VW Says Sorry For Child Carjacking Fiasco, Makes Safety Service Free (arstechnica.com) 54
Last month, Volkswagen garnered plenty of bad publicity when it emerged that the company's connected car service refused to help track a stolen car -- with a 2-year-old child still on board -- until someone paid to reactivate the service. Now, the automaker says it's very sorry this happened, and it's making its connected vehicle emergency service free to most model-year 2020-2023 Volkswagens. Ars Technica reports: "The family was thankfully reunited, but the crime and the process failure are heartbreaking for me," said Rachael Zaluzec, VW's SVP for customer experience and brand and marketing. "As a mom and an aunt, I can imagine how painful this incident must have been. Words can't adequately express how truly sorry I am for what the family endured."
"Volkswagen must and will do better for everyone that trusts our brand and for the law enforcement officials tasked with protecting us. In addition to a full investigation of what went wrong and actions taken to address the failure, we want to make it right for the future. Today, we are setting a new standard for customer peace of mind. As of June 1, we will make these connected vehicle emergency services free for five years as one significant step we can take as a commitment to our owners and their families," Zaluzec said in a statement sent to Ars.
Most MY2020 or newer VWs can use connected services, apart from MY2020 Passats. From June, owners can sign up for five years of free Car-Net Safe and Secure, which uses the vehicle's onboard modem to connect to the emergency services via the car's SOS button. In gasoline-powered VWs, there is also an anti-theft alert. VW says it will make Car-Net Remote Access free for five years as well. This lets owners interact with their car via a mobile app and can lock and unlock the doors, honk the horn and flash the lights, and, if fitted, remote-start the vehicle.
"Volkswagen must and will do better for everyone that trusts our brand and for the law enforcement officials tasked with protecting us. In addition to a full investigation of what went wrong and actions taken to address the failure, we want to make it right for the future. Today, we are setting a new standard for customer peace of mind. As of June 1, we will make these connected vehicle emergency services free for five years as one significant step we can take as a commitment to our owners and their families," Zaluzec said in a statement sent to Ars.
Most MY2020 or newer VWs can use connected services, apart from MY2020 Passats. From June, owners can sign up for five years of free Car-Net Safe and Secure, which uses the vehicle's onboard modem to connect to the emergency services via the car's SOS button. In gasoline-powered VWs, there is also an anti-theft alert. VW says it will make Car-Net Remote Access free for five years as well. This lets owners interact with their car via a mobile app and can lock and unlock the doors, honk the horn and flash the lights, and, if fitted, remote-start the vehicle.
Walk (Score:3, Insightful)
I had to walk the other day, because I was too cheap to pay for transportation.
VW, will you give me a free car?
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Says the person with the handle "registrations_suck".
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It doesn't work like that.
Tell them your child had to walk, get the ordeal to "go viral", and set up a GoFundMe. You'll get enough to afford several VWs, and not have to engage with the company at all.
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This was discussed on /. prior when the story first broke, but I think VW's failure was their lack of an avenue for working with law enforcement during an extenuating circumstance. I don't think anyone is suggesting that VW offer their services for free. But in a life or death situation most of us, I hope, would be willing to offer temporary aid if we could help. This could even mean sending an invoice afterwards for services rendered.
The diplomatic take here, in my opinion, is that when these things become
Re: Walk (Score:2)
"Law enforcement" has a budget of hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on jurisdiction.
Surely someone within the organization can front a few dollars to save a child. I mean, what's the issue here? I mean, shit, what was it, $35 or something?
I call that a real amends (Score:3)
Most companies caught in this circumstance have learned it's important to say "sorry," rather than give some bs pr speak. But kudos to VW for actually doing something of weight to make it right.
Now, how they can instill common sense and flexibility into an ultra low wage CSR based in Bali, that's a systemic error that will take probably at least one lifetime to fix. And I doubt western consumers are willing to pay the true price of that. . .
Law. (Score:3)
They don't say sorry in the US because that is admitting fault and opening themselves further to liability.
VW is not American (although this incident is).
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They don't say sorry in the US because that is admitting fault and opening themselves further to liability.
Yes. And the end result of that fucked mentality is currently being demonstrated against the citizens of East Palestine, Ohio.
This legal stance is the child equivalent of "No I didn't" when caught red-handed. Stupid and wrong. Only Greed finds value in it.
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Most companies caught in this circumstance have learned it's important to say "sorry,"
Perhaps. But a more important lesson is never to waste money creating a solution that you will later be pressured into giving away for free.
Rather than appreciating what you have done, you will be denigrated as a greedy bastard. Your competitors, who have done nothing, will reap the benefit.
This is the same reason that big pharm invests little in vaccines and diseases of the poor. Pills for erectile dysfunction and wrinkle reduction are far more profitable.
Re: I call that a real amends (Score:2)
Like ebola?
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Most companies caught in this circumstance have learned it's important to say "sorry,"
Perhaps. But a more important lesson is never to waste money creating a solution that you will later be pressured into giving away for free.
They aren't giving it away for free anymore than they're giving the tires away for free, it still helps them sell vehicles.
It's quite possible that they'd make more money in additional sales by making it free for the life of the vehicle.
Rather than appreciating what you have done, you will be denigrated as a greedy bastard. Your competitors, who have done nothing, will reap the benefit.
This is the same reason that big pharm invests little in vaccines and diseases of the poor. Pills for erectile dysfunction and wrinkle reduction are far more profitable.
The problem with making the emergency service subscription is you created a very predictable problem where there's a life threatening emergency and someone either needs to resubscribe or be told they're screwed due to company policy.
Now, if you're doing for-profit health ins
Re: I call that a real amends (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: I call that a real amends (Score:5, Insightful)
most of the late night "emergency" requests were false... people attempting to scam their way into the system by claiming Imminent Danger of whatever sort.
That is a problem easily mitigated by creating the proper protocol. Once a car is stolen, create a process and workflow for law enforcement to contact the auto manufacturer to minimize or eliminate scamming.
Sadly, that is exactly what happened in this case. If your company cannot tell the difference between a valid emergency call from law enforcement and "people attempting to scam", I'd say you've got a much larger problem with "support" staff and the management not training them.
Not utilizing the very technology that can save lives during situations like this, is akin to sinking your product battleship with your own torpedo.
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the CSR call handle time will go to shit if they need to do an law enforcement verificacion and can over seas ones tell the difference from real vs fake docs?
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the CSR call handle time will go to shit if they need to do an law enforcement verificacion and can over seas ones tell the difference from real vs fake docs?
I'm certain that plenty of technology companies have relationships with law enforcement. As in technical relationships. Authentication is for machines to handle in the 21st century. If I can authenticate to my phone with a fingerprint, I should be able to authenticate an officer to an app and upload a police report in seconds. There. Now you've mitigated the liability for VW which is always a concern. They've done a very good "best effort" to authenticate and validate a claim for emergency assistance.
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What happens when they get press for releasing location information to a stalker who uploaded a fake police report?
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If your company cannot tell the difference between a valid emergency call from law enforcement and "people attempting to scam", I'd say you've got a much larger problem with "support" staff and the management not training them.
How do you tell the difference?
Re: I call that a real amends (Score:5, Insightful)
If your company cannot tell the difference between a valid emergency call from law enforcement and "people attempting to scam", I'd say you've got a much larger problem with "support" staff and the management not training them.
How do you tell the difference?
1: Record the name, location, and any other necessary particulars of the law enforcement agency claiming to make the call.
2: Do a Google / DDG / whatever-major-search-engine lookup and call the law enforcement agency back.
For that matter, it shouldn't be too hard to keep an up-to-date list of all such agencies in the system. Some small police departments in back-of-beyond might fall through the cracks, but they're the ones least likely to have to deal with situations like this anyway.
Then again, we could always turn up the fire under telcos to clamp down on number spoofing - those bastards need to have their necks in a choke-chain tied to a steel stake in nations' back yards anyway. Then let CallerID do the heavy lifting it's meant to do instead of being just another tool for scammers.
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For that matter, it shouldn't be too hard to keep an up-to-date list of all such agencies in the system.
See above and multiply by the number of law enforcement agencies in the world. There are checks you can do, but it's not as trivial as you make it out to be.
Then again, we could always turn up the fire under telcos to clamp down on number spoofing
Absolutely. That this is STILL a problem with our level of technology is embarrassing.
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If your company cannot tell the difference between a valid emergency call from law enforcement and "people attempting to scam", I'd say you've got a much larger problem with "support" staff and the management not training them.
How do you tell the difference?
As I responded before, it's likely fairly straightforward. If I can authenticate to my phone with a fingerprint, I can authenticate to an app with a fingerprint. There's your more-than-best-effort authentication problem solved.
Then, you have the LEO upload the police report, which would be in a standardized format. Could be uploaded in seconds. Now you've done what you can to validate the claim for emergency services to be turned on.
From a legal standpoint, you've probably done more than enough to satisf
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As I responded before, it's likely fairly straightforward. If I can authenticate to my phone with a fingerprint, I can authenticate to an app with a fingerprint
You want a fingerprint to identify a valid law enforcement request? I don't even see how that is feasible given hundreds of law enforcement departments, with dozens to hundreds of officers that might make this request. I might be misunderstanding what you are saying, but I don't see how this is straightforward.
Then, you have the LEO upload the police report, which would be in a standardized format.
Again, there are hundreds of law enforcement agencies, and you want to reach out to all of them on what your standardized form is? And what if hacker/scammers get a hold of this information?
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So are you the one going to authorize providing US law enforcement PPI to a call center overseas?
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FordPass (Score:5, Insightful)
Ford's FordPass provides remote vehicle tracking, lock / unlock, engine starting, and metrics (tire pressures, oil life remaining, etc) and is free for the life of the vehicle. I further "hacked" their API calls (from the iPhone app) allowing me to do those things with really easy Siri commands I defined. That allows me to say to my Apple Watch "Unlock truck", etc as I'm walking to it in the parking lot for maximum hands-free convenience.
Anyway my main point is Ford provides vehicle tracking service through their FordPass free for the life of the vehicle. [ford.com] So Volkswagen making this free for emergency use only still isn't all that generous.
oil life remaining I want an car with dealer locke (Score:2)
oil life remaining I want an car with dealer locked oil changes?
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oil life remaining I want an car with dealer locked oil changes?
You just reset it similarly to resetting a trip odometer. I just changed the oil on my partner's Chevy a few weeks ago and there's literally an option in the dashboard info display menu to reset the oil life. As far as technological annoyances on newer vehicles go, it's a non-issue. Now the auto-stop feature on the other hand...
Re: FordPass (Score:2)
That allows me to say to my Apple Watch "Unlock truck"
I think passive entry would offer more security and convenience.
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Or until...
"Evolving technology/cellular networks/vehicle capability may limit functionality and prevent operation of connected features."
Sounds broad enough to make certain to be a lot shorter than the life of the vehicle, unfortunately.
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And it's only for 5 years even for emergencies.
Worse, "...apart from MY2020 Passats"...apparently they're fine with Passat owners kids being abducted?
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It's not the cars fault your kid was abducted...It was another humans fault for abducting your child, and possibly yours for not paying attention to your child. But sure, blame whatever party has the most money. It's the American way.
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Guy yelling in the parking lot: "Siri, Format C-Colon. Yes. Enter."
Free for "most"? (Score:2)
it's making its connected vehicle emergency service free to most model-year 2020-2023 Volkswagens.
Like only those with two-year-olds in the car? Is there an age limit?
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Like only those with two-year-olds in the car? Is there an age limit?
Well, you need to be at least 16 to be licensed to drive. Two is really pushing it, even for Germany.
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Two is really pushing it, even for Germany.
I think someone said that about Matt Gaetz ... :-)
Re: Free for "most"? (Score:2)
Beyond "think of the children" emotional response (Score:2)
the company's connected car service refused to help track a stolen car
You know the dystopian future has turned into our depressing present when nobody bats an eyelid over the fact that a car company can track and remotely control their customer's cars.
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To be more precise, a lot of people like it.
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As a mom AND an aunt (Score:1)
Being just a mom wouldn't be enough to understand. Being just an aunt wouldn't be enough to understand.
Thank heaven she's both a mom AND and an aunt!
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Being just a mom wouldn't be enough to understand. Being just an aunt wouldn't be enough to understand.
Thank heaven she's both a mom AND and an aunt!
I had the same thought. It comes across as icing-on-a-cake-that-didn't-need-it, and smacks of desperation. Which is odd given that they've taken well over a week to get this response out.
Well duh (Score:3)
If a car is capable of communication outside of some service then it should be law that it provides free access in the event of emergencies - theft, kidnappings, collisions, fire, water ingress etc.
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I'm more concerned with being sure this can't happen without my approval. I just bought 2 hyundai's and went through a wild ride trying to ensure that the bluelink (hyundai version of onstar) was completely ripped out. They said it was impossible to rip it out, but that simply not activating the modem would ensure that it could not connect in any way back to hyundai and could not receive any communications inbound either. I got it in writing after having to wait 3 weeks while they contacted engineering leve
Words can't adequately express how truly sorry... (Score:2)
"... we are that this long-standing policy went viral and made us look like the collection of asshole sociopaths we are."
Good thing they had a convenient spokesdrone on hand who's "a mom and an aunt" to try to backpedal their way out of this very deliberate, extensively planned and reviewed decision approved years ago by the company's most senior execs.
Everyone knows that all moms care deeply about all people; and that no aunt would ever say "F**k anyone who thinks they own the car they paid for and won't p
As of June 1, vehicle emergency services free (Score:2)
Ford have never charged. (Score:2)
Volkswagen screwed me with DieselGate Never again (Score:2)
SouthPark Episode BP (Score:2)
Sounds a lot like the SouthPark BP Episode âoeThis was a tragedy that should have never happened! Sssssooooooorry!!!â