OnStar ignores elderly mans request for emergency assistance because he's not a subscriber. - Polidicks

[quote] An 89-year-old man in upstate New York ended up driving away from home and becoming lost, local channel WHAM reports. He did not have a cell phone, but the car he was driving was equipped with OnStar. He pushed the OnStar button, seeking help, and was rebuffed.[/quote] [quote]"They told him there was nothing they could do because he didn’t have a subscription" [/quote] OnStar should be charged with reckless endangerment, they knew the man was in trouble, the police even started a manhunt for the guy and they told no one and did nothing. He was eventually spotted by a state trooper thankfully. Source: [url]http://consumerist.com/2015/12/21/onstar-ignores-elderly-mans-request-for-emergency-help-because-hes-not-a-subscriber/[/url] [url]http://ktvl.com/news/offbeat/onstar-ignores-89-year-old-emergency-caller[/url]

I don't really see anything good or bad except for the operators incompetence onstar simply couldn't locate his car and make a call to his family, but the operator was pretty stupid not to call 911 and tell them

[QUOTE=Scorpo;49394597]I don't really see anything good or bad except for the operators incompetence onstar simply couldn't locate his car and make a call to his family, but the operator was pretty stupid not to call 911 and tell them[/QUOTE] The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?

Fuck onstar. For what GM charges for their pieces of shit cars, onstar should be free for life.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394617]The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?[/QUOTE] probably some liability contract issue since you haven't signed the contract and given them money

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394617]The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?[/QUOTE] oh they did? I thought they only got acess to the cars location after you gave consent or something along those lines to onstar. I would go further as to why Im thinking this, but nah. in that case yeah fuck onstar I guess

Seems rather stupid that OnStar doesn't disable the system's ability to call in the first place if the person doesn't have a subscription. Otherwise, if OnStar was legally required to provide assistance in emergency situations what exactly would be the point of actually paying for OnStar?

Thread title implies he asked for 911 help

[QUOTE=meppers;49394690]Thread title implies he asked for 911 help[/QUOTE] He asked OnStar to call 911, they couldn't even do that for him. Probably because if they did they would be legally obligated to use their premium services to track him down to assist the police.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394697]He asked OnStar to call 911 too, they couldn't even do that for him.[/QUOTE] On star has 2 buttons, a blue help button and a red emergency button. I would assume the red button is a direct line to 911 and it is illegal for a phone to block contact with 911

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394697]He asked OnStar to call 911 too, they couldn't even do that for him. Probably because if they did they would be legally obligated to use their premium services to track him down to assist the police.[/QUOTE] hello is reading the article a lost art or something "When WHAM reached out to OnStar, the company apologized for experience but said that if you’re not an active subscriber, their computers cannot locate your car. [B]In that event, they said, they call the authorities. [/B]However, they were unsure whether this emergency call was ever passed along to police or not." them possibly failing to just call 911 is not a fault of onstar as a service and is instead a fault of the individual operator [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=meppers;49394705]On star has 2 buttons, a blue help button and a red emergency button. I would assume the red button is a direct line to 911 and it is illegal for a phone to block contact with 911[/QUOTE] iirc it all runs through onstar, they're not directly dialing the psap from the car, onstar forwards the info to the psap

[QUOTE=LordCrypto;49394708]hello is reading the article a lost art or something "When WHAM reached out to OnStar, the company apologized for experience but said that if you’re not an active subscriber, their computers cannot locate your car. [B]In that event, they said, they call the authorities. [/B]However, they were unsure whether this emergency call was ever passed along to police or not." them possibly failing to just call 911 is not a fault of onstar as a service and is instead a fault of the individual operator [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] iirc it all runs through onstar, they're not directly dialing the psap from the car, onstar forwards the info to the psap[/QUOTE] The article also said he didn't have a cellphone. And the operator failed to call the authorities.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394718]The article also said he didn't have a cellphone.[/QUOTE] onstar does, not the driver reading comprehension really is gone [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] they just call 911, giving the regular info you'd give but not a "here's where the car is down to 3 feet" [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] nice ninja edit fact of the matter: onstar (as an overall entity) isn't at fault. if you don't subscribe to the service and the legality of onstar being able to locate you, they can't just activate it whenever the fuck they want the operator possibly failing to call 911 and just say "hi there's a person lost here" is a fault of the individual person, not onstar as an organization

Onstar should be responsible for training their employees then.

[QUOTE=LordCrypto;49394721]onstar does, not the driver reading comprehension really is gone [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] they just call 911, giving the regular info you'd give but not a "here's where the car is down to 3 feet" [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] nice ninja edit fact of the matter: onstar (as an overall entity) isn't at fault. if you don't subscribe to the service and the legality of onstar being able to locate you, they can't just activate it whenever the fuck they want the operator possibly failing to call 911 and just say "hi there's a person lost here" is a fault of the individual person, not onstar as an organization[/QUOTE] [quote=CBS News 10]The neighbor even gave OnStar his VIN, license plate information and missing persons description. OnStar did nothing and told them they couldn't locate the car since DePinto wasn't subscribed and never called authorities. [b]OnStar said they assumed the neighbor called police so they didn't need to do so.[/b][/quote] OnStar was even notified the person was considered missing. Do you work for GM? The fact remains that, as a service that only exists to assist people in dangerous situations, this was handled poorly.

I've looked it up and apparently refusing to provide assistance to a person in danger isn't a criminal offence in the US? It is in Switzerland and most of Europe so I took it for granted.

[QUOTE=Kljunas;49394950]I've looked it up and apparently refusing to provide assistance to a person in danger isn't a criminal offence in the US? It is in Switzerland and most of Europe so I took it for granted.[/QUOTE] There are similar laws in the US, but they are regulated by state and only 10 states have such laws, New York isn't one of them.

[QUOTE=Kljunas;49394950]I've looked it up and apparently refusing to provide assistance to a person in danger isn't a criminal offence in the US? It is in Switzerland and most of Europe so I took it for granted.[/QUOTE] It's a tough situation. If On-Star is required to help everyone, whether subscriber or not, then they're basically void as a company, and probably wouldn't even exist in the first place. If that's the case, then the two choices are between having a company that provides extra help for those who pay, and not having any help for anyone. I can see both sides of this issue, and it will most likely be an eventual minefield of a court case.

I bet if he was late on a payment they would disable his car or some shit. Money talks and bullshit walks.

[QUOTE=sgman91;49394984]It's a tough situation. If On-Star is required to help everyone, whether subscriber or not, then they're basically void as a company, and probably wouldn't even exist in the first place. If that's the case, then the two choices are between having a company that provides extra help for those who pay, and not having any help for anyone. I can see both sides of this issue, and it will most likely be an eventual minefield of a court case.[/QUOTE] If they didn't have OnStar systems installed by default on cars they could avoid that. Because at that point your effectively locking out features of your car to a demographic of users.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394617]The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?[/QUOTE] OnStar is a third party service. Unless they have some kind of legal duty to report or act (which they dont) they can tell you to fuck off all they want without legal recourse. Cruel of them to do, but perfectly legal.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49395468]If they didn't have OnStar systems installed by default on cars they could avoid that. Because at that point your effectively locking out features of your car to a demographic of users.[/QUOTE] Right, you seem to be arguing that less choice is better if it makes everyone equal in not having the choice.

[QUOTE=sgman91;49395713]Right, you seem to be arguing that less choice is better if it makes everyone equal in not having the choice.[/QUOTE] from a purely legal perspective for on star it might, then again they probably would settle out of court to avoid that issue being brought up anyway.

[QUOTE=LordCrypto;49394721]onstar does, not the driver reading comprehension really is gone [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] they just call 911, giving the regular info you'd give but not a "here's where the car is down to 3 feet" [editline]26th December 2015[/editline] nice ninja edit fact of the matter: onstar (as an overall entity) isn't at fault. if you don't subscribe to the service and the legality of onstar being able to locate you, they can't just activate it whenever the fuck they want the operator possibly failing to call 911 and just say "hi there's a person lost here" is a fault of the individual person, not onstar as an organization[/QUOTE] I wouldn't be surprised if OnStar tracks you regardless and sells that data to whoever wants it. In fact, they admitted to doing just that in 2011, but claimed to have reverted it after "public outcry".

Lol I work for Onstar currently what a shitshow [editline]27th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=shad0w440;49394617]The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?[/QUOTE] no they dont every service turns off besides the blue button to speak to an advisor once your trial or plan ends advisor probably could have done something, maybe transfer the call to emergency.

[QUOTE=Arc Nova;49396544]Lol I work for Onstar currently what a shitshow [editline]27th December 2015[/editline] no they dont every service turns off besides the blue button to speak to an advisor once your trial or plan ends advisor probably could have done something, maybe transfer the call to emergency.[/QUOTE] Turned off, but the hardware isn't physically removed from the car, the advisors might not have the capability to just flip a switch and find a non subscribers position. But the fact remains that the car is still capable of sending this information to SOMEONE.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49394617]The problem is they have the capability to track the car, whether or not someone has payed to have it activated shouldn't factor into it especially when such features could greatly benefit in life or death situations. Locking safety features of your car behind a paywall shouldn't be a thing. What if he ran out of gas and froze to death? And it came to light he tried to get help and was basically told to fuck off?[/QUOTE] it all depends on the age of the car, my gramma's buick can't do that either because her onstar system is too old and would require a whole new box to work

[QUOTE=shad0w440;49396853]Turned off, but the hardware isn't physically removed from the car, the advisors might not have the capability to just flip a switch and find a non subscribers position. But the fact remains that the car is still capable of sending this information to SOMEONE.[/QUOTE] I guess. The only thing I can see is how many times you've used the directions and the last destination you asked for and other mundane things. Nothing like speed and miles driven. I'm sure someone sees other data like the emergency department and such. Not a bad service starting at the base service for 19.99mo/199.99yr Ya get Emergency Services Road Side Assistance Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle Locate And a keyfob app for your phone that can lock or unlock your vehicle, start it if you have a remote starter, honk the horn, flash the lights ect. :hammered::hammered::hammered::hammered:

BMWs come with BMW Assist which is essentially the same as OnStar. However, where they differ, is that when the subscription runs out, if you're in a wreck they will still automatically notify the authorities. It's a standard feature of any modern BMW. Surprised GM doesn't do the same.

[QUOTE=Arc Nova;49397516]I guess. The only thing I can see is how many times you've used the directions and the last destination you asked for and other mundane things. Nothing like speed and miles driven. I'm sure someone sees other data like the emergency department and such. Not a bad service starting at the base service for 19.99mo/199.99yr Ya get Emergency Services Road Side Assistance Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle Locate And a keyfob app for your phone that can lock or unlock your vehicle, start it if you have a remote starter, honk the horn, flash the lights ect. :hammered::hammered::hammered::hammered:[/QUOTE] I love the silly amount of security on those phone apps ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqFvH0NYE-U]previously none[/url] :v:).