Further to my recent post - I have now received a response to my further emails to Skoda customer service. Having already said that this is not a matter the digital team appear able to resolve and my local dealership have already tried, they have now advised to try a different dealership or try the digital team ! Very helpful!!

They have not, as I requested, escalated this matter within Skoda.

Justifies my earlier comment about wasting everyone's time.

I presume no one else is getting a response from customer services other than similar to this ?

11 minutes ago, pcbbc said:

How do you know that it can’t?

 

 

I refer you to the main topic of this thread 😅

 

In all seriousness, of course the hardware may be available to receive this traffic information over the newer standard, but the fact is that right now it is receiving the square root of **** all. This is a failure of the manufacturer to adequately prepare for the cessation of the TMC broadcasts from Trafficmaster. 

Wonder if it's worth going to the motoring Ombudsman?

And now this little gem from Skoda UK (Via Facebook) 

"Please be advised that this is affecting all customers using this function from various brands. Trafficmaster has switched of this service to Trafficmaster who provided the RDS-TMC broadcast until further notice and there's nothing I can do until they have switched it back on."

 

 

3 minutes ago, Mattnam said:

And now this little gem from Skoda UK (Via Facebook) 

"Please be advised that this is affecting all customers using this function from various brands. Trafficmaster has switched of this service to Trafficmaster who provided the RDS-TMC broadcast until further notice and there's nothing I can do until they have switched it back on."

 

 

 

Surely that's not an official Skoda social media channel? Poor grammar and refers to 'nothing I can do'?

 

Still waiting on my gem of a reply from Skoda... I'm holding my breath 

Yep, from Skoda UK's Facebook channel, not great is it?

Apologies for my late arrival at the thread, but I too have TMC disabled with a red line through the icon.  

I was a bit slow noticing it but my own research suggests that INRIX / TrafficMaster no longer transmit on FM - not unsurprising as FM's days are numbered.

 

Hopefully it will be re-instated or Skoda can introduce a way for my Amundsen to receive traffic info vi DAB. 

not quite true, INRIX still transmit on FM.

1 hour ago, Mattnam said:

not quite true, INRIX still transmit on FM.

I was close! 

3 hours ago, Mattnam said:

And now this little gem from Skoda UK (Via Facebook) 

"Please be advised that this is affecting all customers using this function from various brands. Trafficmaster has switched of this service to Trafficmaster who provided the RDS-TMC broadcast until further notice and there's nothing I can do until they have switched it back on."

 

 

Well at least it seems that someone at VAG Group is aware of the scale of this problem.

Okay, as requested by another member here, I was in Kent on Monday, down in Dymchurch where I managed to pickup a host of French radio stations from the likes of Europe 1 + 2, Musique, Inter, Bluenord plus many more (left list at home!). I can confirm though, sadly, that this did not make a jot of difference to the activation of the TMC signal. So maybe Europe wide.

13 minutes ago, STV16L said:

Okay, as requested by another member here, I was in Kent on Monday, down in Dymchurch where I managed to pickup a host of French radio stations from the likes of Europe 1 + 2, Musique, Inter, Bluenord plus many more (left list at home!). I can confirm though, sadly, that this did not make a jot of difference to the activation of the TMC signal. So maybe Europe wide.

 

Without knowing which stations in France broadcast TMC data it's difficult to say if this test proves anything. In any case, the transmission of TMC data is dealt with differently from country to country, and is definitely not organised on a Europe-wide basis. I'm quite sure that if you drive into an area of mainland Europe where TMC data is provided over the air free of charge, your Skoda or other currently impacted vehicle will receive and interpret this data without issue. 

 

The fundamental issue is that one of the two providers of TMC data in the UK - Trafficmaster - have ceased transmission. This transmission was relied upon by a significant proportion of vehicle manufacturers, including the VW group, Honda and others. 

I’d only received complaints from UK users. It seems inconceivable to me given the number of users for my custom RNSE firmware, especially in Germany, that TMC has also ceased working in the rest of Europe.

INRIX, the alternative UK TMC service provider, are still alive and well and still broadcasting in the UK.  It’s just that VAG vehicles aren’t programmed/licensed to receive it.  Also TrafficMaster were a UK only company, so there’s no way withdrawal of their service in the UK could result in an impact in the rest of Europe.

 

So a couple of possible explanations here…

a) You weren’t receiving a strong enough FM signal to ensure the TMC was being received without error (RDS station names on the other hand are less fussy about errors)

b) The navigation unit filters the available TMC services it receives by RDS country code to your current location

Edit:

c) Or as joek666 points out, perhaps you just weren’t receiving the correct stations

 

Edited 17 May, 20233 yr by pcbbc

Still trying to get the Audi UK Facebook people to admit there is a problem. Just been referred to a main dealer for the fourth time.😡

28 minutes ago, pcbbc said:

I’d only received complaints from UK users. It seems inconceivable to me given the number of users for my custom RNSE firmware, especially in Germany, that TMC has also ceased working in the rest of Europe.

INRIX, the alternative UK TMC service provider, are still alive and well and still broadcasting in the UK.  It’s just that VAG vehicles aren’t programmed/licensed to receive it.  Also TrafficMaster were a UK only company, so there’s no way withdrawal of their service in the UK could result in an impact in the rest of Europe.

 

So a couple of possible explanations here…

a) You weren’t receiving a strong enough FM signal to ensure the TMC was being received without error (RDS station names on the other hand are less fussy about errors)

b) The navigation unit filters the available TMC services it receives by RDS country code to your current location

Edit:

c) Or as joek666 points out, perhaps you just weren’t receiving the correct stations

 

Not knowing which stations broadcast TMC in France & to those I picked up, which is the reason why I went through the list of every radio station I could which must have been 9 or so which surprised me. Maybe a good day for radio waves.  Some I agree were fairly weak but some managed a good few miles drive out of Dymchurch before the signal faded for the good ones like Bluenord. I would have thought one or more of these would have carried the TMC signal after all the FM waveband is not awash with stations like DAB.

 

Naturally having to span over a 22 mile gap to the UK where it is not intentionally supposed to be broadcasting can have it's own problems, particularly in good, healthy signal strength.

Looking at the grouping for those stations they did have the Country of Origin tag of France.

 

It was a interesting check nonetheless.

@STV16L were you receiving those channels via DAB or FM?  Worth noting that RDS-TMC works off an FM signal

I just received this from Skoda - Still got the car wrong, it is a Rapid:

 

Re: Škoda Octavia - N99 NAR

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the issues experienced with your Škoda Octavia.

I am just writing today to provide a brief update on your case.

At this time, I can confirm that we are still liaising with the Škoda Factory with regard to the issues you have experienced.

As soon as I have an update to hand with regard to how your concerns can be resolved, I will ensure that I am contacting you as a priority.

Should there be anything I can assist with in the meantime, please contact me on xxxxxxxxxxxx and I would be happy to help.

Kind regards

 

23 minutes ago, Mattnam said:

@STV16L were you receiving those channels via DAB or FM?  Worth noting that RDS-TMC works off an FM signal

And DAB as discussed earlier. See ETSI TS 102 368.
INRIX are still broadcasting their TMC service on FM, and claim to also have a UK DAB service since 2012.

Although we have no confirmation that VAG products implement receiving via DAB.

46 minutes ago, Mattnam said:

@STV16L were you receiving those channels via DAB or FM?  Worth noting that RDS-TMC works off an FM signal

These were all FM. I don't think I managed any DAB stations.

4 hours ago, STV16L said:

Okay, as requested by another member here, I was in Kent on Monday, down in Dymchurch where I managed to pickup a host of French radio stations from the likes of Europe 1 + 2, Musique, Inter, Bluenord plus many more (left list at home!). I can confirm though, sadly, that this did not make a jot of difference to the activation of the TMC signal. So maybe Europe wide.

French TMC data will only be looked for when the GPS signal shows the vehicle in France, so I think this was an interesting but ultimately pointless test.

10 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

French TMC data will only be looked for when the GPS signal shows the vehicle in France, so I think this was an interesting but ultimately pointless test.

Never mind. Did it just out of curiosity as this seemed like the only time I could be on the Kent/Folkstone/Dover coast within a meaningful time line. I didn't prioritize this as a special trip. Just so happened to be there for work purposes.

Just got this reply from Skoda UK

 

We are sincerely sorry that your vehicle is not performing as you would expect as a result of the TMC function experiencing a fault. Škoda UK are aware of this fault and that it is impacting several customers, we are therefore working hard toward resolving the matter. After a full investigation of the fault, it has been determined that a software update is required to fix the fault. The software is not currently available and Škoda UK are waiting for an update from the Škoda Factory directly. Once the update is available, your local Škoda Retailer will be in contact directly to arrange an appointment to update your vehicle software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ŠKODA

 

We understand that this is not your desired outcome. We kindly ask for your continued patience in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write to ŠKODA

 

4 minutes ago, johnboy60 said:

Just got this reply from Skoda UK

 

We are sincerely sorry that your vehicle is not performing as you would expect as a result of the TMC function experiencing a fault. Škoda UK are aware of this fault and that it is impacting several customers, we are therefore working hard toward resolving the matter. After a full investigation of the fault, it has been determined that a software update is required to fix the fault. The software is not currently available and Škoda UK are waiting for an update from the Škoda Factory directly. Once the update is available, your local Škoda Retailer will be in contact directly to arrange an appointment to update your vehicle software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ŠKODA

 

We understand that this is not your desired outcome. We kindly ask for your continued patience in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write to ŠKODA

 

 

Sounds sort of positive in a way.....  we will have to see what happens next.

 

If this is resolved by updating software on each individual car then it going to be a massive task across numerous manufacturers.......  easily into the hundreds of thousands of vehicles.

 

 

 

22 minutes ago, johnboy60 said:

Just got this reply from Skoda UK

 

We are sincerely sorry that your vehicle is not performing as you would expect as a result of the TMC function experiencing a fault. Škoda UK are aware of this fault and that it is impacting several customers, we are therefore working hard toward resolving the matter. After a full investigation of the fault, it has been determined that a software update is required to fix the fault. The software is not currently available and Škoda UK are waiting for an update from the Škoda Factory directly. Once the update is available, your local Škoda Retailer will be in contact directly to arrange an appointment to update your vehicle software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ŠKODA

 

We understand that this is not your desired outcome. We kindly ask for your continued patience in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write to ŠKODA

 

Just received this reply from Audi UK.

 

We are sincerely sorry that your vehicle is not performing as you would expect as a result of the infotainment system experiencing a fault. Audi UK are aware of this fault and that it is impacting several customers, we are therefore working hard toward resolving the matter. After a full investigation of the fault, it has been determined that a software update is required to fix the fault. The software is not currently available and Audi UK are waiting for an update from the Audi Factory directly. Once the update is available, your local Audi Centre will be in contact directly to arrange an appointment to update your vehicles software. We understand that this is not your desired outcome. We kindly ask for your continued patience in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write to Audi UK

 

30 minutes ago, johnboy60 said:

Just got this reply from Skoda UK

 

We are sincerely sorry that your vehicle is not performing as you would expect as a result of the TMC function experiencing a fault. Škoda UK are aware of this fault and that it is impacting several customers, we are therefore working hard toward resolving the matter. After a full investigation of the fault, it has been determined that a software update is required to fix the fault. The software is not currently available and Škoda UK are waiting for an update from the Škoda Factory directly. Once the update is available, your local Škoda Retailer will be in contact directly to arrange an appointment to update your vehicle software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ŠKODA

 

We understand that this is not your desired outcome. We kindly ask for your continued patience in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write to ŠKODA

 

 

Definitely the most positive response we have had from Skoda to date, although no indication of timescales, which I will push for as and when I get a response myself.

 

Very important that owners keep applying pressure to the manufacturers in order to push this through.