OnStar review: unhappy with onstar service! 45

I also received that notice. I have written to GM asking them to find a way to replace the "outdated" OnStar system in my 2002 Buick. The reply was "sorry, but there's nothing they can do"! I still do not understand why the old electronics cannot just be replaced!

I am also on the "Cancellation List" of OnStar by GM. I contacted the FCC, OnStar and GM by email. Initially, I thought the FCC had a ruling to no longer support the analog system. I was wrong, they allowed GM to "MAKE THE DECISION" to no longer offer the service. OnStar only said "Sorry" as well as GM. I explained the depreciation value of my car. I also stated that this is a ploy to raise car sales for GM. I "was" happy with my 2002 Tahoe, which is paid off. I was hoping to keep it another 5 years. I am in the process of contacting some type of legal assistance to continue with this issue. Does anyone know or have legal advise? Let's stick together and not let them rape us! Thanks and good luck to all!

I, too, am disappointed to be losing my OnStar service because of the transition. If, in fact, our cars CANNOT be converted to the digital network, I believe at least a partial refund of the price of the OnStar hardware - as an admission of bad planning - to be an action of concession. If OnStar (or in my case Volkswagen) seems unresponsive, perhaps class-action lawsuit is an appropriate endeavor to collectively voice our disappointment and recoup something.

I find it hard to believe OnStar isn't trying to subsidize our transition to a new network. It's the subscription service where they make their money. I believe it a big mistake for the company to 1) give up such a large number of customers and 2) by alienating and upsetting current subscribers, lose them and buy very negative word of mouth. Bad for business.

Any lawyers interested in this?

My complaint is when I received the letter about the digital upgrade there was only a "see your G.M. dealer". I live in Franklin North Carolina and Harry's Cadillac is in Asheville N.C. which is 72 miles from here. I drove to the GM DEALER, Smoky Mountain Chevrolet in Franklin. I was told only a Caddi dealer could do the job.

On the huge sign in Franklin it shows GM DEALER. Your letter said a GM dealer. I was "MIFFED" to say it nicely that I drove the 150 miles when your *5@!)# letter only specified the "GM DEALER." I DO NOT LIKE TO SAY I FELT "i had been had' FOR THE TIME, EXPENSE AND AGGRAVATION YOUR LETTER CAUSED BY NOT BEING TRUE AND SPECIFIC.

I am the owner of a mint condition 2002 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI with 12k original miles on it. The car was purchased new from Bob Jeannotte Pontiac in Michigan in May of 2002, by my mother, a long time customer of Bob Jeannotte and of General Motors. The car is fully equipped, and features include the OnStar system, to which my mother subscribed, and I currently subscribe. When my mother died in 2006, the car was left to me.

General Motor’s decision to not even offer an upgrade for the analog OnStar system for this vehicle is extremely distressing. It has not only substantially reduced the value of my vehicle; it has taken away the peace of mind that OnStar provided. General Motor’s offer to me of the OnStar free subscription for a year if I buy a newer car is, at best, insulting. Not only was OnStar standard equipment on this model, and the car priced accordingly, the paid subscription to it has never lapsed since purchase.

Would General Motors come out after 5 years and tell its customers that the air conditioning on their vehicle would cease to function and there is nothing the customer can do about it? Or the airbags were going to be turned off and would not work anymore? These systems are also standard equipment.

I have no desire, nor intention to purchase another newer General Motors vehicle to retain the OnStar system. At 12k miles, this car has most of its life left, and no new car will be the car my mother left me, so it would not mean anything to me.

General Motors has a responsibility to its customers to provide service and parts for the systems that are factory installed on their cars. By choosing not to offer an upgrade from the analog OnStar system installed in my car, General Motors is committing a grave disservice against me and against the hundreds of thousands of other customers with analog systems. General Motors should be held accountable to provide an affordable upgrade path to digital OnStar for those with analog systems. It should be the customer’s decision whether or not to upgrade to digital OnStar.

I own a 2003 Buick Park Avenue Ultra with only 14,000 miles on it. By dropping the ball on upgrading all owners re OnStar to digital, GM has lost a repeat customer. This is my fourth GM luxury car - and my last, unless my OnStar service is upgraded.

I thought GM would "go straight" after they unloaded Roger Smith. Wrong.

Lawyers: What a great opportunity for a giant, rolling, national lawsuit.

I own a 2002 Avalance. My Onstar service will soon be discontinued on 01 Jan 2008. I have owned GM trucks for the last 25 yrs. In the past, I have spoke very highly of the Onstar service and GM trucks. Now, I see my loyalty being "put out to pasture". Where is the loyalty from GM and from Onstar to their customers? This is unacceptable. I now see GM's motto becoming like most other businesses in America ... "the hell with customer relations and American pride, lets screw the people and make more money"...

I have been reluctant to write even though I am quite upset with the prospect of losing my Onstar on my 2002 Buick LeSabre purchased at Perry Buick in January 2002. With exception of some electronic problems, I have been totally happy with the LeSabre. First I was upset that Buick decided to get rid of the LeSabre, a car that is a comfortable ride and I get up to 29 miles to a gallon on the road, I now learn that I will not have ON Star. What a comfort is has been to know that I had that service. As so eloquently stated in the other complaints, I believed that it is poor planning on GM to not prepare for the digital day, if you will. My plan was not to replace my Buick because I generally keep cars for a long time but to replace my 1994 Dodge Caravan with a Buick product. That will not happen now, I regret. The folks at Perry Buick have been so nice to me and I wanted to do all my business there. Sorry and Sad looking for a long term relationship with GM.

Couldn't get in my car today, had locked the key's inside, called Onstar to have them unlock the door and couldn't get it done, gave them all of the information, am really disappointed with the service.

I too was notified of my Onstar fiasco and was happy to find that there is a class action lawsuit in progress regarding this problem. I have owned a Buick product for the past 20 yrs., presently a 2002 Buick Park Avenue. Up to now I would never have thought of owning anything but an American car. Please, everyone in this current predicament, contact www.girardgibbs.com to join this class action lawsuit. This was a situation that GM was aware would occur and they outright sold us a bill of goods when they pushed the analog Onstar on vehicles prior to 2003.

Frustrated and very upset.

Sign up here for class action lawsuit: http://www.onstarclassaction.com

I to am complaining also, not only because my parents bought a Buick and this feature was a greater reason for their purchase of this vehicle, because they are or were in their late 60's, and now my father has just passed away and us children would really feel safer with her having OnStar after all this is what is ONE OF THE BIGGEST FEATURES FOR FEELING SAFE! That is what we see in the comercials on T.V. Now to say the system is only disposable, I also think they should have tested or found that OnStar should last the lifetime of the vehicle, I think it is also ridiculous to think that everyone should be ask to purchase a new vehicle with a $500.00 offer from GM who is this helping GM if their are people out there FOOLISH enough to do this to solve GM'S problem, I think GM should find out a way to help the consumer's that are out there worrying about how this situation is going to be or get FIXED, my other complaint is to say HOW RUDE OnStar ! I went on the web-site about a month ago for my parents gave all necessary information asked and OnStar has not even had the decencency to RESPOND! I hope at some point before Jan. 2008 she will hear something...

Since GM fails to treat its customers fairly, I for one am headed to any other manufacturer most likely Toyota for my next car. If all those impacted by this poor GM business decision don't buy another one that is 500,000 lost sales by most figures I have seen. GM will go under and maybe the government won't bail them out. I for one will own a few more cars in my five car family and none of them will be GMs. Besides On Star fiasco, I had a 2003 Trailblazer that was a hunk of junk.

On star emergency service let me down last weekend (Sunday 5:30 pm) when I, my daughter & 2 small grand daughters, sat on the side of I-10 (at Franklin st. exit) for 1 hr 40 minutes with a flat tire. 1st truck (promised in 45 minutes/waited 50 minutes for him)said he couldn't help us, he didn't have the necessary emergency lights! 2nd truck (coming from Canal St) would take another 45 minutes. Luckily we were helped by MAP (motor assistance patrol, free, provided by LA highway patrol). I canceled my on star service as I was driving into Hattiesburg at 10:00 pm that night. I wouldn't want ON star in my vehicle anymore. This was the first time I ever needed it. Apparently, it was only a false security for me.

Am I wrong in thinking and being told by Chrysler that my on star in my 2003 Chevy 250 pick up can be changed over? In a letter I received from Chrysler this is what I was TOLD! ANY ONE ELSE?

I have a 2003 Saab 9.5 and there is no upgrade available, they tell me. This is my 4th Saab in a row and the last three have all had Onstar - a MAJOR reason why I bought the three Saab's is that I NEED the Onstar for work (I make multiple business trips every day over a wide geographic area) AND the dealer heavily promoted the Onstar as a significant differentiator for their cars over other brands AND they said the resale value would be higher because of the Onstar feature. My wife and I were willing to pay for the Onstar (I have been a subscriber to Onstar for at least the last 8 years) because we feel alot safer having the knowledge that if the airbags deploy and we are unconscious Onstar will send emergency assistance AND when we travel and are in unfamiliar areas, especially at night, Onstar is very reassuring and able to direct us straight to where we are trying to go. I wanted my wife and children to know that with the push of a button they are connected to help that knows their exact location in any circumstance, this is extremely important to me. I have worked for years in telecommunication technology and there is no reason that a conversion box cannot be put into the cars that takes an incoming digital signal and converts it to analog and also takes an outgoing analog signal and converts it into digital - Onstar and GM are simply betting that the 500,000 subscribers that will no longer get their service will NOT JOIN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THEM. IF WE ALL STICK TOGETHER AND JOIN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT THEY WILL COME UP WITH AN OPTION FOR US. Here is the address of the law firm that filed the class action suit in March 2007:

For more information contact:
Ronald Jay Smolow, Esq.
Smolow & Landis
Two Neshaminy Interplex
Trevose PA 19053
[protected]
rsmolow@smolowlandis.com
www.onstarclassaction.com

Please go to the website and enter your information to participate, we all deserve to be represented in this egregious fraud that Onstar and GM have created by selling us a critical feature that now we will not be able to use on our cars.

Correspondence regarding: Termination of Onstar Services in my 2004 LL Bean Edition Subaru Outback.

To whom it may concern,

I purchased a 2004 Subaru Outback LL Bean Edition for my wife in March 2004 from Concordville Subura and Nissan in Concordville, PA. Our salesman was Mohammed Laraki. The Subaru Outback was her dream car for many years. She waited patiently, driving her 1990 Chevy Cavalier, until we could finally afford to purchase her dream car. We decided to buy one of the best and supposedly safest versions of the 2004 Outback, the LL Bean edition. This car had every option available from Subaru for this year except for VDC, variable traction control. It was well appointed and very comfortable as expected of anything bearing the LL Bean badge. (There’s no need to mention that we do love all our LL Bean apparel, but I will anyway.) This model even came equipped with Onstar in addition to many of Subaru’s world renowned safety features. I was thrilled to get her this option. My wife's has a medical condition and it was reassuring to know that she had help available for her at the touch of a button if she needed it. Once my wife got this beautiful vehicle she exclaimed that this would be the last car she would ever need or want. No one ever informed us that the marvelous safety feature, Onstar, one that we paid a pretty penny for as an upgrade, would only function for the next four years. It is almost as ridiculous as buying a car with airbags that will only work for four years.

I first received notification from Onstar in February of 2007 that a new FCC regulation regarding analog network carriers was responsible for Onstar canceling service in her car. I was incensed to say the least. We would never spend that kind of extra money as frivolously had we been informed. I never viewed our relationship with Onstar as a temporary arrangement. We renewed our contract with Onstar every year and purchased several thousand minutes of airtime over the past three years in addition. In my opinion, the inactivation of the Onstar system in this car will not only affect its current safety rating but its future resale value as well. I blame both Subaru and Onstar for not having the foresight to notify its customers that this service was only temporary and not for the life of the vehicle. I feel I have been deceived by both companies. I also feel sorry for the LL Bean company for their unwilling involvement in this fiasco.

On August 18th, I received a communication from Subaru which pushed me over the edge. They are offering me compensation for the loss of the Onstar service. I have been given a choice between two options. The first option is that I can receive free roadside assistance from Subaru for the life of the vehicle. How can they imagine that this is an equitable replacement for the security of instant alert in case of airbag deployment or GPS location in case of theft. I already carry AAA service for all my vehicles, I currently own four, so this offer seems redundant to me. The second option was an insult to me. Subaru offered me a 500 dollar customer loyalty coupon if I were to purchase a new Subaru prior to December of 2007. I don't even have the existing Outback paid off yet and I don't plan to replace it for at least a decade. It only has 24,000 miles on it. Not everyone in the United States can afford to purchase a new car every four years. Besides, why would I buy another vehicle from Subaru? Who knows which safety feature would stop working after four years, maybe the anti-lock braking system or the all wheel drive.

I would have anticipated that Onstar would have created some sort of conversion/ upgrade kit for my system. To further add insult to injury, our Onstar service agreement expires on December the fourteenth. Our Onstar representative actually told us if we wanted the service for the final two weeks of 2007 until Onstar ceases to function, that we would have to pay for a fourteen day extension. This is the only way we could use up the hundreds of hours of minutes we have purchased for the phone because Onstar will not refund a dime to us. I would have thought that automobile manufacturers like Subaru and GM would have pitched in to satisfy their consumers. I guess customer loyalty doesn't mean anything to these companies. Maybe the courts will feel differently about both Subaru and Onstar's obligations to their customers. I feel sorry for LL Bean and their unwitting participation in this situation. Sadly though, LL Bean is involved because their name is on our Outback. I know that LL Bean’s policy is 100% customer satisfaction and we are not satisfied. I hope maybe you can pressure your associates at Subaru to satisfy your mutual customers. I can promise you as a consumer, I will never again purchase a Subaru, any services from Onstar, and with reticence, clothes from LL Bean.

Thanks for your attention.

Sincerely,
Robert Levin (an angry consumer)
e-mail: vze44b8m@verizon.net

I purchased a 2003 silverado HD, was not told it was going to die Dec 31. and on top of that Mine did not work when I brought it home, I have a major guard warranty but the dealer refused to fix it with out the update. I am so mad that there is nothing can be done.

I see I have alot of people as angry as I am. I feel the same outrage. I purcheased this vehicle soley based on the fact it had onstar, as I travel late nights in winter/bad weather where there is little cell service thats reliable. My 2001 blazer is paid off and I was looking forward to another couple of years with no payments. I will never buy another GM vehicle, as a result of this failure to accept responsibilty on the part of GM and Onstar. I hope someone starts a class action suit. Sign me up!

I was just going to call and activate my Onstar system in my 2001 Blazer, but I guess now I won't. It was going to be my Christmas present to myself. I guess I'll have to look into a Tom-Tom or something. I didn't know OnStar went from analogue to digital. But, I don't see why that should make a difference to those people who purchased the vehicles with analogue. After all, they still make cassette tapes even though CD's are the preferred nowadays. They still make VHS tapes even though DVD's are preferred.

I am a Locksmith and my van had 225,000 miles on it. My wife told me that I needed to get something newer. I went and got me a 2004 Siverado LS. It has everything you can think of on it. As soon as I got it home I got OnStar actavaded. I was very happy that I have OnStar. When I try to put phone numbers in it each time I say 9 it says 5. Well I have cell phone and was going to talk to OnStar and see if they could put my numbers in it. Then I got the letter that I have to upgrade it or lose it. They say that it is going to cost me about 225.00 to up grade it which is also a year with OnStar payed invanced. WHY. I have just had it for about 1 month and now I have to pay this money out to upgrade OnStar or lose it. Now when I try to use my phone on it. It tells me that suscusaty is on. I can not call out or no one can call me. I am VERY DISPOINTED IN OnSTAR

I worked for Onstar via Sitel Corparation back in 2001. We were aware then that the FCC was forcing Onstar to go digital in 2007. Onstar had plenty knowledge of this back then . It is true that Cadillac could do an upgrade fron the first generation of Onstar to the second generation. The first generaton was only in a couple of the Cadillac vehicles starting in 1999.

The Onstar system is just like a cellphone it has to have the correct electronics to convert to digital. Onstar just wanted to use Verizon's analog service for as long as they could because, it was cheap. Analog service is going to be strictly used by the military for now on.

Onstar is going to treat you just like cellphone companies. They have no alternative but to have you buy another vehicle. It would cost them thousands to update hardware on each individual vehicle.

There could very well be a class action lawsuit because GM knew exactly when they were going to convert to digital. I can't be sure if they had the hardware completed yet but, they were at least tweaking it at the time. It would not be so bad if GM would not have used Onstar as a selling point to sell vehicles. They'd do anything to stay ahead of Japan. Acura, Subaru and Lexus cutomers will be affected by this also. Good luck in getting this resolved.

In July, 2007, I purchased a 2004 Buick Park Ave. Ultra, and the fact that OnStar was included was a factor in my decision to buy. I was very angry when I recently learned that there is no conversion kit from analog to digital available. I survived my heart attack in 2002 primarily because i got help quickly. OnStar gave me a feeling of safety, knowing I could get help quickly if I ever needed it again. So we are talking life & death here. I have never joined any class action suit before this in all my 72 years of life, but I am certainly going to join in this class action suit. If there is any justice left in the world, this class action suit against both OnStar and GM will win. I am reluctant to use the word "fair' in this context, because it is obvious that neither GM nor OnStar know the meaning of the word. For them, "customer care" is a joke. I have owned nothing but GM cars for the past 45 years, but this Buick is the last GM car I will ever buy. Please, Let's all stick together on this. As I already stated, this is a life and death issue.

I purchased a 2002 escalade with the onstar option for the safety of my family, I was never informed that the service would end. I would never have bought the vehicle if I had known. And if there is no remedy I certainly will never by another GM vechicle. I also have E-Mailed the BBB, my congressman, and all my friends and family about the decision by GM to not support their customers. And they wonder why PEOPLE by NON AMERICAN MADE VECHILES.

My father inlaw was driving back from Conn on the Merit Parkway around 6:00pm. He smelled a burning smell coming from the engine compartment.

He lost some power so he pulled over to the side of the road and called Onstar. He drives a Buick 2007 3 month brand new car. Anyway, he was on hold for 30 minutes with Onstar and had to wait three hours for road side help. In the meantime he called my wife and she called me. I called him and found out he was parked very close to the road. I called the Conn. State Police and reported that he can be in danger plus cold since he lost power. The highway patrol car stayed with him until his tow arrived. If you call this service then let them put this ordeal on the radio. First the car then Onstar. See how many people would still be into Onstar after hearing what happened to a real person who has Onstar.

In 2007 I was told my 2002 Buick LeSabre had an analog system & could not be upgraded so I canceled my OnStar subscription. A week ago, I read an article in our local paper that showed a photo of a 2002 Buick LeSabre being upgraded from analog to digital OnStar. I went to OnStar's website and typed in my VIN number and lo & behold, my 2002 Buick LeSabre is eligible for an upgrade. Why was I not told that an upgrade would be available in 2008? I would not have canceled my subscription.

I called a local dealer to find out how to do the upgrade & was told that I the upgrad ewould cost $15 plus $199 for one-year OnStar subscription plus $100 for an ACTIVATION FEE I phoned OnStar to complain about the lack of information, communication and the $100 activation fee. I received no satisfaction from anyone from OnStar. I am angry and frustrated. I don't fee that anyone should have to pay an activation fee for a service that was supposed to become unavailable and now magically is available again for my model. Add me to any litigation.

Like many others I also received the upgrade letter. Since my 03 Yukon was eligible I contacted the local dealer and paid the $199 + $15 fee. This was back in September 07. At the time the cell phone (Verizon) worked perfectly on the analog system. Now that I have paid the fees, was inconvenienced by having to wait for over two hours to have the dealer "fix" the problem, the cell phone will no longer work since we have no digital carrier in our area. I've tried on several occasions to get On Star to get me a connection, nothing has worked. They sure 'fixed' the problem, I now have less than I had before and had to pay to get it to boot. I'll join in on a law suit if it happens.

I have heard about this new CarShield device. They say this is really something great. It provides all the services OnStar has, I think even more at about $140 annual fee and I think the product itself is 2 times less than OnStar's. Also I hate the fact that OnStar was created so that they could sell GM cars more. When they say that OnStar is here to assist you in difficult situations. I think it is just here to help GM earn more and that's it. I can have this CarShield device installed in any vehicle at no additional effort and price. I think OnStar is going to be left behind, if their attitude towards the customers stay the same.

Hey Grace,

Thanks you for the information. I have just searched for the inforamtion on CarShield. I found some articles on it and I really liked the services and features it provides. I hope that soon will have an alternative choice to OnStar.

Can anyone send me a copy of the Onstar Terms & Conditions from 1997? I will pay $100

I bought a new cad. in 2001. The big selling point was onstar we now do not have the saftey featue that we felt we needed on the road. This car only has 5500 miles on it I do not need a new car.

I am 62 years old and have only owned GM cars and trucks since 1963. I currently own a 2002 Collectors Edition Eldorado with onstar that is not working because you GM do not care about repete customers.

Not to worry Ford came out with the same system as onstar. Thank You for the oppertunty to try a new brand and buy the way I have 4 children that are aware of your customer consideration.

Thank You
AAD

i believe you should take on star to court! its just another case of greed! good luck!

Had a lock out while with the grand children. Called for an unlock and after 15 minutes, she told me she could not get it unlocked and to check back in 20 minutes. It was faster to borrow a car and go home and get my extra key to open it. Very poor service. Will not renew my subscription when year is up.

Help, I was in a wreck on the top of Snoquamie Pass doing $12, 000 worth of damage (both front and rear end) and my air bag did not deploy? WHY? I had to call ONSTAR, they did not check on me WHY? I drive a Saturn vue, please explain WHY... I don't feel like my service is helping me at all.
Jeanne Cunnington

So sorry to hear all the complaints for on star and your selves but there is a product that I know about that is digital gps and is cost effective to any that are interest please feel free to contact me or go to my web-site for more info:jldigitalgps.com to your health.

I have found that more times then not the cust. care or subscriber services way to resolve issues is just to hang up on you.

Being in our late seventy's we wanted the on star because we travel and if anything happened we felt someone would know, now e28e4we have a piece of useless equipment in our 2003 acura and can't understand why replacement equipment isn't available or a box in the trunk to make transition. Isn't anyone smart enough to convert analogue to digital
they did for our tv.

I try to use the Phone I am told that my minutes have ran out. Yet you have my Visa number Why is that happening My ascfcount no is [protected]

You have my Visa number Why am I of minutes on my phone