Road Angel are a joke

[mercalot]

7 Months ago i purchased a Road Angel Speed camera detector. Anyway the free subscription ran out after 6 months. Straight away i was told by the Road Angel device and by email that the subscription had ran out and i could not update the device with the latest speed camera spots (Road Angel know this is standard proceedure). I go the same way to work and would know of a new camera before they did so no need to update now i feel.

To the point I got home the other night and i had a telephone message on answer phone to ring Road Angel but was left no reason. I rang them up next day (they were closed when i rang first time) and they just wanted to sell me a subscription. This is the first time i have been asked to ring back to a company only for them to try to sell me their product at my phone cost and time. I think it is a disgrace. Road Angel must be desperate. Sorry for the gripe but i need to get it off my chest. If they do the same to you give them some stick.

 

[renault12ts]

Wow, how very dare they.

 

[Rory]

Not a particularly good rant. What on earth did you think they wanted?

 

[MOCAŠ]

Fairly standard business practice, I'd have thought, unless you specifically opted out of marketing contact when you submitted your registration details. If you didn't, there's nothing to stop you doing so now.

 

[mercalot]

Not a particularly good rant. What on earth did you think they wanted?

I dont know maybe a recall on the product! As far as i am aware it is not common practice to expect you to ring back to a cold call. Sorry it anoyed me. It might be acceptable to some.

 

[Rory]

No, I'd think it was a bit cheeky.

But then it's really annoying now the kids have left home that all sorts of firms, charities, blood doner service etc ring for them but will never say what they want and just keep ring back! At least Road Angel left a message.

 

[mercalot]

No, I'd think it was a bit cheeky.

But then it's really annoying now the kids have left home that all sorts of firms, charities, blood doner service etc ring for them but will never say what they want and just keep ring back! At least Road Angel left a message.

Yes i agree that you may get companies ringing you up to try to sell you something that is common practice. It is the fact that they asked me to ring them back not knowing what for. If they had said it was about renewing a subscription i would never have returned the call.

 

[abecketts]

Yes i agree that you may get companies ringing you up to try to sell you something that is common practice. It is the fact that they asked me to ring them back not knowing what for. If they had said it was about renewing a subscription i would never have returned the call.

I think their take on it would be you are an existing customer and as such they wanted to retain your business. As they felt they had an existing customer they could leave such a message. So 4/10 for customer management at Road Angel but I think only 2/10 for this rant

 

[Mercy1]

I wonder who uses Road Angels these days anyway, when you can buy, say, a Garmin with full sat nav including speed camera alerts and warnings of likely mobile camera spots, for less than £100. I have a Garmin sat nav which I use alongside Comand just to get the speed camera warnings (which Comand doesn't have).

 

[MOCAŠ]

...blood doner service...

Where do you live - Transylvania?

 

[Dr-Nab]

I wonder who uses Road Angels these days anyway, when you can buy, say, a Garmin with full sat nav including speed camera alerts and warnings of likely mobile camera spots, for less than £100. I have a Garmin sat nav which I use alongside Comand just to get the speed camera warnings (which Comand doesn't have).

That would be me then!

Got a pretty good deal on a new Road Angel Vantage when I traded an older road angel in.

Never had any issues with Road Angel as a company either will see what happens when the renewal comes up though.

 

[Mercy1]

I don't doubt that somebody out there still uses Road Angel. But it doesn't stack up in value terms as Vantage, for example, costs more than 200 quid and £54 a year subscription. A basic Garmin gives you full road mapping, speed camera alerts, speed limits on the road you are travelling on, congestion avoidance PLUS a very comprehensive sat nav system, all for less than £100 and £19.99 annual subscriptions. It was a no-brainer for me when I was buying. I am amazed Road Angel is still in business - perhaps that's why they are apparently resorting to questionable cold calling!! lol.

 

[MrML]

Where do you live - Transylvania?

Must have a healthy Count Blood

 

[mercalot]

I wonder who uses Road Angels these days anyway, when you can buy, say, a Garmin with full sat nav including speed camera alerts and warnings of likely mobile camera spots, for less than £100. I have a Garmin sat nav which I use alongside Comand just to get the speed camera warnings (which Comand doesn't have).

Why did you buy the comand system and not just a Garmin?

 

[Mercy1]

The Garmin came first...!!
Comand was already on the next car I bought - I would never have paid £2,000 plus for it if I was speccing the car.
It does beg the question, how can car manufacturers justify charging such ridiculously high charges for their sat nav systems when Garmin/Tom Tom etc demonstrate that the units cost comparative peanuts, and they frequently build in far more features.
Even though Comand is very good, I stlll rue the fact that I need my Garmin for speed camera alerts, for an accurate GPS reading of my actual speed, and also for a fast check of the speed limit on the road I am travelling on.

 

[mercalot]

The Garmin came first...!!
Comand was already on the next car I bought - I would never have paid £2,000 plus for it if I was speccing the car.
It does beg the question, how can car manufacturers justify charging such ridiculously high charges for their sat nav systems when Garmin/Tom Tom etc demonstrate that the units cost comparative peanuts, and they frequently build in far more features.
Even though Comand is very good, I stlll rue the fact that I need my Garmin for speed camera alerts, for an accurate GPS reading of my actual speed, and also for a fast check of the speed limit on the road I am travelling on.

Thank you for your honest comments. Just to conclude. My original complaint was not about the cost it was regards good (basic) business ethics. I have been involved a number of multi national professional companies and not at any level of a particular comany would it have been asked for a member of staff (top or bottom) to reqiure the consumer to return calls regards sales matters (good manners to offer to ring back at later date). As regards comand i do think that it is a poor attempt at a navigation system and Garmin and other units are more upto date and accurate. I did spend the money and is not good value versus the return. Even with the latest update it is poor for address finding.

 

[hawk20]

I don't doubt that somebody out there still uses Road Angel. But it doesn't stack up in value terms as Vantage, for example, costs more than 200 quid and £54 a year subscription. A basic Garmin gives you full road mapping, speed camera alerts, speed limits on the road you are travelling on, congestion avoidance PLUS a very comprehensive sat nav system, all for less than £100 and £19.99 annual subscriptions. It was a no-brainer for me when I was buying. I am amazed Road Angel is still in business - perhaps that's why they are apparently resorting to questionable cold calling!! lol.

I agree. I use a Garmin satnav too and find it fantastic. I used it in France as well. I was bombing along a section of motorway when the little gong went and the 'mobile speed check area' sign came up. I slowed down and a few hundred yards later there was a lady cop armed with a hand-held radar. Was I grateful to Garmin.

And you can update the speed camera locations by plugging in to your home computer and downloading the latest info from the Garmin website.

 

[Rory]

Where do you live - Transylvania?

I knew that didn't look right!

 

[john925]

I download my camera stuff from pocketgatso onto my TomTom Its only a few quid a year and is far far better than tomtoms own