orem – No doubt the KSL investigators knew about this mission. Meet an Orem man who’s fed up with shipping disruptions because mapping apps send people to the wrong places.
But even after entering the right address and the right city into the Google Maps app, we ended up at a house in Vineyard, three miles west. This made me late for my interview with Jesse Gross, but it was better than never being late. This is more than Mr. Gross can say about many of his talks.
“They screw up big time,” Gross said.
A tale of two neighborhoods
Like many cities in Utah, Orem is on a grid system. Houses have numbers. Streets are numbered. Entering the same number will take you to different addresses depending on the city you entered. But even though he types in Orem, Gross is frustrated that the maps app keeps directing people to the same numbered house on the same numbered street in a completely different neighborhood on the Vineyard. And vice versa.
“It’s nerve-wracking because the addresses are mirrored,” Gross said. “Our friends on the Vineyard, they’re Airbnb.”
That fact caused an awkward moment.
“People get sent here thinking it’s an Airbnb, their home, but they’ve actually walked through the house inside out,” he says. It’s not just Gross’ house. He said his neighbors up and down his street have the same problem.
“I had my car delivered from Carvana to my neighbor across the street here,” he said.
This mapping error is annoying at best. To make matters worse, people and businesses are suffering losses due to lost packages and misdelivered meals. But in the worst case scenario, it can create a potentially dangerous situation.
“Vineyard cancer patients’ medicine was delivered to their homes,” Gross said. These misdirections have been going on for five years, ever since the Vineyard District with mirrored addresses went online.
He said he has contacted everyone he can think of to try to resolve the issue.
“They acknowledge it’s a problem,” he said. “They know it’s a problem. They just aren’t fixing it.”
So Gross asked KSL investigators to investigate.
Who is responsible for the accuracy of the map?
Having accurate maps can be an important safety issue. No one wants an ambulance to take them to the wrong location just because they called 911. But otherwise, the government has done little to force private companies to fix map problems.
Even though many of the satellites our devices use for GPS are government-owned, the U.S. Space Force writes:
Please understand that the U.S. government cannot correct mapping errors on consumer devices or apps. Government GPS satellites are simply beacons, like lighthouses, that devices use to calculate their own latitude and longitude. Satellites do not transmit mapping information.
Several lawsuits have been filed against mapping companies over mistakes, including one filed in September by a North Carolina family who claims Google Maps knocked their father off a collapsed bridge. Back here in Utah, KSL investigators decided to test out a few mapping apps.
Both Google Maps and Apple Maps, two of the most popular, have been found to have issues that are plaguing Gross’s neighborhood. After entering the address, the app provided two identical addresses, both of which read Orem. But depending on which one we click, the app can take us to Orem or send us to the Vineyard. We reached out to both Apple and Google. Neither company responded.
But maybe, just maybe, Google Maps has fixed this bug. Because, after our email, we and many others were unable to reproduce the issue where we were directed to the wrong neighborhood in the wrong town.
How to report a map issue
The U.S. Space Force says the best way to fix the map problem is to contact the wrong company.
This Google support page explains how to report mapping errors in the Maps app.
Google also owns Waze. To report an issue with the Waze app, you can find that information on this support page.
Apple’s Maps User Guide has information about reporting issues.
Have you experienced something that doesn’t seem right? KSL investigators want to help. Send your tips to Investives@ksl.com or 385-707-6153. We’ll take care of it for you.