Thinking About ...ONSTAR

I hear all those wonderful testimonials from ONSTAR subscribers:

Mississippi State Senator Terry Burton called OnStar when his 2009 Chevy Impala was stolen on Thursday. Our Stolen Vehicle Slowdown technology helped the Hinds County Sheriff Department recover the senator's Impala.

” ONSTAR helps a diabetic subscriber blacked out while driving with his dog and woke up in the middle of a sunflower field"

Kidnapped woman says "ONSTAR saved my life"

"Thanks for helping me find my Truck Sunday. I was at the Nascar race in Dover, and you guys helped me find my truck..Thank you."

I envisioned all these ONSTAR dispatchers sitting ABOVE ME in the heavens...ok..they looked like ANGELS.... white winged and clear eyed. All just waiting for the WHITE BUTTON press, or the AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT, or the GOOD SAMARITAN phone call. No fear...just trust, faith, and the sure knowledge that all SUBSCRIBERS have, what amounts to, an almost direct link to GOD (ON the STAR)....

And when the victims of all the small and terrible things that can happen in a car, hear that voice come on saying ...."not alone, are you in pain, help is on the way, I will stay with you... we are all knowing and all wise."......AWESOME!


Another ONSTAR customer story:

donna of fort smith, AR October 2, 2009


My elderly mother, my 11 year old son and I got locked out of my 2008 Buick Enclave two nights ago in the parking lot of a local store. My purse, cell phone, keys--all in the car. With my mother's cell phone I contacted OnStar, explained the situation, and requested they unlock the vehicle.

Of course they wanted identification. No problem. I gave her my full name, my husband's name, our home phone number, his cell phone number, my cell phone number, his business number, and the make, year and model of my car. She was unable to find our account. This part alone took about 10 minutes with us standing there in the dark beside the car.

She explained that we apparently were not subscribers to their service. I explained that we apparently were since they automatically withdraw 20 dollars a month from my checking account every month and have for 2 years. She then requested the VIN of the car stating she could match it up that way.

Easier said than done. I couldn't read in the dark the numbers on the panel. My mother certainly couldn't. However, my 11 year old son could--by climbing up on the hood of the car and shining the dim light of the cell phone on the panel to read off the numbers. I repeated them to the operator. She told me it was an invalid number. Alex climbed BACK up on the hood and read off the numbers to me AGAIN. AGAIN, I repeated the numbers to the operator. This time she was able to make the match.

Miraculously, my husband's name, my name, his cell phone number, his work number, the make and model of our car--it was all there after all. (We've now been dealing with this simple issue for about 25 minutes in the dark, in the parking lot.) Great. Now unlock the car please.

Oh wait, ma'am. I can't. You've got to give me your 4 digit PIN since YOU COULDN'T PROVIDE ME ANY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION. This is for your protection after all. I explained that I had no idea what my 4 digit PIN was, I've never called the service before, any info I would have on this would after all be IN MY PURSE, IN THE LOCKED CAR.

Surely after all the information I've provided she had no doubt I was whom I claimed to be, and PLEASE JUST UNLOCK THE DOOR, WE'RE NOT IN A SAFE SITUATION HERE. The operator refused, and disconnected. My mother offered to fix this the old fashioned way. We called her AAA service. The AAA guy was physically there in about 10 minutes and had us back in the car in less than 30 seconds after that. No charge.

My third call, while waiting on the AAA guy, was to OnStar's accounts service. I spoke to a representative there, explained the situation, the difficulty we had and asked to cancel the service. Now. No use to me when I needed it. She got the supervisor on the phone who offered to discount my monthly charge to 12 a month. Incredibly, even after speaking with 3 Onstar people, at this point in time my car WAS STILL LOCKED!! And NO ONE offered to just unlock the vehicle for me.

I again requested the service just be cancelled. Only then did they tell me that the accounts people were actually not working at night, I'd have to call back tomorrow. I DID call back the next day, and went through the same routine again. Offer to discount the monthly fee for a few months, reminded me I may need the service some day in a life threatening situation.

I replied after what I'd been through I'd probably have my head hanging out the door bleeding all over the place while some OnStar operator from a different country kept asking for a PIN before they'd do anything about it. After talking to another supervisor, now my 5th contact at OnStar, they agreed to cancel the service.


FALLEN ANGELS....heavy sigh.....