Suppport Thread for the TND 500, TND 700 or future Rand McNally products.

I am talking to RM about this exchange..

Did the T5B looked like it had been opened?

Thanks,
Mark

 

ChromeDome, Let me say I thank you for your honest post. I am not here to paint a pretty picture, but to address your concerns and hopefully make you feel like you have not been used.

I had no idea the price of the TND 500 was going to drop. I normally do not get involved in these type of Marketing\business decisions. I can see where you would be visibly upset and feel like you were cheated out of $100. I know you and other drivers work hard for each penny and buying a $500 navigation unit is a hard decision to justify. I do not know what else to say about this.

Myself and others fought hard to get this version for the TND 500 released a few months ago. It was long overdue then. I have the advantage of knowing the life on the road along with being able to find issues with electronic devices. Many decades of hands-on. Again, this was a decision made by powers to be at Rand. I do not sit in on meetings, nor am I in the loop for these type of decisions. As a Beta Tester, my primary role is to basically do R&D on new devices\software along with testing and finding issues with the software of the navigation devices in the "field" so to speak. Even when a new version is released testing by Beta testers continues. Rand has dedicated testers looking at released versions. When you the user finds an issue the Testers are given the issue to see if they can duplicate it. Once duplicated it goes to another set of Testers to make sure that issue has been resolved in the current Beta Version. If not, then it is given to the engineers to resolve.

I hope by myself being here for you the user to have a "direct link" helps out. Many of the issues you find we have noted already. Many times we are working on an issue and your listing your post will be the final key to resolving the issue. I know of one driver whom I worked with for 2 weeks trying to resolve the issue of the "avoid's", finally giving me the final key in that puzzle. I had to drive up and down the hwy here to finally narrow it down and I was able to duplicate the issue. This in turn took 4 days of working with the engineers to find the issue in the code.

Do not feel that Rand is using you as a "free Beta Tester". Rand has their own pool of Beta Testers. I know many times when I have a issue with a company and I call them, I always feel like after you hang up nothing gets done by them. I know I spend many a long day here to include weekends to make sure you understand and feel that your wants and needs are given top priority. I spend long hours on the phone with the Beta Testers and Users. I want you to know that I am available for you anytime.

If you do not feel that your needs are being met by Rand, then by all means E-Mail me. I am not going around Rand's Tech Support, but it could be something I can do to get you up and running again. I have talked to the Senior person(s) in Tech Support and they are committed to providing the best Tech Support they can. I pass on daily your posts to them and they are very responsive. It should not take more than a phone call or two, an E-Mail or two. My E-Mail is posted here. I know all about 10 hours breaks and you have better things to do than get fustrated with the TND and Tech Support. Let me work for you. E-Mail me and let me handle your fustrations and pass your info up to Tech Support. Any E-Mail that has not been resolved always stays in my in-box. I go through this many times everyday to make sure all concerns have been taken care of.

I just did not walk one day into being the Lead Beta Tester. I have been with this TND since it was a dream. I deal daily with issues from future versions, present versions and features. I do not care if my in-box is flooded with users issues. That is what I am here for. Any issue I handle with a user; Tech Support gets CC'd. This way everyone is on the same sheet of music.

Version 1573 - It is a good version. It still has a few quirks and those will be posted. I post any issue that will affect the way you do your job so that you will know. Many companys will not do this airing of "dirty laundry" so to speak. Nothing is more fustrating to find an issue and find out later the company knew about it. We are all adults. I treat you with respect as I feel like I should be treated. Some things I cannot post that will be affected by what I signed in the NDA.

I really enjoy being a part of this forum. Sometimes I work issues off-line as I to pass on files or my phone number. I will always come back and post what was found.

I would suggest that if you have not done so already, do a complete full back up of your TND. This will copy all the files\folders off your TND and store them on your computer. I can send any file\folder but NaviMaps is too big to send in a reasonable amount of time.

thanks,
mark

 

If you have followed my threads on this and the other Rand thread that is about 174 pages, you will know that I do not gaff drivers off. Yes, their is concern about why you got a T5B instead of a T5C which you had orginally. I do not know if you saw this or not. You should have requested a like item. Why do I want to know if it was looking like it was used? I have seen a lot of returns to truck stops and somehow they end up back on the shelf to be sold. I have seen drivers get an exchange to find out 100 miles later the T5B is missing the SD Card. I have seen TND's that were turned back in and files deleted off the TND's, yet they ended up back in the sellable section.

I am in limbo till Tuesday to see what Rand Tech support can do. I looked at your log files and do not see any issues popping up. So, I suspect other issues beyond mine or your's control.

I do not have the authority to issue from the warehouse. As in any troubleshooting I need to establish a baseline to see where to go with the TND. I have no magic fairy dust to resolve issues like yours. I am trying to get you a T5C like you orginally had.

So if you just hang in there till Rand is back at work again on Tuesday I can then go forward with correcting your issue.

Thanks,
Mark

 

I submitted your suggestions up to RM... I will be checking your other issues...

Can you give me your start/stop locations for each. You can E-Mail me if you do not wish to post the addresses here. I will run them in demo mode to check it out then.

Thanks,
Mark