MapPoint and Bad Directions ---

MapPoint makes great maps, but its logic on routing seems to be wrong and illogical at times. Who is responsible when a customer pays a programmer to write a routing program and the routing does not work through no fault of the programmers?

An old acquaintance of mine just received a registered letter demanding to be paid back for the program that is sending trucks all over the place PLUS damages for loss of business.

Who holds the ball in this case?

Hi,

MapPoint makes great maps, but its logic on routing seems to be wrong and illogical at times

Hmm it depents on the settings. I have a lots routing programs with mappoint working fine. However mappoint has a problem if there are many waypoints. For example I have here a route of 20 km in belgium, but the generated route is over Sweden, Norway, Russia and back :) I assume it is to do with rounding errors. The error is only when there are many waypoints in a very short distance.

Who is responsible when a customer pays a programmer to write a routing program and the routing does not work through no fault of the programmers?

It depend on many factors.
When the programmer is hired per working hour, then the customar is responcible, but depending on the knowledge of the programmer the ball can swing back to the programmer :( Very difficult to discuss about knowledge in a court :( a hired expert can help, but then again it is depending on the expert's knowledge.

When there is made a price in advance then programmer is sure always responcible. If he cannot deliver what customar ask then no pay. However it has to be very clear what is asked in the order form.

If customar explicitely ask to work with a particular program as Mappoint, and it is indeed Mappoint that does not do what customar ask then responcible is Microsoft. But again an expert is needed to hire, and again he has to prove what is wordth.

So there is law and logic. Gooing to court is also both of them and depending on judge. Normally judges are not programmers, so you have to have avoid this matter.

But the best thing to do always is to negotiate with customar. Check and try to understeand his specific problem, and try to solve it, eventually with workarounds. If you give a little then customar give also a little. We have a proverb that sound something like: "you have to do a little water in the wine, to make everyone pleased", or another one: "keep the church in the middle of town, some people go others not, but nobody will disturb". Translation not so well but sure you understeand the meaning.

Hopes this helps :)

If customar explicitely ask to work with a particular program as Mappoint, and it is indeed Mappoint that does not do what customar ask then responcible is Microsoft.

Sorry, but then responcible is customar, unless Mappoint does not do what it say in documentation... And again ball can be played back to the programmer, because customar can allways say "sorry but I do not know programming, that's wy I hired the programmer"...

So think on the church and the wine :) Registered letter or not, a phone call and a nice conversation can do miracles :)