Monday, October 13, 2008

MapQuest Kinda Sucks

You aren’t going to believe this one, so put down that damn coffee mug before you read this. Swallow your donut first, too (what, do I think a bunch of cops read my blog or something?). If anyone in your house (or workplace) is sleeping, DO NOT say, “WHAT?!” loudly. I’m warning you.

So I’m reading this blog (you can link to it using the sidebar over to the right of this page … it’s called Life as Mom). This chick (who I totally dig, by the way, because she is the Grocery Goddess) posts about how much she LOVES MapQuest. I post a comment, something like, “Are you kidding me? They give the worst directions. They didn’t even have the hotel in Phoenix where we were staying in their little database. And people I know trying to get around the city where I live is impossible with MapQuest. Glad it works for SOMEONE!”

So I look at the comment above mine, and it says something like “congrats on having MapQuest contact you.” So I look one MORE above, and I swear to God MapQuest has written a comment to THANK this chick for writing good things about them.

Now, I know for a fact that MapQuest will be seeing this very (negative) blog post that you are reading right NOW. How did I figure this out?

Well, it’s pretty clear that companies have nothing better to do these days than to Google themselves. Losers! I thought only people like ME did that! I guess it's cheaper than a SURVEY like AFI sends out!!!! It's a good way to gauge customer satisfaction since actually answering angry e-mails (or that relic called a PHONE) isn't an option.

By the way, I understand how difficult it would be to run a site like MapQuest. New stuff goes up, old stuff closes, highways and road have construction. I get it. But when something CONSISTENTLY sucks, what other conclusion can I draw?

I suspect Primerica also does it, and I can only HOPE they read my previous post about them. Oooh, and American Family Insurance. Okay, then I hope people see all the POSITIVE posts I’ve written, as well (Starbuck’s, good book reviews, Red Box).

Please, PLEASE post comments about MapQuest and tell all your friends, too. I HAVE to know that I’m not crazy and that LOTS of other people also have bad luck with MapQuest. Together we can change the world … haha!