Google Maps is doing this to me in Washington DC. I probably wouldn't mind if it actually saved time. The problem is that drivers before me tried it, so the city has made many of the streets one way during rush hour only, or particular turns are banned. Google should program in more of these details before it routes people down what its maps already know are tiny, non-through streets. Usually I consult Google for traffic but when it picks these circuitous routes I ignore it because I can't trust it.

In the same vein sometimes it is worth it to stay on a main road even if a perfectly valid side route would save just a few minutes. Driving the side route can be less safe, more stressful, and it's easier to miss a turn, which wipes out the savings anyway. I wish the map software would account for this.