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Related story: When I bought my GM truck last year, it came with OnStar. The saleswoman came to the part of the sale where she had to set up my OnStar account
by coreyp_1 7y ago
Related story:
When I bought my GM truck last year, it came with OnStar. The saleswoman came to the part of the sale where she had to set up my OnStar account. I told the saleswoman that I would not consent to the OnStar trial service. When she tried to cancel it for me through their online portal, she asked for my email address, which was required to cancel the service. I refused to give it to her. She didn't know what to do because that portal was the only tool that she had to work with, and it required the information (she was professional the entire time, btw, as was I), so I told her that I would take care of it.
I walked out to my new truck (still in the sales lot), pressed the OnStar button, and the operator came on, asking me to set up my service. I told them that I wanted to cancel the service completely. What did they do? They asked for my personal information.
I had a back-and-forth with them for 10 minutes or so, with the operator telling me that they could not turn off OnStar unless I gave them my personally identifying information, and I kept telling them that they did not need that information at all and that I would not give it to them (they already knew my vehicle's ID... it's automatically included with the OnStar call).
When asked why I would cancel a "free" service period, I told them in no uncertain terms that I disliked the OnStar company, that I did not consent to sharing any private information with them, and I wanted the "demo" service (that was active when purchasing a new vehicle) disabled completely because I had purchased the vehicle. They kept telling me that they could not cancel the service unless I provided my personally identifying information.
I offered them an alternative. I told them that I could hang up, and the OnStar would stay in the unlimited "demo" mode where I would continue to get the service for free.
They put me on hold, and when they came back, I was told that their supervisor OK'd the cancellation without me giving them any personal information.
I should have just removed the antenna!
- moretai 7y agoI am glad people like you exist in our world.
- mcguire 7y agoHow should they handle a fraudulent attempt to cancel someone else's service?
- OnlineGladiator 7y agoIf the service was never set up, then there's nothing to cancel (other than a demo which I assume is easy to turn back on). If the service has already been set up, then they already have your personally identifying information and there is no problem reaffirming who you are. For what it's worth, I've spent the last week disabling Car-Net on my car. The number of people who told me it's impossible and that it can't be done is a little upsetting. I really wanted to just manually disable it myself, but it seemed like I'd have to risk losing my warranty if I did so. EDIT: To be clear, when I say disable, I mean it is impossible for Car-Net to contact my car or for my car to send out information wirelessly. I'd guess ~99% of dealers (I honestly don't think that is an exaggeration) have actually never performed this service before for anyone, and the vast majority are not even aware it is possible.
- apacheCamel 7y agoI think I saw this a little differently, the account the user was trying to cancel shouldn't have had any information attached to it anyway. So by OnStar asking for personal identification on an account that (probably) doesn't have any information to begin with seems a bit ridiculous. So to prevent fraud, I can imagine most users who actually use the account already have real information attached to it. So pushing for personal identification before removal makes much more sense in that case.
- dawnerd 7y agoSimilarly I tried to cancel my Car Net subscription and the lady on the phone tried to guilt trip me by saying if I crashed VW wouldn’t do anything to help me.
- driverdan 7y ago> I should have just removed the antenna! You should absolutely find the SIM card and remove it. Just because you "disabled" the service doesn't mean they aren't still sending data back.
- PeterStuer 7y agoAny good tips on how to go about that? Is there an effective Google incantation to search for where it could be in a specific brand/make/model of car?
- neuralRiot 7y agoThere’s no SIM card, the OnStar module is a closed box, easiest way is to just unplug the antenna, no permanent damage an easily reversible if you need your car serviced at the dealer.
- bonestamp2 7y agoWere you trying to prevent them from getting your personal info at all? Because, I'd be surprised if GM doesn't share that info with them. I guess you'll know if you get calls or mail trying to sell you the service. I ask because the last couple cars I've bought (not GM mind you) had XM radio and I never did anything to activate it, yet when the free trial was up they had all my info to initiate a sales call and send mail.