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Many of my friends on Facebook will know about my battle with TomTom and their lack of customer service.  Well, I’m happy to report that I think that’s finally resolved!

For those of you who don’t know what happened, here’s the short version:  One day I fired up the TomTom Go 740 Live and the thing was incredibly hot to the touch.  I’m pretty sure the battery exploded as it would no longer keep a charge or even indicate that it was trying to charge.  So I called TomTom and they sent me a refurbished one, which wouldn’t download the TomTom Live services such as the traffic and weather.  Back on the phone with TomTom and, after much back-and-forth (and stupid tasks like rebooting twice to fix the error), a “supervisor” gets on the phone and promises to overnight me a brand new TomTom Go 2535 Live – which is their latest and greatest product.  (I insisted that I was not accepting a refurbished device again.)  I’m happy to get a brand new GPS unit!  So I wait, and wait, and wait and it never arrived.  Back on the phone with them and they told me that it was never sent and that their policy is never to send out a device until they receive the original back, so I ask who the “supervisor” was who promised to overnight me one and she replied that there was no supervisor on duty that night.  I’m furious!  I ask for a full refund for all of the TomTom Live services and map updates I purchased (worth well over $100) and the woman says that she’ll put in the request for the finance department to call me in *three days*.  I argue and she says that’s their policy (I suppose to give customers time to calm down before they go ballistic – either that, or they loosely toss around the word “policy” to get customers off of the phone).  So I wait and wait and wait and they never call.  I hit up TomTom on their US Facebook page, and they delete the post.  I try their international page, and they delete that post.  I try Twitter and they never respond.  TomTom has the worst customer service!

Out of nowhere I get a reply on one of the “deleted” Facebook posts indicating that someone will contact me shortly.  Uh huh, I’ve heard this one before…  Well, sure enough, someone from their US office did contact me.  His first email to me was the following:

David,

I apologize for the delay in getting back to you, however an email has been forwarded to me this morning about nobody contacting you. I wanted to let you know that I did push a 2535 Live Device to be sent to you today. I will also create a Fed Ex label and have it sent to you today (it will come from Fed Ex to this address).

I am also going to look into the phone conversations you have had with the agents and will handle this situation  accordingly.

I apologize for the delay and all confusion.

Best Regards,

(Name withheld)

True to this man’s word, he did exactly what he promised to do.  A brand new TomTom Go 2535M arrived at my office within a day or so, and, over the course of a few emails, he indicated that I was provided with blatantly incorrect information at times, and that the problems had been dealt with internally. I knew better than to ask what was done because I know that a real corporate policy would prohibit them from discussing any employee action, but I was happy with the result nonetheless.  Not so much because I had a brand new TomTom Go 2535 M, but because I had a TomTom company representative who actually cared enough about his employer and the customer relationship to honor his word and to make things right. (For those of you who are wondering, I ended up with a new device and a little over a year of free TomTom Live services.)

So Mr. TomTom, I thank you!  You really embody what customer service should be about.  Not because you sent out a new device, but because you communicated honestly and followed up your words with actions.  Any of the previous TomTom customer service representatives that I talked to could have said, “Hey buddy…you are SOL.  I’m sorry, but I can’t help you” and I would have been fine with that.  Frustrated, yes, but understanding.  Instead they over-promised and under-delivered which is a fatal mistake for the customer service department of any company.

Now, the TomTom HD Live Traffic services is throwing an error, but that’s the story for a completely different blog post!   Once I get that resolved, I think I’ll write a formal letter to TomTom praising this customer service rep.  After all, I was about three clicks away from buying a Garmin and this rep saved a long-time TomTom customer.

I’m also planning a product review of the TomTom Go 2535M and possibly a comparison to the TomTom Go 740 Live before I have to send it back, so be on the lookout for that.  All I can say so far is that in the one day of using it, the TomTom Go 2535 is far superior to the TomTom Go 740.