Community Forums

PeachesMom · 06-14-2019, 08:17 PM

On August 8, 2018, we purchased an Rand McNally RVND7 GPS. The unit worked fine until the latter part of April 2019, on an RV trip, of course. Beginning in early May 2019, I used the Rand McNally software to do diagnostics and repair several times which did not correct the issues (losing the GPS signal, inaccurate routing, and misreporting of vehicle speed.) I called Rand McNally (RM) twice and spoke to Tech Support. After the second failed attempt to fix the issues, RM asked for me to send the unit to their repair facility. We needed the unit for an early June RV trip we had planned. We would be traveling 1100 miles to an unfamiliar area. As the Tech Support representative told us it would be returned in approximately 10 business days, we decided to postpone our trip two weeks and we returned the unit. It is now June 14, 2019 and after several calls, I have been told there is no estimate for returning the unit to us. We are now scheduled to leave on June 19th, 2019 and have non-refundable reservations. We want our GPS or a replacement. I was told that they cannot keep staff and we have to wait indefinitely for them to get the staff to make the repairs. We want to take our trip and have a GPS with us that we bought and paid for.

Does anyone have the RVND7? Have you had malfunctions? Did you contact RM customer service?

bdpreece · 06-14-2019, 10:00 PM

I have the RVND 7735 purchased from a few years ago. So far the only problem I have had is when I put the motorhome into storage and leave it unplugged for awhile. When this happens even if plugged in it does all kind of strange things until the battery is fully charged. I now have a charger so that I can take it in the house and make sure it is fully charged before leaving on a trip. As far as support is concerned I was getting a message saying my map database was out of date even after an update. I attempted to contact customer support and it took over thirty minutes to even get a support person on the line just to tell me they were aware the maps were over a year old but that there is no plan for a map update until at least this fall. Sounds like they may be a little short on support personnel. I like the unit but might seriously consider another company if purchasing today.

BobGed · 06-14-2019, 11:36 PM

To the OP, if I were in your position with an upcoming long trip planned, I would forget about the RVND7 unit for now. Instead I would do one of two things.

Option 1. If you have an IOS or other compatible device I would download the CoPilot RV Navigation app.
This will give you RV routing, RV parks and other RV related info. There is a 14-day free trial, and after that it's a $30.00 per year subscription. If your trip takes longer than 14 days, you can pay the $30.00 and then cancel any renewals, and then switch back to your Rand unit which should be repaired by then.

Option 2. If you're planning on traveling on mostly interstates or major highways, go to Walmart or Best Buy and pick up an inexpensive stand alone Garmin automobile GPS device for around a $100 or so. Try and get one that allows the loading of Custom POIs. That way you can go to the POI Factory where you can download campground, fuel stops and other RV related POIs that you can import to your Garmin unit.

Should you decide on either of the above options, I would recommend keeping it even when you get your RVND7 unit back as it's always a good idea to have a backup GPS device, as you have now probably already realized.

Just as an FYI I have a Rand Tablet that I primarily use in RV mode, however when I get close to an RV park on my route I will switch to Auto mode. The reason is the Rand seems to think it's a good idea to approach RV parks so you can make a right-hand turn into the park. It therefore can give some pretty strange routing instructions that can sometimes get you into situations that actually aren't ideal for an RV. I have no problem making left-hand turns into a park if that is the most direct route.

The other thing I would recommend is anytime you have planned a day's drive make sure you 'fly' the route on the device prior to starting your trip. This will sometimes show weird things like exiting a freeway and then re-entering it a few miles later for no reason at all.

I have owned and used Garmin, Rand units (was a beta tester) and the CoPilot app, and they all are capable of displaying some of the routing idiosyncrasies or discrepancies noted above.

PeachesMom · 06-15-2019, 07:56 AM

Brian,

I agree that I would not purchase another Rand McNally product. I think that one of our strangest malfunctions, would be funny if I had my unit back home now. When we were returning home from Alabama in April of this year, the GPS calculated our arrival as August of 2011. This was our first hint of an issue with our unit.

PeachesMom · 06-15-2019, 08:22 AM

Bob, Thank you very much for your suggestions. First, I like back-up plans, but my spouse thinks of spare anythings as "clutter." I don't believe that I can change his mind after all of these years.

I will look into the Co-Pilot app. I looked into GPS apps several years ago, and wasn't impressed. But right now, I won't make any assumptions from past experience. We need a stand-in solution.

I have experienced issues as you described with Magellan and Garmins in the past. But the RVND7's issues were "off the charts." Our first hint of problems to come was when we were returning home from Alabama in April of this year, the GPS calculated our arrival as August of 2011. The second was after going home from Alabama, the GPS started our next trip from the campground in Alabama when we were home in Georgia. It's really adds miles when the GPS says " go to the highlighted route" which is 5 1/2 hours west, when we wanted to travel east of our home.

As I said this may be funny later, but right now, my patience is thin when Rand McNally just gives us the excuse that they can't keep employees and we should just cancel our trip and wait on them to help us whenever.

Vicky

bdpreece · 06-15-2019, 10:23 AM

Vicky, maybe RM is now into time travel. Since you say your husband believes an extra would be clutter; how about using your cell phones? Last time we were in Las Vegas we found our cell phone did better than the GPS built in to our Ford Explorer. Probably the only thing you would not have is specific RV routing.

PeachesMom · 06-20-2019, 07:16 PM

Brian,

We are taking off tomorrow. My husband never stops amazing me, but he purchased a relatively inexpensive Garmin for this trip and as back-up. We never had an issue with our three previous Garmins. They were passed down to our grandkids and they still work fine. We shouldn't have messed with success and purchased another Garmin for the RV. And since we may never see our RVND7 again, we may be purchasing a Garmin RV model soon.

Thanks again,
Vicky

PeachesMom · 07-15-2019, 06:07 PM

It's the middle of July and still nothing about the GPS. The Better Business Bureau tried to get an update for us, but Rand McNally ignored all requests for information. So the BBB gave Rand McNally a bad mark, but doesn't help us. The Georgia Consumer Protection Agency has requested an answer in writing from Rand McNally by July 11 and I have not heard anything from the agency or Rand McNally. Nothing at all from the Federal Trade Commission. I think that we will never see our GPS again.

32hotrod · 07-16-2019, 01:18 PM

We have started to have these same issues on our last trip with our RV Tablet Calling Rand has had very little results. There has been a message on their support line of software issues for at least three months that they are working to solve. Speaking in person after a long wait I got the same story of software issues. Ran a update check with them etc. I figure the problem is still there

PeachesMom · 07-17-2019, 10:12 AM

Today, the merchant, Camping World, reached out to us because of our online comments about the non-customer service regarding Rand McNally (RM).

They are attempting to intervene with RM in our behalf. I will repost after Camping World's attempt to help us.

Still no update from our state's consumer protection agency or the FTC.

RickNC · 07-17-2019, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeachesMom

Today, the merchant, Camping World, reached out to us because of our online comments about the non-customer service regarding Rand McNally (RM).

They are attempting to intervene with RM in our behalf. I will repost after Camping World's attempt to help us.

Still no update from our state's consumer protection agency or the FTC.

They have a Facebook page also, I find I often get a quicker response to an issue when I trash a company in view of a few million of their potential customers.

https://www.facebook.com/randmcnally...TgnhbH3fSrOfBz

PeachesMom · 07-17-2019, 11:16 AM

Thank you for the suggestion. I need to make a decision if giving up my privacy to Facebook is worth $200.

When I told Rand McNally that I would contact the BBB and the FTC, they replied to "Tell that to someone who cares."

I am fighting a losing battle but will give this my best shot.

RickNC · 07-17-2019, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeachesMom

Thank you for the suggestion. I need to make a decision if giving up my privacy to Facebook is worth $200.

When I told Rand McNally that I would contact the BBB and the FTC, they replied to "Tell that to someone who cares."

I am fighting a losing battle but will give this my best shot.

Trick to Facebook is not to share anymore personal or contact info than necessary to establish an account. Set your privacy settings to friends only.
I intentionally misspell my last name by dropping a letter The CIA nor any previously jilted girlfriends have found me yet

PeachesMom · 07-17-2019, 03:07 PM

I sent up a Facebook account only to post to the Rand McNally page. Nothing will post. I imagine that RM does not like comments, especially when Customer Service says that they don't care about the customer's opinion.