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Today's rant was originally
published January 24, 2010.
At that time it garnered a
pretty average number of
views and comments from
eddobloggo®
readers. But unlike
most of the very current
events-topical pieces I
present, this story "has
legs" as they say in the
mainstream media. Via
search engines, this
commentary continues to get
hits nearly every day from people who want to
know more about the
ramifications of having a
vehicle equipped with OnStar.
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In the last 24
hours the
following known
search phrases
have landed
users here...
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Can
OnStar be
tracked?
-
OnStar
surveillance
capabilities
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Can
police use
OnStar even
if it is
deactivated?
-
OnStar
arguments on
tape
-
Consumer
complaints
about OnStar
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Big
Brother's
eye in the
sky.
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General Motors began installing
OnStar in select models in 1996 and
eventually made its GPS-based
safety/security system standard
equipment on most models. I know
about this firsthand because I have been there with OnStar, albeit reluctantly, in
Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC and
Cadillac dealerships since Day One.
By now
you surely know, as a result of
those dramatic OnStar-call replay
radio ads, that the system can do
such things as report subscribers' accidents
or other emergencies to
first-responders or unlock their
doors remotely if they leave their
keys inside their vehicles.
Recently, in addition to
newly-updated navigational and diagnostic
services, OnStar has been bragging
about its latest feature --
the capability to slow an equipped vehicle to a safe stop
if it is stolen and/or involved in a
potentially dangerous police chase.
The
downside of having access to these
and other equally remarkable
services is that every OnStar subscriber's
precise location is known
from moment-to-moment as GM's Big Brother
Satellite scans
the globe from on high. Of
late, it
reminds me of those unmanned drones
waiting for an Osama bin Laden
sighting as he mountain-bikes his
way through the Tora Bora
hills.
I don't know about you, but I'm not
happy about leaving myself open to
unmanned drone attacks, let alone
speeding tickets from some
invisible Bear in the Air.
With GM now being "temporarily" government-owned, it
wouldn't surprise me if OnStar's
GPS satellites have been co-opted by
the Obama czars to give them the
ability to prove that my early
arrival at Point B from Point A
constitutes yet another act of defiant
extremism. What's next?
Will they slow me to a stop and have
a unionized trooper detain me until I pony up
some wealth that can
be redistributed to various unionized
shovel-ready projects?
While I have been forced, in effect,
to shill for OnStar by continuing to
sell GM's vehicles
(for the record, that relationship
ended earlier this month),
it had been quite easy for me to resist becoming an
OnStar subscriber myself, simply by buying
cars and trucks that could be
ordered sans OnStar. But since doing so
became impossible in recent years, the GMC truck
I sold myself last year came
with OnStar (and that
one-year free
trial they tout in those radio
spots)
as standard equipment.
Of course, Mrs. Bloggo and I have never contacted OnStar
and we have been quite happy that we
have never heard from them either.
Just the same, it has always peeved
me to have that electronic
back-talking GPS monkey on my back.
Likewise, it has been very annoying having to spend
all of that extra time activating OnStar behind the scenes for my
new vehicle customers and then having to explain
and re-explain how it works and how
to use it.
OnStar has never reciprocated with
as much as an attaboy for my
uncountable hours of slave labor on
their behalf.
Furthermore, although their
representatives regularly claim
otherwise, I have never witnessed
the consummation of a car deal that
was a direct result of OnStar
being part of the vehicle.
Needless to say, therefore, I
was happy to receive a letter from OnStar last week informing me that
our free trial was
about to expire.
Then on Friday afternoon -- my
day off, no less! -- I got a phone call from
an OnStar telemarketer attempting to
get me to become a paid OnStar
subscriber...
"Hello, Mr. Dontack?"
"Close enough. Who's this?"
"It's Betsy from OnStar."
"Hold on, Betsy. Is this call
being recorded?"
"It probably is, Mr. Dontath.
Almost everything we do is monitored
for quality control."
"Great. I'm going to make a
statement. Are you OK with
that?"
"Yes, Mr. Dontatack."
"I'm a GM car and truck salesman and
I've been forced to work for OnStar
unpaid and un-thanked for many
years. For the last year I've
been forced to have OnStar activated
in my own personal vehicle.
Nonetheless, today I am your most
satisfied customer."
"And why are you so satisfied, sir?"
"Mainly because OnStar has finally
been deactivated in my truck."
"Any there any other reasons?
"Yes. This number is listed in the
Do Not Call Registry, so if I ever
hear from anyone at OnStar again
I'll sue. I have just one more
thing to say, Betsy."
"What's that?"
"OnStar call ended!"
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