Exactly. This is really Apple's loss at this point. As more stories like these accumulate, there will be a good number of users who will think twice before jumping in and buying an Apple device.
Getting stuck in a bad part of a city, getting lost on some unpaved road at night in a national park, is many people's nightmare. At this point many don't even carry paper maps or if they did they probably couldn't use it effectively.
There is NO evidence that Apple is blocking it from the store.