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Hi Tony:
I am contacting you because you have written about the OnStar privacy, etc. issues. But there is a whole other side to this deal that I don’t see anyone discussing. Recently, I received a snail mail (from OnStar) telling me my credit card had expired and that I should call their customer service 888.281.5665 to update the information. Instead of calling, I went online and updated my information and renewed my “safe and sound” service for another year. Then I received a second notice saying they were going to deactivate my account if I did not update my credit card, so I called the number – Imagine my surprise when I was routed to the Philippines for customer service. This gentleman spoke perfect English and yet something made me ask where I was calling – he looked at my account and said everything was fine, I should disregard the notice. In conversation, I asked him, when I push my OnStar Emergency button and/or information button in my vehicle, where is the person located that answers – he told me, if it is outside of regular hours, my “emergency” or “information” call will be routed to the Philippines.
My local Saturn dealership was unaware of this and they groaned when I told them about it. It has been 3 or 4 weeks now and I just received yet another notice they would disconnect my OnStar if I did not update my credit card. I called the number – someone in the Philippines answered – I asked to speak to a Supervisor in the United States – she said, one minute please, I will transfer you – the next person that answered was from the Philippines – I again asked for a Supervisor in the United States – the next person I received was in Canada – I expressed my disappointment with him and said I was having a billing problem and really wanted to speak to a Supervisor in the United States – he said he would transfer me to billing, which he was sure was in the United States – they weren’t, I was routed back to the Philippines. I am furious!
Anyway, all of this prompted me to do some online searching about OnStar and, of course, I happened across your information about the government being able to “listen in” on my conversations. So, all this leads me to: Does this mean that someone in the Philippines or Canada can listen in as well? I am a realtor and I conduct a lot of business from my vehicle, as do my clients when we are out looking at homes; sometimes that information is sensitive as we have conversations with lenders, etc. I am fairly freaked out that not only my billing information is accessible to someone in another country (especially the Philippines) but also the fact that someone outside the United States could listen into my private conversations.
Now, maybe I am just more freaked out than most people because I have had my identity stolen before, but at the very least, I think OnStar should be required to disclose this information to the dealerships AND the consumer. The good side of their service is invaluable to me, and I might be willing to swallow the privacy issue if it was kept within US borders where a perpetrator would be subject to our laws – but what laws are the Philippinos who provide the customer/emergency service subject to and what if I am being eavesdropped on at a time when I actually need emergency services (as I understand that the listening in feature disables the emergency contact feature)???
I am really disappointed. I buy Saturn because they are American-made, and not serviced in the Philippines! Both Dell and Sprint learned the hard way about the cost of having customer service outside the United States. I expect that OnStar will learn the same thing. I sure would like to speed up their learning curve with some online chatter.
I’m wondering if 60 Minutes would be interested in exploring this.
Tony's Note: Indeed, I am going to shop this story around in my circle of contacts in the media. Someone will have a good story to print here! |
