a small issue that will be resolved if your just persistent with their HO.

Emailing the board of directors seems a extreme but effective way of getting a action. I personally found the call centre was able to give me what I wanted, and I got that within 4 days. Very fast and efficient.

Ask yourself... when you ring up, are you being excessively forceful, maybe even arrogant in excess with the intention of getting what you want. This approach often doesnt work. Try being nice with person on the phone and you will more that likely get what you want. Out of all the things I learnt in retail, this is the most important!

Ive always found bad attitudes get bad results. People personalities change so much if they think they are not getting what they want.

Not sure if all the comments are directed at me or just some. FYI I also have a ONE that is out of warranty which only charges when you wiggle the wire and "sit" the unit so the wire touches the dash so I have/had two TomTom's with issues. When I worked at Halfords I had lots of One's returned with the sound dropping out, then the 910's* when they first came out where switching themselves off as they rocked in their mount. This was fixed with a software update which basically told the unit not to turn off when contact was broken. Thats what I was told by the tomtom area rep anyhow.

I had fewer Garmins returned and loads of Navman's and Navman's were by far the worst to deal with.

While this Tomtom issue was going on you may see from another thread I was also battling BMW about my GSA so was getting the raw end of the stick from two companies who's products I bought. BMW sent a man out who rode the bike and agreed there was an issue so they replaced the bike, Tomtom have now done the same. I just believe you should get what you pay for.

Im not having a "go" at you so please dont get the wrong idea, I am just giving you the bigger picture And as you're only in Sheffield I better be nice to you coz you might be bigger than me!!!

*edited this bit, couldnt remember if 910's or 920's, strill not sure but it was the first one with American and Canadian mapping.

 

[andyclift]

Maxgsxr.

Glad you got it sorted. I still prefer my Garmin (my wife uses the Rider 2 and the Rider 1 sits in a drawer) but I have used the Rider 2 on my GS as it just clamps on the RAM mount I fitted for the Garmin. Having tried various installations my favorite is on the left bar and the Rider 2 mount is a massive improvement on the original. Just slide the satnav on and it clicks into place.

I got the car bracket as I asked them to confirm that the Rider 2 they were sending would fit on my Mark 1 car bracket (of course I knew it wouldn't). They responded by sending me a car bracket as well.

Zerocool.

I find it hard to agree with the comment about not marking a whole brand because of one bad unit. The Rider Mark 1 bracket was an awful design failure mainly, I think, because Tomtom made no allowance for the vibration on bikes. The very many people who are shouting about this are fully justified. I paid £600 for my mark 1 and it was not fit for purpose. Not a minor component failure but a very basic and terminal design fault which in the early days Tomtom refused to accept. Both my neighbour ans son-in-law have had problems with their car Tomtoms and they both found Tomtom difficult to contact and very slow to take action.

Why should buyers, in these cirumstances need to be, using your words, persistant with head office. When mine failed I used Tomtom's service email line to report a problem which the company were fully aware of. The reply should have been "send it back". Instead I was treated like they had never come across that problem before and sent me stupid suggestions that had no bearing on the problem. Then followed a long saga of emails and phone calls before I got the unit replaced.

Incidentally with Tomtom, it is not so easy to be "persistant with head office". The only published email contact is the service department. Telephone contact demands long waits listening to music, if you get through at all. Their website does name the senior management and give an address, which I wrote to by tracked mail and got no reply. One needs to be persistant and a little imaginitive to get through to senior management although once contact has been made it seems that Tomtom do deliver the goods.

Maybe your experience with Garmin is poor but I have needed to contact them on three occasions. On every one the phone was answered promptly and I was immediately put through to someone who solved my problem.

Also many years back I bought Garmin's PC software for a Garmin 12. It was really basic DOS software and I emailed Garmin telling them I thought their software was "rather poor". I got a reply saying they thought "rather poor" was being kind as it was actually pretty awful. They then said they were working on some proper Windows software and if I persevered with what I had they would send me the new stuff as soon as it was published - which they did.

It's interesting that web forums are littered with complaints about Tomtom but very few complain about Garmin.

 

[Tilly]

Didn't like or trust the cradle from new on my TomTom Rider - bought the Touratech cradle and never had a problem. Still no wear on the pins, works perfectly.

 

[andyclift]

On the Rider 1 the slack fitting of the satnav on the bracket due to the flexible rubber clamp means the connecting pins on the bracket vibrate against the plates on the satnav. On the Rider 2 the satnav is pretty rigidly locked in the bracket. The Rider 2 pins are spring loaded to press on the plates and are unlikely to be subject to the same continuous vibration as the Rider 1.

My original Rider 1 failed here very quickly and a second bracket only worked reliably for about 500 miles. Both bracket and satnav were replaced by Tomtom and there has been a subtle redesign of the bracket which cannot be seen but the satnav fits much more positively.

The replaced Rider 1 has had little use so I don't know if the new bracket makes a big difference but my, free gift, Rider 2 has had extended use on my wife's vibby single cyclinder 650CS with no indication of any contact problems.

The Rider 2 bracket is also much safer. The Rider 1 fitted on the front of the bracket and was quite easy to knock off. The Rider 2 slides down the bracket and is mechanically locked in place. Even if the lock did not engage it would have to be lifted quite a lot to come off.

Finally a warning for Rider 1 users. Be careful with the bit of string and dog tag that Tomtom supply as a "security leash". When my wife drove over a pot hole the Rider 1 came off the bracket and the security leash left it hanging between the fairing and front forks, jamming the steering, and causing her to drop the bike. I took this up with Tomtom who advised that it was only supplied as "security" against the satnav being quickly removed at filling stations, etc. and was not designed to prevent the satnav falling off. My wife still uses it on the Rider 2 but it has been shortened so it keeps the satnav above the fairing.

I think that Tomtom should supply this with a safety warning to check where the satnav finishes up if it does come off the bracket.

 

[ChrisH]

Another one bites the dust

As this is my 1st post I'd like to start by saying Hello to everyone.
Sorry to say I’m another one for the list. Usual story, Rider 1, keeps switching itself on and off etc etc.
I phoned TT this morning, the guy took my email address and said I’d have to send them my unit in for inspection. He said he will email me but I’m still waiting for this email, will keep you posted.

 

[andyclift]

Rider 1, keeps switching itself on and off etc etc.

Welcome to the UKTomtomFailure Club.