VW Says Sorry for Child Carjacking Fiasco, Makes Safety Service Free
Freeman writes:
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.
[...]
Most MY2020 or newer VWs are able to use connected services, apart from MY2020 Passats.
Some additional story details for the click-averse:
As Lake County deputies desperately tried to find a stolen Volkswagen with a toddler still inside, they reached out to Car-Net, a service that lets VW owners track their vehicles.
But the Car-Net trial period had ended, and a representative wanted $150 to restart the service and locate the SUV.
The detective pleaded, explaining the "extremely exigent circumstance," but the representative didn't budge, saying it was company policy, sheriff's office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said Friday.
"The detective had to work out getting a credit card number and then call the representative back to pay the $150 and at that time the representative provided the GPS location of the vehicle," Covelli said.
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