An Open Letter to Garmin

Dear Garmin,

I recently traveled out of town on business. We flew a commercial airline to our destination, however I packed my Garmin Nuvi to make getting around easier for us once we arrived. On a similar recent trip we joked about the fact that a few of us owned GPS devices but that none of us thought to bring it.

When we loaded into the rental car I announced that I had remembered to bring my GPS with me. A few of my traveling companions did not trust the Nuvi to the same degree that I trusted it. They insisted on double checking the directions calculated by the Nuvi against the paper directions they brought with them.

The Nuvi performed flawlessly when we asked it to take us to the hotel, to our business meetings and to a restaurant near the hotel. However, on the return trip to the airport we needed to stop to refill the gas tank in the rental car. When we exited the highway I asked the Nuvi to find the closest gas station. Since we took the exit for the rental car return I expected the Nuvi to find one or more gas stations very nearby. The Nuvi churned for a minute and then presented me with a list of gas stations within 3 miles of our current location. I blindly selected the first gas station on the list. By default the Nuvi displays the closest item in the list first.

Following the Nuvi's directions we began to head down a steep, windy and seemingly single lane road. When the Nuvi voice instructed me to turn left at a street whose name included the word "Ferry" my heart sank from concern and embarrassment. I wondered, "Surely, the Nuvi would not instruct me to cross a river via a ferry to find a gas station, would it?" As we approached "Ferry Rd." my fear turned into my reality. There to our left floated the ferry dock in all of its "rickety glory". The Nuvi voice instructed us to "board the ferry". My boss and the 2 other passengers groaned in chorus. I wanted to stop the car and jump in the river to escape the embarrassment. Instead I calmly pulled over and spent a few minutes using the Nuvi to find another gas station on our side of the river.

Garmin, please, make ferry boats an avoidance option which defaults to "Avoid" out of the box. I promise that 99.5% of the population will agree with me that they would rather NOT take a ferry to get gas, all other things being equal.

This little lesson taught me to take all of the directions that I get from the Nuvi with a healthy dose of skepticism, especially when I am in a new or unfamiliar city. No longer will I hit the "Go" button without viewing the route to ensure that it meets with my expectations.

Respectfully,

John Sextro