Road Angel rip off

[AlexS]

Mattt said:

I suprised these units are still popular after the growth of Smartphones and TomToms with Speed Cam databases.

Certainly back in the early days of Origin (not sure how applicable things are now) their speed camera database was by far the best. Rather than just relying on users to tag new cameras, once a new site had been uploaded to the database Origin would confirm with the council that it was live and then send some one out to accurately tag the position for the database.

Same with supposedly defunct sites, they would check that the camera was permanently gone before removing it from the database.

A friend using one of the free databases on his satnav used to get all sorts of out of position cameras and zero warnings on cameras that had just been replaced.

[grgrgray]

Incidentally the tom tom live units use the road angel database. I used road angel and now the live for 5 years and now have a clean licence (9 points 5 years ago) so can't speak highly enough. (touch wood)

The best feature is the mobile speed camera reporting, anyone with a TomTom live or road angel prof who spots a camera van can press a button to report it and all other users of these units gets a report for 2 hours if they are going to pass the camera van.

I urge all users to put the report mobile speed camera button on the front screen and do the right community thing if they spy one.

[northo]

Mattt said:

I suprised these units are still popular after the growth of Smartphones and TomToms with Speed Cam databases.

Smartphones can't really handle, calls, nav and alerts at the same time. The TomTom alerts aren't obvious enough. Hence the need for a dedicated unit.

[Mattt]

My tomtom alerts are obvious! I can run them all at the same time too!

[doug1e1972]

Leccy said:

8MRFQ340 said:

Can you buy exactly the same unit, from a place staffed by teenagers that dont have a clue, then do a swap? Then take it back, saying it doesnt work?

Note- I've NEVER done this with games consoles in a Arg....

Cough, mutter, grumble

That would make him a thief. Are you implying that you DO that?

nooooooo i think what he was meaning to say was that one time he bought a games console to replace his old broken one and when he got it home he decided that maybe he would have liked a different brand of console, but after he took what he assumed was the new one back to the shop and got home he realized that he had acadently put the old one in the box, and just hasn't got round to taking the new machine back and correcting the mistake.

[GBS2K]

As posted earlier Tom Tom use Road Angel's database.

The only reason I upgraded from a RA nav was the battery wouldn't hold a charge.

Although it is a bit annoying to always look like I don't know where I'm going. The RA has a great speedo and alert mode so you aren't seeing a map all the time.

[V8Dom]

if you think thats bad u want to try the 3zero from Snooper..

what a waste of money!!!

1 trip to wales and I had 32 false laser alarms, I rung snooper and discused the false alerts andmy conserns with the volume being too low on all the gatzo or average speed warnings and the display wasnt very bright.

Their answer was my imagination and I need to try it in another car?? They also suggested I was too mount the detector in the shade and mount it off the dash as the speaker is underneath.I was supprised as the dash mount is the one they supply and if its too close to the dash to hear the warnings why on earth dont they make it taller or the speaker on top. I also advised that it was already mounted in the shade and if i moved it any further from the windscreen it would not detect anything.. He wasnt interested at all..Very unhelpful and short.


The unit was returned in the end as the false warning proved the unit was faulty as we used more than one detector in the car via the company in Manchester I bought it from and they replaced it, as they found the sensor for the laser faulty, but its sat in the cupboard now as if I cant read the display or hear the warnings , what is the point of having it.

Im yet to have an answer from them regarding the display and volume of the old unit and if they found a problem with the old one, that was 5 emails and 2 weeks ago..nothing. Im now using my old snooper which it was replacing and will never recommend snooper to anyone as their customer service is disgusting.

Dom

[thenortherner]

The LIVE alerts on my TomTom have saved me a couple of times - 2 gatsos in road works. I assume it's pretty reliant on other users of TomTom's hitting the 'report' button when they pass a fixed camera not currently on the database, or a mobile van, in which case the alert lasts for 4 hours.

I also simultaneously run the pocketgpsworld.com database which is pretty much spot on.

The key is not to become complacent and ignoring alerts when it comes to potential mobile camera hot spots.

[owenw]

Just to add to this issue. I was recently returning from the Midlands to Essex and switched on my Road Angel Pro Connected but it would not activate. Contacted RA in Northampton & they advised that a subscription expiry had been entered on my online account so the unit had closed down. As my subscription is paid by direct debit and had been renewed in January this was a RA error. I was advised that the account expiry was incorrect and that this had been removed from my account and that I just needed to switch the unit on with GPS signal and allow it to update which was within 1 day of my reporting the problem, which was fine. However.....then it all takes a turn for the worse. The automatic update didn't work so I then had to contact RA again who transferred me to their technical dept who advised me to do an unit reset as this would clear the problem......it didn't, so the unit has to be sent back to be reprogrammed! I was told by the tech guy that as this was a notification error and software problem that there would be no charge for the repair & I was duly sent a repairs return form. When I subsequently queried whether postage would be refunded as Special Delivery for this would cost about £12, they said not as the unit was out of warranty!! It then took several emails and an angry phone call to get a reversal on this, when they couldn't explain why I should pay to have an unit reset for a fault they had caused!! They are now finally covering the postage. Bottom line; this unit is under two years old cost £340 with the mobile laser attachment, misses lots of established fixed cameras and this is the level of customer service you get when they've caused a problem!!The principle of this unit in terms of mobile updates is good, but the reality is that battery life and initial GPS registration are poor and updating takes far too long compared to other GPS products on the market now. When the unit does eventually fail, I will not renew it and find a better product with better customer service as RA appear sharp to say the least!

[617sqn]

I've just been trying to use the update process to sort out my RA 9000, and have come to the conclusion that I've been had over good and proper ! the Weather feature on this unit has NEVER worked, and they told me today that the mapping updates for this machine were discontinued (wait for it !) FIVE YEARS AGO !! What .......... ? I don't recall ever having been informed of this, and i've been paying £5.99 amonth for the privilege ! True, the live traffic reports and camera locations have been updated remotely while driving, but as for the rest ? Well, I've only been getting a third of the facilities I paid for. I've cancelled the standing order forthwith and have complained in as strong as terms as I could muster. Bloody hell, I could have had a £99 updates for life unit for the past 16 months subscription fees. I'm not happy

Andy G.