TomTom drops map updates on "older" models but would love to sell you a new SatNav . . .

Kenai said:
It's hardly a phenomenon limited to TomTom. If you're going to boycott them for that sort of trickery you might as well just stop buying things, everyone is at it one way or another.

It's still an improvement over their previous business model, which was effectively 'lifetime' too, except you had to buy every map update that was made available during the life of your device.
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I don't really think they should be allowed to advertise 'lifetime' upgrades as a selling point if the 'lifetime' turns out to be whenever they decide to stop supporting the device.....

Lifetime at the very least should refer to the expected lifetime of a device.... At a minimum personally I would set the benchmark for this around 10 years for an electrical device.


Like is said its a totally ridiculous piece of circular logic. Tom tom another company to avoid.
 
Kenai said:
Garmin are identical though (but they hide it in the small print unlike TomTom), as I suspect are virtually every other manufacturer talking about lifetime updates or lifetime warranties.
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The only other vendor I deal with that has a concept of lifetime (HPE) pretty clearly defines it as being at least five years past the end of sale date of that product.
 
Caracus2k said:
I don't really think they should be allowed to advertise 'lifetime' upgrades as a selling point if the 'lifetime' turns out to be whenever they decide to stop supporting the device.....

Lifetime at the very least should refer to the expected lifetime of a device.... At a minimum personally I would set the benchmark for this around 10 years for an electrical device.


Like is said its a totally ridiculous piece of circular logic. Tom tom another company to avoid.
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You've got an awful lot of companies to be avoiding then

Caged said:
The only other vendor I deal with that has a concept of lifetime (HPE) pretty clearly defines it as being at least five years past the end of sale date of that product.
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Good for them then.
 
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We all know lifetime doesn't mean life.

Maybe what the companies should do is allow some sort of trade-in scheme where they give you 50% off a new one + give the old device back as long as it's working. They then could "re-new" the devices by testing and putting a new case on them then sell them at 1/4 of the price with a set of maps on them with no updates. That way they win and still make money and sell the new devices. This creates jobs in the repair/refurb industry.
 
If I ever need to use a GPS device then I just use the Google Maps app on my phone. Works a treat, it doesn't cost anything extra because I already have the phone and it comes with me when I leave the vehicle.
 
Kenai said:
You've got an awful lot of companies to be avoiding then
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I wouldn't mind if the T and C's said something like 'lifetime' means X years or whenever the company ceased to offer support beyond X years...

'lifetime' is rendered completly meaningless with this stamement which could mean support ending almost as soon as the device is bought.
 
Caracus2k said:
I wouldn't mind if the T and C's said something like 'lifetime' means X years or whenever the company ceased to offer support beyond X years...

'lifetime' is rendered completly meaningless with this stamement which could mean support ending almost as soon as the device is bought.
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I agree its a **** take but TomTom aren't forging new ground with this, so I don't understand all the 'grr boycott TomTom' posts as if they're doing something really underhand that no one else is. It's common practice to advertise 'lifetime' despite it being nothing of the sort and often entirely arbitrary when they deem that to be.
 
Kenai said:
Garmin are identical though (but they hide it in the small print unlike TomTom), as I suspect are virtually every other manufacturer talking about lifetime updates or lifetime warranties.
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Garmin's (fairly easily located) statement reads:
If you purchase a nüMaps Lifetime subscription (sold separately or bundled together with certain GPS models), you will receive map updates when and as such updates are made available on the Garmin website during the useful life of 1 compatible Garmin product or as long as Garmin receives map data from a third party supplier, whichever is shorter. A product’s “useful life” means the period during which the product (a) has sufficient memory capacity and other required technical capabilities to utilize current map data and (b) is capable of operating as intended without major repairs. A product will be deemed to be out of service and its useful life to be ended if no updates have been downloaded for such product for a period of 24 months or more.
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I would have to say that that seems fairer than TomTom's recent decision.
Garmin's maps are more accurate than TomTom's as well :)
 
I always found Tom Tom units to be quite unreliable. I've had two and neither lasted more than a year or two before breaking. In the end I just bought CoPilot for my Android phone for £15 and it's just as good. That was about 10 years ago and I receive regular updates to it. It was one of the best value things I've ever bought. I wouldn't consider a stand alone unit nowadays.
 
Kenai said:
They're not exactly secretive about it though...

WHAT DOES “LIFETIME” MEAN?
Lifetime is the useful life of the device, which means the period of time that TomTom continues to support your device with software updates, services, content or accessories. A device will have reached the end of its life when none of these are available any more.
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There's been a big stink about this on the TomTom forums over the last six months or so when they announced they were killing off the original iOS app and replacing it with that awful TomTom Go app. When I bought the original app, that statement didn't appear anywhere, it's been published since the announcement.

The old TomTom app works really well, the new one is a lagfest and missing a huge number of features.

I bought the original app years ago with a promise of lifetime map updates (with no stupid disclaimer about what 'lifetime' means), now they've stopped and given me three years of updates for a product that's nowhere near as good.
 
stockhausen said:
Garmin's (fairly easily located) statement reads:I would have to say that that seems fairer than TomTom's recent decision.
Garmin's maps are more accurate than TomTom's as well :)
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Marginally, they still include wiggle clauses that allow them to, for example, decide your device no longer has 'the other required technical capabilities', something your average consumer is in no position to challenge if they did.
 
Feek said:
There's been a big stink about this on the TomTom forums over the last six months or so when they announced they were killing off the original iOS app and replacing it with that awful TomTom Go app. When I bought the original app, that statement didn't appear anywhere, it's been published since the announcement.

The old TomTom app works really well, the new one is a lagfest and missing a huge number of features.

I bought the original app years ago with a promise of lifetime map updates (with no stupid disclaimer about what 'lifetime' means), now they've stopped and given me three years of updates for a product that's nowhere near as good.
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Should be relatively easy to take it up with advertising standards or trading standards if the terms of what you purchased didn't include any such clause. You should have a reasonable case for a refund?
 
Fubsy said:
"Life" should mean life!
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It does, but companies get to define what "lifetime" means themselves, whereas some people clearly think it means "forever". Maybe vendor support periods need to be stated in actual units of time and this wouldn't be an issue.
 
hornetstinger said:
Would you be ok with your car, when they release a new version of your car, all parts are no longer produced?

ECM dies after 1 year? Buy a new car!

LOL
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Or more like when they stop producing the car they stop making new and improved parts for it, instead they just keep spares of the last design available...

Nothing stops a TomTom or other sat nav from working when the manufacturer stops producing new maps.
 
I would suggest that accurate, up-to-date maps are a pretty integral part of a SatNav; so it does effectively stop working as a SatNav when the manufacturer stops producing new maps.
 
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