OnStar

However, a few weeks ago we discovered we had been billed every month since July 2017 - almost 9. Although we closely check our credit card statements, we didn't catch these billings because OnStar was somehow billing our Kroger credit card. We never use this card or give out its number for anything other than Kroger purchases. The fact OnStar got access to this credit card is highly suspicious. Moreover, during this 9-month period there was no service to our LaCrosse, clearly indicating OnStar wasn't operative. When we contacted OnStar about this sham tactic and requested a full refund of the $270 for the 9 months we shouldn't have paid, they only offered to refund their charges for 3 months. From what I've read OnStar is struggling to stay viable. But this bogus strategy shouldn't be part of their way forward business model.

Not wanting to be bothered by these idiots. Time they know is worth a lot to those of us who don't like spending it on the phone or online trying to navigate, good one, through all their intentional roadblocks. That's a lot of money they are collecting for nothing. Wow, what a deal! This is how they can afford to lose a few... unhappy customers. It's how Spectrum, & T/W, B/house, many security co's, & many other "Services" we pay for & receive absolutely nothing for the monthly fees, that are also automatically renewed for their convenience, not ours & it pays again, them not us. The automatic renew policy is another sham. People take for granted these co's are safe, reliable & you know, honest & trustworthy.

Well please, do not fall for this company or any others that automatically renew! Again, they count on that, they purposefully count on most customers being too busy with every day life & with everything else most people have going on. They count on people forgetting or putting it off until next month, & there goes another charge, an automatic renewal & yes, another higher monthly charge. Amazing how many reviews I read where all of this is true & in common, repetitive. Then I think back regarding other "Services" like this one, & they are all the same. They are also paying out of country personnel for the most part, & that's another reason we never get the services we used to, nor do we get offered refunds or even a reduction for the monthly charges that they've automatically increased, repeatedly, every single year for over 9 years.

Few years ago when I'd catch them by viewing our c/c statement, they'd say "Well ok, we'll take care of that for you". No more. You get transferred to one in Asia, then one in India. I did however get one in country when I'd told them we receive absolutely nothing for the almost $27 a month on a vehicle that is an 07! I told them, at least we used to get a diagnostics & an email once a month. Haven't received any of those in last 3 years, & truly, it's our fault for not taking care of this ourselves before now. But as I read all the reviews from so many other people with the same issues, I am going to cancel.

They've ripped us off long enough. We're fortunate this vehicle barely gets out of the garage, we keep it for convenience, & because it's such a low mileage vehicle & a very large SUV & we have cell phones so we do not need the lousy do nothing service they do not provide. Sad to see, one iconic US name brand after another, be taken over by some "People" who continually outsource their business, & therefore leave the US customers literally out in the cold or the heat. We were & have been paying for nothing, now that's a deal!

But for OnStar not for us. Cancelling after 9 year run. Never will have their do nothing service again. Btw, many security firms/co's & others use the exact same tactics, a way around that is to buy your own systems, & cameras, & maybe have to pay for a limited monitoring. Truly now with ring & a few others, especially years ago when we purchased all of our own equipment, you do save a lot of money. Start going over your statements & see how much money, we are allowing these co's rip us off for... Monthly! For zero services. I've managed to "Find" $60 a month, more we can donate!

I am fully aware this is the very definition of a "first-world problem." In-vehicle WiFi isn't make or break in any sense of the term, and this was simply a luxury I was excited about in my new car. And I rarely comment or review businesses after a bad experience. However, this has been the height of poor customer service standards and internal operations. The advisors I've spoken with have been marginally nice, but it's clear the business practices are created without the customer in mind. At this point, I am asking for nothing. I'm out $40 and it truly isn't a large amount of money. I'd LOVE for the WiFi in my car to be fixed, but I don't think it's worth it at this point. What I AM asking is that this company re-think some of the completely absurd standards of practice they are using, and revise their focus to the customer, not only the bottom line. [Also, I'd like to know if there's a way to rip out the OnStar button from my car.]

The agent first said that they have no record of my cancellation so I gave her the 10 digit cancellation confirmation number that they had provided to me back in August of 2015 and the agent said that this number isn't valid because all of their cancellation confirmation numbers are 8 digits long, not 10 digits long. She also said that I re-subscribed two months later. (Wait a minute, how could I re-subscribe if I supposedly never canceled?) I told her that I want to cancel this subscription (again) so she passed me to another department to do that.

So, I told the new agent that I want to cancel the subscription so she did that. Once I hung up I realized that this moron didn't give me a cancellation confirmation number so I called Onstar back and asked for my cancellation confirmation number so a different agent gave it to me and guess what; the number was 10 digits long, not 8! I told the agent the entire story about my cancellation, re-subscribing and old (but wrong) confirmation number and she said she couldn't help me. I asked her to look up the transaction when I canceled and when I supposedly re-subscribed and she said she couldn't look back in her records that far back; imagine that.

I had always knowing that it could be disabled, obviously as with anything it can be removed but I would have never thought you could simply google "disable OnStar" and find out that it only takes 3 minutes to simply unplug it. I'm also ashamed that my insurance assisted this false sense of security by offering me a discount for having the OnStar tracking. I almost never leave one star reviews, I almost never leave negative reviews without saying something positive but in this case I simply cannot say anything positive. I can't wait for OnStar to tap into me driving when I get my new truck. I'll be sure to rip that rep a new one. OnStar makes me sick to my stomach.

Finally I realize I can push the button (duh!). Wow. Now I am out of the car so I tell him now I need a tow. He transfers me to a girl who has more questions. What address am I near? Well I am on a road right at an intersection. I can give that information but there are no homes or businesses around so this is the best I can do. It takes her forever to get a GPS on me. We have been on the phone 30 minutes by now. She puts me on hold and when she finally comes back says it will be 50-70 minutes for a tow truck! Really?? Never heard from tow truck.

My friend came, jumped my car and ran up the battery. I drove the 2 miles to the repair garage and called it a day. I figure I have spent over $2,000.00 on Onstar protection and this is what I get? I have emailed the company. No response. I told the person who called to check on me several hours after this happen and she said she would file a report. It has been 20 days since the breakdown and I have not heard anything from Onstar.

Folks please stop paying into this scam we call security is false, and you lose much more than what you are paying for. They offered me 3 months free service, but please explain to me why would I still be interested in your service when you didn't perform up to expectations in the first place? To the the current date after several calls no one has called to discuss nor make an offer about my loss of property due to them not notifying for immediate response to theft/vandalism. ONSTAR IS NO GOOD!!!

Now, I live in upstate New York, so the last time this happened, I was driving my son to Boy Scouts and it was 30 degrees outside. I put the car in drive and it asked me to activate my account. Sometimes I could say no, answer a couple other questions and it would disconnect, other times, it connected me to an associate. This time, I got an associate. I asked her to disconnect and hang up. She started in about deactivating my account! I said I have no account, you don't even know who I am, just hang up!! I refused to give my name. She would not disconnect.

I told her she needed to disconnect, OnStar has shut off my heat and it is 30 degrees and she still wouldn't. She did nothing I asked her, which was only to hang up and was on the whole time until I got to Boy Scouts, about 10 minutes. I was beyond mad. After about 5 minutes of no help from her, I couldn't even understand her anymore!! Once where I was going, I told her I am at my destination and am going inside and that she better disconnect and not drain my battery. Since then, less than 24 hours from now, I have not heard from them.

I drive my kids around and they had to listen to that, and my oldest just got his license and wants to drive constantly, and I had to instruct him on how to respond to OnStar so he could drive. I found it very distracting while driving and very upsetting. I will never have OnStar now. I will do everything I can to not even buy an OnStar equipped car ever again. They have access to YOUR car whenever they want even when you don't have them. A horrible company. Horrible customer service.

Finally spoke to Supervisor (John in Canada), who gave me even more different answers to same questions. Asked for my money to be refunded. Refused with no explanation. "We won't refund for used data." I explained I never 'used' the data... my phone ate the data without me ever touching my phone. Didn't want to hear that no one ever explained to me how it worked. Different note: January 2017, February 2017, March 2017... I was charged $39.84 per month for OnStar service. I never agreed to this. They tell me it automatically bills on monthly cycle once free period ends. No warning, no prior notice, they just start billing. Never again OnStar.

Uh-oh! That's when I did some research and found this ConsumerAffairs site. I read about onstar ripping people off using their credit card information. So, I wrote them online and asked: "I need to renew my subscription. Do you need my credit card number or do you already have it?" Someone responded with something like: "I can't answer that question. You must go to the billing site." Man, they sure want my money! I responded with only: "I'll make a note of it." I know one thing, I ain't "re-upping" my onstar! I just hope they don't lock me in my vehicle when they find out!

Shortly after completing the incident report with the East Point Police Department, I contacted OnStar at 3:33pm to get the location of the vehicle and to use the security service feature that is paid monthly which at that time OnStar informed me that the vehicle location was not available and would contact me once a location is found. I went in to the building to see if I could retrieve camera footage of my truck being stolen from the parking lot which showed that the theft occurred at 2:00pm that day. After reviewing video footage I contacted OnStar again at 4:29pm to get a status update of the vehicle and was again told that the vehicle location was not available and contacted OnStar several more times that day to follow up on the location.

On Thursday, December 8th I submitted an e-mail correspondence to OnStar regarding the security features outlined in our plan and no communication was returned with the dissatisfaction of the service provided. On Friday, December 9th I, again, contacted OnStar by e-mail and received a response “We will contact you shortly”. On Saturday, December 10th I sent a Facebook message requesting answers to my complaints and once again, no communication was provided. On Sunday, December 11th I received a response from OnStar at 11:13am stating,

“Thank you for taking the time to e-mail OnStar regarding information on your stolen 2015 Chevrolet Silverado. I understand how important it is for you to know why a signal was not sent to you when your vehicle was stolen. I have added your email to the case that was opened for this issue on December 7, 2016. For immediate assistance, please contact our Technical Team, Monday to Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. EST, Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST, by pressing the OnStar button or by calling the phone number below. Refer to your case #**. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply to this message, call us at 1.888.4.ONSTAR (1.888.466.7827) or press your blue OnStar button. Marsha, OnStar Information Specialist.”

Again on Sunday, December 11th at 2:26pm, I received another response from OnStar responding to my Facebook message stating "Thank you, Ashley. I see that you currently have the Basic Plan until 8-18-2020. This is our free service that includes limited access through the mobile app, but does not include certain features such as Stolen Vehicle Assistance. I understand the inconvenience of this situation, but we recommend continuing to work with the police on a resolution. If you have any additional questions on your current plan, please don't hesitate to let us know. Corey, OnStar Customer Care."

"My account shows we in fact did have stolen vehicle assistance - check your records. I can send you all my paperwork I printed off the other day that in fact shows WE do have this feature- Ashley." "My sincerest apologies, Ashley. Our records indicate that the Security Plan was canceled in August, but I do see that a new plan started that same month. In order to better assist you, I am going to forward your information to our Specialty Team. Please expect a call from them in the coming days after they have a chance to review your account. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to let me know. Corey, OnStar Customer Care"

Through Facebook social media posting of the video we actually recovered our own vehicle on Sunday, December 11, 2016 with people reporting sighting of the truck. We were very surprised it wasn't at a chop shop and assumed we were never going to see it again, however, received a call from an anonymous person that seen the Facebook post that went viral and my husband went to the location of the truck to confirm it was in fact his. Once he confirmed it he contacted the local authorities which did nothing and found out you can't actually arrest someone unless they are physically driving it even though the truck was actually sitting in someone's driveway. The police said without hesitation "Take it home", and left leaving my husband by himself, sitting in front of the thief home for 45 minutes waiting for someone to come help him drive the other vehicle to our home.

Once he got the truck home he thoroughly inspected it, and since this was a custom truck that has a custom paint job you can't just repair it at your local paint shop. Unfortunately without it voiding the warranties on the truck we had to take it to the original GM authorized dealer that made the upgrades which is located in South Carolina which is 5 hours away from our house. We of course have auto insurance, however, our auto policy does not cover stolen personal property that was in the truck, only covers up to 30 days of rental coverage with a $20.00 a day cap. We had a claims adjuster that came out and only provided us with a small amount of money to have the truck fixed as they don't recognize any custom upgrades on the vehicle and is not included even though we purchased this truck brand new from GM. The upgrades were completed by a GM authorized dealer.

On Monday, December 12th we received a phone call from Carrie in the corporate office claiming that a theft notification was sent on Monday, December 12th at 3:30 which was immediately disputed as there was no notification sent in an email advising of a theft notification. She requested we make sure our email was correct which it was and stated she does not know why and offered 8 months free service and we declined, and she immediately offered 12 months free service which again we declined. On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 a letter was mailed and emailed regarding this matter to the corporate office and no response was communicated back and mailed a final letter of demand on December 23, 2016.

I finally heard from a corporate representative Christine on Monday, January 2nd and informed me that our complaint is now in the right hands and would have the matter resolved. Through several email conversations she requested that they have a 3rd Party Investigate this matter and would be able to go out to review the vehicle for damages.

At this point no repair work has been completed on the truck 1 month after being recovered, and today, January 13, 2017 I receive a phone call from Christine stating with a now 4th excuse "Yes, OnStar failed to activate your Vehicle Theft Protection which resulted in the truck being stolen." She goes on to state that the 3rd party investigator they hired to review the claim showed it to be in our favor. Offered to pay an equivalent to 2 truck payments in good faith. I of course disagreed as we have lost a substantial amount of money from this to include 2 vehicle payments, rental vehicle coverage, difference in insurance not paying for damages, personal property loss, OnStar payments, loss of wages and travel totaling upwards $13,000.00 and potentially additional costs we may incur.

In conclusion the only way to resolve this is to file a lawsuit, but my dilemma is we live in Atlanta, GA and GM OnStar is based in Detroit, MI and the amount I am seeking is well beyond the small claim limits of Michigan which is $5000 and therefore have to physically resolve the matter in Michigan and I just can’t seem to find an attorney, and I certainly can’t meet with one as it too far and simply exhausting which I am sure OnStar was banking on that.

I had misread that we get a revised version of Onstar which turned out to be only the functions that would have remotely interested me like the remote start/lock previously mentioned. Regardless, when I stated "I thought I read that we get Onstar for free for 5 years?" I got laughed at then a stereotypical ** woman response back at me saying and I quote, "You think we are gonna give you free accident reporting and navigation for 5 years? I don't think so!"

I simply replied, "I do not need either of those anyway so it's all good." So to recap, I have no idea how there still is an Onstar or any need for it with today's technology or why Chevrolet hasn't updated the service to keep it more relevant and price effective. Maybe if you're an older person who has no knowledge of everyday smart phone apps and so on, but for the majority of people it's a non-starter.