Class Action Claims Rand McNally Concealed Defects in TND 730, 740 GPS Devices

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A proposed class action claims Rand McNally has sold defective truck navigation devices that display “wildly inaccurate” GPS information, and that the manufacturer has compounded the issue by failing to provide “lifetime” map updates as promised.

The 51-page case alleges Rand McNally knew and failed to disclose that its TND 730 and TND 740 IntelliRoute truck navigation devices were defective and that no repair, patch or other “fix” would remedy the issues with the products. According to the lawsuit, the TND 730 and 740 are plagued by an “unreliable navigation system” that not only renders the devices “useless” for their intended purpose but presents serious safety risks to drivers who rely on them.

“The devices routinely direct truckers to unsafe terrain or hazardous road conditions, distracts or confuses them, or otherwise malfunctions, thereby placing drivers at a greater risk of accidents and harm than normal,” the complaint alleges.

Compounding the alleged TND 730 and 740 failures is the fact that Rand McNally, according to the lawsuit, has failed to provide “lifetime” map updates despite expressly promising on the products’ packaging that truckers would receive updates for “as long as they own” the devices.

The case claims consumers would not have purchased the navigation devices, or would not have chosen to pay “the substantial amount they did,” had Rand McNally disclosed certain material information regarding the TND’s defects and its refusal to remedy the laundry list of problems.

Per the lawsuit, Rand McNally is well known as one of the world’s leading map makers and best known for its maps and atlases. Around 2009, the Chicago-based firm adjusted its focus to the commercial trucking industry with the launch of its IntelliRoute TND 500, its first GPS device designed specifically for truckers, the suit relays. The TND 730 and TND 740 are, respectively, fourth- and fifth-generation GPS devices that Rand McNally has represented as having an easy-to-use interface, attractive features truck drivers would find useful, and “lifetime” map updates, the case says.

The plaintiff, a Tennessee truck driver, says he purchased the TND 730 in 2014 for $399.99 and the TND 740 in 2017 for $499.99 after being “lured into believing” that the devices were quality products based on Rand McNally’s advertising. According to the case, however, the plaintiff has experienced “persistent problems” with both devices, including the display of his location on a parallel or non-existent road, directions to the wrong location, or being taken in the opposite direction of his destination.

“In addition to causing substantial delays, all of this left Plaintiff without a reliable way to navigate to his destination in his truck,” the complaint states.

The TND’s problems, according to the suit, have been made worse by Rand McNally’s failure to provide updated maps as promised. Per the case, the plaintiff has experienced his devices failing to recognize a long-open travel center where he was parked at the time, directing him to a drop-off at the wrong location, incorrectly routing him to a narrow residential street as his final destination and directing him to a Pilot Travel Center that no longer existed and was just an empty lot.

The plaintiff says that although Rand McNally assured him that map updates would be forthcoming, the promised updates “never materialized.” Ultimately, the defendant revealed to the plaintiff in an April 2021 email that “there will be no future updates provided for the TND 730 devices,” the complaint relays. The devices’ failures have rendered them “useless” and put the plaintiff at risk of being routed into unsafe or prohibited areas that could result in steep fines or injury, the complaint says.

According to the lawsuit, “the sheer volume” of customer reviews and complaints regarding the TND 730 and 740 put Rand McNally on notice that its GPS devices were defective almost as soon as they entered the market. Nevertheless, the defendant has continued to sell the TND devices while misrepresenting their reliability and covering up the “obvious safety risks” of an unreliable navigation system, the suit says.

Moreover, Rand McNally failed to disclose to customers that there exists no remedy or fix for the TND 730 and 740’s failures, the case alleges. Instead of disclosing the defects, the defendant has purportedly “repaired” the devices by sending consumers refurbished TNDs “that contained the same defects,” or even claimed the problems were the fault of truck drivers, according to the suit.

Per the case, consumers have incurred significant out-of-pocket expenses purchasing and attempting to repair defective TND 730 and TND 740 devices that “do not work as advertised, warranted, or reasonably expected.”

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